Is this Love that I’m feeling?

By: wan | May 28th, 2009

After so many months, so many matches and so many different emotions, we have finally come to this…the fact that Betis now lies 1 point above the relegation zone and have a do-or-die match against Valladolid this coming Saturday. So why the hell am I smiling?Indeed why did I pick a picture of a smiling pack of Betis players instead of the sad and serious faces that dominate all fans of relegation-threatened clubs at this time of the year? Because for the first time in a very long time, I finally feel and understand what “Love” is…

Love as a word, is inadequate to encapsulate the gamut of emotions that you feel for something or someone. Love is so mysterious an element that it cannot be rationalised – if you choose not to make sense of it. Why do fans love their football clubs? The answer is as varied as they are valid. It would be a fallacy to say that results, trophies, and a glamorous reputation by association are the only reasons why fans choose to follow a club. If that is so, most La Liga fans would be Real Madrid converts.

No, the answer cannot be so straightforward… I asked myself the question of Love this week due to the recent reports of fans physically attacking the Betis players during their training sessions, pelting them with eggs and heaping abuse on them. The strain and disruption was so bad that Betis had to move their entire training base to Portugal just to escape their own fans!!! When I first read it, it was with great disbelief – first the shock at the behaviour of the so-called fans, then at the club’s cowardice response of escaping the fans’ wrath.

I believe that as in all things, the players and the coaching staff should stand up to be counted, especially at a time like this when the crisis is at the very doorstep. Escapism solves nothing and provides no peace of mind. True, the fans may not be within earshot of the players, but their disappointments and their anger loom large in the memories – or at least they should if the Betis players still have any pride and affection left for the club.

I did wonder – why did the fans react in that manner? How can their barbaric behaviour be justified under any circumstances? Then it dawned on me that the magnitude of their anger is a reflection of their love, their love for the club, for the badge, for the players, for everything. One only feels abject disappointment when one loves something too much – only for the highest of expectations to be crushed and flung to the ground for reasons beyond logical comprehension. After all. how can you explain losing to a reserve Bilbao team preparing for the Copa Del Rey final, and drawing 1-1 in the penultimate game with Malaga while dominating and hitting the woodwork twice?

When that happens, when things you cannot comprehend happen, you either look inwards for answers or your feelings burn and turn into violent anger. The more you care, the more violent you become, because you have the naive belief that the harder you protest, the more the players will respond. Unfortunately Pavlov’s theory don’t really work on and off the football pitch.

Feeling helpless, you scream and shout but you know all these will be to no avail because now it comes down to the final game, against a fellow relegation-threatened candidate. This is Darwin’s survival of the fittest axiom wit large – Win and all is forgiven; lose and all Hell breaks loose.

Of course, there are those who will be spared your wrath, symbols of faint hope that if only everyone was like these players, Betis would not only be safe from relegation, they would be challenging for Europe. And whatever coaches want to say or believe, the fans are not blind and they do know who is doing a good job representing them and who’s not. No secret then that Edu, Mark Gonzalez, Nelson and Emana were those who escaped the wrath – not surprising cos Betis owed 2 of their last 3 victories to the single-handed efforts of Gonzalez and Emana. Truly, as a fan, you want them to stay and yet you think they deserve better (but hopefully with your club?)

So in the end, it has come down to this – 90mins against Valladolid in front of the only people who care, the only people who truly love. 90mins on a pitchfork road towards heaven or hell, ending either in tears of joy or tears of despondence. And all these different emotions only because of one.

At this point in time, I finally understand what Love truly means.

From now on, I will be joined on this blog by Kent Darcy, another committed Beticos who will be offering his unique and refreshing views on all things Betis. So all Betis fans, please join me in extending a very warm welcome to Kent!!!