By the time you read this it is possible that Jamie Vardy may have been announced as the second major signing of the summer. If so it will be an almost Fergusonian transfer. Buying the star striker of a top four rival, spending big to cover a temporary injury problem on a player with only a couple of years left in the tank. Aggressive, positive and short term. Well, possibly – that is one interpretation.
Of course Vardy might simply prove to be this summer’s Higuaín. A steaming heap of click baiting baloney providing social media know alls and bloggers like me the opportunity to spout ill informed bollocks about something which was never going to happen in the first place.
I’ll be up front with you; I don’t give a hoot either way. Similarly the Suarez transfer never interested me in the slightest quite simply because it never happened and never came close to happening. It was as worthwhile a use of our time and attention as a discussion on whether or not the earth is flat.
I no longer get angry when people follow up on the journalist’s daydreams and discuss them in all earnest – after all like the flat earthers they do no one else any real harm. They’re entertaining a fantasy which engages and amuses them. So what? The real transfers happen in due course and all the stupid pointless arguments and debates about the hallucinatory targets and fees evaporate like the hot air they always were.
So it isn’t the existence of the Vardy rumours which interests me. It isn’t even the moral debate which signing such a player, even in merely hypothetical terms, has provoked among my friends and other contacts. What made me prick up my ears was a conversation with my wife, a person with less interest in football than I have in macramé, as we traversed the car park of our local Lidl.
I’d outlined the problems people were having stomaching the thought of cheering on a man who has proven to be of dubious moral fibre. ‘But you can’t control that’, she said, ‘you have no say in the players you support. Someone else hires them, someone else picks them. In any case they change every year until after a while the entire team has altered and yet still you support it. Heck the manager and coaches change, the kit and the badge change and even the stadium can change, and still you support it.’
Then came the sixty four thousand dollar question. ‘What exactly do you support? If The Arsenal is like some huge, complex Trigger’s broom, what is it you are actually throwing your weight behind?’ My mouth opened and closed a few times as I absently stowed a half dozen bags of cut price and highly tasty groceries into the trusty Hyundai Matrix.
We can kid ourselves it’s the ethical nature of the club and quietly overlook the scandal of allowing people to work in and around the stadium on match days for less than a decent living wage. We can point to our players’ avoiding the tabloid excesses of those from other clubs as if they were saints rather than simply well drilled and controlled. We can dislike the politics of someone from Leicester City and assume none of the current or past squad are raving right wingers in favour of politicians who’s sole aim is the destruction of all that is decent in our society.
We can make a big deal of Arsène Wenger’s decency, the unquestioned statesmanlike dignity with which he manages our club, but then what if someone like Jose Mourinho was appointed in his stead? We wouldn’t stop supporting would we? We’d perform like moral contortionists, make our excuses and go on cheering for the team.
We stand on feet of clay and I suggest we have no option but to find shoes to fit them. It’s distasteful sometimes but what can we do? The only option is to support someone else and good luck finding another team any better or more consistent with your moral stance. I suppose one could just give up following the sport at all, but where would be the fun in that?
So what did I conclude in the supermarket car park? What exactly do I support? If not the players, manager, owners, stadium, crest or shirt then what? In the end I decided all I was left with was the name. It seems that I support The Arsenal. And like my marriage I do so for better or for worse.
Positively Arsenal 
Well I suppose you have got to support something, have some faith that there is a bigger entity worth connecting to. And everyone’s route to whatever it is is fascinating. Id love to put together a little book of those journeys that took the regulars here first to Highbury and then to the Emirates.
Stew, thanks for this (even if you did manage to make me feel even more immature and foolish than normal). Wise words as ever and much needed.
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There was saying a few years ago which said if a cow stood for election under the Labour banner in Liverpool they would vote for it, well I’m the same with ARSENAL youth team, ladies, celebrity, foundation basically anything with ARSENAL on the tin and I’m behind it. This worries me when Steww points out the amount of things we can do with our lives when we are not ARSENAL distracted and George points out that organisations may in extreme cases stand for things I hate.
Great post by the way
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Oh shit. There’s a blast of depression. That’s really messed with me.
I suppose it’s not one thing. Arsenal is a million things and I’d like to think that the majority of the decisions and ideals are way above the norm. We do have class. We go against the grain. We were and are again, underdogs in a financially loaded game (last season’s champions excluded). The history and players all contribute. Wenger is a massive thing for me though. He’s what I want in the manager of the club I’ve supported for almost 30 years. I’ll always support them and perhaps my support will evolve into other things. But right now I love how everyone respects him within the club. How old legends like Pires and Henry, still love him.
