I’m talking about making an actual decision. A choice. Most of us are born into our fandom. Some of us become new fans of a college once we attend that school. And some of us just pick a team for some other reason and stick with ‘em. Those people are weird, aren’t they?

Well, when I was in elementary school, we all did that. Sure, I really liked the Pirates and Penguins best, but that was such a boring answer. (I honestly didn’t love the Steelers until middle school … I guess I held off for as long as I could before it hit me like a tidal wave.) And so, I had a bunch of “favorite” teams. The Detroit Tigers. The Philadelphia Eagles. The New York Yankees. The Montreal Canadiens. Looking back, it seemed to change every year. None of it ever stuck, because it wasn’t real. It wasn’t honest. I was trying to be different, just like everyone else. It was kid stuff.

But I knew a few kids who picked other teams and stuck with them into adulthood. For instance, a friend of mine was a huge Barry Sanders fan. He’s a Detroit Lions fan to this day. You can question his decision making, but you can’t question his commitment. It would be easier for him to just start supporting his hometown Steelers. It would be more reasonable and rewarding. But he went too far into the Lions den, and that’s where he stayed.

I started following the Premier League last year, and I really liked it. I’ve always loved soccer — played it for years and years, love to watch it — so why not follow what many consider to be the best soccer (yes, OK, football) league in the world? The world is shrinking, after all. It’s not hard to follow leagues overseas. And the Premier League didn’t present any language barriers. It was an easy call.

It was a fun starting point, but I didn’t really have a team. And all the Premier League fans I knew told me it was much more fun when you had a team. I had to pick a team. But how? How could it be natural? I have absolutely no ties to the UK through blood, and I’ve never flown across the ocean, either. Could I just pick a team off the board, as if I was selecting an ice cream flavor? I’m a true blue grown man fan, after all. A sports monogamist. This would have to be an ice cream flavor I could eat for the rest of my life.

I don’t believe in “second favorite” teams in the American pro leagues. People who pick an AL team and an NL team are bad enough. People who pick a second team in other leagues are even worse.

However, it’s different in college sports, where two teams might not play each other for decades. I suspect it’s the same for European soccer. Why couldn’t you support a Premier League team, and, say, a League Two team? Do European fans do this? If “Fever Pitch” is any indication, some certainly do. Anyway, I need answers.

Without going through all 20 teams, I only knew for sure I didn’t want to support Manchester United (too obvious and easy), Manchester City (the top bandwagon team of the moment; the Brits would call new fans of MCFC “glory hunters”), Arsenal (seem like they have enough fans already) and Chelsea (again, glory hunting). These were arguably the four best teams going into the season.

Plenty of other teams didn’t stand out to me for whatever reason. And that was that. Nothing against any of those squads, but I wasn’t going to force it. So who did stand out? Four clubs:

1. Liverpool

Love the history of the team, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” etc. But considering Liverpool is often referred to as one of the most storied clubs in England — if not THE most storied club, it seemed a bit too easy. Also, I really didn’t want to have to end up hating Everton.

2. Fulham

Based in London, which is a plus if I ever want to visit for a game. Cool kits. Very long history (founded 1879). American star Clint Dempsey. But you shouldn’t pick a team for one current player. Especially in club soccer, as he might be gone before the season ends. Fulham was a solid pick, but it just didn’t stick for me.

3. Everton

Everton seemed like the one. Love the kits, the history, the second-sibling rivalry with Liverpool, American Tim Howard (and, at times, Landon Donovan), the nicknames (The Toffees!) and other little things. But even though I gravitated toward Everton the previous year, I couldn’t quite commit. I didn’t know why. Some things can’t be explained.

4. Queens Park Rangers

They were coming back into the Premier League after winning the n-Power Championship (such a bizarre and confusing name for a B-league, by the way), so we’d be coming in together. QPR had a new, exciting owner who was willing to spend. I loved the uniforms, the London location, the charming bandbox home pitch at Loftus Road (with a capacity of 18,439, easily the smallest in the league) and of course, the amazing name. Queens Park Rangers! QPR! How cool is that? Of course, being a promoted team, the downside was a higher probability of relegation next season.

Another team that really stood out to me was Sheffield Wednesday. Love ‘em. Great nickname (The Owls), great history, kits (what’s with me and blue-and-white all of a sudden?), mascots that do this and of course, there’s a DAY OF THE WEEK in the club name. Which is awesome. The Wednesday!

