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In America, sometimes they'll call it the BPL (Barclays Premier League), maybe he's gotten that B mixed up with British?
Yep possibly, he's switched definitions about on the first page of the article.
Personally I hate any BPL or EPL acronym. It's just the league. Or if you must, Premier League
Pardon the length of this post. I value all that was said in this thread without question.
All in all, thank you for your criticism, kind or otherwise. This was PRECISELY my point in sharing this overview, albeit, it was an analysis that is superficial, novice, and “amateurish” at best. Truth be told, my passion and reverence for Tottenham is relatively new.
My Uncle Chuck served as the Chief Operating Officer for British Telecommunications of the North American chapter, and lived in London (near Hampstead Heath) for a spell, long enough (five to six years) to put his son and daughters through the American School in London and purchase Spurs season tickets through BT. He lived there in the mid-to-late-‘90s and went back home (to New Jersey) by 2002, prior to Tottenham’s resurgence in the mid-2000s. I visited my uncle several times whilst he was stationed in London, but did so each time AFTER the EPL season came to a close, so I never had the pleasure of taking him up on the seats he had at White Hart Lane. My uncle would often visit for the holidays, and oft came bearing gifts, most of which was football and Tottenham-related. So, in that essence, Tottenham became the team I favored, although casually at first. Over time, in the time I picked up FIFA, Spurs became the team “that chose me,” as one poster noted (for my cousin Kevin, who also visited my Uncle Chuck, his team unfortunately became West Ham—he was lucky enough to take in some games upon his visits, too).
Until I moved into the house in which I currently reside with my wife of ten years (in 2008), I had no access to Spurs’ broadcasts until I got digital cable, and even then, games were broadcast sparingly (through Fox Sports or ESPN). With the recent purchase of EPL broadcasts by NBC Sports Network, my love and adoration for Tottenham grew, a love that happened to coincide with Bale’s last two seasons with Spurs. All things told, I am still grasping, or at least attempting to grasp, the nuances of the game that EPL broadcasts do better with than, say, Americanized World Cup or MLS coverage might.
To address certain points you all made:
1. As currently constructed, yes, my beloved Knicks are ABSOLUTE RUBBISH. For the sake of writing this article on a NY-centric site, I wanted to build a comparison between teams fans in New York might already follow, and the Knicks and Rangers immediately came to mind based on their long histories, much of which are defined by titles won long, long ago, with middling and relatively mediocre seasons ever since. That said, they are a team worth following based on how close they get (as the Knicks and Rangers have several times these last 15 years) before they ultimately fail. I do hope the pre-2004 Red Sox comparison one poster made is fitting, as Boston has since won THREE titles post-2004. That said, some Americans follow teams based immediately on glory (unless they are Knicks, Mets, and Jets fans), and they cannot fathom a season NOT decided by a playoff, so selling ANY Premier League team is difficult.
2. My fault for referring to Tottenham sparingly as “the Spurs.” Such is the case when the Spurs of San Antonio in the NBA seep into any form of sports analysis. Chalk that up to a rookie error.
3. In America, teams are rarely referred to as clubs; predominantly, they are “organizations” or “franchises.” It is a matter of context, although I know “franchise” is a word practically never used abroad.
4. I have heard Barclays referred to as the “British Premier League” on occasion in the States, but yes, clearly, EPL, short for English Premier League, makes far more sense from your perspective abroad. Although I always thought BPL, short for British Premier League, made more sense considering the league is not merely relegated to England, but places beyond (i.e. Swansea and Cardiff City from Wales as part of the United Kingdom/Great Britain).
5. I was wholly unaware that the UEFA Cup won in 1983-84 was NOT associated with Champions League. Point well-taken.
6. The point of the Bale video was to illustrate what Bale eventually became under Tottenham’s tutelage and direction. I understand that a Spurs’ compilation involving Bale is far more fitting, but to show a Bale highlight with Tottenham and then immediately say “he is no longer with the club” is relatively counterintuitive for the purpose of the article. I just wanted to demonstrate how we took a chance on a young stud from Southampton, converted him from the backfield position, and made him a star worthy of the world’s largest transfer fee. Clearly, Bale’s talent had much to do with his ascension, but there is no harm suggesting Spurs had more than a hand in his success.
7. Sadly, when I sent my bio information to the gentleman running the site under which this article (more of a blog post, really) appeared, he changed my support from “Tottenham Hotspur football club” to “Tottenham Hotspur soccer club.” Classifying American football as football makes zero sense considering one’s hands come in contact with the ball over a hundred times a game, while one’s foot may only touch it under twenty times for both teams. But that goes without saying, and I sense I am merely preaching to the converted here.
