BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

I grew up watching Johan Cruyff


As a youngster, there were three footballers I who I watched if they were on television -- Franz Beckenbauer, Pele, and Johan Cruyff. 

Beckenbauer was fundamentally sound and played simple but effective football. Pele had great skill and he played with a lot of flair. Johan... was doing things we didn't see anyone do. That Cruyff Turn? That was just one of them. His uncanny dribbling skills. Wow. He played with great intelligence, a keen understanding of the game. If others used speed and strength to get by defenders, Cruyff used guile, smarts, and lots of crafty dribbling. He was amazing to watch. 

Even as I began to root for Liverpool, I also liked watched Ajax Amsterdam. I never got a LFC shirt as a youngster but the first ever football shirt that I bought? Ajax. And I still have that to this day even if it doesn't fit me at all.

I tried my best to copy him on the pitch but well... let's leave it at that.

But Johan Cruyff... total football indeed. 

Rest in Peace, Mr. Cruyff. Thanks for the great memories.

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