Alas, Sheffield Wednesday started the season in League One, two steps below the Premier League. It’d take at least two years for the team to reach the top level, and I didn’t have the patience. At least I could have a League One team, as well, I thought, for whatever that was worth. (The Wednesday finished second in League One this season, guaranteeing promotion to the Championship. At this point, there’s a chance they’ll be squaring off against my eventual selected team next season. This was unforeseen.)

The season kicked off, and I was still a nomad, unable to commit to QPR or Everton. The two teams met in the second weekend of the season. It ended up being the second game for QPR and the first for Everton. QPR had just been smoked 4-0 to Bolton the week prior. Not making a good case for themselves.

Lucky for me, I got to watch the QPR-Everton tilt on TV. I could let the game decide for me. Since it was being played at Everton, it would have been easy to cheer for the home side, but I found myself rooting for QPR. I couldn’t explain why. Perhaps my heart was guiding me.

It was tied 0-0 in the first half. QPR got a bit of possession near the Everton box. And then this happened. I was all in.

That view from the QPR fans’ section shows Tommy Smith taking a pass and curling a low shot past Tim Howard for the Rs first Premier League goal — and win — since April 1996, when I was 13. (It had been that long? Maybe I didn’t think this through. Ah, but the heart wants what it wants.)

QPR won 1-0 and that was it. I had my club. Queens Park Rangers. The Rs. The Super Hoops. The ride had begun.

———————————————————

What I don’t like about the Premier League:

It’s top heavy. Think of Major League Baseball to the 10th power. A few teams spend the most money, and they’re generally the best teams. Since there’s no playoff system for the league title, the small sample size series that can change the course of the title never happens. Only two teams — Man U and Man City — really had a shot at winning the Premier League this year. This happens all over European soccer to some extent. Those fans might not see it as a problem, but as an American sports fan, the complete disregard for competitive balance is an issue.

No instant replay. Another widespread soccer problem. QPR’s Clint Hill scored a clear goal against Bolton, but the refs didn’t see it that way. A one-minute review could have overturned the call on the field. QPR lost 2-1. I know you don’t want to interrupt the flow of a sport like soccer, but considering you’re already adding minutes of stoppage time … heck, just considering the existence of stoppage time, another minute isn’t a big deal.

Ease of watching games. Yeah, it’s much easier now than it even was a couple years ago, thanks to expanded coverage from ESPN and FOX, and the internet and so on, but I’ve got DirecTV and the Fox Soccer Plus channel is $15 a month. That’s egregious for someone who already pays for NFL Sunday Ticket and NHL Center Ice. Other cable packages make it much easier and cheaper than DirecTV, but that doesn’t help me right now. More of a DirecTV problem than a Premier League problem, really.

What I like about the Premier League:

The announcers. Honest and hilarious, and of course, they’ve got British accents. Why can’t NFL announcers be so brutally honest? Why do they have to constantly “sell the game?” YOU’RE THE NFL. YOU’VE ALREADY GOT US HOOKED. DON’T DUMB IT DOWN. STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR MILLIONAIRES. BE HONEST. (For instance, I once heard Jon Gruden call John Beck “the best-kept secret in the NFL.” He should be held accountable for such nonsense.)  Premier League announcers are, by and large, the best.

Game times and scheduling. Almost always one game a week, sometimes two, played during mornings and afternoons in my time zone, only taking two hours from start to finish. Easy to follow and every game an important one.

Relegation and promotion. A race to escape the bottom can be just as exciting (if not more exciting) than the race to the top. The punishment for the worst teams, rewards for the best, teams switching leagues … everything about it is fantastic.

That being said, many American fans of European soccer won’t shut up about bringing relegation to American sports. It makes otherwise intelligent people sound silly. Please stop it. It could never happen and it will never happen. It’s not built into the sports. The whole system would need a total overhaul. You’d have to create lower leagues to even allow for this. MLB minor league teams are farm teams for MLB teams. And good luck convincing owners.

More importantly, it’s not built into the sporting culture. Could you imagine asking a Royals or Pirates or Astros fan to spend a season watching their teams play Lehigh Valley, Toledo and Pawtucket? No one would go. And why should they? Let some things stay foreign, and enjoy them as they are.