Great post.
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Marvellous Stew
For me the club is a secular faith, a core of values, of activity, of colours and of tribal purpose that existed long before I did and will exist long after I am gone. It is eternal, constantly changing, yet never changing.
Like any religion it may be that I do not agree or wholly endorse all its doctrines. The personality and even the behaviour of some of its prelates I might find unsatisfactory. Sometimes I admit attendance to the devotions required can be a little dull. And like any real religion it costs money. Occasionally I may even cast a wistful look at the nearby synagogue or ponder a period of abstinence in the football-free wilderness.
But I know that the spark will flicker back to a flame again, with patience, with optimism. As it always has.
I believe in Arsenal because I believe in eternity.
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Well for me its not about supporting or not, I will continue to support come what may (unless “may” is extreme) its the amount of support that might vary. I could be lees supportive of Arsenal if less of what I love was present.
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What is it that you love though George?
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Els-nenny – this is the crux. This is what my wife was asking me. What is it, actually, that I support? I think Andy Nic’s answer comes closest.
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Excellent – food for thought from Stew’s Missus!
And what an interesting thought.
People change religions, alter political stances, abandon formerly favoured bands but never, seemingly, change the club they support. No doubt much as some would like to, from time to time. For so many of us, football, and our team, is the continuous thread running through our lives linking our dispersed pasts with our joint futures.
That we should invest so much of our identities into something that appears so permanent yet is, as ephemeral as Stew rightly points out, is the real wonder.
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Probably different for everyone isn’t it? Anicoll certainly did ring true though. I’m not religious but I get it. It’s like the relationship you have with something that you love, but at times it does your effing head in. You just can’t help yourself.
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Quite brilliant.
I now realise we weren’t laughing at Trigger but that we ARE Trigger.
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The builders did not know the uses to which their work would descend;
they made a new house with the stones of the old castle; year by year,
generation after generation, they enriched and extended it; year by year the
great harvest of timber in the park grew to ripeness; until, in sudden
frost, the place was desolate and the work all brought to nothing; Quomodo sedet sola civitas. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
And yet, I thought, stepping out more briskly towards the camp, where
the bugles after a pause had taken up the second call and were sounding
Pic-em-up, Pic-em-up, hot potatoes — and yet that is not the last word; it
is not even an apt word; it is a dead word from ten years back.
Something quite remote from anything the builders intended has come out
of their work, and out of the fierce little human tragedy in which I played;
something none of us thought about at the time: a small red flame — a
beaten-copper lamp of deplorable design, relit before the beaten-copper
doors of a tabernacle; the flame which the old knights saw from their tombs,
which they saw put out; that flame burns again for other soldiers, far from
home, farther, in heart, than Acre or Jerusalem. It could not have been lit
but for the builders and the tragedians, and there I found it this morning,
burning anew among the old stones.
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Had to google that FH. Birdseed Regurgitated? Never read it to my shame, but you know what I think I just might.
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Nice one Steww
A short pithy response from me has already been delivered by PG.
A more considered response follows.
This is entertainment. Just entertainment. If Arsenal regressed to the football I grew up watching them play, then I will lose interest. I will still align myself with the club but I will give merit (whatever I deem meritorious in terms of football quality) to the team(s) that try to play entertaining football. Steww has stated many times before on PA there are far more important issues in life than football.
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It certainly can be entertaining, but I don’t feel it is just entertainment GP. There is something visceral about football and about supporting a club, not a product of the intellect. If it were the conscious acquisition of or submersion in entertainment how could one explain the lifetime of agony that those born to support Hartlepool or Spurs are prepared to endure ?
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Damn it Stew. You are forcing me to think this through. Ever since the Vardy news broke I have been struggling with this moral issue wondering if I should put my thinking into a blog and eventually wimping out because I suspect it would cause splits and schisms among us Positivistas.
I already put it out there that we should reject the temptation to moralize about players. But as Stew’s wife correctly observed it is dangerous, even foolhardy, to moralize about the club. I constantly struggle with the fact the club is owned not merely by a billionaire but by a member of the Walton family who through Walmart have profited by exploiting low wage labour at home and abroad, not even paying a living wage to the majority of their employees in the US. I know full well that Arsenal is just another vehicle to grow Stan’s wealth yet I have vigorously defended him on these pages for wisely managing the club, ensuring it’s long term sustainability and competitiveness.
