My old friend Stef wrote one of these years ago, and it was great. Here’s my crack at the same sort of thing. If you like, please copy, provide your own answers and invite your friends to do the same.
Football survey
1. What team do you support and why?
Arsenal and I fell in love with them for no apparent reason 14 years ago. It was a dramatic penalty shootout against Sampdoria and a crush on Ian Wright that did it.
2. Any other teams you follow, and why?
Dinamo Zagreb - went to see them in 2007 and the atmosphere knocked me off my feet. I go to Arsenal for attractive football and Dinamo for the rush.
3. Which team do you hate the most and why?
Tricky one… I vacillate between Spurs and Man United. I think it’s Spurs atm. Not only are they local rivals, theyr’e actually winning sometimes. And they are accumulating players I used to like at an alarming rate. Gah.
4. Which other teams do you dislike and why?
Man U (annoying), Chelsea (rich and annoying), Hajduk Split (Dinamo’s rivals), Lazio (racist), MK Dons (plastic franchise football team)
5. Favourite all time player
Patrick Vieira. And also Ian Wright.
6. Favourite current player for your club
I love Gallas and Eduardo. They both push my buttons. I would have favoured Gallas until the last couple of weeks but the ridiculous way Eduardo’s been vilified has made me love him extra much!
7. Favourite current player not at your club
I think Artur Boruc right now. Also Patrick Vieira obviously, and Cristiano Lucarelli.
8. If your club had to sell one player, who would you sacrifice?
Almunia. We’d sign Boruc as a replacement.
9. Current favourite goalkeeper
Artur Boruc
10. Current favourite defender
William Gallas
11. Current favourite midfielder
Patrick Vieira
12. Current favourite forward
Eduardo
13. Current favourite manager
Slaven Bilic
Who do you prefer…
14. Arsenal or Spurs
Arsenal
15. Liverpool or Everton
Everton
16. Man U or Man City
City. JUST.
17. Real Madrid or Barcelona
Barca
18. Milan or Inter
Erm… I like both. Historically Milan but now Inter have Vieira!
19. Celtic or Rangers
Celtic
20. Rhyl or Bangor
Rhyl, having seen them play. I wouldn’t care otherwise.
21. Linfield or Glentoran
Linfield, because Stevie Baxter scores 26 billion goals a game!
22. Dinamo Zagreb or Hajduk Split
VOLIM DINAMO!
23. Legia Warsaw or Wisla Krakow
Don’t ask awkward questions! I still haven’t got to the bottom of my dilemma about Polish teams to favour!
24. Describe yourself as a supporter, in ten words or less.
Passionate, loud, community focused, pretty fearless ultra in training.
25. Favourite national side and, if it’s not your country, why?
Croatia, for similar reasons as why I like Dinamo. I fell in love with them around the same time, having visited the country.
26. Who will win the 2010 World Cup?
Erm…… England could actually do it, or Spain, or Brazil.
27. If you could watch any football game in the world, what would it be?
Dinamo v Hajduk. Hopefully I will, maybe as early as next May.
28. List some of the other fixtures you’re interested in.
Any Polish match; Galatasaray v Fenerbahce; Partizan v Crvena Zvezda; any Latin American derby.
29. Favourite… Championship team
Newcastle, for my mum. Also like Doncaster.
30. …League One team
Brighton and Hove Albion
31. …League Two team
Either Dagenham and Redbridge or Barnet. They can both be promoted this year! Also have a soft spot for Bournemouth despite almost getting hypothermia after a game at Dean Court!
32. …Non-league team
AFC Wimbledon. Community owned clubs are my thing.
33. Which is your nearest club, of any size?
Eastleigh. Saw them play AFC Wimbledon last season. 16 minutes of injury time due to an injury to the linesman!
34. Favourite… French team
Lyon I think. Glory hunting but they used to be an Arsenal retirement home so I had a soft spot for them then.
35. …German team
St Pauli. Like my sister, I tend to follow both Hamburg teams which is odd!
36. …Italian team
Livorno. Also have always liked AC Milan.
