English Premier League.

Back in KL for the night after a great week of slow internet but amazing weather in Langkawi. It’s a great little get away for anyone traveling to Malaysia looking for a hideout. A thanks goes out to Oliver for the ally-op on that one…

As we are just here for the night, a quick thoughtless dinner was in store. Normally I only go to Hard Rock Cafe to grab a shot glass to add to the collection but tonight we threw a dinner as well. It worked out perfectly as Manchester United was playing my squad Arsenal in the second to last match of the season, and with a win/draw Man U would capture is 18th league championship. For those unfamiliar with English football, Man U are pretty much the Yankees of the league and have their games shown all over the planet. At the same time gathering a bunch of fans in the process because; 1. Over the past 10 years have been unstoppable and have won everything 2. Everyone gets to see them play more often than any other team. Needless to say, I am not one of their fans.

However, this event got me thinking about why I support the teams I do. I seem to really love the underdogs (Oregon Ducks, Trailblazers) but I also love a team that has a bitter cross town rival (The Clippers and The Mets). As for Arsenal they have both. I jumped on this bandwagon back in ’06 when I lived in London because everything revolved around soccer in the pub and if you didn’t have a team you were left out of many conversations. And with so many teams based in the English capital, I fell for this one because I saw potential in the young team, they were just 4 stops away on the tube and I didn’t want to route for snobby Chelsea aka “Red Sox” of the league.

Getting to my point. I really love this game and I wish it was bigger in the States, as it is the biggest sport in the world. Soccer is such an exciting event to watch on TV and even more so to witness in a match live, I can’t say enough about it. However, I can guarantee that when I do arrive back “home” I will be staying up late / getting up early to catch as many matches as I can. So this was my soapbox moment of the day, but for anyone still reading…next time you see a match on give it a second look, I promise you won’t be disappointed. By the way, Man U drew against Arsenal and therefore won the Premier League title…Boo.

Side note: I’m very stoked that Portland will have a MLS team this next year. Go Timbers.

Where I Rested: Sheraton Hotel Imperial, Kuala Lumpur