Really repetitive. ( )

As an English football fan of only three months, I felt that I was the perfect audience for this book. But while I enjoyed some of the wide eyed wonder that Culpepper approached English football with as reminiscent of what I too was experiencing, it couldn't escape the fundamental problem many sports books have, namely that unless you are heavily emotionally invested in a team it becomes somewhat boring to read about one of a team's seasons. I am not a Portsmouth fan, and even if I were, I wouldn't have enough perspective and experience to love this book. I read a similar book a few years ago about one season with the Chicago Cubs and I absolutely loved it (WrigleyWorld, for anyone who might wonder) and I chalk this up to the fact that the Cubs have been an enduring touchstone in my life. The emotional experience of reliving a single season through the book was well worth the sometimes tedium that a season typically is. But I don't have that same connection with an English football team yet, and thus while I devoured the first 150 pages of this book for the newness of the experience, the last 100 pages plodded on somewhat.

But Culpepper is a talented writer, and he acknowledges that he isn't truly a "fan" yet of Pompey, because he hasn't had to endure the requisite amount of suffering. I also thought Mr. Culpepper's reckless abandonment of objectivity and submerging himself into fandom late in life was interesting and charming. As someone who is likewise trying to do this with an English football team (although not Pompey), I found this to be both funny and true. I, of course, don't have the same experience of objectivity as a sports writer as Culpepper does, and so this experience of irrationally defending some team because they are your own is not as foreign to me as it seemingly was to him at points.

Overall, Culpepper accomplishes what his thesis sets out: illustrate the experience of a new fan of English football. And he accomplishes it with some style and aplomb as well. But I still experienced some of the doldrums of a season of English football, and thus I only liked the book. It is possible that were I a longtime fan of Portsmouth, I would have enjoyed re-experiencing their most successful season in fifty years more. But as I am not (nor are, I suspect, the majority of Culpepper's readers), I can only give this book three stars. ( )

I can see, quite clearly, why a lot of football (soccer) purists would be upset with this book. First of all, he calls it soccer (as he should), second -- he never really mentions MLS (who can blame him, it's about England and football) and third, he talks about American sports. All of these things are positives, no matter what others might think. This is not for the hardcore fan (unless you're an open-minded fan who wants to know what it's like for non-expats just getting into the sport or someone who also enjoys American sports, such as myself), it's for the casual fan, the non-fan and the general sports fan. And that's what I like about the book. Culpepper's writing style draws you in and keeps you reading. It's not a great treatise on the wonders of English football. It's a love story -- a man and his team. It's something any fan can identify with. And, of course, Culpepper does address the issue of the fact that he chose a team. But, in the end, it's clear (at least to me and perhaps to Culpepper, and the friends he makes along the way) that the teams choose us. ( )