37. …Spanish team
Barcelona
38. …Polish team
Don’t ask me this, I’m still trying to work it out.
39. …Croatian team
Dinamo
40. …Dutch team
Ajax
41. …MLS team
Don’t know much about it but Adrienne would want me to say Colorado Rapids, so I just did
42. Any other teams you like from unpredictable countries or just those I haven’t mentioned yet?
A lot of teams capture my imagination. If there’s passion in the stadium, I’m interested. I’m also interested in teams with a left wing support base.
43. Best match you’ve ever been to or watched on TV and why?
That’s really hard… I loved Arsenal v Juventus in December 2001. 3-1. Also the 3-1 over Man Utd in the same season, about a month beforehand.
44. Worst match you’ve ever been to or watched on TV and why?
I didn’t actually go there or watch on TV, I listened to it on the radio and it traumatises me for life… Man U, February 2001, don’t make me talk about it anymore!!!!!
45. How many games do you go to per season?
As many as i can. Sharing a season ticket atm, expected to make 7-10 games.
46. Would you go to more games if you afford to?
Yes, if I also had time.
47. How do you think the atmosphere could be improved at football games (especially if you follow the Premiership)?
I’m for anything which doesn’t involve racism or people punching each other. Someone let off flares right next to me at Hearts v Dinamo and it gave me such a rush! Short of such behaviour, I think everyone should take responsibility to join in the chants and generate atmosphere.
48. Do you envy any other club’s supporters, and if so why?
Dinamo and every other club whose fans give it their all for 90 minutes.
49. Have you ever joined in a football related protest?
I used to launch them! I ran a football action group called GRODD as a teenager. Good times. I’ve been involved in the Free Michael Shields (yay, victory!) and Save the Vuvuzela campaigns of late. I am also in favour of safe standing and have argued for it often.
50. If you had a time machine, what football related thing would you do?
Go to an Arsenal game when there was atmosphere at Highbury. Maybe a north London derby in the 70s would float my boat? Terraces would be involved, of course.
51. Do you play?
Sometimes. Not for a year. Must get involved at uni.
52. What position do you play/did you play at school?
Selfish striker.
53. How good are you?
Erm… not very!
54. Who was your childhood idol?
Ian Wright. I’m actually better at playing up front than anything else, so I don’t think I let my idol sway my choice of position.
55. As a player, what are your strengths and weaknesses?
I’ve always been able to get a shot on target and I’m tenacious when it comes to winning the ball. Main weakness is too much time on the ball, hesitation, lack of confidence in what to do with it. I also struggle to get power behind my shots in a competitive situation because I’m over worried about accuracy. Basically I psyche myself out and don’t have the competitive experience to fix this problem.
56. What problems does the team you support have (i.e. money, administration, board issues)?
Finishing 4th over and over and over and over again. Not having a plan B on the pitch, thus being vulnerable to teams who only want to kick us.
57. What problems do your club’s supporters have (i.e. racism, apathy)?
Complete apathy and general silence, unless you’re in block 6.
58. Everyone answer this question, even the straight boys, for a laugh… if you had to date one player from your club, who would it be?
Just one? Hmm, that would have to be Gallas.
59. Same question, but with a player from another club?
At the moment, Artur Boruc. Players aside, Slaven Bilic pushes my button too.
60. Ever had a serious crush on a footballer?
I was in LOVE with Ian Wright for 2 years as a teenager, in a “crying when he handed in a transfer request and wanting to marry his wife off to my IT teacher so I could have him” kinda way. I get very defensive when I have a crush on a player and want to fight their corner! I also write songs about them!
61. Which club side has the most attractive players?
Tough question that. Used to be unquestionably Arsenal but they’ve sold a few hotties. Villa are quite interesting. Barcelona because Henry alone is worth half a dozen cute players at another team.
62. Which national side has the most attractive players?
Croatia of course! Because when Corluka and Kranjcar have Croatia shirts on, they’re not disgusting anymore!
63. What do you think of your team’s current kit?
Home kit is fine, away kits are rancid. White one looks like school uniform and blue one is Facebook blue, which is a Spurs colour!
