Being primarily an Arsenal supporter, I've never been a big follower of Bolton Wanderers and most other teams. But I am enjoying reading Kevin Nolan's weekly columns on the BBC website. This last post, for instance, struck a note with me.
He's lost his mobile phones more times than I have. Heh. He shares cabs with normal folk. That's nice; you'd expect football captains to be speeding off with skimpy models in sports cars. We learn he wasn't as disappointed as some thought, when Sven-Goran didn't pick him for the England team. From his first post, I learnt that his favourite food is Chinese, his favourite colour is red, and he likes the Godfather series too.
Suddenly, in the space of one evening, I've become more interested in looking out for Kevin Nolan the next time they televise a Bolton match. Because I now feel like I can relate to him better than most other footballers (especially those who only seem to get mentioned in the tabloids).
Last season I also liked reading Jason Robert's columns. It gave me a strange feeling, that this man whose posts I was reading, was scoring goals for Wigan real time, and I was watching him on the telly. Wigan were something of a phenomenon for the first half of the season until the big boys knocked them down to the middle of the table. They earned my respect, and knowing that they're a bunch of guys who still bought 20 quid presents for each other and did crazy things, gave a more human touch to my world of football.
Technorati Tags: Bolton, soccer, BBC, Kevin Nolan, Jason Roberts
Yeah, I get what you mean. We see them as superstar footballers but we forget they're people too. Check out this piece on Arsenal Kolo Toure: http://www.arsenal-mania.com/articles/3028929/King-Kolo.html
This chap is so down-to-earth, you can't imagine he's a star footballer. In fact, I also heard Eboue not only doesn't have a car, he walks.
There's still humble people. There's still hope...