Cups and European Leagues. The FA Cup and Carling Cup allow teams struggling during their seasons a chance to win some hardware, while creating upset possibilities. Then you’ve got the best teams playing great teams from all over Europe in the Champions’ League and, to a lesser extent, the Europa League. The Premier League title isn’t the only one up for grabs.

Distance. Following afar makes it easier to avoid the off-field stuff. The most popular league here, the NFL, is inescapable. I love the NFL, but over time, I’ve gotten tired of all the off-field stuff and manufactured controversy. I know that stuff exists in the Premier League (have you seen English tabloids?), but because I live in the US, I don’t really see any of it. Fine by me. Just give me the games.

No league playoffs. Not saying I like it better, though it is probably more fair. It’s just different. I wouldn’t want it in every league I follow.

Teams don’t move. Your team is your team. Forever.

———————————————————

QPR was decent for the first third of the season, hanging around mid-table. And then the wheels fell off. They plummeted to the relegation zone. They couldn’t score. They couldn’t defend. They fired their manager, Neil Warnock. And a lot of the flashy “name” players they brought in weren’t pulling their weight, most notably Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips. They brought in more guys. Taye Taiwo on loan. Federico Macheda. Samba Diakite. Djibril Cisse. Bobby Zamora. Results have been mixed.

(Taiwo’s been solid from what I’ve seen, Diakite OK. Cisse very good when he can stay on the field. The less said about Zamora and Macheda, the better.)

After losing a March 10 game to Bolton Wanderers (the Clint Hill game), I tweeted: “Might be the last QPR game I watch for a very long time. Not quite giving up (though I probably should). Just stating facts. So poor.”

It was bad. They just played so poorly for such a long stretch of time. And they played stupid. So many dumb red cards, game after game. Why was I getting up on weekends to watch an underachieving, undisciplined team play thousands of miles away?

I expressed these frustrations to my youngest brother, who said, “You’re not a true fan.” This coming from a 15-year-old who picked Everton as his team, and strangely, League One side Rochdale, who will be in League Two next year. Why Rochdale? Who knows?

After further examination, QPR was exactly the kind of team I’ve never liked. A bunch of mercenaries, losing their cool, not playing as a team, while fellow promoted teams Norwich City and Swansea City (both teams finished behind QPR in last year’s Championship season) were surprises. Those teams played together. They had heart. They weren’t going back down to the Championship. I didn’t see the same from QPR.

And some of QPR’s top performers during the season were often holdovers from the previous season: Guys like Heidar Helguson and Jamie Mackie, who some thought weren’t Premier League quality.

With QPR in very real danger of dropping back to the Premier League, I had some questions. Did I have to stay a fan? I’m not from London. My only connection to this team started this season. I could chalk it up to a false start and pick a new team next season. What was the point of taking on a lost cause? I’ve already got the Pittsburgh Pirates.

But the fact that I was upset showed that I cared. QPR had me. I couldn’t quit them. My tweet was just another heat-of-the-moment outburst from a fan. That’s what I was. A fan. I don’t know how it happened, but it did. I made myself care about the team, so I really did care about the team. Maybe there’s not much difference.

After that brutal loss, QPR picked themselves up and played … pretty decent, actually. Not great, but they were far from the worst team in the league. Since that Bolton loss, QPR has done this: W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W. And some of those wins have come against big boys, like Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. I guess the Hoops have some heart, after all.

Now we’re at the end. If the team’s form follows its current path, they’ll lose tomorrow at Manchester City. If Man City wins, they’ll win the league. QPR has virtually no chance.

Whether or not QPR stays up next year will likely depend on tomorrow’s Bolton-Stoke City game. If Bolton loses or draws, QPR stays up. But if the Wanderers beat Stoke, it’d require that miracle win over Man City to avoid relegation. Dicey stuff.

If QPR does go down, to face off against Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, what will I do? Pick a new Premier League team for next year? A second team, if you will, that I could follow in the meantime? I’m not going to stop following the Premier League, so maybe I’ll pay close attention to both that and the Championship next year. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I really don’t. I can’t imagine how nervous the longtime QPR fans must be.

I would really rather they didn’t go down, because I don’t want to figure out what comes next. Come on, you Rs. Come on.

In the studio.

Puff Daddy: All right, you ready to rip this track?