64. Do you buy the kits? If so, how often, and how many do you own?
I don’t buy new Arsenal kits anymore, but used to and have taken to buying random kits. I’ve got about 10.
65. What’s the most random kit you own?
Dinamo home shirt (2008-9).
66. What do you think of your club’s current sponsors?
They probably pollute the environment quite a lot. I think there are further issues but not quite sure what they are, to be honest. Not keen on shirt sponsorship in general.
67. Funniest thing you’ve ever seen at a football match?
People singing “are you Schmeichel in disguise?” at some diving Wimbledon player in 1997, days after Schmeichel had been pretending to have been fouled by Ian Wright.
68. What would convince you to streak at a football match?
Artur Boruc.
69. Who will win… the FA Cup this season?
Man City
70. …the League Cup?
Villa
71. …the Premiership?
Arsenal would be nice. Real answer = Chelsea.
72. …the Champions League?
Arsenal would be nice and more plausible than the League. Arsenal, Real Madrid or Barca.
73. …the Europa League?
Someone who gets dumped out of the Champions League… I’ll go for Rubin Kazan. At least then I can stare at Savo Milosevic a bit.
74. What would you really, really like to happen in football this year, even though you know it won’t?
Dinamo winning the Europa League.
75. First match you went to:
Arsenal v Blackburn, 26/11/1995, 0-0.
76. Last match you went to:
Hearts v Dinamo Zagreb, 27/08/2009, 2-0 (2-4 on aggregate *yes*)
77. Favourite stadium visited:
Highbury.
Sorry for lack of posts. I’m about to go and pray (really - have had a terrible few days of ignoring God and am going to try and turn things around). We must NOT let Man Utd win the title tomorrow! I’ve a feeling we’ll push it to the wire. At least it’s away so they won’t be able to sing about winning the league at the Emirates for 20 years.
Looking forward to Eurovision tomorrow - one of my guilty pleasures. Just found out that Croatia got to the final, so it will be interesting to hear their song. I’m often not a fan of their song, but support them cos I’d love to attend a Eurovision Song Contest in Zagreb List of the finalists.
Also I’ve just started reading up on the Croatian mayoral elections, because I got a message on Facebook from some Dinamo Zagreb fans telling me to vote for Josip Kregar. I’m now getting a lecture on the situation from one of my friends. Apparently the current mayor, Milan Bandic, is corrupt, but has done a lot of people a favour by allowing illegally built houses in the suburbs to remain. Over 5-% of people are saying they would vote for him, whilst a large minority say they won’t vote, and two per cent say they will vote for anyone but him. Javno has lots of information on the subject - use the search button (I couldn’t find a category).
Also, I need help finding a place to watch Wisla Krakow v Legia Warsaw on Friday 8th May, i.e. a bar in London. Can anyone tell me a good place? I might be better off in Southampton if the Legia stickers plastered all over every pedestrian crossing in the West Quay shopping area are anything to go by. Btw, my new favourite hangout to watch international tournaments, the Famous Three Kings in West Kensington (right by the tube station exit) has a Croatian TV card now so they are showing all the Croatian matches! Result!
I’ll blog properly soon, when it’s not 10pm. But here’s a question to keep you ticking over:
If your favourite footballers went to a fancy dress party, what would they wear? I can’t imagine Patrick Vieira dressing up. He’d have to just cover up completely and do something you have to be ridiculously tall for, like Frankenstein or something. He doesn’t fit any dressing-up stereotypes that immediately come to mind.
I asked both my parents who or what they thought the Torcida were.
Mum: “Tortillas with a ‘tsee’”.
Dad: “Manufacturers of evening suits.” (Tuxedo!)
The Torcida are, of course, not as good as the Bad Blue Boys… I mean they are the dedicated supporters of Hajduk Split. To my shame, I used to walk around with Torcida on my back:( I had a Hajduk T-shirt from about 2000 until last autumn when I got rid of it to Ivo. Zvone saved me from my terrible mistake! It was bought for me anyway, but I always erred on the side of Hajduk until I actually got to see Dinamo play, live, not playing Arsenal.
