The Vernal Villan: Week 2, Obsession

When I wrote the first of these I said it was going to be about becoming a fan and the first-year experience. To that end, I'm not dwelling on Newcastle (who wants to anyways?). Instead, I've noticed something in the past week. Soccer is slowly taking over my sporting life. It's not total, after all, I have American football to get excited for, but it's certainly been more important to me lately than baseball. That fact alone shocks me. There's no sport I love more than baseball, but nearly a decade of watching the Mariners has broken me down. Villa came along just as I needed something else to follow. 

And so begins the obsession phase of becoming a Villa fan. I've been reading every single thing I can on the team, and the games they've played.  I check this here site about 10 times a day, and make sure I've gotten through all the comments. When I've gotten done with that, I've headed over to Graham's blog, and read everything there. This takes me considerably more time, as Graham is just insanely productive. Then, I read some general soccer news, and other blogs (TwoFootedTackle, Run of Play, Match Fit USA, etc). 

Finally, the big find for me has been the soccer podcasts. I asked Aaron, Kirsten, and Dan from AV Central what podcasts they recommended. I got back TwoFootedTackle, the Guardian's weekly pod, Winning Ugly and a few more. If you're new to this, or an old hat, be sure to check out The Guardian Weekly and TwoFootedTackle. Both podcasts are well-produced, funny, and incredibly informative. And while their main focus is on the EPL, they cover other leagues as well.

Winning Ugly didn't quite do it for me. Ostensibly, it's a humor podcast, but the host's insistence on adding in sound effects (often at the cost of cutting off a joke or an actual thought) made it seemed forced. And if there is one thing that kills comedy, it's that. One good one that I came across that wasn't widely recommended was the American Soccer Show. I know we've got a few USMNT fans here, and this pod covers that as well as the MLS, all with some really great (by podcast standards) production. A definite must-listen. Also, the BBC5 Football Daily podcast isn't amazing, but it's a great for post-match interviews and quick sum-ups. 

So that's what the past week or so has been. Reading, listening, and eagerly anticipating soccer. Villa is obviously the primary target of the obsession, but soccer in general is becoming a bigger part of my daily life, and much more rapidly than I anticipated! And as if to secure the hook in me, this arrived today:

Here's to a win on Thursday, and UTV!