Mase: Um … about that. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.

PD: What’s up?

M: It’s about the song.

PD: This song?

M: Yeah. One line is really bothering me. Not even a line, really. A stanza. It’s in the breakdown.

PD: The bridge?

M: Yeah.

PD: You mean my verse?

M: Yeah.

PD: My one little, tiny, microscopic part? The only rhymes I’ve got on the whole track? That part?

M: …Yes.

Silence.

M: Ah, well, forget it.

PD: Mason. I said you could always come to me with whatever’s on your mind. You know that.

M: OK, this is my big solo debut single, right?

PD: Yeah?

M: Well, we get to that part, and it’s like, “Do Mase got the ladies?”

PD: Yeah, yeah.

M: Which is great, don’t get me wrong. And then, it’s “Do Puff drive Mercedes?”

PD: Yeah, yeah.

M: Which—hey, I’m fine with that. You do, indeed, drive Mercedes. But then, it’s like, “Take hits from the 80s?” and “But do it sound so crazy?”

PD: Too many questions?

M: No, that’s not it.

PD: Do it not sound so crazy?

M: Well, that’s debatable, but my issue is that three of those lines are dedicated to yourself, and only one is about yours truly.

PD: …I see.

M: Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for absolutely all of this, and I definitely want you on the track. But one line to three? At that big moment? I’m thinking maybe we even it up, make it two for two? That’s fair, right?

PD: What do you suggest?

M: I don’t know. Maybe something like, “Do Mase got the ladies? Do Puff drive Mercedes? Take hits from the 80s? And do Mase act so crazy?” Something like that, maybe. Back to me at the end.

PD: Hmm.

M: Or “Do Mase got the ladies? Do Puff drive Mercedes? Do Mase act so crazy? And do Puff like Scorsese?” Trade off there, back and forth, me, you, me, you.

PD: Um.

M: You’re right, “crazy” doesn’t even rhyme in the first place, to be honest. It’s a stretch. How about the last two lines go, “They bunch like the Bradys? And they won’t go to Hades?”

PD: Mason, you do realize that 13 different people co-wrote this song.

M: Thirteen?

PD: Thirteen. And I didn’t even write my verse. I think I wrote a few lines in the second verse, maybe a few of the “bads.”

M: Oh. Well, as you always say, “Don’t worry if I write rhymes, I write checks.”

PD: I will put that in a song someday.

M: And you should. You should.

PD: Anyway, I’m glad you brought this up. I know you’ve been thinking a lot about this. It’s nice to know you care. But the verse is going to have to stay. It just fits. Trust me on this. Plus, if I make changes now, I’m going to have to hire at least three more songwriters.

M: Yeah. OK.

PD: But hey, I’ll tell you what.

M: What?

PD: I’ll let you sing on a track.

M: Really?

PD: Yeah, I know you always wanted to sing a bit. Last song on the album, you can sing your heart out.

M: Really?

PD: Yeah, we’ll have fun with it. Get 112 to sing backup and everything.

M: Wow. Thanks, Puff.

PD: Please, Mason. It’s Sean. You know that. Now what do you say we rip this track?

M: Sure thing … Sean.

10.The Strokes — Angles

I seem to recall a friend of mine saying this album was awful. Maybe it was a disappointment, but awful? No, that didn’t seem right. Angles is actually pretty good. Maybe we all expect too much of the Strokes, but don’t forget that First Impressions of Earth was no great shakes. This is better. “Machu Picchu,” “Under Cover of Darkness,” “Taken For a Fool,” “Gratisfaction” … I wouldn’t kick any of those tunes out of my ears. I’d say half of this album holds its own against Room on Fire. Maybe that’s not everything we’ve ever wanted, but what else can we ask for at this point?

9. Okkervil River — I Am Very Far

Speaking of holding a band up against prior expectations, I Am Very Far doesn’t grab me like, oh, just about every other Okkervil River album. It’s hard to put a finger on why, exactly. Maybe the emphasis on making the sound bigger doesn’t give any time for rest — the coherence of the album actually takes away from the smaller, affecting moments found on past works. That’s just a theory. Maybe the songs just aren’t quite as good this time around.

8. Wilco — The Whole Love

Kind of a provisional ranking here, because I feel I haven’t spent enough time with The Whole Love yet. But I really like what Wilco has done here — this is more of a push back to the sound and experimentation of the group’s peak era. “I Might” is the band’s best song in ages.

