Brad wrote:dokool wrote:Brad wrote:Are there any other huge soccer fans on the Org? More interested in other leagues (Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, J.League, etc.)? If you are a soccer fan, who do you support? And finally, who would be up for an Org fantasy premiere league (it's free)?
I've been going to games for about 7 years, work for Goal.com Japan as a writer/photographer, have appeared as a Knowledgable Soccer Person on Japanese TV a couple times, shot last year's Club World Cup, and recently shot the East Asian Cup, so I guess I know a little about Japanese soccer.
EPL isn't my forte so I'd rather not embarrass myself in a fantasy league, though.

I will freely admit, I jelly.
It's an awesome job with a more-than-fair amount of BS attached, but that really comes with the territory of anything journalism-related. Lots of long days/nights, conference calls, silly tasks that seem important and vice versa.??
But for every few days I have to edit/translate a story or send 50 emails, I get to go out and take a photo like this:

(2012 Club World Cup final, Corinthians vs. Chelsea)
??.or be on the field for this:

(East Asian Women's Cup, North Korea WNT celebrates championship by embracing South Korea WNT)
And if I want to go as a fan, there's always a few more remote locations:

(2012 Asian Champions League, Beijing Guoan vs. FC Tokyo at Worker's Stadium, Beijing)
Last October I needed an entire bottle of Vicodin for my Eurotrip but I went to a couple stadiums, like this one:

To watch this:

(Milan 0-1 Inter, and of course the one player I came to see got a red card)
Then I hopped a train over to Paris:

(France 0-1 Japan at Stade de France)
Still, nothing like being on the field to see my team win a championship on New Year's Day,

(2012 Emperor's Cup Final, FC Tokyo vs. Kyoto Sanga)
Or any team win something, really:

But damn does it get loud down there.
