Monday was a big day as Swansea City, my new favorite Barclays Premier League team, had its debut match against Manchester City. You might remember that Swansea City was promoted to the big time after winning its playoff match against Reading a few months back.
Luckily for me, the game was broadcast live on ESPN2 Monday afternoon. I set my DVR so that I could watch the game when I got back from work. After dinner, I sat down (OK, technically, I laid down on the floor) to watch the match.
For the first 20 minutes or so, Swansea City had the lion's share of possession. The announcers were waiting for them to fold. I kept hearing about how Manchester City is one of the favorites to win the Premier League this year, how 9 separate Manchester City players had salaries that exceeded Swansea's entire payroll, and how it was only a matter of time before the Jacks folded. Enough already.
After the first 20 minutes, Manchester City started to control the game. But, they couldn't put the ball in the net. At halftime, the score was 0-0. I was reminded of the Queen's Park Rangers match we went to see when we visited London a few years back. That game ended 0-0 and, just a few minutes before the final whistle, the young English boy sitting behind us sadly said to his father, "Nobody cares about nil-nil." How true.
Anyway, I was tired by this point (it was 9PM which is pretty much my bedtime). So, I turned off the TV and went to bed. On Tuesday morning, I told Nick how Swansea City was getting run all over the pitch by the end of the first half but that it was still a tie game at 0-0. I headed off to my lunch meeting, planning to watch the rest of the game later Tuesday. When I got home, Nick promptly told me that he'd gone online and seen that Manchester City ended up winning 4-0. So much for suspense.
I did watch the rest of the game. The first 10 minutes of the second half were great. The Swansea City fans in attendance were singing their chants so loudly that the Manchester City fans started whistling at them angrily. I learned that Swansea City fans are called "Jacks" after a legendary dog (Swansea Jack) that saved 27 people from drowning on the shores of Swansea during a storm back in the 1930's. Best of all, I heard the Jacks singing "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (Land of My Fathers), the national anthem of Wales. Just a couple days ago, I thought that "O Canada" was the best national anthem. Now I think I may have to change my mind.
I'm looking forward to Saturday's match against Wigan. It's a home match so I'm expecting a win. We'll see.
This is where the magic happens.
