About PBO

The main reason I started this blog is because I often get so frustrated with a biased or rather non-existent coverage of our exciting local football scene and  particularly at the Anglophiles out there, who sit in kedai mamak or that comfy armchairs instead of filling up our stadia.

Don’t get me wrong, I am far from a through-and-through football man myself. I have never gotten into the first eleven at school and the closest thing that I can be proud of is that my involvement in the university intra-mural and inter-university 5-a-side football. I weren’t half bad if want to be perfectly honest with you but am learning.

That aside, I wish I can empathise with you lot who would rather sit out in mamak stall and cheering out a football team that you pretend to relate with (as if it would make a difference).

Come on, you and I both know that the only thing you and the club has in common is that fake jersey that you bought off the local night-market last Friday or that lousy stickers you stick on your car wind shield.

Before you guys making a judgement about me please read on.

I love watching English football. In fact, I lived and breathed English football for the past 11 years of my life so I know what it all means.

And every so often, I find myself in a deep discussion either about the teams, the games or the supporters with my mates.

What I find so intriguing about them is that they have concrete reasons beyond any reasonable doubt on why they end up supporting any particular teams, which is great-until they ask me what my reasons were.

They can justify hundreds and thousands of pounds spent on the season tickets, the first team kits, the away kits, the third kits, their kids kits, the wallpapers, the mats, the bathrobe, the humongous life-like posters, the midweek Europe trips and ultimately the crates of beer these guys consume every Saturday afternoons. Does that smacks you right in the face yet?

And the most novel part about them is that, no matter what, no sleet or snow, nor the 20mph gusty wind, or the 5 days sunshine they get in a year, nothing, that would stop them from filling up the Carling stand down the Victoria Road or the Kop Stand down the Bramall Lane.

My point is though, it does not matter if you love your English football but don’t forget your roots and remember that the future of our local football is our responsibility.

For you who are sceptical I can assure you, that you’d have much better time jumping up and down on the stand to the team you can relate to and identify with rather than in front of the tele in the rat-ridden mamak that serves bad foods and charge exorbitant pennies for a cup of teh tarik anyway.

Honestly speaking, I’ve been to many Premier league and Championship matches and they aren’t all that exciting. It’s the advanced technology they have in multimedia that gives it a little edge to our football but really it’s no match (pun intended) for seeing the match live in the stadium.

Malaysia to host the World Cup?

Furthermore, we have to start somewhere.

When are we ever going start thinking about bidding to host the World Cup?

If we do get the one-in-a septillionths chance to host the Cup, do you think we can, given that we can’t even televised our game at the same par as the Premiership or the Bundesliga?

How long are we going to rely on Reuters or AP news or ESPN for your back-page materials if we don’t even know how to produce a match report of your Police vs KM Naza match? (Why buy the local newspaper to get your Premiership latest transfer gossips anyway? You’d be better of on the internet for the latest up-to-date news)

Ask these questions to yourself. Open yourselves up to these possibilities.

Local football are better or at least equally exciting (well, Negri matches anyway) with so many ups-and-downs that will rock that football emotions of yours. It’s a wonderful journey. Trust me, am a doctor (No, really I am). If you had a bad night at the stadium then, you can always head to mamak after the match and cheer yourself up to your Manchespool Rovers on ESPN Ocho.

Lastly, I just want to share with you the conversation I had with a broadsheet newspaper photographer in a recent Super League match at STAR, Paroi;

Me: You know mate, I often wonder why the Utusankini can afford to have four-full-page stories about the Premiership but just four paragraphs on our Super League?

The dude: Urmm… yeahh… Macam ni lah, my sub-editor told me this… Hold on a second..

He answers his phone and 5 minutes later he ended the phone call..

The dude: Ahh.. apa aku cakap tadi.. Urmm.. Yeah.. Sub-editor aku cakap.. kalau ada 9 orang nak makan nasik goreng USA dan 1 orang nak makan nasik goreng kampung ko nak jual mana satu?

Me: ……

Don’t be an ignorant c*nt. Make a difference!