Norwich City FC: The Education of a Canaries Supporter

New York, NY - A few weeks ago, I wrote an article titled Norwich City FC Fans living in NYC: On the Ball City!. It explained the reason I selected, or rather, why Norwich City FC selected me as a supporter.

Basically, I didn't want to follow the American status quo of rooting for either Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. While I may admire and commend their history, following those teams is as similar to following the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Lakers.

I wanted to follow a club whose spirit reflected my personality. I also wanted to be part of a club where the supporters are loyal to the bloody end. And despite any frustrations, they were loyal to their club of choice. In addition, I wanted to follow a club where I would be able to learn both the culture and the history from their supporters.

Consider this my Soccer Darwinism where I've primarily covered American Soccer and wish to eventually cover the Premier League consistently. For the time being, I have no desire to provide the standard game recaps which many of us are accustomed to reading.

Personally, I feel that it would be offensive to the Norwich City Supporters who have followed their club for as long a time. If anything, I would rather level with all of you that this is an education for me.

I would rather be honest and inform you that the first step I took was joining Norwich City's NY Supporters Club, the New York Canaries, than pretend that I have a clear understanding of the club's promotion to the Premier League.

While I have the advantage of listening to the commentary, viewing the instant replays that are shown and listening or reading to Paul Lambert's quotes afterwards, I don't believe it's a sincere way of covering the matches.

The bottom line is that while the game is on television, I'm still watching the matches at the George Keeley pub at 485 Amsterdam Ave, between 83rd and 84th streets. I love watching the matches at George Keeley. The NY Canaries have been more than helpful with my education. While the ultimate goal is to cover some of the matches at Carrow Road, I have no reservation in telling you that I'm watching the games from New York City.

I have no shame in admitting that while I've learned the words of On The Ball, City, I still have to learn to sing it properly. If I'm going to follow Norwich City, I'm going to follow them the way it's been followed for decades instead of throwing in my two cents.

With Norwich City facing off against West Bromwich Albion, my Canaries Fan education officially started on Sunday. I knew the Canaries needed to rebound from their 3-1 loss to Chelsea FC a few weeks ago. In addition, I was concerned that they would be penalized for another penalty kick.

Needless to say, Norwich City lost 1-0 in a hard fought match against West Brom. In addition, West Brom was awarded a penalty kick which was spectacularly blocked by Canaries rookie goalkeeper Declan Rudd, who filled in for suspended GK John Ruddy.

I will admit that I was frustrated that a penalty kick wasn't awarded to Norwich City after James Vaughan took a vicious elbow to the face from West Brom's Gabriel Tamas late in the game. I was also disappointed that another call wasn't made when Steve Morrison was literally mugged a few minutes later.

Whether we question the officiating or not, Norwich has to stop allowing their opponents to score the first goal. The Canaries have allowed their opposition to score first in three of the first four matches. As a result, the team is 0-2-1 in those three contests.

The season is still early but with this being the Premier League, the Canaries have to start producing more goals because even though the team's performing decently, the officials are indirectly playing a role in how the matches are being determined.

A few hours later following Sunday's match, I appeared on BBC Sports World Have Your Say and discussed why I decided to support Norwich City. I had agreed to appear a week ago and I have to admit, I was nervous about it. Knowing I'm still familiarizing myself with the team, I knew I was going to butcher some of the players' names.

Overall, I felt the discussion went well and it was a privilege to represent Norwich City from New York.

If I had taken the path to follow the status quo, it's safe to believe that the BCC would have never reached out to me. Since I wrote about my pledge to Norwich City, I'm going to believe that it's meant to to be.

Please feel free to contact me or join me on Twitter and educate me about what it means to be a Canaries supporter. Hopefully the next time I write about my ongoing education, the Canaries will have a victory under their belts.

OTBC!

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for LatinoSports.com. He also writes for 5 Points Press & USSoccerPlayers.com ; your source for American Soccer news brought to you by members of the U.S. National Team. Easily accessible, you may reach Cesar at [e-mail] and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer.