Sunday showed us what rivalry was all about
As you may know – mainly because I won’t ever shut up about it – I have a season ticket at Ajax. Last Sunday, I was greatly relieved that I was in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Because, last Sunday, one couldn’t open Twitter if you weren’t planning to be bombarded by Feyenoord-puff pieces. Articles of 1000 words purely contributed to Dirk Kuyt’s influence behind the scenes: I couldn’t take it.
You know, it’s not like a Feyenoord championship would mentally break me or something like that. At some degree, I’m actually sort of happy for (some of) them. I can only imagine how being irrelevant for so long feels, and how great it would be to finally matter again (even though that’s pretty much exactly how this European season feels for Ajax, but I try not to think about that too much these days. My heart can’t take thinking about Lyon-Ajax too much).
All that doesn’t mean I want to see all their title festivities on tv, though. Which means I was extremely glad I was able to escape from it all and just spend my afternoon in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. My brother accompanied me and we discussed how f*cking hilarious it would be if Feyenoord drew Excelsior. Not because we thought we were going to win the Eredivisie if that would happen, but just to laugh at the Feyenoord-fans one more week.
What happened was actually way more hilarious than we ever imagined. Excelsior humiliated Feyenoord and postponed the festivities for another seven days. After each goal, it was a blessing to be inside of the stadium. Fans were having the best of times watching their arch rivals bottle a title celebration that had already started before the match had even begun. I laughed along.
I don’t think many Ajax-fans will think we will win the title on Sunday. No, Feyenoord will win it Sunday, and that’s all right. Congratulations. What Sunday did show us, however, is what a sporting rivalry should be all about. No negativity, no aggressiveness, just fans of different clubs laughing at each other’s failures.
And now, I will focus on the most important week of the season. My heart can’t take it, and I can’t wait any longer. Good luck, Ajacieden. We will need it.