| A quick preview from America 00:06 - Aug 7 with 2586 views | alexferguson60 |
Tomorrow I won't be at Loftus Road for the first game of the season.
I'll be watching from my sofa in Houston, Texas, trying to keep my voice down for fear of waking up my 7-month old with terrible language and heightened voice.
But I know that QPR's the heroin, because I want it injected into my veins every week from August to May. I just spent 12 quid of 1 1/2 games of friendlies, and got the Cambridge game off a YouTube feed where I could swear the cameraman decided to take ketamine before filming. And I know that one minute I'll be cheering, the other moment I'll be fuming, and almost all the time my wife will be questioning my sanity (more's the case i do, when I have to listen to Nick London and Andy Sinton for the commentary).
Watching Rangers on QPR+ is not the same. If we score and I'm there, I'd be hugging Brendan who sits behind me and Tony who sits next to me, and gently making fun of the still-drunk 30 year-old who sometimes saunters in after imbibing and snorting his Friday night away. Now, I hug air and cheer along with a Greek friend/QPR exile, who I have to be careful to be around because our internets are on delay from each other, and sometimes he knows what happens before I do, and sometimes he doesn't.
But even in America, I can still question the actions of the Metropolitan Police, who decided to tell 3,000 South London Shreks that O'Neill's is the designated away pub. It's basically a "Hey, if you want police hassle, go here, but if you want to smash pubs up, then go to a bunch of other ones" (Let's hope the evil hordes of Mordor don't drift by The Richmond (seemingly an away designation for every team in recent years), in an effort to avoid shit from 'The Filth'. If you think they are going to book seats, you have another thing coming.
But weirdly, there is something awesome about a filled away end. It adds to the atmosphere. There's something awesome about seeing an away end go absolutely mental. Because I know that I've been on the other end of it when I go to away game when another teams scores, seeing the fanbase jump all over each other and freaking out like a bunch of epileptics. Being a home fan seems slightly more....staid. Maybe that's why I prefer the away games. But as ever, the Milwall fans will get let off for monkey gestures, racially abusing stewards, ripping up seats and threatening ladies and children en route, because it'll be forgiveable, because no-one likes them (a quick adage: A friend of mine who's a Millwall fan and a former football hooligan who despised gay people and black people back in his drinking years, is now married to a black woman, has a gay son and is 25 years sober). I don't know if they gave abuse to black England players during the Euros, but I do know this: I'll miss singing he chant "No-one likes you, because you're s**t/scum/c**ts/w*nkers" at the knuckle-dragging t**ts.
I will miss little things about Loftus Road, like the hugs, the closeness to the pitch that makes everyone swear to God that you've got a tiny pitch (I was asked this by an American Chelsea fan. I replied with 'P*ss Off, mate"), meeting my friends by the tree on the corner outside of the Loft End, chatting at half-time about what's gone wrong, or catching up with old friends to talk about the same thing.
In fact, it's less 'will miss', and more 'I miss it'. And it's going to be worse this season, because the fans are back in the grounds, packed in like sardines, and yelling for the team.
So have a nice day 'y'all' and I will be thinking about you. Less about the football, and more about Captain Jack and the railway track.
[Post edited 7 Aug 2021 5:56]
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| A quick preview from America on 00:27 - Aug 7 with 2553 views | LythamR |
appreciate your pain in missing the game tomorrow.
personally though i find your use of "knuckle-dragging mongoloids" pretty disappointing |  | | |
| A quick preview from America on 00:29 - Aug 7 with 2540 views | alexferguson60 |
....Although factually accurate | | | |
| A quick preview from America on 01:15 - Aug 7 with 2499 views | Boston |
| A quick preview from America on 00:29 - Aug 7 by alexferguson60 |
....Although factually accurate |
One of my workmates was bred born and reared in rather severe financial circumstances on Sidney St, Stepney. Millwall fan, like his four brothers, couldn't care less about your skin colour, ethnic, sexual or religious orientation. Great sense of humour, well balanced and comes to work, to work. Stereotyping is fun, do it myself for laughs, but it's still stereotyping. | |
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| A quick preview from America on 04:35 - Aug 7 with 2409 views | OregonQPR |
My cousin and his family are all lifelong Millwall fans as are many friends of mine as I grew up on the Old Kent Road so I also take issue with your ignorant blanket statement about Millwall fans.
That sort of nonsense where everyone of a certain affiliation is slighted due to the action of a minority is something far too common over here in my part of the US and has seemingly made it’s way over from the USA to Britain as we sadly tend to look west for most cultural signposts these days.
It’s also the sort of nonsense that makes me grateful that I’m leaving the US for good soon and apart from fleeting visits will have me avoiding Britain.
I share your view that Millwall have far more idiots than we and most other clubs do or ever want to see at football but they have a majority of decent down to earth fans.
Interestingly, you’ve used a factually incorrect term to describe them. Are you aware that Mongoloid is an obsolete racial grouping of various people indigenous to large parts of Asia, Polynesia and the Americas? It also has a second usage as an offensive reference to people with Down’s Syndrome.
I’m not angry or offended just disappointed with your short-sightedness. | | | |
| A quick preview from America on 06:04 - Aug 7 with 2338 views | alexferguson60 |
| A quick preview from America on 04:35 - Aug 7 by OregonQPR |
My cousin and his family are all lifelong Millwall fans as are many friends of mine as I grew up on the Old Kent Road so I also take issue with your ignorant blanket statement about Millwall fans.
That sort of nonsense where everyone of a certain affiliation is slighted due to the action of a minority is something far too common over here in my part of the US and has seemingly made it’s way over from the USA to Britain as we sadly tend to look west for most cultural signposts these days.
It’s also the sort of nonsense that makes me grateful that I’m leaving the US for good soon and apart from fleeting visits will have me avoiding Britain.
I share your view that Millwall have far more idiots than we and most other clubs do or ever want to see at football but they have a majority of decent down to earth fans.
Interestingly, you’ve used a factually incorrect term to describe them. Are you aware that Mongoloid is an obsolete racial grouping of various people indigenous to large parts of Asia, Polynesia and the Americas? It also has a second usage as an offensive reference to people with Down’s Syndrome.
I’m not angry or offended just disappointed with your short-sightedness. |
I changed mongoloids and went for 't**ts', instead. | | | |
| A quick preview from America on 05:56 - Aug 9 with 2032 views | alexferguson60 |
Don't want to say I told you so.....but I told you so. | | | |
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