Next in line is a very good friend of Vital Chelsea – RadioactiveD
Next in line is a very good friend of Vital Chelsea – RadioactiveD
1. VC username?
RadioactiveD
2. When did you first start supporting Chelsea?
Somewhere between the 2000-01 season. My brother visited London, went to a pub, fate had it that he’d share a few too many with some local Chelsea boys. They all hit it off and one of them had a spare ticket for a game the next day, and I think they quite liked the idea of bringing an American along. If memory serves, he saw CFC hammer Coventry City. I’m certain Zola scored, but I’d have to look up the rest. When he returned home to America (he was living in Hawaii at the time), he called me and told me about the experience. Said he’d never met a more fun or insane bunch. Funny thing is, he was never much of a footy fan, but I always was. His trip to the Bridge piqued my interest in the club. I was an undergrad living in the dorm at the time. I lived near several international students, many of whom were recruited to play footy for the university. Almost all of them were Arsenal supporters, so I was compelled to be different and go with Chelsea. It was a good decision, and the rest is history.
3. How old are you?
33.
4. Where do you live?
Birmingham, AL, USA.
5. Your occupation is?
I teach college kids to read and write. My primary area of expertise is in early novel studies of the late 17th and early 18th-century Britain. I’ve also taught classes on film and narrative studies, a course on expatriate short fiction, and more composition courses than I care to remember.
6. Your favourite Chelsea memory is?
Certainly our unlikely win in Munich. Initially we had a group of 5 or so over to watch, but word got out and it somehow escalated to over 15 people crammed inside our living room. My wife’s mother is German and a lifelong Bayern fan. That was interesting. My wife and I were of course cheering on the Blues. Everyone else was there to drink and I think enjoy the spectacle of watching me shout, moan, jump up and down, squirm, hurl the most grotesque profanities you can imagine, mumble gibberish, and finally become a hot mess of tears and happiness. See CFC win the CL was nothing short of an out of body experience. The rest of the evening was a drunken blur, and though I felt like death the next day (and probably the day after that), I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face.
7. Your worst Chelsea memory is?
I wasn’t around for the dark days, but the funny thing about success: it gets your hopes up and there’s pain that comes with that. Losing the CL final to Manchester United of all clubs on the planet–that hurt. But I’ve gotta go with Ovrebo and the Barca farce from the CL a few years ago. It’s one thing to lose because someone slipped on wet grass; it’s quite different when you’ve been cheated out of a deserving win. It still makes my blood boil when I think about it.
8. Favourite Chelsea player?
A very difficult one. Zola was a genius, but when he played I didn’t love Chelsea in the way I do now. I think it has to be Frank Lampard for all the great memories he’s provided. A very close second is Didier Drogba. Depending on my mood, I might say the opposite.
9. Your favourite Chelsea goal is?
Drogba’s penalty that won us the CL. It wasn’t the goal itself but the context that makes it so special. It’s so rare in life when a story ends for a player in the way it did for Drogba at our club. It was a defining moment for him professionally and a defining moment for Chelsea. I’ll never, ever forget it.
10. Your Thoughts on Vital Chelsea?
Forum: good. Home page: infuriating, frustrating, occasionally rewarding.
If you wish to enter the Vital Chelsea Hall of Fame then simply e-mail your ten answers to JUVENILED40@HOTMAIL.COM and I`ll do the rest.
