I know that today there are often other races taking over our sports , yet wondering . . ?
Do you have one ?
As for me ( a German ) . .
Football ( soccer ) is the number 1 sport in Germany . .
One of the football-nations of the world . .
Now , concerning my location some people may think that I , as someone from Bremen , of course hold to Werder . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SV_Werder_Bremen
. . yet not everyone hailing from there holds to them . .
Do not get me wrong , I love my town , yet concerning Werder . .
. . as it happens in my youth I lived close to the Weserstadion . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weser-Stadion
. . and TBH after being exposed to certain "fans" (((behaving most peculiarly))) when it came to their favourite team ( I witnessed things I better do not even tell here . .) I never truly developed an interest in them . .
I think those fans made the club look bad . .
I know ALL teams have fans which behave inappropiately yet the experiences in my youth just had an impact on me . .
That is not meant to speak ill of the club , yet it , in a way , took my interest . .
So what team do I hold to ?
It may seem strange for someone from my area , yet . .
Why ?
As it happens in my younger years I had a girlfriend who hailed from Bochum ( she and her parents moved ) , one of . . ahemm . . the first loves of my life
sry if the pic is a bit overhyped , of course we did not marry , lol . . Yet , most ironically , she even looked quite close to the one pictured . .
Her father was a total football fan . . .
In this way I kind of developed a taste for 'Ruhrpott'-football . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhr
( the German Ruhr area is commonly referred to as 'Ruhrpott' inside Germany ( the word 'pott' is close to the English word 'pot' and has the same meaning , just that it derives from the Westphalia dialect . .) since the whole Ruhr region has been an industrial complex for a long time , always steam showed above its surface , compared to a cooking pot . .)
Especially Gelsenkirchen . .
. . was often called 'the German Manchester' eversince . .
The situation was quite similar to that of the England of the Industrial Revolution . .
. . and naturally people were frustrated . .
Football has been a valve eversince . .
The main spots for football enthusiansm often were areas of societal problems , giving people a valve . .
So , in a way , even until this day I am influenced by my former ex when it comes to football
lol . .
Now you know the story . .
The VfL may not be in such a good position these days when it comes to scale , yet as an old saying goes "A fan is a fan in good as well as bad times" . .
True . .
And . . after all . . it's just football
One of the "incidentals of life" . .
No need to lose your head over it . .
EVERYBODY has the right to hold on to their favourite team . .
Or to . . ahemm . . paraphrase it . .
"Opinions are like assholes . . Everybody's got one"
lol
I do not have contact with this ex anymore ( it was when I was 16 . .) , yet , like I said , still a sucker for Bochum . .