What Do You Mean Winning Isn’t The Only Thing?
(How I Learned About “Football” Culture From Following The Thai League And Hanging Out With Brits)
by Tommie Duncan
Growing up with Sports in America
“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing” was the first phrase uttered across the huddle at us by Coach Rocky Rosacker, a retired Marine, on the first day of middle school (I was 12) American football practice in the hundred degree plus August heat in TX. For the next three years the Col and football would become one of the things that would have a profound effect on the rest of our lives. We would learn not only how to push our bodies, but how to push our minds to the limit. We literally ran until we puked; Col would congratulate us for “fertilizing his field.” After a victory we were allowed to celebrate, until the next day at practice where we would examine what we did wrong and work, work, work. There were no excuses. Our eighth grade season saw us a perfect 10-0 and many of us went onto play on our high school team, which was also excellent. Mine is not an unusual story for a boy in the US. Sports are important and you play to win. After all second place is the first loser. The goal of every team is to win a championship. Of course being a geographically isolated American, I thought this was the way it was with sports everywhere. Boy, was I wrong.
Finally Some Live Sports
I lived in Bangkok for over ten years before I even knew there was a Thai League. Amazing considering I lived on lower Sukhumvit not so far from PAT Stadium. Additionally, the English language media gave no space to the league back in those days. So it came as quite a surprise when in March of 2011 my gal announced that we were going to a football match. I was quite excited! Live sports were certainly something I missed. Giving up my Dallas Star’s season tickets was one of the major sacrifices when I moved across the planet.
Our first match was Thepasadin. Tero against someone I can’t recall; seats were like medieval torture devices, but it was great seeing live sports again. The next week we went to PAT to see Port play Si Sa Ket and I was hooked. Little did I know the roller coaster ride I was jumping on.
The first season was just a hint of what was to come. Port were a formidable squad in ’11, having come off years with successive cup victories. However, after my first four games as a supporter the first leg ended and Port, having run into financial difficulties sold four of their best players and their coach. The rest of the season was a bit of a mess, but we still managed to make it to a cup final. The motorbike ride with all the supporters from PAT to Supachalasai still ranks up there as one of my most enjoyable sporting experiences. The game was not so thrilling as we were thumped by a far superior Buriram team that included Frank Achempong who went onto have a pretty solid career in Europe.
My second season as a supporter saw Port relegated amongst an ownership that did not really seem interested in winning or interested in showing appreciation to the fans. For an American sports fan it was a very unsettling and baffling year, which ended with me questioning whether I would continue to support the team. At the end of the season I wrote a rather scathing indictment of the team, the management, and the ownership, and even questioned the sanity those fans who would continue to spend their time and emotions on a club that did not seem interested in winning and showed what was in my opinion a blatant disregard of the fans and the fan experience. I was quite shocked when not only did the other supporters not echo my position, but also I was in fact castigated by many of them, some of whom hold a grudge about it to this day, and thrown off the Port FB board. It was at this point I realized that my expectations as a fan were far different that those who spell color with u.
After quite a bit of thought I decided to hang in as a supporter and most of the time I am quite happy I have. Seen the team go down twice and both times pop up the next season and had the pleasure of seeing them finish third in 2018 and 2019, a marvelous accomplishment, but of course for me, still not good enough.
We really are different
I met some really wonderful folks amongst the foreign Port supporting contingent. I enjoy my time hanging out with them at the stadium and interacting on social media. I still feel like I am a bit of a thorn in their sides due to quite irreconcilable differences on many issues. Of course I am never satisfied with the performance of the team and probably never will be unless we are contending for the championship and cups year in and year out and constantly striving to be a better organization from the ground up.
I’ll always be a bit amazed that the vast majority of football supporters across the world can be satisfied knowing that their team has no possibility of ever winning even a cup not to mention a championship. Yes, yes, I do understand the social aspect, your hometown, etc., but still, never even contending? Even the fans of the most hapless team in any American sports league believe, and rightly so, that one-day they will win it all. And for the most part they are right. There are very few teams that have not won at least one championship. It’s a lot for an American fan to get his head around.
Additionally Americans expect our sports to be “fair.” We don’t want them to reflect the unfairness of everyday life; we want them to transcend it. So we expect the league to do everything in their power to ensure that fair play is not only expected but also policed using all means necessary including technology. We don’t want to sit around the day after a game at the office talking about a bad call that turned the match; we’d rather be focused on coaching decisions and player performance. We have gone so far as imposing a salary cap in most major American sports leagues to ensure that even the less moneyed teams have a shot. Seeing the same teams at the top of the table year in and year out is boring and to that end blatantly buying a championship should not be allowed.
Also, when it comes to game day we want to be in the best seat we afford that gives us the best view of the play. I was amazed that so many of the farang supporters choose to sit in the ends of the stadium where the view of the play is nowhere near as good as it is in Zones A and C.
But we all still enjoy the Game
I won’t mince words; it’s taken some time to find the right headspace in order to keep some semblance of sanity during this nine-year term as I still hear the Colonel screaming out Lombardi’s words in my head before every match. I am constantly amazed at some of the happenings within the team and the league. There are times that I swear I’m going to write it off, but I keep coming back. Probably not for the reasons that my friends from across the pond do, but because as a Yank I am eternally hopeful that at some point that trophy will be hoisted and well, it does satisfy the craving for live sports, and where else am I going to be able to afford to sit anywhere but the cheap seats! See you guys at PAT.
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