one lady asked why it wasn't a steelers one, to which i told her true it wasn't, but that i was still a steelers fan, then we got to talking about the team and eventually i think at some point i told her how i met mean joe green earlier that day. of which i will now regal you.

i came in at around 11 or so on saturday morning and being the person i am, i was still semi-out of it and so i wans't paying much attention to what was going on around me. but when a manager tells you to follow him, you do. so i'm following my manager who sometimes likes to be a dick and fuck around with us, so i'm not entirely sure where i'm going to end up because who the hell knows frankly. so i'm told to go into the hotel lobby and ask the man at the counter how is stay is and look at the apples. i look at the apples and htey seem fine and i ask the man how his stay is and he says everything is good. wondering why in the hell i've just done that i walk back to my manager, who whispers to me "do you know who that is?" of course i don't know who it is, it's too fucking early to recogonize anyone. then he asks if i know of a "joe green" i pause a moment and ask "..you mean, mean joe green?" to which my manager nods like he's some little kid who's gotten away with stealing cookies. turns out there's a sports memorabilia show and they got a lot of steeler greats to come down to do the signing and of course they''re all staying at the hotel. the night before jack lamberts, franco harris, mean joe, and one other all got bombed at our bar and had a grand ole time. needless to say my day began in a weird, weird way, because i dont expect to see mean joe green in the hotel lobby on a saturday morning.

so i told the lady from pittsburgh about the show and she was impressed that they were here and upset she didn't go see them.

then as i'm sitting talking to my friends about something iturn around and a guy goes "awesome shirt man, i love arsenal" so of course i start talking to him for a while. then he says he's a chelsea fan to which i say he can't support both since they're london rivals and it isn't possible to like them both, it'd be like being a fan of both the yankees and the mets, it just doesn't happen. then he drops the one key "i hate manyoo. that's the one team i hate the most, i'm more a fan of the game overall" so i can understand it and we talk some more about the game and he asks "did you go to tilly?" i tell him i did then he asks if i played lacrosse, i say yea, and he's like "i knew i knew you from somewhere." i blink and try to think of how many dreadlocked black guys i knew who played lacrosse, none. so i ask him his name and it's then i realize he's a guy i knew pretty well back in the day and it's freaky as hell, because i haven't seen this guy since i graduated, or even before then since he was a year above me. it's really odd to see people you knew in highschool years later, especially in that situation because you don't really expect it, and it's almost a shock to the system to see them in a place you frequent so much.

and that is why i will continue to wear my jerseys come hell or highwater [or a game that day], because when you do find those few people who understand the shirt, and the team. it's almost like you have a single unifying bond with them instantly, almost how in a fraternity anyone who's been in that frat is your "brother", anyone who's an arsenal supporter is your "brother" for life, because you can't pick and choose your team, it just happens and you mate for life.

scud