Arsene Wenger is not why I am an Arsenal fan. That's down to my brother's club soccer team taking a trip to England in the summer for friendlies with English sides and a jaunt over to the mainland for Euro '96. More specifically, I'm an Arsenal fan because I was left behind when they went. While my mother, brother and sister were off seeing the sights of Europe, I was home in New Jersey doing normal 10 year-old-things (pogs? Seems about the right time for pogs.) As an apology for being left behind I received two things: a promise I would get to go if his team did something similar in the future (they did; I did not) and a souvenir -- a red shirt with an electronics company on the front of it.
My mom had picked it up while they were hitting the shops in North London, and by the Grace of Bergkamp the red one caught her eye more than the white one. I got that shirt, and I became "an Arsenal fan." Even as a kid I was loyal to the death for the teams I decided were my teams, and that shirt made certain that when I would follow European football, Arsenal were my team. But I didn't start following European football then. I was young, and it wasn't as easy as it is today.
As the calendar ticked on to the new millennium, and Arsene's Arsenal neared its invincible best, I would love to say I was all-in and cherishing in their successes. I didn't even know it was happening.