Clearly supporting Arsenal comes with many internal conflicts and contradictions. Is that any different from real life? I empathize with the view that Arsenal has a long tradition of class but do we really believe the bankers and privileged elites that have been among the owners and directors support the club for the same reasons as the plebs like most of us. For example David Dein was speculating in sugar while my compatriots were barely subsisting in the canefields and sugar factories. Yet we both virulently support Arsene Wenger and his vision for the club.
The way I see it supporting a football club is like becoming a member of a family. I am crystal clear that there are family members I simply loathe and detest but at the end of the day I will defend the family against our rivals. I generally hang only with family members who I like and denounce those who by their words and deeds are destroying the family. I have no control over the big boys in the family who make the decisions especially their decisions about who they employ to represent the family. Ultimately the family is their to represent us footballistically. If the family heads decide to piss off their members then regardless of whether you are based in Islington or a member of the worldwide diaspora the family will be fractured. That is my quick take.
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Being guardians of our own morals is a heavy weight to carry.
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I am an atheist, but A5 hit the nail on the head. It’s strange when you put your thoughts down and then read someone elses reply and you think thats so much better than I put.
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I have never known that feeling Ian.
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Thats the great thing George – Even the Scarfist nutters sincerely believe that theirs is the right approach and the rest of us are clueless part-timers.
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Shotta – just bear in mind no Vardy ‘news’ has broken. At present it’s all media and social media speculation.
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I feel a £ figure is emerging in Croydon !!
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I wish your wife hadn’t asked that question, Stew. Maybe Andy Nic’s reply comes closest to easing my tortured turnip of a brain.
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Excellent posts like this one don’t always get the quality of response that they deserve – but this one did. The almost frightening thing to a half century plus supporter like me is that the tribal nature of fandom seems to both increase and fracture with every passing day. Thank goodness (or whatever) we chose to support Arsenal rather than join far less worthy tribes.
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Piggybacking off A5’s religion analogy, I’m going to go deep here. This feels like a safe space…so here goes.
Most of you know I attend church regularly. Most Sundays (except when Arsenal have big games) I get up, get ready and get to church by nine – and I am not a morning person. Here’s the thing though: I’m not sure I really believe, deep down, a lot of what’s considered traditional Christian doctrine. I struggle through Holy Week and Easter, because I’m not sure how I feel about the resurrection narrative. I usually only pray when people say “Let us pray”. I don’t know if it works, beyond making the person who believes it works feel better (which is totally legitimate, IMO). When I read the Bible, which truthfully isn’t that often outside of church, it’s for what universal truths it has to offer, not for what doctrine can be found there. I *think* I believe in God, but if you pushed me pretty hard on it, I probably wouldn’t be able to articulate why. So…why do I bother? I bother because of the people who sit in the pews around me on Sunday. A group of people who on the whole are smart, funny, often irreverent (and this includes the pastor), aren’t afraid of hard questions and embrace people who ask them, and generally just want the world to be a better place. They care about me and my family, and I care about them. In short, I don’t believe in doctrine or institutions – I believe in people and connection. If next week a pastor was hired who pushed doctrine over people, I would stop going. I would have to decide whether to give it up altogether or try to find a new place where I felt like I belonged.
So….back to Arsenal. I don’t believe in The Arsenal, the institution. Sorry, but I just don’t. I believe in the people who make it up. And that includes the manager and the players and also the friends that I have because of it who are smart, funny, often irreverent, aren’t afraid of hard questions and embrace people who ask them. My angst over Jamie Vardy boils down to this: is this just that new congregant that happens to believe God hates gay marriage and that Muslims are going to hell? Can I tolerate that person on the surface, engage them when they are open to it, and try to model a different way of thinking that might change theirs? Find things to like about them, and hope they do about me? Or, is this the first domino to fall that fundamentally changes the makeup of the family?
Those YouTube videos that Arsenal make? They make them for people like me. People who need to have connection, who need to engage with the players on a personal level in order to really root for them. People who get all warm and fuzzy over pictures of babies and dogs and spouses and holidays. But Kelly, I hear you say, that stuff is staged, don’t you know that? Who knows if they are all harboring evil thoughts that they are just polished and managed enough not to say out loud? My answer is, how do I know that about any of you? We are all managers of our image, if you get right down to it. But, in my experience, it’s pretty hard to fake completely. Yes, if you have a PR team, it’s easier. And maybe (probably?) I’m naïve. But I don’t think it’s of any advantage in life to be completely cynical, either. I try to strike a balance between the two that I can live with.