I am back from my holiday in Croatia. I didn’t get to go to Dinamo v Hajduk. I watched the Torcida throw paper on the pitch until the kickoff got delayed from the “safety” (I’m being sarcastic, we’d have been perfectly safe in Split but nobody agrees with me except Vedran so who cares?) of a bar in Pula. But did I have a fantastic time in Croatia anyway? Of course I did:D My friend Darren at work has a nice take on Hajduk’s 200,000 kuna fine for throwing paper on the pitch:
“It’s a bit harsh. I mean, if Southampton got fined every time there was rubbish on the pitch, they’d be broke!”
A bit harsh on Southampton who have won their last 3 games but a good shout nonetheless. I am wondering what has happened to the Jenni who would have agreed with Darren, the “Chairman of GRODD - Fighting for the Future of Football” Jenni. GRODD is the name of a supervillain according to Google - Gorilla Grodd - and also there’s a composer called Uwe Grodd, but it’s also the name of a football action group I formed and ran while at secondary school and the beginning of college. We started off complaining about referees and the FA cracking down on anything exciting that might happen at a football match, before moving on to become more of a supporters’ advocacy group, campaigning against pay per view football and stuff like that. I think deep down I do agree that you should be able to get away with stuff like that, because it was exciting and I don’t want to be conservative in any way (even if I might accept these days that you have to be sometimes). I still rail against any kind of stuffy Daily Mail reader attitudes from deep down. I need to watch myself for signs of becoming old and middle class, and equally, for signs of becoming so rebellious that I ignore God, other important stuff, right and wrong, etc.
Speaking of God, I went to church on Sunday and came away feeling that I had never been saved before, for the hundredth time. I realised tday that I need to reconcile how I respond to God on Sundays with how it works during the week. I don’t know if this means being more humble (and a bit more scared and, apparently, odd) during the week, or more relaxed on Sundays. Bit of both, maybe? I need to sort it out inside. I don’t really get the personal relationship with God stuff. Usually, at least once a week, I think God is telling me to do something, and it usually leasds to me feling negative about myself. I’d appreciate prayer and support on this, if anyone is available, and I’m more than happy to pray for people in return. I don’t know if I can offer any advice in return, but I will pray first and see where the Holy Spirit leads me. After all, the Bible says not to worry what you will say, for God’s Spirit will speak into your heart. I hope that’s true in my case.
Here is an article which will make you laugh. And I have taken that picture for personal use (otherwise known as Facebook profile picture!). And here is an absolutely hysterically funny question. I’m glad I didn’t ask my parents this. Who knows what might have happened?
Right, I’m going to go now before I get square flatscreen eyes:)
Don’t know. I am so excited! I am heading to bed now as I have forgotten to make an important phone call and do some washing (uniform for work in 8 hours, for a start) but thought I would write a quick note.
Today my friend Dave has been here all day. We played Audiosurf to various amazing bands like Dragonforce, The Soviettes, Strung Out etc etc. If it was noisy, we played it. We also played a very weird classical song (Gaussian Blur, either 1 or 2, by Charlotte) and Dave stealthed it. He is a promising young Audiosurf player, for sure. We watched a load of crap on YouTube and, thanks to help from Tomasz, watched Lech Poznan draw 2-2 with Udinese in the UEFA Cup. It was an amazing game, played in a blizzard! Lech Poznan should probably have won, although Udinese dominated the second half, going 2-0 up before capitulating to some last minute pressure. However, they should have done better as they have been playing football for the last month or so, whilst Lech Poznan haven’t played in 2 months. This still hasn’t solved my Polish football dilemma, but I like the Lech Poznan fans - they were very vocal and demonstrative, in spite of the snow!
So today I have listened to the aforementioned bands as well as: Sum 41, Anti-Flag, The Epoxies, Alkaline Trio, The Descendents, Iron Maiden (thanks Ros!), Seryoga, Edo Maajka, Zhanna Friske, Authority Zero (just coming on now)… in fact, I’ve been a Caroline style musical dustbin. I’m also about to print the words to Vatreno Ludilo and CRAM THEM! I want to be able to sing it on karaoke by Saturday!
