Ask the Sports Nerd: Bob Sturm answers your questions on archiving classic games, European travel and more

https://theathletic.com/1015141/2019/06/07/ask-the-sports-nerd-bob-sturm-answers-your-questions-on-archiving-classic-games-european-travel-and-more/

I have been covering sports for quite a while and have done so for The Athletic since the start of 2018. I’ve written 225 stories for this fine publication, making this past time to get real with each other. I have a confession to make:

I am a sports nerd.

I have never denied it, of course, but I also don’t go around telling people; it might scare them off. I follow sports, I love sports and, yes, as pathetic as it may sound, I definitely live sports.

For that reason, perhaps I am equipped to take you down some roads you might have questions and concerns about. I am 46 years into this journey, and sports has been my No. 1 interest the entire way. I assume it will always be that way. I have no regrets, but also no other real areas of expertise in my life, to be fair. If you need someone to fix your car or repair a sink, get someone else. But if you just need a sports nerd to help you navigate these choppy sports-waters, I am your guy.

Now that we have established this, let’s tackle some topics, as well as a few concerns.

Today is Mike Modano’s 49th birthday and the 20th anniversary of the 1999 Dallas Stars Stanley Cup. This was an important time for me in moving to this big city and taking a sports job at the age of 26 in a big city that lacked hockey media. It wasn’t why I was hired at The Ticket, but loving the game and working at a radio station which lacked hockey people during a Stanley Cup run absolutely helped me establish a foothold.

The memories were amazing and as a young man in a new city, I can’t imagine anything better about how my run in Dallas began. And since this weekend represents 20 years since that awesome team won it all, I am doing what a proper sports nerd might do: Reviewing the series as it happens (since none of my current teams are involved in the NBA or NHL Finals).

In confessing this recently, I was hit with a number of requests on how someone was to accomplish this quest of re-watching the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, so let’s start right there. Now, I will tell you right now that I recorded all of these when the games were played. But, assuming that won’t work out, allow me to point you to the games on Youtube.

Game 1 – 1999 Stanley Cup Finals:

Game 2 – 1999 Stanley Cup Finals

Game 3- 1999 Stanley Cup Finals

Game 4 – 1999 Stanley Cup Finals

Game 5 – 1999 Stanley Cup Finals

Game 6 – 1999 Stanley Cup Finals

Or, if you would like to take 15 hours and just use one to watch the Championship video for the 1999 Dallas Stars, you can take this shorter journey:

The time investment is immense, and the quality is fitting of video recorded 20 years ago on a VHS tape, before high-definition television. Enjoy, or take a hard pass.

And, now, to your questions!

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Hey Bob,

I could be mistaken, but I was pretty sure you’ve been converting your old game tapes to digital. I was wondering if you could give me some insight into your setup or send me a link that helped you get started. When I was researching it there were so many different methods/setups that I thought I may have better luck asking the expert. I’ve got about 20 years of OU games I was wanting to digitize. 

Thanks! Nathan Olivarez

Sure, Nathan. This is a passion project that started when my parents bought a family VCR in 1986. Then, at the age of 14, I thought I needed to not only watch sports, but to then record it so I could (never) watch it again at my leisure. I started recording sports for future reference that day, and I still do so now. As you can imagine, that means I have thousands of sporting events recorded, annoying my wife in all sorts of formats. We started in VHS, then quickly converted the games to DVD when those became available and now finally, I think, to a digital .mp4 format which can be saved on any number of external hard drives and won’t lose quality to the decay of time and dust.

To turn your VHS or DVDs into a digital file that you can then keep on a memory stick or external hard drive, you will need to follow this process. First, they need to be converted to .mp4 format, which I do with my MacBook and a piece of hardware/software called “El Gato Video Capture” which links your VCR/DVD player to your computer (there is also one called Eye TV that does the same thing for HD games you have recorded on your modern day DVR for more recent events). I am sure there are a number of competitors that do the same thing, but I am not some tech nerd, just a sports nerd that figures it out on the fly.

Anyway, you convert your game from the VHS or DVD to your .mp4 and then edit it with an application called MPEG Streamclip to cut out anything you don’t want, before labeling it with obsessive detail and placing it on an external hard drive. (I back mine up just in case.) The initial capture must be done in real time, and therefore a four-hour game takes four hours to dump on to a laptop (which is annoying if you want to use the laptop for anything else during this duration) so I usually try to do it while I am sleeping. I have become quite proficient at this, as my collection is absolutely ridiculous in size and out of control.

What do I do with these games after this painstaking process? Usually nothing. But if I ever want to watch Super Bowl 22 again, it is a few clicks away. The big pay-off here is that 10 boxes of VHS tapes can fit on one external hard drive about the size of a small book. And that makes the wife happier, which is what life is all about.

Hey Bob – 

Saw on Twitter that you got tix to White Hart Lane for a match in April. I know you’ve mentioned before, vaguely I think, how you get tickets for EPL matches.

I have always wanted to go to a match or 2 and will be over there next year….do you mind telling me your hook-up? If its a friend of yours, then I understand if you don’t….if it’s thru a broker or some other method, then I would appreciate your guidance. 

Thanks and enjoy your trip, can’t wait to hear about it as long as Dan will let you!

P1 Phil

I get asked this question all the time and thought it might be helpful to be able to just direct people here in the future. The English Premier League is the best football (soccer) in the world, and one of my favorite things to nerd out on. I have attended 22 different English matches over the years in my eight journeys to the UK and can’t wait to go again. Journey No. 8 in April gave me a chance to witness my beloved Liverpool taking down Chelsea in person, just six weeks before they were crowned Champions of Europe. I got to witness about the coolest goal I have ever seen live from a player I consider one of my favorites ever:

Mo Salah kicked the ball directly at me. I am sure of it. If the corner of the net doesn’t stop the ball it would have hit me in the face. It was glorious. In fact, I accidentally was recording on my phone at the moment — to merely capture singing for the radio show — and as you can see, things got delirious when it all happened.

• The bigger the match, the more trouble you will have securing tickets. If you just want to see a good match over there, I can tell you about an infinite number of great places where you can pretty easily get tickets. But if you insist on seeing Chelsea hosting Arsenal or Manchester United hosting Manchester City, prepare for high prices.

