EXTRA TIME
Dating A Football Fan:
Heaven or Hell?
Imagine getting into a relationship with the
guy of your dreams. He makes you smile, you
heart pounds a lot faster and you are getting
along great! He is humble, caring, considerate,
and the chemistry is out of this world.
The league season kicks off and you see it for
the first time… he is donning a Manchester
United or an Arsenal jersey before bedtime.
“Oh my, I didn’t know he was into that sort of
thing,” you think to yourself.
Things start to change. During the weekends,
all he does is talk about players, coaches, goals
and some mumbo jumbo called “Giniwasekao”.
During matches, you see him kicking chairs
and an astonishing tirade of expletives follows
closely afterwards. It suddenly sinks in. The
relationship has assumed nightmare qualities.
I am officially dating a lunatic. But, are you really?
On Sunday 3rd November 2013, Gor Mahia
were presented with their championship trophy after an 18-year wait. Speaking to some of
the fans ahead of the match, I met an interesting fellow, Nathan Otieno. Together with his
five colleagues, they camped outside the stadium in the previous cold night to usher in a new
successful dawn for their beloved club. I asked
him whether his ‘significant other’ had any idea where he was. “She’s at
home with the kids and she wished me good luck”, he replies bluntly. “I’m
a lucky guy because my partner in crime understands my eternal love for
football,” adds Otieno. As he strolls down the stadium tunnel to binge on
his favorite pastime, I cannot help but see a man who would buy a virus
just because it has a badge of his favorite team.
smile with the same skill as she produces her reasons. “I didn’t want to
cook up a storm by telling him to stop all this drama, I just adjusted and as
time went on, I completely grew into it,” confesses Caroline as Paul shows
a rare glimpse of sentiment by clutching tightly onto Caroline’s hand. As
they slowly mingle and disappear into the cheering crowd, it is suddenly
evident that the first brick of their love structure was laid by embracing
understanding
At the end of the game, I bump into Caroline and Paul holding hands as
they celebrate their team’s triumph just like the doctor ordered. A fierce
clarity that doesn’t need any amplification. They are happy together, well,
so it seemed. “At first I found it weird (fanaticism) but as I learnt to deal
with it, I found myself as a fan” says Caroline, who produces an infectious
It looks like men have been travelling on the same circuit as women all
along, what football is to men is what soap operas is to (some) women.
A form of escapism and a common denominator that makes everything
seem a lot bearable, when the troubles of the world hurts like hell, it is such
things that makes us feel like…well, HEAVEN.