Genesis of the FEG

For my first real blog post, I'm going to cover the origins of the Football E-mail Group. I have saved every e-mail I that ever written going to back 2004. So I looked through some around spring of 2006 and found the e-mails that I consider to be the forerunners to what we now know as the modern day FEG. There are posted verbatim a few paragraphs below (with a few spelling corrections).

The back story is as follows: I had been working in my lab where I mostly sat in front of a computer all day and needed an occasional distraction from work. Since Satish had recently moved to England, I decided to write to him about English Football. I included Arnold partly because he's just a good guy and partly because I found the idea of sending Arnold football e-mails humorous b/c he neither likes nor cares about football (at least back then, we've converted him now).

In these 3 e-mails we discuss the 2005/2006 Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona, and get pumped for the up coming 2006 World Cup. The last e-mail is the best b/c that's the one where we introduced Croftina. You also need to know that Tutte is one of our many nicknames for Satish. It has a long origin, but the bottom line is that it means shit in Hindi. Without further ado, here they are:

May 19th, 2006; From Nick, To Satish and Amol:
First of all, congratulations to Tutee and Barcelona for their victory- they were the better team and it was well deserved. Although, Tutee, I say it's a little BS that Barcelona, who just happens to be the best club in the world, is somehow your second favorite team. That's like being a Brewers fan and claiming that you also like the Yankees.
Anyways, let's get to the game. Arsenal started off strong and had a few good chances in the first 15 minutes. Henry probably should have put one of those away. I knew that Barcelona was the heavy favorite going in, but those first 15 minutes gave me hope - i really thought it was going to be a great game. And then my worst nightmare comes true. Jens Lehman gets a red card. This was just devastating. The foul was obvious and the ref either had to give Lehman a red card or let the Barcelona goal stand (a lose-lose situation for the Gunners). At the time, I was hoping the ref would let the goal count and we go on playing with 11 men. The ref decided the other way, and even though Rhonaldino couldn't convert the free kick, I was destraught. It looked like any chance of a victory, or even a good game, was gone. I would have rather played a goal down with 11 men than have it be nil-nil with 10 men.

But then Sol Campbell scored a textbook goal and it looked like we might hang on for a while. Of course, Barcelona was too strong in the end and scored two goals in 4 minutes to seal the win. A tough loss, but the Gunners should keep their heads held high after such a valiant effort.

May 21st, 2006; From Satish, To Nick and Amol:

great assessment by coach
i agree, the tempo of the match totally changed when lehman got sent off and campbell's header was brilliant which hopefully means that he will be on form for the big stage.

i am elated at the barca victory but would have like to see more ronnie magic. i have to say that, former celtic, larrson came up big. despite the short time he played i would say he was the man of the match.

the goat of the match was THE REF...i mean has he ever heard of playing the advantage and giving the yellow...this would have made for a much more even match.

ultimately, the team that was suppossed to win did and all is right in the world.

coach have you heard that theo walcott made the england squad?

i'm going to watch the england b team play next week against belarus in reading. theo walcott, michael owen, jermaine defoe will be playing as per rumors. i'll let you know

i'm going to sleep,

satish

May 22nd, 2006; From Nick, To Satish, Amol and Croftina:
Keen insights from Tuttee. I agree all around. I'm quite worried that Arsenal is going to lose a number of key players (Henry, Pires, Cole, ... any others?), but hopefully we can keep our defense in tact and develop the promising young talent that we have to make another run at the UCL title next year.

Now, on to even bigger things- The World Cup!!!
I've added Croftina to the team for these crucial discussions. Croftina has been in and out of the squad due to behavorial issues (ie not responding in a timely manner) but I think we have to include him in the World Cup team b/c of his tremendous upside. An in-form Croftina is truly a sight to behold.

I'm not sure that Satish and Croftina have met, so let me give some brief introductions.
Satish is pretty much your average Indian guy. He enjoys drinking, he LOVES to eat, he just got engaged and is looking forward to pumping.
Croftina is pretty much your average white guy. He lives in Connecticut with a bunch of other white people and is always running around doing things.

Let's get started with the only team that matters- England. I love our line up, but unless Owen and Rooney get fit soon, we're not going to score any goals. I'm worried about both of them- It will be a miracle if Rooney is ready by the second round and Owen is going to be too rusty. The reserve strikers, Crouch and Walcott (?!?), don't exactly instill fear into the hearts of opponents. It would be such a shame if Rooney is not fit, b/c with him we'd be unstoppable. Just look at the rest of our line up: Becks, Lampard, Cole and Gerrard in midfield and Cole, John Terry, Neville and Campbell in defense. Who can compete with that midfield? Joe Cole is having the best season of his life, Gerrard has led Liverpool to the UCL and FA Cup titles in successive years, Becks, although not as dominant as he once was, still has to have something left in the tank and Lampard is runner up for footballer of the year. Amazing!

Please discuss your thoughts on this brilliant English side and how pumped up you are for the start of the World Cup.

Coach, out