Saturday, May 3, 2008

Gooner till death




To be a Gooner!!

Over these 3 years without any trophy,I have realised that you need to be special to be called a 'Gooner'.You need a strong heart and courage to come over these 3 years where everyone gets over your head where you feel like being killed mentally.Times like these for a club identifies how strong the club itself is and how faithful their supporters are.How many times do you see in club football that a kid,Gooner,died of a heart attack simply because the ball struck the bar at WHL against Spurs & being a Gooner it's tough to survive the scares of a defeat when you're 1-0 down against your arch rivals.That's the emotion you have and sometimes they over flow.

You need to be special to face the taunts of the supporters of Man Utd,Liverpool and Chelsea.They run at you and slaughter you emotionally for a moment.They insult your identity of being a 'Gooner'.They batter you in numbers for our team's failure over these 3 years.You flee away after going through that but it is the love,the passion,the emotions and the attachment that never lets you lose the faith and believe in your love for Arsenal.I know how it feels being a roommate of 3 diehard Man Utd fans.

It's only the fan that knows how much it takes & how many sacrifices you make to support the club.I see a 15 year old kid sitting in front of TV at 3:00am watching his love play against AC Milan.He forgets he has a maths exam the other day.He forgets what the aftermath of his failures would be.All he does is silently jumping all over the lounge,screaming soundlessly with his heart up to the dry throat and biting his nails just to see his passion coming out as ultimate warriors.And yea,at the same time being careful enough not to wake up his mom sleeping in the bedroom.

We see a 75 year old man up at night watching his 65 years of faith playing on the field.He's so indulged that he forgets he has some blood pressure tablets to be taken.All he has on his mind is to see the men in Red and White tirelessly running on the field making you realise that your love will never be disgraced,your love is immortal!!!

You need to be stronger than anyone else to see your team's hard work for 7 months collapsing in 28 days.You need to be more strong to watch the referees denying you at a big stage and awarding the opponents the visa to the semis of Europe.You watch and pay the price for someone else's wrong doing but you never throw away the faith.I am not complaining or cribbing or giving excuses,thats for the Chelshits to do.But you tend to feel the way I am when it happens over and over again.But then such is life.

After being through all the thick and thin,from all ups and downs,after all the crticism from media...after all the ugliest you've experienced,you wake up in the morning with the label of "Gooner" on your head.You don't know any supporters from The Kop,you don't know who Red Devils are and you dont know who are the supporters dancing on the billion bucks of Chelsea.All you realise that you're a true Gooner..the best,the best in the world.

My love for the club can wait even for a century to see the trophies coming into our club's cabinet.I'll wait because I know I will reap the fruit for my faith,passion and patience.We stood by Arsenal during the 'Invincibles' era and we stood by Arsenal when they finished 4th twice on the trot and we still stand by Arsenal even if they are trophyless for the 3rd year. Arsenal FC means much more than trophies,its a way of life.Or rather its my life.

Thank You Arsenal....thank you for everything!! I'll stand by you till the end of time!!!

And did those boots of Arsenal's team
Walk upon Emirates's turf so green?
And did they play with great esteem
The best football we've ever seen?

And with a cannon on our chest
We play with heart, mind, and zest
And we are proud to be Arsenal
In Victory Through Harmony

-- -- Victoria Concordia Crescit -- --
GOONER TILL DEATH!!