• I recommend the smaller grounds. Most mid-table teams have a better stadium setting anyway. I have been to Old Trafford, and it is not that great. Same with Arsenal’s new stadium. (The old place — Highbury — was the best.) Go to Crystal Palace, Everton, QPR, Fulham, or Watford. Awesome scenes. It’s not that difficult to get in most matches, but so much fun. I realize if you are a Tottenham fan you will want to see their home scene, but most 60,000-seat stadiums will let you down.

• Beware of counterfeit tickets. Scammers fool plenty of people there. Do not be the guy who is planning the time of his life only to get to the gate and to be turned away.

• Plan to spend some money. Low end isn’t bad ($40-60), but high-end can certainly get up there a bit (I have paid $300 for a match). The thing is, I go once every 24-36 months, so if you want to see something awesome, you have to bite the bullet sometimes.

• I have made connections over the years so there are occasions where I am able to get tickets the easy way, but in April I did have to buy them just like anyone else to see Tottenham’s new stadium and it was pretty pricey, considering a less-than-great opponent. (Sorry, Huddersfield.) But here is the big secret on how to make sure your tickets are legit, you will get in, and you will do what you wanted to do: book a hotel that has a concierge. It’s pretty easy to figure that part out and, yes, it will be a bit more pricey, but save your money. Once you have booked your room, call the concierge and tell him the match you need to see. He will go to work for you. He will also charge you a little on his end, no doubt, but he is going to be obligated to make you a happy man, and you will not have to worry about the tickets being authentic. He will find tickets and they won’t be terribly cheap, but you will have secured your match. Again, that will probably cost $200 or more per ticket, assuming you want to see a big match. If you don’t care about the stakes, pick a smaller situation, and you might be able to get tickets at face value through the club.

Ok, enough of my reminiscing, let’s talk about you making your life-long memory over there.

A few things to remember:

I have never not had fun. It is safe, enjoyable and you can gamble inside the stadium in the UK, which helps those who get bored watching soccer. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking you can cheer for the road team amongst the home supporters; they don’t do that over there.

(Photo: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

Is there a sport that you tried to get into, but just couldn’t? Also, you mentioned on the radio that the UFC had a chance to be that “next big sport” but went awry – what are your thoughts on where they went wrong? 

I would say that the answer is generally “no.” I suppose I have faded from some sports like NASCAR and boxing over the years, but if I tried something, got to know the topic matter, and really gave it my attention, I generally enjoyed it. It isn’t the game, I suppose. It is the human competition that I enjoy so much.

Where did UFC take a wrong turn? Well, I guess it is debatable about whether they did or not, but my answer would be that they got too excited about crossing over to the masses when Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor (and to a lesser extent Brock Lesnar) captured the attention of the mainstream media. I think they lost their path a bit at that moment and started making short-sighted decisions based on cash grabs. Speaking of cash grabs, I think they have really hurt their product by going to a primarily streaming platform that seems to largely take their product more out of sight, out of mind. As a huge UFC guy, I have found myself less engaged over the first five months of their new relationship.

Bob Sturm

✔@SportsSturm

Daniel Calhoun@DC_BigD

Twitter Ads info and privacy

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 · Jun 6, 2019

Tomorrow's Friday Riffing is an experimental edition called "Ask the Sports Nerd". So far, I have questions on #ProjectDigitize, how to get EPL tickets, and what is the worst rule in the NFL. You have a few hours to join them before I get writing.

@SportsSturm I now have paid subscriptions to ESPN+, Bleacher Report Live, and NBCSN just to watch all the Arsenal, EPL, and UEFA games I want. Is this the way of the future? Will I have to pay a la carte subscriptions to watch MLB, NHL, NFL, and NBA too someday?

8:38 AM - Jun 6, 2019

See Daniel Calhoun's other Tweets

I now have paid subscriptions to ESPN+, Bleacher Report Live, and NBCSN just to watch all the Arsenal, EPL, and UEFA games I want. Is this the way of the future? Will I have to pay a la carte subscriptions to watch MLB, NHL, NFL, and NBA too someday?

I do not have a good handle on this at all. I also have subscribed to all three of those services for my Liverpool matches and have no issue doing so because the product is fairly priced and worthy of the expense. Is this the next paradigm for all of our sports, though? I simply do not know the answer to that one. What we do know is that these sports have to be proactive to stay with the times and to maximize their revenue possibilities. We also know the traditional networks are not going to stay static. I don’t love all the advances by any stretch, but my satellite bill is astronomical and includes many channels I never watch. So if I have to pay a la carte in the future and save money in the process, let’s do it.

I hope this left turn was a reasonably enjoyable Friday read, and if so, maybe Ask the Sports Nerd will return down the road.

Either way, expect a return to your normal Cowboys programming by early next week.  Happy weekend.

Things That Interest Me - 2019

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Above, is the greatest goal I think I have ever seen in person. David Beckham in his prime with a brilliant chip on my trip to Upton Park in 2002.

So, for no other reason than planning for another trip, I recently pulled that game out and posted it up for you. And, while I am at it, here are the 19 matches I have seen in the United Kingdom to date.

The Results from my 7 Road Trips to England:

Deportivo 2, Arsenal 0 3/12/2002 - Champions League - Highbury

Manchester United 5, West Ham 3 3/16/2002 - Upton Park

Arsenal 2, Charlton 1 2/28/2004 - Highbury

Newcastle 1, Portsmouth 1 2/29/2004 - Fratton Park

2007 Trip Recap Blog Here

Manchester United 1, Liverpool 0 3/3/07 - Anfield

Blackburn 2, Bolton 1 3/4/07 - Reebok Stadium

Chelsea 3, Aston Villa 0 4/10/10 - FA Cup Semifinal - Wembley

Liverpool 0, Fulham 0 4/11/10 - Anfield

2012 Trip Recap Blog Here

Southend 3, Barnet 0  4/20/12 - Roots Hall

Arsenal 0, Chelsea 0  4/21/12 - Emirates

Queens Park Rangers 1, Tottenham 0  4/21/12 - Loftus Road

Manchester United 4, Everton 4  4/22/12 - Old Trafford

2014 Trip Recap Blog Here

Millwall 1, Bournemouth 0 5/3/14 - The Den

Arsenal 1, West Bromwich 0  5/4/14 - The Emirates

Chelsea 0, Norwich City 0  5/4/14 - Stamford Bridge

Crystal Palace 3, Liverpool 3  5/5/14 - Selhurst Park

Below is my view from that amazing night.


