This is the fifth? (honestly, I’m starting to lose track) weekend in a row where I’ve woken up without football. Living on the west coast, my mornings have been dominated by the Premier League for years. The first game starts at 4:30 am, with the last around 9:30. Fall season is the best - on Saturdays I go from watching the Premier League straight into college football. Each Saturday without soccer has been weird for me - it’s almost instinctual to wake up and immediately tune into NBC (Rebecca Lowe, I miss you so much) to watch whatever game is live, or a recap of every game with PL Mornings.
Everyone reading this (if you are reading this and have gotten to the second paragraph, you’re awesome and words can’t express how much it means to me that you’re reading this and/or any other blogs I’ve written) can probably relate to this struggle. Among many things during our quarantine, we can all appreciate how much professional football means to us. I’m guessing most of us played soccer for an extended period in our lives.
What do we do without soccer? We’re all in different areas of the country - in some parts of the world, the weather is so crap. Being selfish, I live in Los Angeles, so the weather for the most part has been nice enough to sit outside for a bit or go on a walk/run. Ironically, it rained all last week and the gloomy weather really reflected the mood of society. Regardless of the weather, I’m sure everyone has gone a bit stir crazy at one point or another in the last month. That begs the question, what do we do as fans until normalcy and football return?
1. WRITE
Weird, the dude that’s written over thirty blogs for LADS is suggesting that you write more? Honestly, I should’ve written a quarantine blog long before this. However, we all have ample free time, especially on weekends. Why not write about how you fell in love with your favorite team, some of your best moments playing or watching soccer, or copy me (imitation is the best form of flattery) and write about what you’ve done to pass the time during the quarantine. Writing comes easier for some - look at it as good practice if you struggle to write, or a way of creative expression (I suck at art so I write instead lol).
2. Watch Old Games
As a Tottenham fan, I’ve rewatched highlights of the Ajax Champions League semi-final dozens of times. However, I had never watched a full replay of the game until we had this break. Ignoring the fact that Spurs have massively regressed since last May, it was exciting watching the game from the first minute pretending like I didn’t know the end result. I felt all the same emotions (granted, to a lesser degree) from the kickoff until the final whistle blew. Whether it’s watching one of your favorite teams or just watching as a fan of the game, highlights and full-match replays are a great way to get your sporting fix and kill some time.
3. Juggle
If you’re spoiled and have a backyard (shoutout temporarily moving back home with mom and dad), go outside and practice juggling or kicking the ball around. I really suck and juggling and know i’m not gonna get much better, but hey, it’s the effort that counts, right?
4. Virtual Calls
I’m sure everyone has been on a virtual call or happy hour at some point since we’ve all been locked down. Get a little creative with it - play a drinking game or hop on a game of FIFA! Especially if you have friends that like soccer, bond over talking about your favorite memories together or kicking their ass in a game.
What Else?
Is there anything I’ve missed that y’all have been doing to stay busy and not restless? Drop some suggestions in the comments!
Author: Living in Southern California, Robert Sweeney has been a fan of soccer since he played as a young child. Since then, he’s become a diehard Tottenham and US National Team fan. Rob enjoys writing about the impact soccer has had on his life in hopes that it betters others as well. Twitter: @robsweeney11