8. With the MLS relatively in its infancy in comparison to various other European leagues, and with its being a MUCH lesser outfit than any one witnesses on the international and club levels in Europe, it is hard for most Americans to follow football but once every four years, typically during World Cup campaigns. With America’s rise in talent and popularity these last two World Cups, football is TRULY catching on stateside, but most American fans, when they have no USMNT to support, gravitate to the Real Madrids, the Barcelonas, the Bayern Munichs, the Manchester Uniteds, and the Chelseas of the world, mainly because (a) their matches were featured more prominently prior to NBC’s purchase of Premier League broadcasts two years ago and (b) some Americans much prefer winning products. Hence the bandwagon support the Cowboys, Patriots, Steelers, and 49ers receive in the NFL or the Bulls, Heat, Celtics, and Lakers receive in the NBA.
Thank you all for your time and consideration. Following this club has been such an immense pleasure, much of which has to do with lurking this website and other social media outlets.
All in all, thank you for your criticism, kind or otherwise. This was PRECISELY my point in sharing this overview, albeit, it was an analysis that is superficial, novice, and “amateurish” at best. Truth be told, my passion and reverence for Tottenham is relatively new.
My Uncle Chuck served as the Chief Operating Officer for British Telecommunications of the North American chapter, and lived in London (near Hampstead Heath) for a spell, long enough (five to six years) to put his son and daughters through the American School in London and purchase Spurs season tickets through BT. He lived there in the mid-to-late-‘90s and went back home (to New Jersey) by 2002, prior to Tottenham’s resurgence in the mid-2000s. I visited my uncle several times whilst he was stationed in London, but did so each time AFTER the EPL season came to a close, so I never had the pleasure of taking him up on the seats he had at White Hart Lane. My uncle would often visit for the holidays, and oft came bearing gifts, most of which was football and Tottenham-related. So, in that essence, Tottenham became the team I favored, although casually at first. Over time, in the time I picked up FIFA, Spurs became the team “that chose me,” as one poster noted (for my cousin Kevin, who also visited my Uncle Chuck, his team unfortunately became West Ham—he was lucky enough to take in some games upon his visits, too).
Until I moved into the house in which I currently reside with my wife of ten years (in 2008), I had no access to Spurs’ broadcasts until I got digital cable, and even then, games were broadcast sparingly (through Fox Sports or ESPN). With the recent purchase of EPL broadcasts by NBC Sports Network, my love and adoration for Tottenham grew, a love that happened to coincide with Bale’s last two seasons with Spurs. All things told, I am still grasping, or at least attempting to grasp, the nuances of the game that EPL broadcasts do better with than, say, Americanized World Cup or MLS coverage might.
To address certain points you all made:
1. As currently constructed, yes, my beloved Knicks are ABSOLUTE RUBBISH. For the sake of writing this article on a NY-centric site, I wanted to build a comparison between teams fans in New York might already follow, and the Knicks and Rangers immediately came to mind based on their long histories, much of which are defined by titles won long, long ago, with middling and relatively mediocre seasons ever since. That said, they are a team worth following based on how close they get (as the Knicks and Rangers have several times these last 15 years) before they ultimately fail. I do hope the pre-2004 Red Sox comparison one poster made is fitting, as Boston has since won THREE titles post-2004. That said, some Americans follow teams based immediately on glory (unless they are Knicks, Mets, and Jets fans), and they cannot fathom a season NOT decided by a playoff, so selling ANY Premier League team is difficult.
2. My fault for referring to Tottenham sparingly as “the Spurs.” Such is the case when the Spurs of San Antonio in the NBA seep into any form of sports analysis. Chalk that up to a rookie error.
3. In America, teams are rarely referred to as clubs; predominantly, they are “organizations” or “franchises.” It is a matter of context, although I know “franchise” is a word practically never used abroad.
4. I have heard Barclays referred to as the “British Premier League” on occasion in the States, but yes, clearly, EPL, short for English Premier League, makes far more sense from your perspective abroad. Although I always thought BPL, short for British Premier League, made more sense considering the league is not merely relegated to England, but places beyond (i.e. Swansea and Cardiff City from Wales as part of the United Kingdom/Great Britain).
5. I was wholly unaware that the UEFA Cup won in 1983-84 was NOT associated with Champions League. Point well-taken.
6. The point of the Bale video was to illustrate what Bale eventually became under Tottenham’s tutelage and direction. I understand that a Spurs’ compilation involving Bale is far more fitting, but to show a Bale highlight with Tottenham and then immediately say “he is no longer with the club” is relatively counterintuitive for the purpose of the article. I just wanted to demonstrate how we took a chance on a young stud from Southampton, converted him from the backfield position, and made him a star worthy of the world’s largest transfer fee. Clearly, Bale’s talent had much to do with his ascension, but there is no harm suggesting Spurs had more than a hand in his success.