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Nottingham Forest 3, Fulham 1 4/23/16 - Craven Cottage

Crystal Palace 2, Watford 1 - FA Cup Semifinal - Wembley Stadium - 4/24/16

Tottenham 1, West Bromwich 1 - 4/25/16 - White Hart Lane

And now, the 2019 voyage is booked -

Huddersfield Town at Tottenham - 4/12/19
Chelsea at Liverpool - 4/13/19
Arsenal at Watford - 4/14/19

I imagine it would have to be a really boring day at your job to find this interesting, but that is why I named this post like I did. In fact, I was just looking through my ticket stubs the other day and was reminded of the day in February of 2004 when I had a chance to see Arsenal in person (with Spike Lee and the picture I took below)



Various other video items from these matches:

Things That Interest Me

Above, is the greatest goal I think I have ever seen in person. David Beckham in his prime with a brilliant chip on my trip to Upton Park in 2002.

So, for no other reason, I recently pulled that game out and posted it up for you. And, while I am at it, here are the 16 matches I have seen in the United Kingdom to date.

The Results from my 6 Road Trips to England:

Deportivo 2, Arsenal 0 3/12/2002 - Champions League - Highbury

Manchester United 5, West Ham 3 3/16/2002 - Upton Park

Arsenal 2, Charlton 1 2/28/2004 - Highbury

Newcastle 1, Portsmouth 1 2/29/2004 - Fratton Park

2007 Trip Recap Blog Here

Manchester United 1, Liverpool 0 3/3/07 - Anfield

Blackburn 2, Bolton 1 3/4/07 - Reebok Stadium

Chelsea 3, Aston Villa 0 4/10/10 - FA Cup Semifinal - Wembley

Liverpool 0, Fulham 0 4/11/10 - Anfield

2012 Trip Recap Blog Here

Southend 3, Barnet 0  4/20/12 - Roots Hall

Arsenal 0, Chelsea 0  4/21/12 - Emirates

Queens Park Rangers 1, Tottenham 0  4/21/12 - Loftus Road

Manchester United 4, Everton 4  4/22/12 - Old Trafford

2014 Trip Recap Blog Here

Millwall 1, Bournemouth 0 5/3/14 - The Den

Arsenal 1, West Bromwich 0  5/4/14 - The Emirates

Chelsea 0, Norwich City 0  5/4/14 - Stamford Bridge

Crystal Palace 3, Liverpool 3  5/5/14 - Selhurst Park

Below is my view from that amazing night.


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I imagine it would have to be a really boring day at your job to find this interesting, but that is why I named this post like I did. In fact, I was just looking through my ticket stubs the other day and was reminded of the day in February of 2004 when I had a chance to see Arsenal in person (with Spike Lee and the picture I took below)



Various other video items from these matches:

Picking Your Very Own Soccer Team

If there has been one thing I have been consistently asked over and over again to write during my summer "Cowboys Blogging Hiatus" (which ends in about 2 weeks already!), it has been to please write a helpful column for people who are looking to join in the year-round addiction that is sweeping the globe, and finally assist those who are trying to pick a team.

They have given the World Cup a chance and have enjoyed it.  Now, they need to know how to join the EPL game, too.

I am happy to do this, but I will tell you it is complicated.  And I will tell you that since you asked me, you are going to get my views and not the next guy's (or the guy in the next cubicle over).  I am jaded and biased.  So, let's go.

First, some over-riding thoughts on such an endeavor:

REMEMBER THESE 3 THINGS:

#1 - Having a team/club is absolutely the way to fully enjoy the experience.  I am not saying you have to do so, but if you are planning to understand English or Spanish soccer on any level below "background noise", then it is vital you look beyond the game and learn the characters and the villains in the show.  Because that is what sports is.  We sometimes forget that when we follow any sport, we are following basically what amounts to soap operas for men.  Oh, sure, we like the competition and the highlight goals, but if you follow the Cowboys, imagine if you didn't know why Jerry Jones and Tony Romo are not just extras in the movie.  Imagine if you didn't feel strongly about playing the Giants or watching the Redskins suffer.  The point is that because you know all of the likes and dislikes and heroes and villains and story lines and subplots, you can get caught up in the drama that is the NFL or the NBA.  You aren't just watching football, you are watching Dallas Cowboys Football and all that this implies - which is decades and decades of stories and history and so forth.   If you didn't have that, it would be like randomly turning on Oregon State versus Arizona late one night and not knowing any players, coaches, or history.  It would be just a game.

#2 - FC Dallas is your home team, but don't consider it the same thing.  I started following the Dallas Burn right when I got to town in 1998.  I have attended their games ever since and I believe that aside from the all-soccer media, I like my chances with winning any MLS-Dallas quiz amongst my all-sports media colleagues around here.  I follow them pretty closely.  Colin Clarke, Steve Morrow, Mike Jeffries, and Dave Dir all have places in my heart.  However, much like you consider your favorite HS football team, favorite college team, and favorite NFL team to be non conflicting as you follow football on 3 different levels, I would do the same thing in soccer.  MLS is a growing enterprise and will only continue to grow, but the simple truth to any biased observer is that the coverage of the MLS compared to the English Premiership would be like comparing the press coverage of North Texas to the Cowboys.  Yes, there are people that try very hard to present the sport in a big-time manner, but the trappings and the obsession is still at its early stages.  Will there be a day when Major League Soccer is the biggest show in town?  I have my doubts.  But, over there, there is no NBA, NFL, MLB, or NHL.  It is pretty much all coverage of the sport they are obsessed with.  And therefore, you can wake up any morning and read dozens of stories about your club and the lineup changes, and the transfer rumors, and the game previews, and so on.  You won't believe how many people across the world are obsessing about that one club.  Unfortunately, that likely will never be the case with our domestic league.  That is ok, by the way, because nobody worldwide obsesses about Coppell High School football and still, it is fun to follow that, too.  But, to gain an experience that will resemble the World Cup experience that has you interested in doing this, I believe you will need a team from one of the big leagues in Europe.

