When we need them the most

I grew up in a standard American sports family. My siblings and I all excelled at sports and my Dad was a basketball coach. Growing up, we were always told that we didn’t want to play “soccer” because that’s for people who aren’t good enough to play American Football.

Fast forward to December 2006, I’m recovering from extensive shoulder surgery and am cooped up on a couch for a month. My New York Knicks are playing terrible and my Bills are being very “spursy” little did I know. My buddy comes over one day and wants to watch a soccer game; I figure why not it’s not like I want to watch my teams anyway.

[linequote]The Spurs supporters just seemed like they wanted it more and I found myself rooting for the Spurs in that game[/linequote]

It’s December 6th and I was told that the North London Derby is an intense game. We all know how the games ends but as my buddy is celebrating, I have an odd pit in my stomach. The Spurs supporters just seemed like they wanted it more and I found myself rooting for the Spurs in that game.

From then on I was hooked, Spurs went on to win the next 3 games and my parents were becoming more and more used to waking up a 8 am when I started yelling at the TV that the ref is a wanker or making remarks about Sol Campbell. I fell in love with the Spurs, and they kept me sane during my recovery.

Present day, my father is critically ill and I just came back from the veterinarian to put my dog down. Needless to say, I’ve had a rough month. Even with the club in turmoil, I still use the team to keep me sane. They help me take my mind off of all the chaos in my life, and for the hour or two (probably 3) I take out of the day to read up on my Spurs, it’s much better to focus on why Soldado isn’t scoring and not why my Dad is in the ICU of a hospital.

[linequote]We have a Supporters Trust in place to air our grievances directly to the club; our squad should never be intimidated to play at home[/linequote]

The doctors say that my Dad will live but it will take time to heal and move on. I feel like I could give the same diagnosis to the Spurs. Our club will take time to heal from the Bale departure. And it will take all of our patience with these new players, as they are our recovery plan.

As I sit and listen to doctors, I don’t second-guess them on their plans, even if I do watch a lot of doctors/hospital dramas. And I try not to do the same with Mr. Levy and Poch, even if I do watch a lot of football. I wish our fan base would realize that too. Our booing in the stadium and nastiness on Twitter does no good for our club. We have a Supporters Trust in place to air our grievances directly to the club; our squad should never be intimidated to play at home.

It’s sad it took this all of these events in my life to acquire this perspective but I hope by sharing this; I will help refocus our supporter’s energy to be behind our players, even if they are playing terrible.

As always, COYS.