The love for Chelsea...

Truth be told, I have no idea why I became a Chelsea fan. All I remember was seeing an article about Adrian Mutu and Damien Duff were going to Chelsea and at that same time, Chelsea came to Malaysia. Damien Duff was from Blackburn Rovers at one point of time and I remember seeing him score against Arsenal and because of a certain someone who shared the same first name as him but with a different spelling who was apparently interested in me but backed off when he found out I was a Malay [You see, he's an Indian guy. How I found out about him liking me was VERY obvious. My tuition teacher always asks either me or Swarna to write stuff on the board. And since Swarna. me and Harpreet were sitting together, she asked me to sit with him and write on the board, since I am the noisiest among the three. So I was writing the notes and my book was on the table and he saw my name and his friends started teasing him about circumcising and gave him a Malay name. That was REALLY obvious because I am the ONLY Malay girl in that tuition place. so I went back to my seat after I was done with the whiteboard, and Swarna and Harpreet signalled me to turn behind. Then they told me that *The person next to you likes you*. I told them I knew someone said something about circumcise but I didn't know it was the person sitting next to me! His friends know me as Rebecca! Hello, it's ROWENA! Why is it so hard to remember that? I didn't like him because...I DIDN'T LIKE HIM! Period.].

So Chelsea coming to Malaysia was quite a big thing in 2003. I remember when I went to the US in 2003, David Beckham came to Malaysia and Mar went [being the diligent Beckham fan she is], and then he came to the US after that [No, I didn't go! Think I got nothing better to do, is it?]. When they played Newcastle in the Asia Cup final, I wanted them to win because I had nothing better to do at that time. They did win. I didn't know why, but I followed and supported Chelsea until this present moment, and hopefully till the day I die. I supported them a bit too late, I guess. I really liked Gianfranco Zola ever since people were telling me about how great he was. I didn't like ManUre because of David Beckham. I didn't like Arsenal because of their jersey [believe me, you can get the ultimately idiotic reasons from me!] and my dad was an Arsenal fan I didn't want to be another Goon. I didn't like Liverpool because there were too many Liverpool fans that I know of who are related to me [that includes the one who lives in my house and didn't go to work TODAY!].

Don't get me wrong, I was a football fan before I loved Chelsea. I loved England so much that when they lost to Brazil in World Cup 2002, I cried my eyeballs out that even my best friend who was a Brazil fan, was consoling me by saying: *It's just a match-lah, Ro. Don't cry!* . I loved England and got sad when they got booted out the World Cup in 1998 [I cried]. So my real first love [in terms of football] was actually England.

I remember in somewhere 2001, when Chelsea met Arsenal in the FA Cup [don't get me started on the match against Liverpool, I'll kill you!], and again yours truly was writing on the whiteboard in tuition, and the boys were talking so loudly about that final. I got so mad [because there weren't any other girls I know who liked football, but liked all those girlish stuff that YOU know I DON'T advocate!] that I wrote [after finishing the notes, of course] this: *CHELSEA WILL KICK ARSENAL'S BUTT IN THE FA CUP FINAL!!!* . Of course, the boys were shocked I wrote this. Sad enough, they lost. *Bawls like a mad elephant in a fit of rage*

I supported, at one point of time in my life, Selangor when I was just a little girl. Yes, the so-called Malaysian *Red Devils*. That was because my mother threatened me that if I didn't support them, I'd be sent to Sabah and that no one will cook for me! Hey, I was 8 at that time, so I took every word they said seriously! Looking back at that time, I can't stop laughing. I remember at one time they won some Cup, and we got all excited and then we saw a BIG centipede in the kitchen and we were screaming our lungs off! I was standing on the chair and was so scared that it would bite me! Haha...

I didn't know who to support in the EPL [hey, I was supporting England, so I had to support some English team too, right?]. I think Adrian Mutu got me carried away. I still remember how I was so obsessed about finding his picture for our so-called newspaper for the NIE thingy [En Masse - Where Everyone Comes Together]. We went to every class available and started ransacking their newspaper stack. We even searched the library, for crying out loud! But when we did find his pic eventually, I kept quiet. I got what I wanted when I wanted it. =D

I decided to go with Chelsea because of Claudio Ranieri. Since the arrival of our beloved Russian oil tycoon, Roman Abramovich [who has yet to give me the money he owes me!] came to Chelsea in 2003, I wanted to see how long could Claudio Ranieri last in Chelsea. I mean, it was really obvious that Roman meant business when he invested his cash on Chelsea. He wanted results. Of course, he made Terry and Lampard from *nobodies* to *somebodies* and he took us as far as the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. We beat Arsenal. We were the underdogs and we did the unthinkable [not the unthinkable Aimee and I are planning to do!]. We always lost to Arsenal in the Premiership, but in the quarterfinals, we beat them. Those goals will always be inside my head, especially Wayne Bridge's one. That was AMAZING. Truth is, he had to leave. Due to his tinkering ways.

So Claudio bade us Arrivederci, and left to Valencia. And in comes THE SPECIAL ONE, Jose Mourinho. He gave us our first title after 50 years and of course the Carling Cup [the Cup everyone calls the Mickey Mouse Cup]. It was amazing. We managed to beat Barcelona and Bayern Munich, both of which are really good teams in Europe. He borught in and moulded some relatively unknown players [Really? How many of you have actually heard of Mateja Kezman before he came to Chelsea? Bring him back!!!] into amazing players. He even established Terry and Lampard into amazing leaders. He made the team complete.

Sometimes, people just tell me that the ONLY reason I support Chelsea is because they are BLUE [my mum told me that]. Seriously, that has got to be the dumbest reason I've ever heard in my entire life. I mean, I admit I LOVE blue stuff. Most of my clothes and stuffs are blue, but that doesn't mean I have to support them! If I wanted to support a team because of their jerseys, I would have supported Birmingham, Manchester City, or Everton! And ignore about what I said about Arsenal and their jersey earlier.

Mar was a Chelsea fan from young. Her late aunt [Jeevan's mum] made her one. It's strange really. 3/4 of her family members are ManUre fans, save her two sisters [one an Arsenal fan, the other an annoying Liverpool fan] and her youngest sister, Eliza is the only other Chelsea fan in that house. I don't know whether she was the reason I became a Chelsea fan.

Until today, I can't find the right reason on why I love Chelsea like crazy. I don't think the fact I saw Frankie scoring was the reason. I don't think Mar was the reason. The BLUE JERSEY is definitely NOT the reason. I don't think it's Damien Duff or Adrian Mutu. Or Roman Abramovich, Claudio Ranieri, or even Jose Mourinho. I DON'T KNOW!

I know!!!

I LIKE THEM BECAUSE I LIKE DOING THINGS THAT PEOPLE DON'T USUALLY DO! I'M ME! THAT'S WHY I LOVE THEM!

Aimee's right. Sometimes you only need one reason to love someone/something.

I'm in a good mood because my mummy bought me ice-cream.

*Sings in the tune of Everyday I Love You Less and Less by Kaiser Chiefs*
And my mummy loves me!
Because she bought me ice-cream!

Yes, she does!

*Bluesy* out!