Football is the Opiate for the Masses.

Watching my Goldfish merrily swim around has the same effect as watching my football team from England. 

What a strange linkage, but that is my assertion. Watching the team calms my nerves when they do very well and for some unexplained reason, the wins create some sense of fulfillment which only religion can match.  

After following one season of my football team, Wolves, I can declare that football is the new opiate for the masses, where the players are held in almost religious esteem,they can do no wrong,something akin to the Saints of old and the managers are like the Pope. 

The folks in many parts of England are so football mad that they will christen their kids after their favourite footballer and even want the hymns in their funerals to incorporate the football chants of their boyhood till old age hood idols to the afterlife. 

I find the adulation and idol worship rather unbelievable and very amusing and as a new supporter coming back to the game, I am fully mindful that at the end of the day, it is only a game, which requires the support of the fans, and most importantly the financial revenue from the ticketing and merchandise from these said fans so that can the club show profit.

Winning promotion to the Premier League guarantees them quite a bit of money in terms of TV viewership fees from the TV stations and to be in the top 6, the teams easily earn over 120 million pounds in TV revenue from the main stations, EPL and Sky which in turn sell the rights over to Singapore whose main service provider is Singtel and I have it cross-carriaged to my StarHub channels. 

The dues are almost $70 just for the Premier League, there is separate fees for Champions League and Europa League, so its a money spinner for the teams just to make it to the English Premier League.

Back to the football teams and their fans. It is good that every week (at least for 10 months of the year at least), the people can 'pray' and wish for a good result from their idols, something akin to having their simple wishes fulfilled and they will be happy as the reflected glory from winning top Cups and Titles from their favourite teams makes them clamour for more of their next season's merchandise, and sometimes many a dream of a fan is to go to the Old Trafford, Anfield and Emirates Stadium to make a 'pilgrimage' just to walk the hallowed grounds of the almost holy. 

To me, my boyhood team was the stuff of my boyhood dreams. My current Wolves team gives me joy similar to my goldfish when they swim (play well) in the water feature outside my house.

Watching them is similar to watching my goldfish, strange though it may sound. The players will be admired from afar and they lead far different lives from us, as they are living in a different ecosystem altogether.