I'm a Newcastle supporter from Minnesota. I started getting into soccer in high school when one of my best friends was leading the state in scoring. I got into the EPL in college and through another message board I was selected to manage Newcastle in a fantasy game. Been a fan ever since (1.5 years). I also do the webcasts for the Minnesota Thunder USL team.
Omaha is a growing city and person for person, i think, as good of a city as Minneapolis. This is just your typical jealousy of a town who is always growing.
Why would a person be jealous of a town? You are on DRUGS!! "Look at that city over there! I wish I could grow like that!!"
Nah, I been to Omaha once, nice place to waste away and die of utter boredom... We seem to have a lot of refugees from Omaha and Iowa here in MPLS, maybe its the music scene, the arts, the culture, the crime rate, the colleges and universities, the nightlife, the bars, the football, the baseball, the soccer, the celebrities. You may be growing but like yer corn in the spring, you have a way to go.
I am a green football fan...prior to this year, the most attention I paid to football was when I was bored and decided to take a gander at the All Goals show on GolTV. However, I decided to watch the World Cup this year and was sucked in once I saw the spirit & pride all the players showed in going against the best squads in the world; in particular, it was Shaka Hislop's outstanding stand-in role as GK for Trinidad & Tobago which really surprised me. The more I watched, the more I got interested in the game since it felt...I don't know...more authentic in terms of excitement & support from fans in comparison to the current American sports scene. Don't get me wrong, I still support my teams in baseball fervently (I'm a diehard Yanks fan and been so for years) and basketball (Knicks... ), but you just can't match the love that footie fans have for their teams. The only sport in the US that comes close to this type of fandom is college football but even with me living in Atlanta GA I just never cared for the college game that much... Anyway, after the World Cup was over, something unexpected happened: I went through a football withdrawal. I started to miss waking up everyday and looking forward to seeing the best football players in the world go against each other...suddenly, the MLS just looked pedestrian and I couldn't connect with the various south american & spanish leagues because of the lack of english coverage. So, after investing in a subscription to Fox Soccer Channel, I decided to follow the Premiership and started looking for a team to support. Chelsea & Man. U were out of the question since they have a wealth of supporters jumping on the bandwagon right now...besides, I wanted to follow a team not just through success but also if it fails so I wanted to make sure it had diehard supporters and a rich history. After more research, I came upon Newcastle United and it was love at first sight: the history, the fans, a stadium I am dying to visit (I am a big fan of professional sports architecture), even the kits impressed me since I'm a sucker for teams that don black. I look forward to following NUFC this year and hope that the Toon supporters out there will assist with getting me up to speed on all the ins & out of cheering on the Magpies. I might of not been born a football fan but I'm starting to connect more & more with the game everyday .
The MLS has only been around for 10 years.....don't give up on it already......but also I'd like to say welcome to being a Newcastle supporter! It's the most frustrating sports experience in my life, but at the same time I love it and keep asking for more.
This seems like the best place for my first post so here it is. My name is Ed. I'm 21 and I've lived in New Jersey my whole life. I'm going to be a senior in college. My mom is from England, and although I was born in the USA I have dual citizenship (USA and GB). I started playing soccer when I was 6 and quit after a few seasons when I started playing baseball, basketball, and hockey. After WC '94 I started playing again. I no longer play competitively, but once in awhile for fun. I started following professional soccer closely during Euro '96 (probably would have been sooner if England had been in WC '94), and I have followed England closely since then. I used to go to England at least once a year when I was younger and stay for a few weeks to a month and I would really get into soccer while I was there. I think getting to know the English players is why I like the England National Team and the Premiership. I couldn't care less about the US Team or the MLS. I became a Newcastle "fan" when Shearer came aboard. Prior to then I had no real rooting interest. I guess Sheffield Wednesday/United and Rotherham were my favorite teams since that is where most of my family is from and lives. While I have followed the England team closely for the last 10 years, I haven't been a close supporter of Newcastle until recently. Over the last few months I have become quite obsessed. I find myself captivated by the transfer rumors and I have been downloading all the old matches I can find (about to watch the '98 FA Cup Final). When I get to school I'm going to have to figure out this PPLive thing or I'm gonna be Gamecast'ing all season. That's enough about me. Here's to a successful '06/'07 campaign.
Ah, where to begin? I'm from Houston, Texas and I wasn't exposed to (what the whole world calls football, but we call...) soccer until a few years ago. I was able to attend a Mexican competition and fell in love with the beautiful game. At my job (FSN) I was able to watch an EPL game of the week and several MLS games. I can't really get into a game if I don't have someone who I really want to support, so I asked my English friend Bob from Bristol who he liked. He isn't a sports fan, but he told me that his dad was a big Newcastle United fan. The next day Newcastle got into a fight on the field with THEMSELVES! To me this proved that there were people on the team who really cared about the club and wanted to win and were sick of the losers who were bringing the rest of the team down. I've been a lover of the black and white ever since. About a year ago, the San Jose Earthquakes moved here to Houston and became the Dynamo. I'm a loud and proud member of the Texian Army and I was fortunate enough to attend almost every match, including the MLS Cup Final. Now that the MLS season is over, I can give my full attention to the Magpies. Sadly, most of my fellow Texian Army buddies are bandwagon Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal fans. I'm hoping to find some real NUFC fans here in Texas, if there is such a thing. I just signed up with the Toon Army USA, so I hopefully will go with them to St. James' Park one day.
I'm not in Texas, but I'm a (newbie) Dynamo fan, FWIW. And...I think you're the first person I know of to become a fan directly because of the Dyer-Bowyer incident. But no matter, welcome aboard.
I noticed the location and teams on your profile. Ever make it out to Timbers matches? I aired one at work once and liked the lumberjack. haha
Nah, haven't made it yet. Portland's actually about 3 hours from me, I live out here in the East. Almost went to Seattle when I found out they were playing Cardiff, in hopes Chops would be playin', but haven't gone out there yet.
HI!!! im actually going on the toon usa trip this dec. if u really really want to go u might still be able to its $2,000 with everything included, match tix, hotel, transport and plane tix. email the leader and tell him to give u the tour leaders email, he's hella cool guy from newcastle...