I feel very excited about life in general. I feel a bit bad cos I haven’t made much time for God today, but then I haven’t had much time. I have asked Him for help with important things - and I could writing this as important. I try not to write things I don’t think He would want me to write.
Anyways, I’m off now to do my essential tasks. Dave is picking me up before work tomorrow, but that means I have to be up even earlier than usual, but don’t have to cycle. I’m sure that will somehow make it easier to get up in the morning. Is that something to do with interdependence? I can’t seem to do anything under my own steam.
Bye guys, and if I don’t blog again before Croatia, have an amazing week or so and leave comments telling me what you want me to buy you! Love and hugs to everyone.
I am off to Croatia in just 3 days! The trouble is, the telly is full of stuff about plane crashes atm. I don’t like flying, so am a little bit scared. Please pray for me!
Speaking of which, a wonderful lady prayed for me in church the other day, and I have been a lot happier since. I am starting to enjoy changing my life with God’s help, even though it’s happening slowlt and I still get very translated. Hvala lijepa, Boze!
Here is a recipe Adrienne and I invented at uni. Caroline and I have now actually tried it!
Topless Gallas
Serves 3.
3 Gu chocolate pots
3 mugs of milk
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
3 shots Tia Maria
3 shots vodka
Warm the milk in a saucepan with the chilli. When it’s warmed throughout (about 5 minutes: don’t try to do it too fast or it’ll stick) microwave the chocolate pots for around 30 seconds to create a sauce, as per the packet instructions (you may need longer if your microwave is like ours). Pour this into the milk mixture. Remove from the heat and add the alcoholic beverages. Pour into three mugs and serve immediately!
Hope you enjoy that. I should probably go. There’s loads that I want to share. I don’t have all of it due to leaving my phone at home. Here’s a song I discovered I like.
And here’s a song I always knew I liked.
Check this out as well, it’s the same guy. He has his song in 30 different transliterations so you may need to search for Seryoga or Cepera.
And finally, I can’t do this as a poll cos I did a similar one recently which was very indecisively answered. But… who do u think I should side with in the infamous Wisla Krakow vs Legia Warsaw debate, and why? I need to know! Annoying Tomasz seems a good enough reason and Legia would serve that purpose, but I can’t support a team ONLY to wind my friend up and keep Archie happy.
Anyway, I think that’s it for now, although I know I’ve forgotten something important.
I joined this group on Facebook ages ago and now it’s made the Telegraph! I don’t send many emails though, so maybe I should send her my web history.
This is an article from Socialist Worker about why “British jobs for British workers” is not a good slogan. I assume that everyone who saw the BNP van driving around the unofficial strike knows perfectly well why it’s not a good slogan, but I’m glad there’s some intelligent reporting going on.
Anyway, my ego took a major boost today. I was going on about how Zvone has consigned me to travel to Split with 48 Croatian men, possibly because he loves me. Tomasz asked if I could handle it. I said “yes, but will THEY be able to handle it?” He then said, “You are strange, Jenni. You are a dangerous woman!” This was highly amsing because Ivo calls me a dangerous woman all the time.
Seriously, before I went to work today I was reading a bit in Proverbs about the dangers of adultery. I often pray, then open my Bible and read whatever’s there. It then crossed my mind at work that if anyone else (particularly cute, married people!) observed that I was a dangerous woman, there could be a problem. One hour later… I’m not too worried about it yet though; just enjoying the moment, trying (not very successully I might add) to avoid sexual fantasies, and making up my mind not to do anything with anyone I shouldn’t be doing it with, even if they do say “hhhh”. Of course, even thinking about it is adultery, according to Jesus, which I find really hard to remember and obey.
Trivia: Every day at work, I see this symbol. I thought the company might be Croatian, but no, according to Wikipedia, it is supposed to resemble a tablecloth and is part of a self help guide! How very strange.
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