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Bloody Confused!: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer
by: Chuck Culpepper

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3340942
EAN: 9780767928083
ISBN: 0767928083
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: August 05, 2008
Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: August 05, 2008
Sales Rank: 14668
Studio: Broadway

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Product Description:

Chuck Culpepper was a veteran sports journalist edging toward burnout . . . then he went to London and discovered the high-octane, fanatical (and bloody confusing!) world of English soccer.

After covering the American sports scene for fifteen years, Chuck Culpepper suffered from a profound case of Common Sportswriter Malaise. He was fed up with self-righteous proclamations, steroid scandals, and the deluge of in-your-face PR that saturated the NFL, the NBA, and MLB. Then in 2006, he moved to London and discovered a new and baffling world—the renowned Premiership soccer league. Culpepper pledged his loyalty to Portsmouth, a gutsy, small-market team at the bottom of the standings. As he puts it, “It was like childhood, with beer.”

Writing in the vein of perennial bestsellers such as Fever Pitch and Among the Thugs, Chuck Culpepper brings penetrating insight to the vibrant landscape of English soccer—visiting such storied franchises as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool . . . and an equally celebrated assortment of pubs. Bloody Confused! will put a smile on the face of any sports fan who has ever questioned what makes us love sports in the first place.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Clueless, Pretentious, and Awful!
Culpepper's aim in this text is to convince people who don't know anything about the world of international soccer that it's a great product, and worthy of an American's time. The problem is, unfortunately, that he skips from "soccer know-nothing" to the worst kind of American soccer fan--the pretentious, condescending know-all who is fully convinced that other countries play soccer because it is everything true and right while the Yanks represent everything stupid and wrong. And that's the text that Culpepper writes here--he misses no opportunity to tell you how enlightened he is and how stupid you and everyone else is who doesn't agree with him, and this attitude completely overshadows the good stuff that's hidden here. He takes "the beautiful game" and makes it as attractive as two political pundits throwing mud at each other on Sunday morning television. The author comes across as completely unlikeable, and ... Read More

Rating:

- Culpepper Ain't No Joe McGinnis
Bloody Confused is a typical American approach to the World's Best Sport. Culpepper constantly repeats himself while "explaining" to US readers what the rest of the world understands with ease. Why all the comparisons to American Sport? And the nerve to even imply that the Premiership should have two divisions as MLS does here. If he had actually had to purchase a ticket to a sporting event he would have known that many of the teams, including Aston Villa, use UK Ticketmaster. And sorry about the Charlton story - I've been treated royally by them - if the folks at the Valley didn't sell him a ticket - there were none to sell. I slogged through the entire thing (skipping over the American stories - who cares?). Miracle of Castel di Sangro was much more of an intelligent and adult accounting of a fan's season as another reviewer has indicated. As a woman who travels to football (soccer to Chuck) games and competitions ... Read More

Rating:

- Great insight into EPL Fandom
I thought this was a great book to read. Even though i've been following the EPL for several years, this book brought a bird's eye view of the weekly grind of being a professional sports fan. Great bar stories as well!

I also found it helpful to get a few tips on watching the EPL in person as an American traveler. I've always assumed you could just show up to a match that had seats available, declare your non-allegiance to any particular side and get in. Not so it seems. A little advanced planning is worth the effort or you'll be watching the fixtures like the author did; out in the street looking through holes in the fences.

Only drawback is Culpepper's American political rants here and there but they're sporadic enough to tolerate for an overall great read. I've shared the book w/ several other soccer friends and they've all enjoyed it as well.

Rating:

- Bloody Brilliant!
After the World Cup of '06, which for some reason I can't answer, I followed closely, I found myself hungry for more soccer. That led me to the English Premiership, which led me to fall in love with the game. Or maybe I fell in love with what I didn't know about the game. It was like being a child again and loving sports for just being sports.

Mr. Culpepper has written an insightful, quirky, ironic, beautiful, funny account of what Americans truly are in so many aspects of life--clueless. But mostly sweet about it.

If you're a soccer fan, you'll love it. If you know nothing about soccer, you may love it even more.

Because it captures a cynical sports writer's journey to become childlike again. I have a feeling if Mark Twain had ever become a Portsmouth fan--the book would be a lot like this.

Definitely read it. It makes one glad they're alive.

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