Andy

Andy - stranger #45 and daily photo #118/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.



On my walk to the subway, I occasionally see this gentleman walking the other way wearing an Arsenal hat.  I'm an Arsenal fan.  Arsenal are one of the top football (you may say soccer) teams in the world.  I've been meaning to stop and talk to him and take his photo for my 100 Stranger project and today was a perfect opportunity as Arsenal had qualified for the quarter finals of the Champions League just yesterday.

He name is Andy and he's been an Arsenal fan for about 4 years which is about the same time I've been following The Gunners.  He remembers watching the 2004 World Cup and loving the game, not to mention the lack of commercial interruption !  He's originally from England too, but was only 3 when he came to Canada, although it seemed he hadn't really felt the football in his blood until 2004.  His family were Crystal Palace supporters and Andy wanted to support a London team, so he chose Arsenal.  We talked enthusiastically about Arsenal, football and sports in general for quite some time.

He hadn't seen yesterday's game, but reads a lot about football on the BBC's web site.  Andy loves the world of football, the UK newspaper headlines, the big business aspects, the politics, the personal rivalries, and the complexity of the various leagues (especially relegation scenarios - where would the Leafs be playing if the NHL had relegation?) and international competitions.  And of course, the passion of the fans.  He compared what he'd seen at a Univesity of Michigan (American) football game, the singing, chants and crowd participation with what is common with football (soccer) in most parts of the world.  He'd seen a lower league Colchester game a few years ago on a visit back to England and commented on the football way of life, traditions and importance of football at all club levels.  I couldn't help connecting his comments to some of by blog posting about football, especially pjmixer.blogspot.com/2007/07/passion-of-football.html.

He finds that hockey is full of chippy violence today and recalls there was far less violence when he used to watch the "original 6" play.  Another reason he now focuses his time on football.

Andy is #45 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com.