Studs Up

Well, I’m really excited to say that both Studs Up and I were name-dropped on one of GQ magazine’s editorial blogs. As an avid reader of both UK and US GQ, it was a mini dream fulfilled.

But why the hell was a football cartoon being mentioned on by an American men’s lifestyle magazinet? Let me explain…

A few weeks ago I was introduced to Mark Kirby, senior editor at the US edition of GQ magazine. Mark was a relative newcomer to football fandom but was already reading Studs Up (I had to hand him a fiver to let me say that) and, to my surprise, was already fighting to have football content play a significant role in the new GQ.com due to launch in October. An influential, mainstream American publication producing football content? Whaa?

Now, I should make it clear before you read the rest of this post that I may have a slightly different view of the online football space than most. When I founded CaughtOffside in 2006 it was one of the first football blogs out there and I’ve been in the trenches of football “new media” ever since. Over the years, I’ve noticed less and less quality editorial content and more of a focus on viral videos and rumour. I don’t need to see the same story “broken” by a dozen websites in 10 minutes, I’d much rather spend my time with the blogger who actually adds some value to the story.

So I quickly warmed to Mark’s enthusiasm for the sport and, perhaps even more importantly, his desire to provide a new voice and editorial angle. With a journalistic background so drastically different to your average football fan, and even football writer, I was really looking forward to seeing exactly how he dissects football as a sport and culture. Not only that, but I was actually even more excited at the prospect of an American taking the lead.

“WTF?”, you say?

Well, I grew up in both British and American cities and cultures and so I have a soft spot for both. I learned very early on that there are just as many plastic, ignorant fans in the UK as there are knowledgeable, passionate ones in the US. Personally, I can’t wait for the day when the sport dominates both markets and we can get some proper global banter going (and with ESPN buying up rights and even GQ editors covering the sport, I don’t think it’s too far off).

Below I’ve picked out two of Mark’s recent posts that I think are a great starting point into his writing as he begins to find his feet as a fan and football writer.

The first article outlines his background with football and some of his thinking as he searches for a team to support. I love articles like these because regardless of how you feel about what is said about your club, there’s a good chance that there are a lot of other people who feel exactly the same way. A nice little reality check.

It also got me thinking about how those who consider themselves “real fans” found their club.I would play a small wager that the reason most of us started supporting a certain team actually isn’t that different to how a “new” fan would pick theirs. Many Spurs fans fell in love with the team because of Lineker, Gazza, Hoddle or even the original double-winning side. Those eras may have been ages ago but that doesn’t make it any less of a glory hunt, we merely rationalise it more easily.

The second article made my eyes pop a bit. Was Mark really taking on the issue of swapping a team mid-life as one of his first forays into publicly writing about football? A death wish, surely? But the article only strengthened my belief that we stand to gain a lot by having experience, top class writers covering our sport from an American point of view. Kirby provides food for thought without preaching, shirking accountability or denying the cultural significance of something as unthinkable as changing clubs. I actually only later realised that he wasn’t even pushing any one side on the subject, but merely providing me the ammunition to engage in conflict with myself. Very sneaky.

So check ‘em out and I’d love to hear your thoughts!