#3 - You should not choose your team.  Your team should choose you.  You have to trust me on this.  In my 14 seasons of following the English game, I have seen so many friends and colleagues try to get on board.  There is great excitement early and then some are hooked for life and some go do something else.  I am convinced through this experience that the only people that really fall in love are those that end up falling in love with their club.  For this reason, you should not rush in.  You shouldn't pick a club because they have a cool name (90% of these people end up with Arsenal or Chelsea). or a cool logo (99% of these people end up with Arsenal), or they are the rival of your buddies favorite team, or you know the Beatles are from there (Liverpool or Everton) or that you know Oasis like them (Manchester City).

You have to have your own reasons.  You have to feel it.  If you don't, then within a few months, you will want to go to this other team that has caught your eye and divorce your first team.  Then your friends will have a laugh.  Don't do that.  Consider it like it is dating.  You don't propose on your first date with the first girl you meet.  You carefully consider that this is a big decision and you want to make the right one.  You want to know that you will still love that club when they lose 3-0 - because they will - as you do when they win 5-0.  You want to commit through thick and thin, through sickness and health.

For that reason, don't be afraid to tell everyone to slow down.  You want to do this right.  You want to think it over and make the decision that you will be happy with.  So, honestly, I think you should wait and watch, read, and feel a little bit before you go pledging your allegiance to any team.  I know you want this to get done before the games start, but this is your first season.  Relax and plan to enjoy over the long haul.  There is no reason you should be as sick as I am this quickly.  Like it says on the headline of this point, you don't choose your team.  It will choose you.  And you will know when it does, because it will be love (or hate, which in sports is a form of love).

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WHAT COUNTRY/LEAGUE?

Ok, with those 3 simple premises established, let's dive a little deeper.  You want to follow soccer on the highest level and you do want a club.  You want to find enjoyment in it, which on the surface means you want a team that is going to be winning constantly.  We all have that built inside of us, because most of the teams we follow us already are able to bum us out on their own merits.  They don't need help from a losing soccer club overseas.

I think you should also strongly consider someone from England.  The reasons are endless.

1) you likely speak English and read English for 99% of your life (if not higher).  If you follow a German or Spanish or Italian (or even Mexican) team, you better be pretty fluent in other languages if you want to consume the media coverage - which I think is vital.  Therefore, as enjoyable as following Bayern Munich or Barcelona likely are, I am not able to consider either club on a regular basis simply because the broadcasts and the newspapers are not always available in English.  Big problem.

2) At least for now, every match from England is on TV and free TV, too.  NBC Sports has made a strong commitment to the EPL (in HD!) that the other leagues don't have.  I pay for Bein Sport and Fox Sports 2 because I am sick.  But, for newbies, you don't want to pay hundreds of dollars a year to see your team play when you can do it for free.  England does this now, but at the present, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain do not.

3) I would argue that the English league has the best competitive balance of the big leagues in Europe.  Yes, the same teams generally finish in the some places, but I don't believe it is near as exaggerated as it is in other countries.  For instance, in La Liga (Spain), in the last decade, only Real Madrid and Barcelona have finished 1st or 2nd in every single year but once.  Last year, Atletico Madrid finished 1st - which was one of the greatest upsets ever, and in 2008 Villareal finished 2nd.  That's it.  Otherwise, 1st place has always been Real or Barca, with the other finishing 2nd.  EVERY YEAR.  The Bundesliga isn't as pronounced, but it still has the same few teams at the same position.  But, in England, the race for the Top 4 in 2014-15 is going to be insane.  The incumbents, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool still believe they will maintain, but here comes Manchester United back up with Tottenham and Everton thinking they can break through.  It is insanely competitive at the top, and the bottom is no slouch.  We all assume that Chelsea and City will finish in the Top 3, but beyond that, it is very wide open.

4) If you enjoy the communal experience, know that in America, most of your fellow soccer men will be following the EPL every week and the Champions League.  You can go off on your own, but it won't be as enjoyable I believe.

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What team?

Ok. There are a few ways we can do this.  And from here on out I think I need to disclose my leanings.   This is Bob's Blog, therefore everything from here on out is undeniably how I see the world.

I love Liverpool.  In fact, I think I am as obsessed about them as any team in my life below the Packers.  I read about Liverpool and every rumor and every news item 365 days a year.  It has really taken over my remaining hard drive space.  I can still see straight as I am wired to not be a cheerleader, but I do think that you should know how I feel.  I really want Liverpool to do well.  And my relationship with them found great confusion years back when Tom Hicks bought them (only to torture me) and attempt to bleed every dollar out of them in one of his "Flip This House" routines and without remorse drove them down from 3rd or 4th each year to 7th. Now, the rebuild is going well, and Hicks is long been replaced by John Henry (who may not be a great owner, but he is certainly better than Hicks).  I could try to sell you on joining my club, but since they haven't won the title since 1990, you may find more joy elsewhere.  However, I do believe the current leadership are serious about winning and they have many, many young and talented players who make us believe they are in for good times ahead.

Beyond that, I have always admired Arsenal.  In fact, I have seen Arsenal play in person more times than any other club.  My favorite player of all time is likely Thierry Henry as he introduced me to how special a special player can truly be.  He blew my mind from 2000-2005 at Highbury, and I think he will always hold that rank as the best.  Their fan base is easily the most proactive here in DFW and sensitive, but that doesn't mean that I don't always enjoy watching them play under Wenger.  I have no issues with the Arsenal and think that they represent an attractive case for any prospective fan.

Chelsea is a team that I have mixed feelings about.  Partially because most new fans of the Premiership (08 and later) invariably were brought in by the Jose-Roman tractor beam of winning.  I don't blame you, of course, but I have had a few experiences with Chelsea fans (the most notable one being stuck on a train that was stalled in 2010 for about an hour with hundreds of drunk Chelsea fans who were looking for trouble) that has permanently scarred my ability to want to see Chelsea fans happy.  Since this is my blog, I hope you don't mind me actually being honest with you.  But, when it comes to some of my favorite strikers ever, Jimmy Floyd and Didier are both geniuses in their own way.  Also, they sold Liverpool Daniel Sturridge after paying 50 million for Fernando Torres' corpse, so that will always be appreciated.  They are an awesome club and have more money than almost anyone, so as insufferable their fan base truly is, that wouldn't be the worst pick either.

