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Of loyalty and competition

One thing I love in life is watching soccer, Chelsea FC to be exact. I have loved them through the wins and losses, I have fought my friends over them, I have stayed up late watching matches that bear little consequence to my life. I do it because I love Chelsea, but I also do it because its the one thing my dad and I are both really passionate about. Its the one time him and I will both sit and watch the same thing on tv, the one time we'll jump up and down together, and high five, and hug just because Lampard managed to score that second goal that would put our team a couple of points further to the top of the league. And, of course, with loving Chelsea comes the natural inverse- hating Arsenal, Liverpool, and most of all the dreaded Manchester United. Yuck. So, of course, the last thing I ever expected was to fall for a supporter of my arch rivals. But that's what happened.

The funny thing about new relationships is that you can fight over something like soccer teams and still make it seem like flirting. How we do that, I do not know. But thats what happens. We both get very defensive about our respective teams, and will not back down under any circumstances, which leads to some interesting debates about Drogba vs Ronaldo (of course, we all know that he's fighting a losing battle there...) and my theory of how Chelsea is going to kick Manchester United out of top position in only 2 matches, which he completely disagrees with of course, but it doesn't really matter. And although we spend most of our time fighting about it, it really helps ease the early relationship awkwardness, and gives us something to talk about, something we're equally and oppositely passionate about.

The real test of our relationship will come when Chelsea meet Man United at Stamford Bridge in a couple of weeks time. As we will probably watch it together, it could make for some sparks- and I don't mean the romantic kind! There is no doubt in my mind what the outcome will be, so all I need to do is think of a way to be happy for my team- thats a given- without making him feel too bad... After all, I want this to work. Don't worry though, it won't be long before I show him the error of his ways and lead him into true loyalty to the only team worth supporting:)