Hi
webmaster Auld here! I asked my friend Ted Hass, who live in Scottsdale,
AZ, to write a brief article for this site, after attending the British
Open at Troon, and the
Killie Vs Ayr Westsound Match in July. Here's some of Ted's
insights....... Enjoy..... Allan!
"Being and American, Soccer is not something that is deeply understood
and enjoyed by most of us. In my case, having a long-time friend
Allan Auld, who lives
and breathes soccer (and he IS Killie till he dies.... I have told him
it shouldn't be long now) give me a leg up on most Americans in this
department. I even flirted with playing goalie for a season on an
inside arena co-ed soccer team. But at best this was an American
version of the Killie experience and was about as similar as a fish is
to a bicycle.
Now as my same friend
is Scottish, golf is also a pastime pursuit and the difference between
the two pursuits in Scotland is key to explaining my first Killie
experience. 
I had been to Scotland
a few times before so the weather and people were quite inviting as
always. I am also comfortable that what we in the States consider
wretched alcohol extremism is referred to in Scotland as a night at the
pub. Still the most interesting part thing to me is that while the
Scot's are deeply passionate about both Golf and Soccer the passion
plays out in very different ways.
It seems to me the Scot's have a pride of ownership
about the game of golf , and it is revered much like soccer but the
passion burns bright on the inside of those who play and is not really
shared in a communal or community way. Soccer on the other hand (at
least in Scotland) the passion is accessed by all the senses.
Sight, sound, touch, thought and smell
(particularly smell as the match I went to was in Ayr.....nice lavy's by
the way!)) The chorus singing about the folks of Ayr being soap dodging
bastards was more than hilarious, it was very accurate!!!!!
The experience started
with a walk to the stadium, in a place that made an American ghetto seem
refined. The sky was gray (very unusual for Scotland I know!) And then
it happened from a few blocks away you could hear the singing. At first
it seemed like the same song but soon I realized it was different lyrics
set to the same musical refrain.
I can’t say which was
my favourites set of lyrics from between
· You’re
only soap-dodging bastard's
·
You’ve only got one shoe
·
Your na very good
·
It’s so f*ckin easy
But I can say with
complete honesty that when the Killie lads by the wire
dividing
fence start screaming out to the Ayr lads that ......
"You’re maw hus been aroon the schemes more often than the Icey pal"
Once I figured out what they were saying. I pished myself!! But they
really cool part about it was that I had become, but one of several
hundred folks who had already pished themselves and didn’t care!!!!
And that brings me to the true brilliance of Killie Soccer, its about
community, being able to escape from daily life with a bunch of people
who share a passion for 1 thing and are so comfortable exposing that
passion that even being a man wearing a skirt is blasé. One question
does that seagull (on top of that shed in the pic with Baz) count in the
attendance?".
A couple of other observations in closing.... Your "Park Hotel" is first
class, but very "Yank-esque"! (Except for serving "cold pints"). Also
I've had the pleasure of a round of golf with some bloke called
Dylan Kerr right
here in AZ (He's a "fitba" coach here now). I could even understand him!
Allan & him spent ages talking about Killie and "some Cup". Regardless a
nice gentleman, and he can fair scelp a gowf ball!
Cheers
Ted Haas
Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Almost... "Killie till I die"
You can drop Teddie "a line" at tedhaas@qwest.net