Maybe this Jamie Vardy transfer won’t happen at all. But if it does, another friend gave me the best way to look at it: Vardy is rough around the edges, and has definitely made some big (huge!) mistakes. But, is redemption worthwhile? Isn’t sport for many a way of moving beyond the person you used to be and taking the opportunity to grow and become something different? And isn’t Arsenal one of the best possible places for that to happen? My church has seen a lot of people come and go in the last 25 years, but none has fundamentally changed who we are as a family. That’s my hope for Arsenal.
Ugh, this was long…sorry…
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And its all over in Croydon
My guess probably £1.5 to £1.6m + her costs, say £2 million in all. They will be nailing finer details.
For the banter I want Dr Eva busy at Colney tomorrow
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“Isn’t sport for many a way of moving beyond the person you used to be and taking the opportunity to grow and become something different?”
As much for the fans as for the the players perhaps.
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That’s a heck of post Kelly. Thank you.
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Kelly, If I were a JOB i would call you a plastic Christian.
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I see the Westboro Baptists are in
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Hmmn,.. What I support… The Arsenal, I love the way they play… DB10 and overmars were 2 of my favourites and particularly DB10 for holland in the 1998 world cup was the reason I traced out his club and got to the arsenal…was nice to see a few others I liked including overmars. I only really know AW as Arsenal manager and also this entertaining style of play… I enjoy watching Barca and a few other teams too
DB10 has left but it has helped that AW is a pleasant fellow and those in and around the club seem to have a certain standard to what they do. So I can almost believe that I may not support the arsenal as much if whoever takes over from AW is someone like Jose… bad character, bad footy to match! Never had cause to actually test this theory, but happily for me AW has remained in charge since.
I am an unabashed serious minded Christian as much as can be counted as serious-minded by standards I have been able to understand from the bible. There is provision for growing up to the measure of the fullness of Christ… here a little, there a little, precept upon precept, line upon line…. as we from time to time get a clearer perception /understanding. Much the same way a medical student may be fondly called a doctor by all and sundry and yet by the medical councils standards is not one until graduated and sworn in to the medical oath and even after that he / she must still go through other years and levels of specialization studies…
Being a Christian is not the absence of making mistakes or of being perfect but there are standards as recorded in the bible and beyond what the pastor says as was reported of the Berean Christians being called more honorable for going back to check what they were told, we can go back and check out some of the stuff preached so we have a hang of it as we read the bible ourselves. “…Study to show thyself approved…” is a phrase that springs to mind. Jose for example, seems deliberately set up to be unpleasant… he likely has his reasons – much like many blogs that think – thinks negativity gets more attention media and all… Can’t stand him.. Naturally not suggesting he can’t live his life as he sees fit but at least i have a choice not to watch him carry out those antics and so this may diminish my following of the Arsenal with the likes of Jose in charge.
The Owners are more difficult to call… their activities are further from most of us that are not in USA or Ukraine for example and know little or nothing of their dealings as a family and as a business outside Arsenal.
OOppps getting too long and into rambling territory so.. Zip here.. LOL.
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Thanks, George. I knew this was a safe space. (banned smiley thingy)
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Some really good, interesting comments.
I like arsenal cos they wear red and smile the most.
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I’ve just seen a picture of Aaron Ramsey shirtless on Twitter. Talk about a religious experience…
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Stew’s missus is correct, we are out of our tiny, baby minds?
Kelly, we none of us, have any say who our parents were, are or will be. So nationalism, religion and colour of skin is irrelevant! Or, should be.
I had no say in being born in Balham, London. I had no say in being brought up in Devonshire.
Supporting the Arsenal, is my decision, and mine alone.
I do have Herbert Chapman’s, George Allison’s and Tom Whittaker’s books about the Arsenal. And a fragment of Bernard Joy’s.
It is about playing the game within the laws of the game. It is about praising the opponent, for a good game. May the best person, win. Shake hands, at the end of the game and saying – “well played”. No gloating, when Spurs lose at Newcastle, hahaha! Well played, Newcastle.
Tony Adams? Paul Merson? Ray Parlour, failing to disclose all his earnings? Or Jack Wilshere and his neighbour? Sure, 18 feet is rather high for netting? Somehow, I do not believe these players, would have stayed long at the Arsenal, with Chapman, Allison, or Whittaker.
That is my view, others may disagree.
Faster, Longer, Higher!
Thank you, Stew!. And, ALL.
COTG
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Its not only the name. You dont support the name itself, as the name its self is merely an umbrella term( that itself means little unless its linked to that which it can be used to describe and that we give the symbols meaning in relation to x or y)all in a state of flux.
