I'm not sure how I can truly express what this place has meant to me in the mere context of words, but I'm going to try.
Back in 2003, Late July or Early August I would say, I was staring at my CD of photos on my computer that I had taken from the time Juve was in the U.S. during the 2003 Champions Series, which featured Juve, Milan, Barcelona, Celtic, Manu, Club America (I'm remembering the rest of the teams because I'm staring at the program as we speak), and I had all of these pictures, and all of these moments that I wanted to talk about with someone, anyone that even remotely cared.
I tried ESPN, because that was the place I frequented the most. Hah. No.
Ok. Fox Sports. Hmmm. Nothing. Unless I was a supporter of the EPL.
CBS Sportsline? Didn't even have a Soccer page.
So, I went hunting on my search engine for a decent football site, and if they talked about Juve, then Hey..............................all the better.
First place I found was a video game site. That was a bad idea. Then I found a couple of other sites that really didn't interest me too much. So I called it a day.
I tried again a couple of days later, but THIS TIME, I did something that most people are guilty of when their mind travels faster than their fingers. I typed a 'Z" instead of an "S".
What the hell is this?? I thought. this is interesting.
Interesting indeed, to say the least. I didn't notice any Americans here at first, so I thought I would stand out and make myself known that there are people from the U.S. who actually watch soccer, or football, or in this case, both, depending upon the sport. Hence, "USA Juventini" made his debut in 2003, complete with all of the photos and stories of those practices and and photo and autograph sessions. P.S.- If anybody laughs at my original screen name, you are FUCKING DEAD.
Now, I despise most types of social media, such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. I have never signed up for them, nor will I ever do so.
Why, you ask? Because no matter how many times you converse with someone through those forms of media, you don't feel like family. You don't feel as if there is a world outside of your four walls, or outside of your doorstep, or just outside the rear view mirrors of your automobile.
Here, you do.
Here, you feel both stunning realities of the world in which we live in. Just how grand and intimidating and different the world is, and yet, you also feel as if someone like Seven is just down the street from you, where you can throw an empty beer bottle at him and tell him to stop being such a wuss when it comes to girls.
(P.S.- I love you, kid, and you know that.)
There is a closeness, an intimacy, that I know I have with certain members here, that if anything tragic were to befall them, I would feel it as if it were someone I knew all my life, and it would wound my heart in a way that is only reserved for losing a close friend or loved one.
There are people here that I know I will never meet, and as sad as that is, it also makes me smile knowing that they are simply a keyboard, a computer, and an internet away.
When I see people such as Jack, or Dusan, Andy, Hoori, Rab, Sab, or anyone else that I hold dear to me, type something, it feels as if we are all in the same room, just shooting the breeze. And sometimes, I don't even get that feeling when I'm in the same room with my friends who are actually in the same room with me, if that makes any sense.
So Martin, I think that the best thing that I could say, is that whether you intentionally meant to do this or not, you have brought a sense of emotion to an otherwise emotionless medium.
You've brought humanity and genuine good feelings to a digital world.
In other words, you singlehandedly made this a part of my life.
MY LIFE, Martin. And I honestly don't know if I would be a better person today if I had not mistakenly stumbled upon this 7 years ago.
But I'm glad that I don't have to find out.
Thank You.
Thank You.
Thank You so much.
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