Controlling the beast

Feelings for a football team is a strange beast. In some instances it's quite an asset, most politicians say they are fans of this or that team, just to make themselves look like one of us. Just look at the Brown/Rio article HERE, quite a publicity stunt.
It can also be a decent "icebreaker" at parties where you know no one.
At my last job (unfortunately not my present) being a West Ham supporter did me a lot of good. The "right" persons were also football supporters and to have your boss look you up for a chat on Monday morning is mostly a good thing.

Then there is the Hyde side of it.
I try not to watch televised games with friends supporting the other team. It brings out some less than impressive sides of me. Suddenly the friend has turned into the devils representative and I seem to treat him accordingly. In the stand "who are ya, who are ya" feels like an appropriate oral thrashing, but at a friends house it feels a bit awkward.
Not to mention the times we lose. Watching the away games against ManC the last 2 seasons with a friend has been a big test of our friendship!

But I am a grown man! I should be able to control this, right?
Believe me, I try.
I remember one time. I was sitting next to a friends 12 year old daughter at her first game. I had decided to behave, not to make it an unpleasant experience for her (or was I just afraid to make a fool of myself?). Ronaldo (very unfortunately her favourite player) is playing and no matter what he does I will NOT behave badly.
Let's put it this way: I failed.
Ronaldo has a bad game and is frustrated, he goes down 10 yards in front of us, totally untouched, making his best impression of "killed in combat".

Suddenly I find myself, on my feet, pointing at him and screaming "GET UP YOU ****ING **** AND ACT LIKE A MAN!
...Knee jerk reflex...

A good intention is a good thing, unfortunately it does not always suffice.
If I met Ronaldo, would I yell at him? No of course not. I'd be as polite as ever possible, probably wouldn't even bring his diving up at all (at least not the first minutes).
Does that make me a hypocrite? Yes, in some ways and certainly in the eyes of some people it does, but I think there are some facets of your personality that should be saved for matches.

Tomorrow I will watch the game at Hakans house and for you to appreciate what I will be going through I give you the link to his blog HERE.