I have been a die hard football (*coughsoccercough*) fan for as long as I can remember. My older cousin (who happened to be my favorite person in the whole world at the time) played on a local team when he was in high school. One night, when I was 11, he was home on college break and visiting us. We were watching TV and of course, given his love for soccer, it was on a MLS match. I had questions, he gave me answers. By the end of the game, I was hooked, I’d found my sport.

Now, back in ’94 when I was 11, soccer was, well, a very unwatched sport in the states (it still pretty much is, despite picking up a little steam over the past five years). American Football was number one, so why would anyone want to change that? American Football and I have never seen eye to eye. It’s boring. You get .5 seconds of action, then several minutes of standing around. The stop-go-stop-go-stop is obnoxious. I’m a constant, no rest action kind of girl. Sure, catching a good tackle is exciting, I can admit that, but 10-seconds of play that takes 30-minutes to complete? You’ve got to be kidding me.

I picked up the sport and carried it from there, playing through middle school and into high school.

In 2000, I went to my first New England Revolution game. I got flutters in my chest walking towards the entrance, and I may have even been shaking with excitement. That day, I made the promise to get to at least one game every year. Nothing beats watching soccer match live, nothing.

I have been to almost every single last home match of the season since 2000. I’ve only missed a few because of work/finances and other seriously dire things. The atmosphere of that last game is always amazing, even if the Revs suck, we’re all there, amped up and excited for 90′ of play time.

Last year, the home match was the day after my 29th birthday. On the way across the parking lot, I crossed all of my fingers (and even my toes) for a win. Just one win. They have a horrible habit of losing when I’m in the stands, and I wanted that ‘curse’ to be broken.

A goal from Diego Fagundez and a few sweet saves from Bobby Shuttleworth, and my belated birthday wish came true.

This year, I will be there again, mid-field, field level… on my 30th birthday. All I want, as this amazing, spectacular season for the Revs draws to a close, is a win. A big one. No draws. A win. It is seriously all I want for my birthday. It’d be a hell of a way to cap out a decade and start a new one.