Plus, its a question of firstly what do we mean “support”?”Support” linguistically is almost impossible for the brain to do constantly, how can it? As A5 says this is where “intellect” can play a role. However it gets complex, as “intellect” may not be able to logically “support” when examining prior observances,even these observances are in flux and are still bound to subjectivity and too quick to control.
Our responses work as: history( x/y )> action>reaction>articulation, meaning that negativity(its quite a normal response,if in doubt does not Arsène himself react negatively in an instant on the pitchside, then later revises when faced with the press or players later?) pops in at so fast that we cannot stop our thoughts but we can control our articulations, but it isnt easy? It takes concentrated effort or some form of other distraction to not react in an immediate?
In fact its even more complex as there is never any isolated moment to react to, but a whole history,biographical(personal) and extraneous factors ever pushing on to the moment that we react to. At this moment perhaps we can only be called linguistically a “follower”.
Later, after the game if we are still propelled by the same system then we will be left with a system in place until this changes.If down then we are a “follower” or still OK about our reactions and emotions, then a “supporter”.
At that point we are still linguistically either “supporting” or “following”. A “supporter” cannot be merely a “follower” be, unless they are not being a “supporter”,and a “follower” cannot be a “supporter”, both can be a fanatic(fan) and hold whichever view point they want such is the emotional drive of the fanatic(fan).
A “supporter” will always the bring a certain stance to the table,but there may be times when the “follower” may also be of benefit,despite our own moral misgivings.After all its how we perceive the world. And perceive the world we do,which brings up questions that are difficult to answer. Like, “how do we know we have right perception?”.Perhaps when we stop suffering at all levels?Is language just an approximation of everything else?Why are we here and who are we?Mostly other peoples ideas?
The polemical reaction to “negativity” can produce a change of attitude to the “positive”,the duality of the two rides into the sunset. For even in the “positive”lies the “negative” and vice versa,rising at any given moment.Its all there to see.And therein lies or problem that eventually we will become a hypocrite,but what do we expect in a system of dualities rising in flux? A constant?
So back to the word “Arsenal”, the name. I wrote we cannot just follow the “name” as the name/word/letters mean are empty themselves,but they do lead us back to something else,perhaps back to the whole if we see it in such a way?Thats all they can denote if we give them that meaning,which we have? But we haven’t, as somethings “Arsenal”will always be excluded depending on our viewpoint?
The word/symbols if we take we give it meaning, points back to something else.What does it point to? Our relationship to language is always absurd,in that we give meaning to words that denote something, but arent those things.Somehow all is nameless, but we ourselves give the meaning, then either enjoy or take offence at, but behind this is something itself.Something nameless or has its own language we cannot comprehend?
That which we are concerned with(what AFC might be?) is a conglomerate of highly complex relative inter-reacting systems and forms (chemical,physical,biological,zoological,psychological etc) which are ever in flux (stream,flow)within a highly complex form of perception of positive and negative (as perceived in any given context), amongst an infinite amount of polemics of all forms (etc) which have tried to adopt a conflicting but similar attitude in co-operation and achieve some strategies that are trying to be implemented in the face of a counter force, to try and attain and idea of victory( which is fleeting) and all wrapped up super subtle levels of changing morals.
Ambitions,sporting,financial,personal,collaborative etc.Yet all are dependent on the counter relation of “other”(a counter-force) to re-enforce an idea of what might be. Without the re-enforcement the system turns on itself-as we have seen at AFC and in many other clubs and groups,in fact where ever humans are present,systems of hierarchy are made,and one(or a group) and if no polemical outsider is found then one inside will be made,again this is always relative,but ever present.
Hence the human need for the scapegoat,all perceive themselves as innocent and the “other” as perpetrators(pending) if not, mostly. Its the wrong need,(based on our own relationship with fear) but to not have a counter element would mean the end of systems like football? And what of our own egoistic point of view?Plus this conglomerate of elements “Arsenal” is based on an element of fear.Its not as obvious at first but its there, lurking,spying and waiting in every corner,the fear of failure.Without failure there is no success.The two are linked until we dismiss the system of duality. But what is there to achieve, superiority over another(s)? Thats the basis of football. Yet we are morally outraged at other forms of superiority made manifest yet its all based on fear too From failure comes shame, anger depression,and a plethora of other feelings, all based on fear. No?
Seeing as humans have invested much into the illusion of sport to dictate how their emotions will be,we could consider the moral implications as football as being a substitute for war and other nefarious things that are based on being “first” or “superior”?How can we expect not to feel hurt, shamed or humiliated when this is the objective of the game? A5 points us in an interesting direction,but can we trust that direction as who are the authorities in a relative system,our vast interlocking web that can implement reason or logic?Whose trust worthy?
