Click here to open a link to this book on Amazon
I just got this book off of Amazon used. Don’t know if people realize it or not, but Amazon’s used book functionality is great. Look up the book and then click the “used and new” link somewhat below the top of the page. I’ve noticed that some folks I show that to, don’t realize it is there. It is great. If a book is in print a year or two, most of the time, you can get it for shipping + a buck or two.
So yesterday this came in the mail and I quickly flipped through it and wouldn’t you know, I come on the part where he is describing his first minutes playing with the first team at Anfield. He got 3 or 4 minutes of garbage time at the end of the game. I’ve been to exactly one Liverpool match at Anfield and that was it! And I don’t remember him at all. What I do remember was the nice goal by Paul Ince–one of the best I’ve ever seen, right in front of us at the Anfield Road end. And then 10 minutes later Owen scored a garbage goal from the 6. 2-nill Reds. What a great night. I had taken a weekend trip over to see the match and I think I was still working with Cincinnati Bill and my brother at Baxter Pharm when I went. I looked like hell when I got back because for basically 72 hours, I got like 8 hours of sleep, if that, and really ate little more than Guiness. I look at that trip as being a dividing line in my life. When I left on the trip, I was young and when I came back, I was not anymore. Make sense? Still, it was a riot and I enjoyed the sheer goof of realizing that I had not only seen Owen and Fowler both start, but Stevie came on as well.
One thing I don’t like about the book is that it is written in the vernacular–as if Gerrard were dictating it (probably did) and they leave in all the curse words, that any pro athlete knows so well. Why? Why do that on a book that most kids will be reading? What for?
Gerrard is a special player. Other than Athens last May, he seems to be able to go up another gear for big games. He wills things on the field. I put him in a DiMaggio-esque group of elite guys that can make me pay attention to a game just because they are playing. Jordan. Henry. Cantona. Beckenbauer. Those kind of guys. And yes, Fowler for a few years back there in the 1990’s.
To answer your question, Phil, yes, I saw Liverpool on their American tour in 2004 at Hartford vs Celtic and Giants’ Stadium vs Roma. In fact, if you were at Giants’ Stadium, you got good seats and you saw Michael Owen score his last goal as a Red. We couldn’t make the trip to the SkyDome, because we were in Atlanta, but we thought about it. That tour kicked off the European Cup winning season–they should tour the states every year, no? Instead, they try to build their brand in the Far East. Those guys are already plugged in–there’s sooo much more “space” in the US for P-Ship exposure, I think they should make it a regular thing. At least send the reserves or the U-19 side over each year. I mean, the MLS is a joke. Are the “playoffs” over yet? ahahaha. I love that. Let’s start a league and design the format on the NHL! Yea, that’s a good idea. A long, interminable season that no one cares about and then EVERYBODY qualifies for a long, complex playoff system! Americans will LOVE that! hahahaha… YNWA Stevie.
