Picture above for illustration purposes only... Okay, something non-action-figure-ly topic this time. Although this entry can be quite lenghty at first glance, please do spend time to read thru, especially if you dig football (soccer).
I recalled talking to a buddy of mine the other day over our weekly futsal session and was treated to a series of boring stories on how the 'so-called' big 4 EPL teams will continue to dominate the league and hordes of new supporters will declare their undivided allegiance towards these big teams bla...bla...bla....I suddenly remembered a few football friends of mine who previously openly proclaimed that their 'undying' love towards their EPL teams were simply because "they are already up there" and "they are the best....and will always be the best"! *shucks*......and then I came across a few excellent articles that discuss on the topic of 'glory hunters'.
This is by far, the most concise summary I came across in the net:
"It is normal for a small country like Malaysia to have a group of glory hunters supporting more than one successful team. The glory hunters in Malaysia are easily identified - often you can see them changing their allegiance to the top team at that time, as of this time most Malaysians are Man Utd and Chelsea fans. When asked why do they support these teams, they will tell you "because these teams always win". A lot of the fans neither own an up-to-date original jersey, nor have they been to Trafford or Stamford Bridge. In Malaysia, the glory hunter is often labeled as "lalang" (weed), meaning that they shift to wherever the wind blows."
LOL.....that one was hilarious to say the least! ......"because these teams ALWAYS win".....
And for further kicks, here's another hilarious article (an old 2006 piece taken from a world cup blog) on HOW to become a glory hunter, especially to those Malaysian fans who have yet to declare their football allegiance:
1- You must always root for an English Premier League (EPL) team, any team will do. Eventhough the game is much better in Spanish La Liga or the World Champion came from Italian Serie A. Malaysian Super League is definitely a no no.
2- But do not proclaim lifetime support for any particular team. Ever. You must be flexible enough to change teams accordingly. Always root for the ‘in’ team and current flavour. You do not want to be labelled as loser, don’t you?
3- Do not buy the original shirt of your favourite team. Why spend RM300 when you can buy the same ‘localised’ version for RM30? No one will notice (yes, the counterfeiter is that good over here). Furthermore you would not feel too bad when the team become bad all of sudden and it’s time for the annual team-changing ritual.
4- Once you settled for a team for that season, now is the time to get to know every playing staff of that team. Bonus point for recognizing their Reserve Team players too. The fact that you could not even named a single player from Malaysia national team squad does not matter.
5- You must have enough stamina and energy to catch all those live telecasts matches showed at ungodly hours of local time. Even if it’s weekday night and you have an-all important Power Point presentation to your boss in a few hours.
6- You must remember the facts from that match too. The facts will come in handy during lunch hour banter with your office colleague the next day.
7- Read all the info related with EPL. Match reports, statistics, gossips, whatever. By doing this, you can impress the hot chick at the office with useless facts such as the number of passes Arsenal needed before they can score a goal. Even if you don’t have a slightest idea on which team is the reigning champion of Malaysia FA Cup.
8- You must be realistic enough to know that there’s no chance in hell that Malaysia would be ever qualify to World Cup during your lifetime. So every 4 years choose an adopted country to support (Brazil and Italy always the safest choice). Repeat step 1-7 and adapt to international scene.
1- You must always root for an English Premier League (EPL) team, any team will do. Eventhough the game is much better in Spanish La Liga or the World Champion came from Italian Serie A. Malaysian Super League is definitely a no no.
2- But do not proclaim lifetime support for any particular team. Ever. You must be flexible enough to change teams accordingly. Always root for the ‘in’ team and current flavour. You do not want to be labelled as loser, don’t you?
3- Do not buy the original shirt of your favourite team. Why spend RM300 when you can buy the same ‘localised’ version for RM30? No one will notice (yes, the counterfeiter is that good over here). Furthermore you would not feel too bad when the team become bad all of sudden and it’s time for the annual team-changing ritual.
4- Once you settled for a team for that season, now is the time to get to know every playing staff of that team. Bonus point for recognizing their Reserve Team players too. The fact that you could not even named a single player from Malaysia national team squad does not matter.
5- You must have enough stamina and energy to catch all those live telecasts matches showed at ungodly hours of local time. Even if it’s weekday night and you have an-all important Power Point presentation to your boss in a few hours.
6- You must remember the facts from that match too. The facts will come in handy during lunch hour banter with your office colleague the next day.
7- Read all the info related with EPL. Match reports, statistics, gossips, whatever. By doing this, you can impress the hot chick at the office with useless facts such as the number of passes Arsenal needed before they can score a goal. Even if you don’t have a slightest idea on which team is the reigning champion of Malaysia FA Cup.
8- You must be realistic enough to know that there’s no chance in hell that Malaysia would be ever qualify to World Cup during your lifetime. So every 4 years choose an adopted country to support (Brazil and Italy always the safest choice). Repeat step 1-7 and adapt to international scene.
***Please note that while I find the above fun-facts to be of the highest comedic banter, I do not in any frickin' way endorse point no 3!!! Go get the originals....for the record, I support Blackburn Rovers, a lowly EPL team and I still buy their jersey from their official online store.
'Nuff said.
Comments
And please buy original...even though the yanks are using my hard earn cash to finance their loan!