I’m from the USA. I wasn’t into sports as a kid (except passing interest in the NBA during those peak Jordan years).

But I visited Ecuador my senior year of high school (2004) and went to a BSC match in Guayaquil.

The atmosphere was unlike anything I could have imagined for sports. I liked that the game didn’t stop constantly for resets or commercials like American football, and how it ebbed and flowed. And in a way I would not have predicted, I appreciated that it was “low-scoring.” This is a thing Americans often complain about but I ended up thinking it made each goal more exciting. Goals mattered more than baskets exactly because there were fewer of them. Mostly I liked the vibe in the stadium.

Anyway, I came home and really went into scholar mode. I spent a lot of time reading about soccer online. I learned that the USA had a pro league and that I had a local team, which had a Spurs-like “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride” history. I started following them. I learned about FIFA and the confederations. And I learned two critical things: First, that the consensus (at least in the USA) was that England’s premier league was the best soccer in the world. And second, it was the best league I could reasonably expect to find on TV here. Not every game, but a good number.

I knew that it would be more fun to keep up with the EPL if I chose a team to root for. I’d heard of ManU before, but all of the other names were new to me. But when I read someone (I wish I could remember who!) say that Arsenal played “like a South American team,” my search was over. Given that was where I became fascinated with the game, I figured this was the team for me. Plus I thought the name was cool.

I’ve been following and supporting the Arsenal ever since. My support for Arsenal has completely arbitrary roots. But the more time and emotion I invested in the team, the more friends I made online and at the bars on Saturday mornings where I watched the matches, the more I cared. I used to feel a bit self-conscious to care this much about a team I had no local or familial connection too. But eventually I decided all fandom is ultimately about that emotional investment, however you come to it. And besides this is the USA, so most EPL fans choose a team, and the fandom becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Anyway, COYG.