MadMax

I'm an Astros fan, so I HATED the 86 Mets..still do! Please, no Mets analogies!!

Just want to say, I'm all in! Really enjoyed having a rooting interest for opening day of the EPL. My conversations with Everton fans from Twitter and here have made it really easy for me to feel connected immediately. Thanks for that and the warm welcome! COYB!

The French showed up JUST in time!

New member..I'll respond. I didn't grow up playing soccer. I played baseball, basketball and American football...baseball was my best and my favorite sport. I watch and attend games regularly here in all 3 of those sports. Those who know me would definitely say I'm a huge sports fan, and particularly for the teams from my home town. l'm from Houston, and intensely proud of it. My family has been in Houston for 5 generations now (goes back to Dublin, Ireland on both sides of my family -- but that's another story), including my kids. If you slap Houston on a jersey, I will root for it! So when the Dynamo came to town, that increased my interest in following soccer...that the Dynamo were league champs early on helped even more! Houston has lots of people from all over the world living here because of the energy industry and it has the nation's 2nd biggest port...a very international city...BP's North American headquarters are really just down the street from me. So I sit at bars with people from all over the world and the UK who are all interested in the game. That has helped. Watching the World Cup over the years has helped...in most major sports, the US is not an underdog; but we are in soccer. It's fun to root for an underdog you feel connected with...a team you feel would have to "shock the world" to win. I have wanted a rooting interest in the English league for years...but it's difficult to "force" that. Feels contrived. Howard changed that, honestly...and then the kindness and welcome I've received from Everton fans on Twitter has made it even better. Sounds silly, but I feel connected already. I'm an intensely loyal fan to my teams. @StevO, I'm with you entirely...for instance, I love the game of baseball.. but I'm a Houston Astros fan first and foremost. The rest of the league can bite me. I think soccer is growing in interest here in the States, generally. But it still trails significantly behind American football, baseball and basketball in revenues/viewership/attendance etc. American football has gone beyond being America's favorite sport to being America's favorite entertainment -- last year, I believe 6 of the top 10 most watched TV programs were NFL football games...that's crazy! There's a joke that soccer has always been the "fastest growing sport in America.." We've heard that refrain for a very, very long time now. It would help if the MLS would grow up. You have multiple teams owned by the same owners..that doesn't play well here (particularly in Houston) as it sets up an inherent conflict of interest. Also, we need more of the big name celebrity players to sign contracts to play here....that would certainly help.

I guess there's no need to start a new thread, as this would be the title of one I'd create as well. Fourth generation Houstonian here, who has been trying to find a rooting interest in an EPL club for a while...Tim Howard made it Everton! Thankful for forums and for Twitter to help me learn more and get connected with other fans...I'm still learning!