Football
Southampton is a football town. Obviously you don't notice it most of the time; but every so often there's a game, and I'm in the right part of town, and you do notice. In Ireland, every year the all-Ireland GAA or hurling finals take place in Dublin; and then, yeah, you see people in full buses and cars and trains from whichever teams are in the finals, decked out in their county colours; but in Southampton it's different: the team colours you see are Southampton's own team colours; they're the colours of where I live, and so my colours (I never lived in Dublin); and they're the colours of a team in the English Premier League, which to me only exists on TV. It's bizarre: it's like living in Hollywood and seeing film stars.
A few weeks ago, Southampton played Man City, and beat them 3-1. This was an insane result: Southampton are struggling to avoid relegation, and Man City won the Premiership last season. I didn't realise it was on, so the next day, innocently, I went to the local store to buy some eggs or milk or whatever, and the guy behind the counter had a massive smile on his face, asked me how I was, friendly as you can imagine - and this in England! I smiled back and secretly thought 'weirdo'. Then a lady came to the counter beside me and just as I leave my guy says to her, 'Are you going to frame that?' She was buying the local paper, sports page up, Southampton's victory the only story on the it. She responds that she's from the other side of town, and that all the other shops have sold out.
That was adorable. Today Southampton played QPR, who are at the very bottom of the table, and lost 2-1. I was walking home from town at the same time as all the fans in their colours; some guy almost ran me down because I was walking across a road that he felt I had no right to be walking across. A thick-set guy, driving with his family, Southampton's red and white on his hat and his scarf.
A few weeks ago, Southampton played Man City, and beat them 3-1. This was an insane result: Southampton are struggling to avoid relegation, and Man City won the Premiership last season. I didn't realise it was on, so the next day, innocently, I went to the local store to buy some eggs or milk or whatever, and the guy behind the counter had a massive smile on his face, asked me how I was, friendly as you can imagine - and this in England! I smiled back and secretly thought 'weirdo'. Then a lady came to the counter beside me and just as I leave my guy says to her, 'Are you going to frame that?' She was buying the local paper, sports page up, Southampton's victory the only story on the it. She responds that she's from the other side of town, and that all the other shops have sold out.
That was adorable. Today Southampton played QPR, who are at the very bottom of the table, and lost 2-1. I was walking home from town at the same time as all the fans in their colours; some guy almost ran me down because I was walking across a road that he felt I had no right to be walking across. A thick-set guy, driving with his family, Southampton's red and white on his hat and his scarf.