Fame

Have I mentioned lately that soccer is a cruel game?

Well, it certainly was this week for the now-former manager of the Portland Timbers. John Spencer, the delightfully outspoken Scotsman who ran the club for the first year and a half, paid the price for his inability to find a consistent (and winning) form, and was axed.

The part of me that enjoyed his humor and his breezy manner is going to miss the hell out of the guy. He seemed like a genuinely decent man and I hope he lands a great job somewhere.

But the part of me that went utterly batshit at Spence's insistence on figuring out how to get a team of 21st Century internationals play like fucking St. Mirren in 1963?

That part won't miss him so much.

But here's the really odd bit; his downfall brought me a teeny, tiny little bit of celebrity.

Here's how it happened.

A fella by the name of Kevin Alexander has been posting about the Timbers this season over at the blog SlideRulePass. He's a truly bright guy and the man knows his footy. It's been good to have him as a reference for the calcio-obsessed among us.

A little while ago he asked his Portland readership about their experiences with the then-general-manager of the club, Gavin Wilkenson. I wrote him a short e-mail and pretty much forgot about it.

Until today, when I got a text message from a similarly-obsessed pal, informing me that I was immortalized for my Gavin ruminations on SlideRulePass.

And so I was...

But...what a truly strange little bit of fame. To get my fifteen minutes in an almost freakishly-specialized blog read by a tiny portion of a peculiar bunch of sporting obsessives.

Go figure

Perhaps I should wait a bit before interviewing for a personal assistant, though, yes?