inSpurred to Victory

Well, well, well. I`m certainly feeling better, aren`t you? My rototiller wound is healing up nicely; I`m off the antibiotics; and Sunderland mullered Spurs, thank you very much. It`s made for a lovely Easter weekend and I thank the Lads very kindly for doing their bit. Easter is a nice theme for this week`s column, actually, and despite being pretty firmly in the post-religionist camp, I can certainly relate to the themes of resurrection being sermonized from pulpits worldwide yesterday. Add to it the sense of betrayal our “Benty” felt towards Spurs fans and Redknapp himself and you have a nifty little Passion play-cum-football match on your hands.

I got to watch our rebirth from outside on the patio Saturday morning as the pub was showing Arsenal-Wolves and the rebroadcast of Man United-Chelsea at the same time. So it was well-packed and raucous inside. Not for me, though. I had the entire patio to myself, and the lad in charge of the place left me with the remote. Brilliant. Now and again an Arsenal fan would come out for a smoke and commiserate about the game, both of us hating Spurs and enjoying the result as it unfolded.

And what a result it was! And what a difference a week makes. You know the details: we could have been 4-0 at the half, 6-1 at the end. But the 3-1 suits me and flattered Spurs, to be fair. I`m a broken record, but I remain puzzled by how Jekyll and Hyde this team has been this season, puzzled by how poor Rico was last week and how much better he was this week – in the same position. I`m still confounded by Bruce`s ability to get these kinds of performances out of the players one week, and inability the next. But thankfully it`s looking like safety now and I can relax somewhat. That said, the next five won`t be a cake-walk by any stretch.

It`s a lonely thing for me when we win. I feel excellent but I can`t fully share it with anyone in person. I want to be able to talk to someone in person about Zenden`s goal. Or our being awarded three penalties in one game (the last time that happened to us is when??) Or Anton`s stupidly disallowed goal. I can post on the boards and write my little post on here, but it`s not the same.

I watched a home video on YouTube of the Zenden goal filmed from some pretty excellent seats and I have to say the Stadium of Light looked brilliant — intimate and massive at the same time. It must be something to have a season ticket, to have a laugh with the people around you, to march into the ground together. It`s something I will never have. And even though that pains me somewhat, there`s also something wonderful about sitting on a patio, alone, thousands of miles away, screaming at a television, while fifty people inside watching a different game wonder what the hell I`m screaming about.

At least my family gets it. I rang home at halftime to relay the score to my son (who sent away for Darren Bent`s autograph a week ago) and I could`ve sworn I detected excitement in my wife`s voice. Ha!