Manchester City Wins...

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I must say from onset that I am not a huge Premier League fan...and it's not because I don't enjoy watching. It's just that I don't have a lot of time to watch. I do enjoy watching soccer; I love the game, and I try watching as much of the Real Salt Lake games as I can, but other things seem to always come up.

So it was odd that I had this morning free. I checked ESPN 3 and there was a game on, Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers (I'd never even heard about QPR before--like I said, not a huge fan...). The match was tired 1-1 in the second half. I thought I'd check it out. I'm so glad I did.

QPR was down a man (because the "player" decided to sucker punch an opponent) and they scored with about 30 minutes to go, QPR 2-1. As the game progressed I learned that if Manchester City won, they would win the league championship. I saw Man City fans crying and almost sobbing because they were sure their team would lose. Manchester United fans, on the other hand, were going crazy. Man United wins the championship if Man City loses.

Then after the 90 minutes were up and Manchester United thinking they had won the championship (after winning their game 1-0) Manchester City scored a goal a minute into stoppage time. The place went nuts. And then three minutes later, they scored again. The tears continued to fall from the Man City fans, but this time, they were tears of joy. To add more drama to the situation, the network flashed to the fans at the Manchester United game. They were crying, too.

On a whim, I was able to catch one of the most amazing endings to any sporting event I've ever seen. I saw the agony of losing and the ecstasy of winning in one powerful kick of a soccer ball. Congratulations, Manchester City. You put on one great show!

*Picture used without permission from: http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/city-wins-english-title-1st-photo-202506016--sow.html