Manchester United is without question Liverpool's greatest enemy.  I have nothing good to say about them - aside from admiring some of their best footballers - as their management has always vowed to vanquish Liverpool and their fans and Liverpool's fans have a disgusting no-holds barred barrage of insults that never cease and that would make you sick (from both directions).  I wish them the worst and hope they lose every match.  In any match where they are playing, I will root for the other team without fail - and usually walk away disappointed.  They just endured the worst season they have had in ages, but don't think that means anything in the big picture except that they hired who Sir Alex wanted and that turned into an absurd disaster.  That has been cleaned up and they will go right back into the mix.  Since I have followed the EPL, they have finished 1, 1, 3, 1, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 7.  So, trust me, if you want everyone to lose respect for your pick because you like the Yankees and Heat, here you go.

Manchester City is a club that has been purchased by the richest men in the world and they win quite a bit since that happened.  They have finished 1, 2, 1 since they have invested every dollar in the world in their side, but have a remarkably anonymous past before this windfall of middle eastern oil money.  Honestly, you almost never meet a Manchester City fan (imagine if the Timberwolves were bought by the richest man in the world and started dominating the NBA) and even now, nobody hates them because nobody knows what to make of them.  They are a club that is filled with players even their fans don't really know (because they have all been there about 15 minutes) and their stadium often has marginal crowds despite this incredible performance.  It is actually quite odd.

The other 3 you should consider are Newcastle, Tottenham, and Everton.  They all have a lot of people from here following them and all have fantastic stadiums, competitive clubs, and fervent fan bases you will enjoy.  However, I would be lying to you if I argued they have any real threats to dethrone the powers at the very top (for now, it seems), but also are not going to stop fielding entertaining teams.  Everton in the last decade is always no higher than 5th and no lower than 10th.  And, Tottenham is pretty much a mirror image.  Newcastle used to be up there, but times have been tough recently even with a relegation.  They are often ridiculed for only wishing to finish higher than their next-door neighbors, Everton with Liverpool 500 yards away and Tottenham has Arsenal right up the street, but that is an insult.  I always think they are proper clubs that have their charm.  If you loathe front-running and want to build for that one miracle year, perhaps these are your choices.

The rest of the field in England is a crapshoot of teams that all have something to offer, but also flirt with relegation from time to time.  If you don't know what that is, you will soon enough.  But, trust me, if your club is relegated, all I said about access and media coverage may dissipate quite a bit.  There are several smaller clubs that I admire, but since they don't always have funds for players, it can be frustrating to give your heart to them.  If you do, here are my favorites.  Queenspark Rangers, Crystal Palace, Portsmouth (not currently in the top level), and West Ham are all on my list, partly because I have been to matches at all of their places and actually enjoyed those experiences more than the big clubs.  However, I will tell you that most fans of those clubs start the year hoping they stay up in the Premiership and usually have their hands full to do so.

Other than the clubs mentioned above, you are on your own.  If you want to go off the page and cheer for Aston Villa or Bolton, have fun.  They all have stories to tell.  I just wouldn't advise it any more than I would advise someone new to the USA to take up Jacksonville Jaguar football.

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In closing, I hope this helps.  I know it will just lead to more questions or offended fans of Liverpool rivals who have their feelings all hurt that I don't love their club as much as they do.  That is usually followed by a Luis Suarez joke and reminding me that my club sucks and they have a great one.

In many ways, it is just another way to follow sports and be insufferable to your friends.

Have fun, but don't rush in to pledging allegiance to a club you have just now discovered.  Because nothing is worse than meeting a guy who is a "die hard" Portsmouth fan who then became a "die hard" Chelsea fan because he moved too quickly and realized he liked winning too much to like Pompey.

Don't be that guy.

England Trip 2014

This morning, I wanted to recap my recent trip to England in a blog that will be read by some, bookmarked by others (for their own trip planning), and totally ignored by many.  Figure out whatever category you belong in and carry on.  It is all good.

For those new to my non-NFL/American Sports addictions, I have very few vices in this world.  But, I make up for it with going completely over-board with my sports interests.  In this particular case, my long-time love affair with world football is where I actually take trans-Atlantic journeys to feed.  Somehow, my lovely bride has accepted the fact that once every few years I am going to leave for 5-6  days to watch as much English Football as I can get my hands on, and then come back even more obsessed with it.

It started in 2002, then 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, and now 2 weeks ago here in May of 2014.  For a brief history of the other journeys and blog recaps, follow this link and catch yourself up.

This year, being the Liverpool fanatic that I have become, it was a rather easy target once we could sort out the available weekends of our traveling party.  I wanted to see Liverpool, in their quest to win their first title since 1990, in a vital match and witness some level of history either way.  I did.  More on that later.

But, once you pick a weekend - for me, it was to see Liverpool in London at a ground that I have been led to believe in worth the experience by itself (Crystal Palace) - then you work with what is left on the schedule and make a full weekend out of it.

This was not difficult as that particular weekend, many London teams were all home at the same time.  Below is a map showing all of the major stadiums in London (at least the ones that I am aware of - I am sure I am missing several).  It is a massive city with a love for the beautiful game.  If you are like me and want to see a ton of matches in a short amount of time, it is always best to make it a London-based trip, because obviously, the choices for enjoying the rest of your time there are endless in a city that is one of my favorites.  I took the liberty to use pink font so that you could actually figure out what was what.  It is clearly a very colorful map - but you get the idea, I hope.

The point of that exercise was to show you that with a 30 minute train/tube/taxi ride, you can get to 10 different stadiums from a nice central London hotel.  So, the prospect of seeing 2-4 matches in one weekend is ambitious and expensive, but possible.

In our case, we had a number of options as West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Millwall, and Crystal Palace were all home.  I knew I would be a Selhurst Park, but the other thing you must know is that the times/dates are a little like college football in that they can get moved around with little notice for TV.  But, unlike college football, they can also jump dates.  So, when you are planning, they all say Saturday at 3pm kickoffs.  But, about 3 weeks out, they all move for TV, and therefore Liverpool went to Monday (so, I had to get another day off work and change my plane tickets at that point), Arsenal and Chelsea both moved to Sunday, and Saturday was rather wide open with West Ham and Millwall as our choices.

