b It was not lost on me that, had relegation been in place in the NFL, my beloved Cleveland Browns would have been demoted nearly every year since their return to the league. Thank heavens for the monopolistic socialism of the NFL. Without it, I might never have been able to see 20 different quarterbacks under center since 1999.
c I owe my love of Tottenham Hotspur to my uniquely American fascination with their name, the play of former Spur Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11), and the lobbying of Joseph Jaffe (@JaffeJuice). For this, I owe an apology to lifelong Arsenal FAN and colleague Mark Charalambous (@Mark_Chara), who took me to my first EPL game—Arsenal’s 3–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion (@WBAFCofficial). You tried your best Mark, but I’m a Spur not a Gooner.
d Sort of like cricket. But that’s a longer conversation for another book.
1. Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/98/98-h/98-h.htm.
2. Julian Norridge, Can We Have Our Balls Back, Please? How the British Invented Sport (and Then Almost Forgot How to Play It) (London: Penguin, 2008), 157.
3. Ibid., 160.
4. Ibid., 188.
5. “Old Trafford,” The Stadium Guide, accessed August 6, 2013, www.stadiumguide.com/oldtrafford/.