Bloody Confused!: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer (Paperback)

by Chuck Culpepper (Author)
Key Phrases: football league, eighty ninth minute, rail replacement, Manchester United, Fratton Park, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In the throes of becoming jaded and cynical about the American sportswriting scene, Culpepper, a London-based Los Angeles Times journalist covering European sporting events, writes about the internationally known Premiership soccer league and its overzealous fans. The rough-and tumble British soccer sport quickly captivates Culpepper, who wrote on American sports for 15 years, as he learns the rivalries between the fans and teams such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Portsmouth. A humorist of sorts, he can't help making snide comparisons between the rowdy, cheering British fans and their more somber American brethren, while touting the emotional high of regional pride over big team profits. He falls under the spell of the struggling Portsmouth squad, realizing that the die-hard fans live and die with the fortunes of their players and teams, describing vivid action scenes as thrilling as any in American hockey or football. (Aug.)
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* Veteran sportswriter Culpepper was sick and tired of his job. The world of sports was corrupt. Athletes had nothing to say. Sportswriters weren’t allowed to cheer—but who wanted to? He moved to London, the center of what is arguably the planet’s most popular pastime, Premier League soccer, where he bought tickets, sat with the fans, and learned to cheer again. “It was like childhood,” he writes, “with beer.” Pulling for scrappy Portsmouth, he found himself sharing long-suffering fans’ ecstasy at the team’s best season ever. There’s a long tradition of Americans trying to understand soccer, and Culpepper’s effort ranks among the best. Rather than explaining the rules, he discusses what makes the sport exciting, offering the relegation system (the worst teams are demoted while the best are promoted) as evidence of a more enlightened society. Even better are his explorations of fan psychology—Why  do we attach our self-worth to the efforts of highly paid mercenaries?—and his own search for a new community raises another pertinent question: Can you really choose your team? Culpepper occasionally overdoes the clueless-American act, and the deletion of expletives is unduly prim, but this lighthearted look at English soccer in the post-hooligan era is a necessary update to Bill Buford’s landmark Among the Thugs (1992). --Keir Graff

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767928083
• ISBN-13: 978-0767928083
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,053 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pitch Perfect!, August 6, 2008

By	Marvin Gardens (Newport Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Culpepper's trademark brand of literate humor is put to optimal use as he gives the uninitiated American a real sense of the importance of the Premiership, not only to English sports fans but to England itself. Having waited for the book's U.S. release for several weeks, I purchased a copy immediately and finished it in one (very satisfying) sitting. Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Read, August 12, 2008

By	Ryan A. Walker - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very entertaining book and is fascinating to read how an American sports writer learns to love sports again after discovering the English Premiership. This book is great for anyone who loves soccer, sports in general and is an Anglophile . I recommend this book to die hard soccer fans and people who are looking to learn more about the beautiful game. I will probably even read this again it was so enjoyable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not as confused as before, August 17, 2008

By	Shannon E. Adams (Charlottesville, Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It was a sad day in Kentucky when Chuck Culpepper left us for Oregon. Worse, even, when he left our shores for England. But, hallelujah, he has written a book for us thirsty souls who enjoyed his writing on every sporting event his editors sent him on, and events non-sporting. Being a typical American who loves her football, the eleven-man type, the English soccer scene seems twisty (tournaments during the regular season?) but oddly familiar, too, with the descriptions of the fans of the teams. We need to sing more, it seems, to bring us even with our brethren. Wish I could have met the Blue Bear and sat in Portsmouth's home pitch and heard the die hards sing. This is Culpepper at his best, literate, readable and genuinely amazed at what he sees. I'll read it again and again until he gives us another.