Now, how do you get tickets?  This is the question I get no less than once a week for the last decade.  And the answer never changes - prepare for 2 things: difficulty and pricey.  Now, this can all be modified by what you want to see, because there are plenty of places to watch football in England that are cheap and easy, and my trip to Southend United was both, but also a wonderful experience for sure.  But, most of you are like me and suggest if you are going to travel that far you want to live what you see on TV at the famous grounds watching the biggest clubs in the most storied environments.  I don't blame you, but that brings us back to difficulty and pricey.

I am lucky enough to have connections now after all of these trips, so I have an easier path that I use, but unfortunately, I cannot really help you in your trip.  However, my connections have not covered all the matches I have seen and I will tell you that my trip to Old Trafford and my trip to Stamford Bridge in these last 2 trips were purchased just like you would - through the expensive outlets available to all.  I used Stubhub UK for my Manchester United visit and paid about £175 (British pounds) each, then for Chelsea this time it was £195 through my hotel concierge.  Very expensive, but I highly recommend you bite the bullet and buy them this way then look for a cheaper route and end up with counterfeit tickets.  Trust me, you don't want this.  I will elaborate more on this in a bit.

Now, on to the recap:

SATURDAY

West Ham hosting Tottenham would have been the preferred pick on this day, but Upton Park was proving difficult to get tickets, and therefore, we decided to call in a favor with a friend and his fantastic Millwall connections.

I don't know if you know anything about Millwall, but they are a very famous club that has not been in the top flight since 1990.  But, they are well-known for many, shall we say, non-football reasons as demonstrated by fiction (Green Street Hooligans) and non-fiction works (Watch this documentary from 1977 if you really care).  They are a fan base that lives by the slogan that "No one likes us and we don't care", which you kind of admire.  But, just don't think your fan base is tougher than theirs.  They have been defending that reputation for quite a while.


Honestly, our trip to the Den was certainly with a bit of trepidation, but we met nothing but nice people who were nervous because they needed to win a match to insure that they would stay up in the Championship for next season.  I don't have time to give you a full relegation lesson right now, but know that the prospect of getting kicked down a level is the ultimate stomach punch to a side, and therefore, the tension was high on the last day of the season when my group sampled their match day scene.

They were playing Bournemouth, a much better side that day, but also a side that was secured in their finishing place, while Millwall needed all 3 points or they could be going down.  Given that I had never witnessed a match with this much on the line, it was pretty cool to soak all of that in and to see the pitch invasion that followed which you can kind of see in this over-exposed selfie right at the end of the match (Below).   

You may also note that I am dressed a bit nicer than one would expect from a t-shirt type, and that is because we were given access to their version of the Platinum level and spent time in the prematch in their hospitality suites.  This allowed us the very odd opportunity to see the Millwall manager (the great Ian Holloway who I remember best for getting Blackpool into the Premiership a few years back) address the crowd of VIPs less than 10 minutes before kickoff.  I found this to be so odd to imagine Rick Carlisle or Jason Garrett have to stand up in front of fans and explain his lineup and tactical ideas for the day and to encourage everyone to "stay on our side" and to know how important your support is to the club.  It seemed like a real beating to have to explain yourself to the supporters while you should be worrying about the match, but over there it appears to be a major part of the gig. 

It was only the 2nd time I had ever witnessed a match over there that was not part of the "Premiership", but the crowd was packed, the songs were loud, and it was a very intense display of football that I think anyone would enjoy.

Also, aside from those that ran out on to the field to challenge the authorities, I saw nobody get punched which in a way made me happy and safe, and in a way disappointed me because of their reputation which might have been part of the reason I wanted to see what all of the talk was about in the first place.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Millwall and wish them nothing but the best success in the Championship another year in 2014-15.  They seem like a proud, loyal side that doesn't care what you think of them.

Easy in and out train access from London Bridge train station and we were back at our hotel in plenty of time to watch Everton and Manchester City as I hoped that Liverpool's neighbor could do them a solid and get LFC back in control of their own destiny after the very unfortunate slip (pun intended) against Chelsea.

It didn't really work out for me.

SUNDAY

The mission on Sunday hatched only because we had never been to Stamford Bridge. It really didn’t make sense otherwise, because most travelers would love to see West Brom at Arsenal and just be satisfied. But, even though there is a Gunner in our group, we can all agree that Emirates Stadium has all of the charm of Cowboys Stadium – except no awesome big screen and certainly no Sky Mirror.

It isn’t that the stadium isn’t nice – it is. Every seat has a great view of the action and of course, Arsenal is Arsenal, so the football is quite pleasing to the eye. But, the fan experience of feeling you are caught up in a wave of emotion never really hits there like it did at the old place. Did they make their new stadium too big and forsake the genius of Highbury? Maybe, but you should see the matchday revenues! They make tons of money and have luxury suites and the rich of London seem to really enjoy Arsenal, so if it isn’t broke….

Regardless, we saw Chelsea play at Arsenal in 2012 and if that match cannot produce a rowdy atmosphere, then West Brom in Week 37 is not going to work, either. And while it isn’t horrible, it just wasn’t enough to hold our interest.

When our ticket efforts to get into Chelsea (for Norwich City) were unsuccessful at first, we jumped on tickets to Arsenal (so as not to have no matches on Sunday), only to have some regrets that we were letting Stamford Bridge get away from us again. For me, this was my 6th trip to England and 5th to London, and I still have never been to the Bridge (which looks simply fantastic on television most matches). It didn’t take much persuading and after one of our group started quoting the principles of “YOLO”, we decided to pay our hotel’s absurd prices to get us into that match. Visa agreed to borrow us the cash at a small fee, and I must now apologize to the family about the college fund.

Anyway, this was going to be difficult because now we were actually going to try 2 matches in 1 afternoon – having tickets to both Arsenal (1:30pm) and Chelsea (4:00pm). On our 2012 trip, we did a 2 match day already (London is the best city in the world for a soccer fan with at least 10 large stadiums at various parts of the massive area) with Arsenal at 12:45pm and Queens Park Rangers at 5:30. But, as you can see, that is hardly a conflict with each match done in less than 2 hours. This one, with a 38 minute train ride in between was going to be most aggressive. But, knowing that we were only going to live once, we went for it.  The video directly below is the shaky footage from my phone that documented the mission:

It started with taking the train from our hotel at King’s Cross/St Pancras up to the Arsenal tube stop on the Piccadilly line at about 12pm.  We tracked down our tickets and enjoyed the Arsenal fan scene which is quite impressive and enjoyable with lots of gatherings and pubs everywhere.  Our seats were 3 rows from the top, but still in one corner with great sight lines and a good look at everything there was to see.