But after a while without “Reason/Logic”(“Reason/Logic” isn’t always the moral arbitrator they pose to be and can be manipulated by anyone?) would we walk away?Yet we desperately need Logic and Reason, but of the two perhaps Reason,which is based on compassion,without this then its all fall down? Strange that the club is founded on a weapon making factory,and not always for defence. How often do we cast our moral eye over that?
Our hypocrisy is that we judge misdemeanors that we hear second hand and cannot verify or even contextualize ourselves,yet comment emotionally upon with great force either for or against, and yet rejoice when another team loses and their fans(humans) feel shame and humiliation or we feel some other form of Schadenfreude these people,and of course we feel justified.But we dont often feel the need to lovingly re-educate to stop the problems in the first place? All attack is a cry out for help,its difficult for us to digest this,but it changes our outlook by understanding this.All anger is based on fear too.Its a tough one to grasp and not always easy to see and compassion and forgiveness are hard to have and show.
Yet we are outraged when fans go mad and beat the shit out of others or are verbally abusive on websites? Such is the power of the illusion.Why is it fully OK for one set to feel superior and not another? To say it is would make us a moral hypocrite and our viewpoint redundant?Perhaps our biggest problem here is to involve our daily emotions with a system that is( considering how some live on the planet) absurd theatres,people kicking a ball around and into a net!?Yet its lured us all in, and gives millions pleasure(and pain). What if all our efforts with football were ploughed collectively into our daily social structures? What could be achieved then? The plight of the Earths ecology may mean we have to operate and pitch in soon anyway, by the time it may be way too late to undo most of the major damage.
Yet many are grateful that its football that soaks up all this, and not another drum beater calling people to forms of destruction and annihilation because their egos( I mean a mixed collection of Ego/Id/Superego in this case) that cant cope with any idea of plurality or tolerance due to some biographical make-up? But just because we see ourselves as a “supporter” doesn’t necessarily mean that we have tolerance or compassionate understanding of others, in fact that may even be the realm of the “follower”? It may be part of the fanatics make up depending on their form of fanaticism at that moment but its unlikely?.And even if we did feel compassion, how do we know its not some feeling of superiority thats driving it? Its easy to help up the defeated when you have gained a moments idea of superiority?”There,there Spurs, better luck next time”.
One thing has struck me in the last few weeks. whenever a public show-trial comes around and lures us in, we hardly see the suffering of the perpetrator? How much egoistic fear they were trapped in, that they lost their way,once they were a helpless child and will suffer further now until some form of self acceptance comes and repentance,if they come?Suffering before,during and afterwards. Suffering handing on more suffering and creating it ever thus.Of course we are outraged and hurt and distressed at human behavior,but how often do we observe our own to any real depth?It might not be as bad as that we which see or comment on but we never or rarely feel sad that a human become so lost that they would hurt another. Compassion and forgiveness are hard for the Ego to grapple?
We have our our own moral judgement which is either conditioned or metaphysically inherent from birth(and understood), but whose to say who might not end up in a similar situation? All have the possibility, especially if certain contexts happened and who can tell whats coming next? Fear is the driver of all immoral acts,until we address this, how can we expect this to go away?But what will be the consequences if we address this? More dignity for sure, the less fear we have the more dignity we can have and better relationships with those around us -does that mean we can see better? But what will we see? We will see a mixture of success and mistake as a human stil stuck in relativity,what else can we expect while caught up in duality?
These ambitions(of the club) at any given moment are also in flux,on or off the field and may not even necessarily be about “winning”.But can be.
We either “support” or “follow”this group of elements(under a umbrella term of “Arsenal”) for whatever reason or until we find that it changes to such a degree and we no longer find this as acceptable within the flux of ideas that we are calling the border of tolerance (changing)of that which might “be” acceptable, and either “follow” or leave or continue to “support”.
There is no permanence, or anything that we can call “Arsenal”,as anything that begins changes, again and again and is ever thus.We perhaps cannot even find the beginning and if we did what came before Big Bang, if there was Big Bang or the Creation if thats our theory? But thats not to say its not possible, but perhaps in our dual system its not possible to comprehend, as to create something, a new structure has to be thought of, then made outside of the previous and then connected(relative)yet all things change and find this system,its like a striving for something else,outside of itself?.However, wherever we look we can see “Arsenal” right before us as a collective abstract umbrella idea full of trillion and trillions of components,so perhaps words and concepts fail us and we can but look without analysis? Yet we are educated this is the wrong way but its the old onion game, not much there in the end,but is everything. But which Western philosopher or psychologist managed to capture reality with words through thought or observance? Or even aspects of it to any real degree as any unchanging element?
