I guess this is my intro?

and so this begins...

This is not going to have a nice set up, nor will it be grammarly correct. I apologize in advance. 

Well, I am Julio from Los Angeles, California (MidCity/Ktown) and there is so much soccer in my head that I decided to "write" is all down. I your super basic all-black-wearing cholo-goth that has an obsession with Air Maxes. Born in 1987 and soccer has been in my family since before I was born. I come from immigrant Salvadorian parents that left their corrupt country for a better future for me and my sister. Sucks though, my sister lived in El Salvador until she was 10 and my parents were rich as fuck! and came to the typical LA poverty, but I am thankful they made the move. 

Soccer was my first passion as it was engraved in my head that I will be a pro for a long as I can remember, I had uncles that played professional soccer for FAS and Firpo two O.G clubs from El Salvador. I won't lie and pretend like I know any of their history because I don't and unfortunately it wasn't easy for us to follow from the states, all I know is that we were closer to Club Deportivo FAS because that's the club from my dad's hood. I've lived and breathed soccer for my entire life, from playing in "clubs" at 5yrs, all through school and some semi-pro as I got older. I even played for Mauricio Cienfuego's soccer academy through the LA Galaxy. 

I've had many team "alliances" but growing up obviously my biggest impact other than supporting the USA during the 1994 World Cup was the introduction to the Major League Soccer in 1996. This was a peak moment for me as I was really beginning to understand how soccer can impact my future. So here comes the WORLD famous LA Galaxy into this city and into all of our lives, at this point I really had nothing other than club soccer and sunday leagues where I had friends that gathered together to watch soccer! It was simply monumental to my childhood and what it did for my family. It brought my family closer but it also opened by eyes to seeing North, Central and South American talent on TV (other the mexican league) It was amazing seeing what excitement soccer brought to our lives. More on the Galaxy LATER....

After the MLS takeover, nothing was better than the introduction of... the internet. Don't get me wrong, by then we had cable but it was always some "Latino" package that played all the "latino" leagues for all the countries south of the US. Cable also helped during the 1998 WC where I learned about and was simply mind blown by all the European giants that played that insane tournament, but the internet helped me look up all these players that I had only heard of through the news or playing FIFA! So like every kid, I picked a favorite team from every country: Manchester United, Real Madrid, PSG, Inter, Bayern. 

Manchester United: The team that I was able to watch on tv the most, for some reason it just seemed like they had an epic battle every weekend. Was obsessed with their never die attitude and always believing in anything Sir Alex Ferguson said. After watching them so much it was hard for me not to feel like they were my favorite team in the world and rooting for all the amazing players. I've always been a midfielder so I was over analyzed players like Paul Scholes, Sebastian Veron, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Anderson, Cristiano! Nani, Darren Fletcher, Park Ji-Sung (my favorite #13 all time) and even Hargreaves the Canadian!

I would talk about the rest of the teams but look at them, the biggest in our late 1990s to early 2000s. All had the world's best players and all I wanted to watch them play, recreate it on the field then recreate it on FIFA. Also, only because they weren't teams I picked to be my "favorite" I still watched the Turkish, Portuguese and the Argentine leagues too, there were unbelievable teams and players in those leagues.

Now at the age of 33, I no longer have "favorite" teams that I have no local ties to but will forever root for those 5 teams named. Now as an old man, I care more about the players, the coaches, the fans, the passion and atmosphere each game brings, I sit and watch the Premier League the most and I am emotionally invested in about 14 out of the 20 teams LOL. United though, still watch every single match, still emotionally invested, still breaks my heart when they lose at home and they will always be important in my life.

The reason why I don't obsess with these European teams is because I realized that all I was waiting for, all I ever needed was to experience that atmospheres I watched on tv from my bed/couch and THAT is what brought me to this very blog today, the Los Angeles Football Club. I am a current member of The 3252 and chant/sing/jump my heart out before, during and after every single LAFC match. This club and this supporter culture is the reason why I have only ONE club as an actual favorite. LAFC & The 3252 are something I've never experienced in Los Angeles and it is the one thing my soccer life has been waiting decades for. Never in my life have I watched a team from the stands and felt like I mattered or felt like I made an impact on the match the way I do for LAFC. Am I crazy? maybe, but it's a feeling I simply can't explain and I know that I am not the only one.

I'll stop now as I feel like this is getting pretty long... 

I also love Air Max 1, 90, 95, 97, 98s... in no particular order and its "Check over Stripes" and "Don't bring no 350s 'round me" 

I love Hardcore, Screamo, Pop-Punk and Punk, Metalcore and Grindcore and everything in between.

Thanks for reading... Julio.