As expected, West Brom was on the run most of the day, and Olivier Giroud put home a header in the 1st half of a corner from the shockingly diminutive Santi Cazorla to put Arsenal ahead. We saw many more chances, but at about the 65 minute mark (or 2:55pm) we decided it was time to make our move. We budgeted 5-10 minutes to get to the tube platform, then 38 minutes to get from Arsenal to Chelsea, and wanted to not risk getting there any later than 3:45 to allow for the congestion around the Bridge and getting to our seats by the time 4:00pm hit and the 2nd game started.

Our plans actually went perfectly. As you might imagine, leaving a match early allows for a completely empty scene outside the stadium and the trip to the tube was lonely except for all of the authorities wondering what we were up to as we arrived significantly earlier than they expected anyone to arrive. We jogged our way down to the platform at the Arsenal stop and jumped back to the southbound Piccadilly line.

2:59 the train pulls up and we hop in. Change at South Kensington at 3:25, new train arrives at 3:28 on the District line now down to Fulham Broadway which is the preferred stop for Chelsea Football Club. And no kidding, the Iphone app that told me 38 minutes nailed it right on the money. 3:37pm, we join the masses of blue-clad Chelsea fans and a brave group of Norwich City rowdies that are ready to try to cheer their team out of the relegation spot they find themselves in (thanks a lot, Sunderland!).

After the short walk with noise, singing, and smells of various foods in the air, we arrive on a cloudless London day at the Bridge at 3:43pm, stand in line, walk up the stairs, stand in a quick concession queue (Pork Shoulder/Stuffing/Apple Hoagie for 6 pounds– not that bad!), and then to our seats at 3:54pm or with 6 entire minutes to spare. I could not have been timed more perfectly, I do not believe.

Unfortunately, the match did not explode into the battle we had hoped as Chelsea’s title dreams died a few weeks earlier and then their Champions League campaigned also died on this same pitch at midweek. So, a less than inspired Chelsea side looked the part against a Norwich side that did not have the man-power to find the 3 points that they desperately needed to stay up. Some substitutes at the half (Eden Hazard and David Luiz) spiced it up quite a bit, but still no goals and a frustrated Bridge crowd was unhappy with a 0-0 draw that removed any miracles of a title completely off the board.

I will report, though, that the atmosphere at the Bridge was much more my speed in terms of a stadium that you can tell can really shake on a proper night. It is old, tight, and full of personality. I suppose that is another way of saying old, but I will argue that the “progress” in building sports stadiums is highly debatable as any additions of comforts and facilities to meet the needs of the affluent have come at the expense of electricity and atmosphere, which is a real shame. But, to this point, the deep pockets of Roman Abromovich have not been supplemented with several levels of life-sucking suites, so credit there to that very rich man and his team of rich men.

Overall, it was one of my favorite stadiums to visit, and I would recommend that you give that one a try if you are in the area and wish to see what it is all about.


To top off a day full of football, what do you think I would do? Well, if you guessed walk the 1.9 miles across Fulham to see Craven Cottage (even though it was empty and matchless), you win! The Cottage houses Fulham FC, and despite their relegation, I would very much like to see a match there sometime soon as again, on television, it always seems lively. Their ground sits right on the banks of the River Thames, and is connected to a park that is a wonderful walk and quite beautiful. Sadly, the Michael Jackson statue stands there no longer, but otherwise, it all appeared to be in solid repair, despite being another ground with serious age spots.

MONDAY

OK, now the main event. Let's be clear here - most Liverpool fans knew we weren't winning the league this year after Everton didn't do LFC a favor against City.  Regardless of the results of Liverpool's final 2 matches, if Manchester City won their 2 home matches against Aston Villa and West Ham, then it was over.  Nothing that happened at Palace would matter unless Manchester City choked.  And, most of us knew that wasn't going to happen before this match was even played.  So, the possibility of witnessing Liverpool's historic night was cancelled the weak prior.

However, I still couldn't wait to see my guys in person for the first time since 2010.  I have seen Liverpool twice before, both at Anfield, but they didn't score a single goal in either match and were pretty poor in 2010 with a coach that was about to be out and no striker to speak of.  Now, they had the #1 and #2 scorers in the league and a team that played wonderfully all year.  They finished 7th and were generally in nobody's pick to finish in the Top 4.  Now, they could do no worse than 2nd and needed a miracle to get 1st with a week to go.


But, in truth, I would have made this same trip if Liverpool was 7th.  I wanted to see my club and see them play in a place where everyone speaks so highly about the amazing atmosphere of a small south London club where the fans make the place come alive.  And that absolutely happened.

From the first second you get off the train, it is amazing.  It is in a small neighborhood which is a 5 minute walk from the train station.  You are walking with hundreds and since the match was on a Monday night, you could just sense that Palace was getting a rare chance to show off their scene with the whole nation watching.  They had your undivided attention and they were going to show you everything they had.

When I go to these matches, I never have tickets in hand.  I usually am told to pick them up at a given ticket window and I always get nervous about showing up and them not having any idea who I am.  I think it is more of a reflection of my personality than it is an actual legitimate fear because it has always worked out for me, but since my mind enjoys considering the worst possible outcome of events, it is always there.

Anyway, we arrived about an hour before kickoff (7pm) and worked our way through the thousands of fans who were crowded around this neighborhood stadium.  It is quite a sight to behold as there are houses in every direction but this old stadium sits right in the middle.

I got to the window and gave my name.  The girl searched and searched and found nothing with my name.  She shrugged and asked for alternate spellings.  I gave the most popular misspelling of Sturm which of course, is Strum.  Panic was starting to set in.  This is why I wanted to go on the trip and I simply couldn't miss this match.  I started thinking of alternative options, but buying from the scalpers seemed quite ill-advised given all of the warnings in the press for this particular match about counterfeit tickets that were everywhere.  It would be expensive and then highly risky to buy outside.

