Football Mornings

The football season has begun! The REAL football season, as I'm sure the UK Millers have learned, is the English Premier League season. Uncle Joe, Bantry, Gulliver, and Scooter wake up early, make a big cup of coffee, put on their Blue and watch our favorite football (or soccer if you like) club, Everton FC.

Uncle Joe has been a proud supporter of Everton for over twelve years. Everton plays in Liverpool. Uncle Joe has always liked soccer, and when he was finally able to watch English Premier League games, he knew he needed a team to support, so he did his research. He wanted to support a team just like his other two favorite teams, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the St. Louis Blues. Like the Cardinals, Everton has a long, proud history, beginning all the way back in the late 1800s, and like the Blues, Everton have a very "workmen-like" style of play, and their supporters have always been from the blue collar class. This is why the club is often called "The People's Club." They have a few other nicknames, like the toffees, the blues, the dogs of war, and Uncle Joe's favorite, the School of Science.

As you guys have probably learned already, club supporters take their team very seriously. Everton's club motto is Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, which is Latin for "Nothing but the best is good enough." Uncle Joe has always tried to live by those words, but sometimes he needs a reminder, so he put it where he can always see it...

Some great players have played for Everton, including some pretty amazing American soccer players. One of the best, was goalkeeper Tim Howard, who famously set a record in saves in a World Cup match with 16 two years ago against Belgium. He's ferocious, and a beast, and he is still a devoted Evertonian:

Uncle Joe always loves whoever is wearing the number 17 shirt for Everton, which at the moment is Idrissa Gueye, from Senegal. But his favorite number 17 for Everton was a rough and tumble Aussie name Tim Cahill who had a habit after scoring goals, to sprint to the corner flag and box with it. Gotta love the Aussies!

Much like the Blues and Blackhawks rivalry, Everton bitterly despises their cross town rival, Liverpool FC (blek!). The reds, as their called, are a bunch of stuck-up, whiny, nancies who cry whenever they don't get their way. Whenever the two clubs play, all of Liverpool stops to watch what's called the Merseyside Derby. A "derby" (pronounced dar-bee) is when two teams from the same city play each other, like Chelsea and Tottenham since they're both from London. Uncle Joe can't stand Liverpool FC, and the matches are brutal, but it's always a great day when Everton beats them.

Uncle Joe, Bantry, Gulliver, and Scooter will be watching Everton every weekend, and now that you guys are living in the UK, it's a special thrill to know that you're not too far from the matches we're watching. 

Oh, and Everton won 2-1 today, so Bantry was especially excited. COYB! (come on you Blues)