The club as never been the same since day one, and never can be,it might seem similar but even that is an illusion.It doesnt represent any single idea nor has ever,except to hopefully to play football. Its not possible to stay in stasis,and even if a Manifesto is written as a system of guidance,people change (die) and new visions are brought in,all under the heavy weathers of politic and economic change,weather and all the other forms of Cosmic flux-its impossible to see the consequences in the long run despite our emotional investment of how things will be and how we want them to be.
Will the end be the end? And who will witness the end to say its the end? If so how is this possible to know its the end?
When we look for “Arsenal” we cannot find it, but its right before us as “Arsenal”.It exists and doesnt exist.Its real but its not really real.Arsenal and yet not Arsenal.Its the same for everything on the planet. Life after Wenger will be as different as it was after Rioch,as it was after Graham, as it was after Howe as it was after Neill (where I came in– those before me have to carry and confirm that torch of idea)and so on and so forth until we get to my family member Joseph Smith.And even thats not the beginning.We dont like the paradox though, of it being the same but not being the same at all. It attacks our logic, and logic fails us here with concept.But sight doesn’t even if we are slightly myopic at the beginning.
So, it could mean that you/we “support”(bolster,bear all or part of the weight of,carry prop up) “X ” (only ever for moments due to our own reactions to reactions),which itself is a conglomerate of “elements” and shifting polemics,that have been given some symbols to denote a system of reaction and counter reaction in flux, which have certain aims,sometimes ,which are always dependent on “other” counter forces in various forms as a way of energizing in order to try and achieve an idea of superiority,relying on certain outcomes as a false system of reflection,otherwise we can “follow” or take the position of the fanatic,which may be whichever, whatever whenever. Not necessarily for better or worse, given our shifting boundaries of moral perceptions (in flux), but for as long as we want(lasts) we have a form of relationship to “X” which we certainly sometimes “support” and sometimes “follow”.
Thanks Stew.
COYG!!
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I knew when I saw the title of this post that it would provide food for thought and the comments provide some tasty side dishes too.
I was not born into an Arsenal supporting family. I chose to support them because of Ian Wright, who I thought was an exciting and charismatic player. The intensity of my support waxed and waned over the years, but I kept an interest in their progress even after he moved on. I really got more serious after the move to Emirates as I was able to attend games and then found an online community to engage with. Having supported the team/s through the lean years it’s been pleasing to see the progress and feel part of the recent successes.
The possibility of Vardy joining has me questioning whether I can do the mental gymnastics required to continue to support the team if it might mean supporting someone like him. It is not a comfortable place, but I cannot help my feelings. This speculation has made me realise that whilst I support Arsenal, to me Arsenal is the sum of its parts not an entity in its own right. I have developed an emotional connection to the club, via the personnel that represent it. Whether that emotional connection carries me through or breaks remains to be seen.
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Supporting a club….especially in this day and age when they are so removed, it’s all a pretty abstract notion. Guess it is a combination of memories past, future hope and that tribal thing that is so prevalent in much of humanity ….to greater and lesser degrees.
Vardy is a tough one….on one level, he has said/ done some pretty unpleasant things , I cannot see him as anything other than a diver that will not get away with things at Arsenal that he did at Leicester….but if Wenger sees fit to sign him, should we back our manager in this? Jack Wilshere also seems to attract trouble, but, he is one of ours, and despite saying silly things at times, doesn’t strike me as a racist, tho perhaps a tottenhamist….and, being someone who knows a London hospital consultant, I can vouch for the fact that Jack….and also, John Terry do a hell of a lot of unpublicised charity work, especially with kids.
Maybe Vardy behind the scenes looks after old people, rescues stray cats, campaigns to increase bee populations…ok maybe not….
Or maybe, Vardy may not even happen , saving some a dilemma……he doesn’t exactly seem to be jumping into Arsenals allegedly outstretched arms.
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Wow. Just look at the contributions to what was really a very simple post, more of a one line question – and yet just read through the comments. This is why I love this blog. Not many other places on the internet I’ve known where philosophical, intellectual, religious, atheist, ideas comfortably rub shoulders with straight forward football comments.
You lot are just great.
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Mills – I was doing my show when your post appeared so couldn’t read it through until this morning but just wanted to thank you for it. Lots of food for thought. I like the idea of the Arsenal being a stream. It is there in front of you. You can point it out to others, describe it even touch parts of it and yet the stream you look at now has gone forever and is changed and changing all the time. It actually doesn’t exist.
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I think I’ve been looking for this place all my life,
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Top work Mills: cry me a river, or as Thomas de Quincy wrote
;
Put into a Roman clepsydra one hundred drops of water; let these run out as the sands in an hour−glass; every drop measuring the hundredth part of a second, so that each shall represent but the three hundred−and−sixty−thousandth part of an hour. Now, count the drops as they race along; and, when the fiftieth of the hundred is passing, behold! Forty−nine are not, because already they have perished; and fifty are not, because they are yet to come. You see, therefore, how narrow, how incalculably narrow, is the true and actual present. Of that time which we call the present, hardly a hundredth part but belongs either to a past which has fled, or to a future which is still on the wing. It has perished, or it is not born. It was, or it is not. Yet even this approximation to the truth is infinitely false. For again subdivide that solitary drop, which only was found to represent the present, into a lower series of similar fractions, and the actual present which you arrest measures now but the thirty−sixth−millionth of an hour; and so by infinite declensions the true and very present, in which only we live and enjoy, will vanish into a mote of a mote, distinguishable only by a heavenly vision. Therefore the present, which only man possesses, offers less capacity for his footing than the slenderest film that ever spider twisted from her womb. Therefore, also, even this incalculable shadow from the narrowest pencil of moonlight is more transitory than geometry can measure, or thought of angel can overtake. The time which is contracts into a mathematic point; and even that point perishes a thousand times before we can utter its birth. All is finite in the present; and even that finite is infinite in its velocity of flight towards death.
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My route to Arsenal was because it was my nearest club but that only came about because of my Dad getting a Job in a London overspill town. My Dads side of the family lived all over east London and were all West Ham fans, where as my Mum coming from wood green were all spuds.The first pic ive got of me in an ARSENAL kit was when I was four which would of been 69 just before the famous double winning side. I didnt go to my first game until I was 8/9 in 74 that wasnt a great side but I fell in love with the place. Having been at school with Liverpool, Leeds and all sorts of london surporting kids going to a place where everyone felt the same was a sheer joy.
It was that sence of belonging, all in it together and community which Kelly was talking about earlier and which I fully understand. It is the biggest thing that upsets me with the wobs today, while there have always been critics in the crowd they always were there for the greater good and not just for the glory.
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Poets and philosophers here too……of my…
Some wonderful comments.
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I have created paradise, Kneel before me .
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I’d wondered what we’d see from Steww in the off-season. Would he be arrsssed?
Apparently, yes, and how?
In helping out a friend last night I heard his angst about the whole Vardy thing. Although I’d read many replies to this article by that time, I could only remain neutral.
And this morning I’ve read even more wisdom.
I feel privileged to read articles and comments like these. Thank you all.
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Yeah this is good. I really enjoy this blog. You guys are a factor in why I support. I need to hang out here much more!
Regarding the Vardy issue (I know, I know). I don’t care how it pans out at the minute. If a striker is needed (it is) then while he prats about I hope we are lining up another. But if he does join, then racist or not, I’m not going to give him the power to effect my support of this club even the tiniest bit.
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I think the contributions on here in the past 24 hours have been excellent – if you have any more up your sleeve Stew let them out !!
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I’d hit the ‘like’ button but I think I should try and avoid RSI
I can walk to watch the Arsenal and considering my levels of laziness I think it’s fair to say that is why I support the club. What do I support? The club. Which more then any other represents ‘the best in English football’ and h best in English community sporting organisations / clubs at the top now corporatised level. Walmarts*warts and all.
*Can’t avoid the buggers beyond a certain point. Just have to hope you have blood diamond squeezing veteran handy to force these monsters into some kind of contractual or legal obligations that no appears to be interested upon speculating upon. The biggest story of AFCs recent history, the deathbed haggle, a billion blogs a million podcasts and: silence on the matter. I don’t actually care myself but I find it most odd that so many who spend so much time in the club avoid The Story.
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I asked the wonder of Twitter if anyone had read or could point to anything resembling an iota of evidence that the Vardy thing was, is, has ever been real.
One comment allegedly made by Ranieri and quoted in La Gazzetta dello Sport is the only answer I received. This appeared in the form of “It’s all true” apparently said by Ranieri apparently about Arsenal making an offer. No indication who he said it to, in response to what question.
The whole thing stinks to me. Not saying it isn’t true just saying absolutely nobody knows if it is and everyone is talking as if it is. Now if you know different I’d love to learn.
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