This week we caught up with Tim who is a Red Abroad in the United States!
"I moved to Detroit in 2016. My last game watching the Reds was the JPT Final, and we all know how that day went!
"Tracking back, I’m Barnsley born and bred but from my name you can guess there is some Eastern European blood in there. My first Reds game was back in the 70’s, when my Aunty (Ann Dent – 30+ years a season ticket holder and likewise centenary society member) took me to a game when Barnsley got promotion from the old Fourth Division to the Third Division. I don’t remember the date or too much of the game but I clearly remember standing on the seats at the end of the game when the players did their lap of honour.
"I grew up on a diet of Ian Banks and Ronnie Glavin (unbelievable to think he only played once for Scotland!) and was in the Ponty End when we beat Bradford to get promoted to the Premier League (my favorite memory from that season was beating the Blades at Bramall lane to go top of the league).
"So how does a guy who is knocking on a bit end up living in the D? Murder capital of the US? Well let me dismiss that tag - Detroit is a fantastic city and I feel more at ease walking downtown here than I do in London or Paris for example. Sure, if you wander off the wrong place at the wrong time you might end up somewhere you shouldn’t be. But isn’t that true of any big city? Leeds for example is just the same. In answer to the first question: Work. Detroit is not called the motor city for nothing.
"The architecture and history of the city is a great legacy to this place. You can drive down 8 mile road right into the city center and walk to the stunning old Michigan Theater, which is now a parking lot, as used in the Eminem film. From there you are only two minutes away from the Tigers Stadium, Comerica Park (baseball) and the Lions “Ford Field” (“football”), not to mention the brand new Pistons (basketball) and Red Wings (Ice hockey) arena all within three blocks of each other. This really is a sport mad city, which is more the pity that they haven’t won anything for such a long time, indeed the Lions have never been to the Super Bowl.
"However, if you start talking about College Football, then that is a different matter. Michigan is home to the “Manchester United” of college teams, namely The University of Michigan, who play in Ann Arbor, they are the most successful college football team and the ones everybody else wants to beat. Their stadium is called the Big House, and big it is. Every game is sold out to a capacity of over 115,000. I’ve been to a couple of games and it is crazy, the stadium is jaw dropping, as the pitch is actually below ground level so you enter the stands ¾ the way up. They make it a full day event, starting in the morning when they “tailgate”; barbecuing and drinking beer, then they watch the game and head back to the car park for more tailgate action.
"I manage to keep up-to-date with the Reds mainly via the club website, twitter and Facebook, although there is the occasional game on cable and they stream games now on iFollow. I think this season was always going to be a tough one; the Championship is getting more and more a Premier League 2. I have a lot of confidence in the current management and playing team, on their day they can beat anyone. If the promotion season from League One tells us anything then it must be “give them time”. You Reds!"
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