Thankfully, after a 30-minute search in which I produced a verification email from one of their ticket managers (or I might have been out of luck), they finally found my tickets under my connection's name in their computer.  They asked if he was coming and I said he would not be as he is back in Texas.  But, if we must, I could try to get him on the phone.  They seemed convinced with that offer and printed up my tickets.  The search took us until nearly 7:40, but they were nice enough and we finally could go inside, so no problems.

Below is the ticket from that night, complete with everything but my friend's name blocked out.  I wanted you to see it to verify all of the specifics which include a number of items that would be difficult to duplicate if you are one to counterfeit tickets.

So, we get in the park and go directly to our seats.  We had 4 tickets, but only a group of 3 (long and uninteresting story there) and knew we were going to have an open seat - which appeared to be the only seat that was unfilled in the entire stadium.

With about 10 minutes until kickoff, I am trying to take a nice selfie with the entire Liverpool squad no more than 15 yards behind me warming up right by my seats.  I am fairly used to being close to athletes and teams I admire, but I will confess that being so close to those I have watched on TV for so many seasons and to have pulled off this dream mission was a moment to savor.  I had this wild idea to go see my club in their potentially historic title run (sad face) and picked a match and pulled it off.  It all fell perfectly into place.  So, at the moment of the picture to the right, everything has gone well and you are seeing a satisfied smile.

At this moment, a man comes down the aisle and halts my selfie party to tell me I am in his seat.  I thought that seemed like a reasonable accusation as I very well might have been.  So, I grab my ticket and verify my aisle and seat numbers and then cross reference with the section number and end up disagreeing with him.  I am in my proper seat!

Now, he is confused and looks back at his ticket.  No, this is his seat.  But, I am sure it is mine.  By now, it is rather clear that English is his 2nd (or 4th) language, and I later find out he was in from Sweden on business and bought his ticket out front for a reasonable £250.  I don't want any trouble, so we all remain calm and we hold our tickets side by side.  They are identical.  I mean, identical.  Right down to my friend's name printed on his ticket.  It made no sense and given how every seat was taken in the entire stadium, my nervousness returned as I started to consider how this might be worked out.  Most notably because my prematch indigestion had started with both teams walking on to the field.

The usher was called and then after his confusion set in, the head usher was called.  The Swedish business man could sense how the wind was blowing and started to throw himself at the feet of the judge as he realized he had been duped out front to the tune of about $450.  Meanwhile, since my friend was on the ticket and my email verified my connection, I started to figure out how to make our 4th seat available to the man who had endured this mess with me.

The head usher came over and listened to the story - given how loud the stadium now was, that consisted of yelling in each other's ears from close range.  He heard my story and then asked me if I was Ben Sturm.  I said that was close enough and he agreed that Bob and Ben were essentially the same name and told me I was good.  He wanted to run the Swedish dude out, but I told him that I wanted to give him our 4th seat.  The usher didn't care much, but then pulled 3 more copies of my ticket out of his pocket and said he had been catching these all night with my exact seat.  I have no idea how this all happened, but evidently, someone made multiple copies of my ticket at the Crystal Palace computers and then they got into the hands of the scalpers.  I am not saying the club had anything to do with it, but a club operative had to have been involved.  If you think about it, the brilliance of this scam is easy to see.  Make bogus tickets, give to scalpers, they sell for hundreds of pounds, the counterfeits get caught, the scalpers disappear, and the cops can't do anything to fix it.  I was told an Australian tourist also was duped and during the match 2 college kids from South Korea walked in, again, with my tickets.

It was unsettling, but I was back into the scene by kickoff, so I accepted my lowly role in an international ticketing scandal.  Also, a meat pie was brought to me by my buddy who made a concessions run and I must say it was amazingly better than I ever imagined anything called a meat pie could be.

The match was amazing.  It really was.  Liverpool was trying to win by 8 and with their record scoring ability, they broke it open after halftime with 2 quick goals to go up 3-0.  I would imagine in the English Premiership that a 3-0 lead is closed out about 99.9% of the time.  The reason why it is impossible to come back from 3 goals is that most teams cannot score 3 times in a game and because the other team is smart enough to protect the lead.  But, not Liverpool who doesn't protect leads well, and not that night as Liverpool had this foolish idea that they could fix the enormous goal difference deficit to Manchester City.  To do so, they would have had to win by 9 or 10, but at the time, they were pretty confident and a bit overly dismissive of a Crystal Palace side who had killed a few giants already at home.

Anyway, as anyone who is reading this already knows, I witnessed the collapse of Liverpool that night in an epic fashion.  A 3-0 lead with 78 minutes gone became 3-1 at 79, 3-2 at 81, and 3-3 at the 88 minute mark.  You can watch 1,000 matches and never see that again.  It was bonkers in that stadium all night, but the final 15 minutes were unlike anything I ever saw or heard.

Words cannot describe how awesome the crowd was.  I put it above Loftus Road (QPR), Highbury (old Arsenal), Anfield (Liverpool), Upton Park (West Ham), and Fratton Park (Portsmouth) as the best scenes I have ever been a part of.  It was electric and it wasn't just when they scored.  From the moment the fans walked in they were loud and self-motivated all night long trying to will their team to victory.  I left very impressed with Crystal Palace and their supporters.  It is clear that the teams who are not givens to be in the Premiership have the best fan bases.  QPR and Palace, in particular, seem free of the rich, entitled group and full of just hard core loyalists who are thrilled to be in the top flight.

I must admit it is an odd feeling to see your team throw up in front of you when you have flown 4,000+ miles to see them play.  I think it would have been a million times worse if the Chelsea moment had not happened and this choke actually cost them their first title in 24 years.  In reality, this  horrible night really was surely memorable (if just for that picture of Luis Suarez crying), but it really didn't decide anything for the title.  City never slipped and Liverpool already had.

But, man, to be in that stadium that night was something so awesome.  Yes, my club collapsed, but for some reason, it was secondary to my best soccer night ever.

Knowing I could never do it justice with words, I made sure I rolled some video with my phone.  There might be a naughty word here (very salty language around me), but I think it captures the night pretty well.

So, 4 matches in 3 days caps off another fantastic soccer journey.  It is my 6th and surely not my last. Can't wait for 2016 to do it all over again.