It may seem like a bizarre question for some of you, but seriously, what did you and I do before the Premier League existed? Depending on how long or new you’ve been following the league, your answers will vary greatly. But based on the amount of attention we give to the Premier League and everything that happens on and off the pitch with it, what did we do before it existed or before we stated following it?
For me, the Premier League and the old First Division are one and the same. I’ve followed English football since I was eight years old and that fanatism has been going strong for 33 years since then and it shows no sign of stopping. But when I moved to the States in 1984 and up until the Premier League became a lot more accessible in the early 2000’s, there was a lot more free time back then to do other things. It went in phases from being the editor and publisher of a music fanzine for my favorite rock band (The Cult) to just enjoying life in different ways such as reading tons of horror books (my favorite author at that time was Clive Barker), to collecting baseball cards and stickers, going to college, attending more than a hundred concerts as a rock journalist for my local newspaper, and even dabbling in some NBA and NFL action which for me in this time in my life seems quite bizarre.
Without a doubt, a lot more of my life is now consumed by the Premier League whether it’s on television or via the Internet. But even before the Premier League was here, my life was centered around trying to find a way to find out what was happening between the hours of 3-5pm in England on the professional soccer fields. Whether that was via shortwave radio, or when the Internet arrived — AOL, Prodigy and CompuServe, my life has definitely rotated around that two hour time slot as I find new ways to live vicariously through different mediums as I try to fantasize actually being there.
What about you? How was your life different before the Premier League existed? What hobbies did you have that you no longer spend as much time on because of how much time you enjoy experiencing the Premier League? Share your stories in the comments section below.