7. Sadly, when I sent my bio information to the gentleman running the site under which this article (more of a blog post, really) appeared, he changed my support from “Tottenham Hotspur football club” to “Tottenham Hotspur soccer club.” Classifying American football as football makes zero sense considering one’s hands come in contact with the ball over a hundred times a game, while one’s foot may only touch it under twenty times for both teams. But that goes without saying, and I sense I am merely preaching to the converted here.
8. With the MLS relatively in its infancy in comparison to various other European leagues, and with its being a MUCH lesser outfit than any one witnesses on the international and club levels in Europe, it is hard for most Americans to follow football but once every four years, typically during World Cup campaigns. With America’s rise in talent and popularity these last two World Cups, football is TRULY catching on stateside, but most American fans, when they have no USMNT to support, gravitate to the Real Madrids, the Barcelonas, the Bayern Munichs, the Manchester Uniteds, and the Chelseas of the world, mainly because (a) their matches were featured more prominently prior to NBC’s purchase of Premier League broadcasts two years ago and (b) some Americans much prefer winning products. Hence the bandwagon support the Cowboys, Patriots, Steelers, and 49ers receive in the NFL or the Bulls, Heat, Celtics, and Lakers receive in the NBA.
Thank you all for your time and consideration. Following this club has been such an immense pleasure, much of which has to do with lurking this website and other social media outlets.
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It's not just an American thing, most people in general like winning products.
Welcome aboard fella the highlight word is all that matters.
Thanks for that lot.
Quick reiteration- it's definitely not the British Premier League- Scotland and Wales have their own leagues and European competition entries. It's just that the best few Welsh teams (Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Newport) were allowed toplay in the English leagues some years back.
Thank you for clarifying those points, of which I was grossly unaware. Likewise, the MLS has several clubs "abroad" (Toronto F.C., Montreal Impact, and Vancouver Whitecaps F.C. in Canada) that feature in America.
I get heat all the time for being a "bandwagon" fan with my allegiances to Duke, Notre Dame, and the Yankees. Credit the latter to my father and his boyhood adoration for Mickey Mantle in the '60s, along with his love for the Yanks in converting his wife, my mother, to the team when they had a resurgence in the late '70s, the time in which they married. Duke featured a young kid named Bobby Hurley from local St. Anthony's in upstate New Jersey; my father went to his father's and Bobby Knight's basketball camps when he was younger, the latter of which featured a young assistant, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who would later go on to coach Duke, as you know. Following Duke was mostly my following Hurley, but it just so happened that his arrival in Durham coincided with back-to-back titles for the Blue Devils in the early '90s, and I have followed them since. As for Notre Dame, this had much to do with me, as a child, being half-Irish (Irish-American, that is, not transplanted), and liking a team called "The Fighting Irish." Then came the release of Rudy in the early '90s, and the rest is history.
You and the other 75% fans of the team.
It is because the Premier League and Football League are under the umbrella of the (English) FA, regardless of the fact that there are a few Welsh teams. There are also some Welsh teams playing in the (English) Football League, an English team playing in the Scottish Football League, etc.
I have never heard anyone in the U.S. refer to it as the "British Premier League" (other than clumsily by people who probably couldn't name 5 clubs). Amongst those who actually follow the sport, it is universally referred to in the U.S. as the "English Premier League" or the "EPL." (only sometimes shortened to the "Premier League" or "the League" when already in clear context).
I am from North London, live in Los Angeles now. I go to some of the LA Spurs games and how can I explain this in the nicest possible way......you get a lot of nerds showing up. It seems like we are a bit of a hipster team to be honest.
I exclude
SoCalSpurs
btw. Met him Saturday a good guy.
I exclude
SoCalSpurs
btw. Met him Saturday a good guy.As a nerd and a casual watcher with the LA Spurs, I resent that!I am from North London, live in Los Angeles now. I go to some of the LA Spurs games and how can I explain this in the nicest possible way......you get a lot of nerds showing up. It seems like we are a bit of a hipster team to be honest.
I exclude
As a nerd and a casual watcher with the LA Spurs, I resent that!
You get what I mean though right?
When I first moved and started to watch games, I tried to set up a game against the "LA Gooners". They were bang up for it, but I couldn't even get close to putting even a 5 a side team together of Spurs fans. Disappointing.
Ha! Yea I know what you mean for sure. Did you try to contact the LA Spurs group to see if they'd be game for it? I've noticed that there's not too much back and forth discussions on facebook throughout the week like there is with SD Spurs (
Benjamin
) and SF Spurs.
move all affiliated members down to GA i'll play with you