AVFCLion2013

Not really on MLS team. Toronto FC at least has a team in the league, so I'll take my 6 year old now and again. But it's pretty benign, meaningless stuff.

The Barcelona thing has nothing to do with what happens on the pitch, football-wise. It has everything to do with the fact that every game, every reference, every supporter reverts back to the political situation of Catalonia, and they use these home games as a stump from which to preach their separatist ways. I have no issue with their views nor their reasons for not wanting to be part of Spain. What I have an issue with is that their games represent much less sport and much more politics, and when I watch football, I want to see and hear about football...not about why the team on the field is purportedly a pillar for the issues that plague the population around it. If Spain was a united place, I'd feel much differently about it than I do. I even saw this years ago when separatist chatter was more minimal. But now, every game has to somehow feature the Catalan flag in massive fashion, making me wonder who is playing...a club team, or the Catalan (national) regional team? There is another team in BCN, RCD Espanyol, but they get shit on by the greater public in comparison to FCB. I had a hunch to simply walk across town and join them originally, but if they ever improve to a top flight team, the same political shit will come out of there, too. Hence, the Premier League was my landing spot.

LondonLax: Done. pic posted on twitter. Lol

Finally, I make a debut here in Villa Talk... It's been a pretty interesting ride since I got this crazy idea a month or so ago. I might take this moment to thank all the Villa faithful out there who made this campaign a complete whitewash versus every other Premier League team. What started as a campaign to see how team officials could illustrate what made their clubs special, it quickly turned into a campaign engineered by the fans...of Aston Villa. I could have let this thing ride out for a month and nobody would've caught up to the lead built by the Villa backers from Day 1. To SeanO: you are right, there are too many ManU bandwagon jumpers over here, but not all of us are such as you can see. To TrentVilla: "odd" is a fair assessment, but then again, I am wired a little differently than most, and it's served me well in life and business. To CarewsEyebrowDesigner: no, I am not employed by the club. To HeyAnty: uksoccershop.com (there's that word again) offers 24 quid for 2 day shipping to my business address in Buffalo, NY for a boatload of loot. To jimmygreaves: right. because fake fans dive in head first and buy 2 full season seats despite living 4,000 miles away...don't be bitter, jimmy, be better. To DelboyVilla: no need for generalizations...Robin Van der Laan doesn't allow my son to call it "soccer," neither do I...and offside, as you know it, is a stupid rule the way it's set, subject to too many BS wrong calls, and should be tweaked. To HalfTimePost: You should see the stupid shit that gets written on American pro sports' message boards and forums...at least you guys have a great sense of humor about most stuff here. To Wainy316: The NHL is a complete insignificant waste of time...don't bother. To Raver50032: You remind me of people from Dayton, Ohio when you speak that way. Lol. Glad to be aboard!!!

The absolutely rousing response to Mat Kendrick's article today has left my head spinning. So much to learn about this wonderful club before kickoff on August 17. Here we go...