7. They Might Be Giants — Join Us

The Johns haven’t lost it, have they? I’m starting to wonder if they’re just ingeniously designed song-making automatons, never slowing down, never growing old, writing unforgettable melodies all the while. In some cases, the band that created “Boat of Car” is getting even weirder … listen to “Cloisonné.” But I suppose one wouldn’t expect any less from two guys who have continued to push themselves in every and any direction for the better part of three decades.

6. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks — Mirror Traffic

Good to see Malkmus didn’t follow Real Emotional Trash down the jammy rabbit hole. (Oh, you’ve never met the jammy rabbit? He loves carrot-based clothing and his guitar solos never end.)  Mirror Traffic is more vintage Malkmus — sly melodies, full of Malkmus lines: “For history is not a phase/a doughnut glaze/will rot your teeth/and leave you crazed.” “I have no idea when we crystallized into talking bookends.” “We’re unevolving, have you heard of us?/Virtual unvirtuous/A game of faro, can’t you see?/Bastardized biology.” And so on and so forth. I suppose I should mention something about how Beck produced the album. Well, I don’t see how it could have hurt.

5. My Morning Jacket — Circuital

First off, at the top, I’m going to have to address this again. I know I’ve written about it before, and I talk about it too often. I don’t want to do this, but I read too much stuff this year that forced my hand. So, once more, with feeling: Evil Urges is, at the very least, the band’s second-best album. And maybe the best. So stop letting “Highly Suspicious” mess your entire perception of MMJ’s strongest overall collection of songs. I will argue this for as long as necessary.

Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes, Circuital. There’s a lot of groove going on here. “Holdin’ On to Black Metal” is one of the coolest things I heard all year. Then you have “Wonderful (The Way I Feel),” which is such a quintessential Jim James song — he brings that gorgeous warmth to the slower tracks. I feel like he could write a few classic songs like this every year. It seems effortless. To me, most of Circuital feels like a natural expansion of the MMJ sound, and I wouldn’t mind if the group pushed it even further next time around.

4. TV on the Radio — Nine Types of Light

It seems I always end up thinking the newest TV on the Radio album is the band’s best. But this time, I mean it. I swear. More of a grower than anything the group has done before, TVOTR brings a confident, assured sound to Nine Types of Light. And I find myself going back to it more than any other TVOTR album in the past. It came on quietly, but it’s the group’s strongest set of songs.

3. tUnE-yArDs — w h o k i l l

Who is this? That was my first thought when I heard “Bizness.” Man? Woman? Otherworldly being? Merrill Garbus is a woman, but her voice is from another realm. And so is this album. Garbus layers sounds and loops — anything goes, really — and creates something unique. Which, I realize, is similar to what I wrote about Sufjan Stevens’ masterpiece The Age of Adz. But although neither discriminates when it comes to merging noise and melody, Garbus and Stevens go about their work in different ways. Garbus doesn’t mind jarring and shaking you a bit more — one gets the sense that, often, she’s going for just that. And her voice is so reckless, it’s glorious. Take-no-prisoners, pull-no-punches vocals.

The only thing I don’t like about the album or the artist are the crazy spellings. I suppose you could say its reflective of her sound or ethos or whatever, but c’mon now.

2. Let’s Wrestle — Nursing Home

There will always be a place in my heart for brilliant British pop-punk/post-punk. And if it comes with some humor, even better. Let’s Wrestle carry on that tradition proudly.

Many seemed to enjoy the group’s debut full-length, In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s. But few people seemed to pay attention to Nursing Home. (It doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, for crying out loud.) Maybe they thought Let’s Wrestle was an amusing one-trick pony. Maybe it was the too-clever King Crimson reference.

Well, whatever the case, you folks are missing out, because this trio has gotten even better. Wesley Patrick Gonzalez’s songwriting is stronger, the Steve Albini production is stellar (of course), and Let’s Wrestle is just as funny as before. But, lest you be concerned that Let’s is too immature (one song is titled “Bad Mammaries”), be assured that the guys are in on the jokes. Gonzalez wrote the second great “Suburbs” song in the last two years. But where Win Butler and Arcade Fire looked to the suburbs with bittersweet nostalgia and found those times didn’t always lead to an ideal future, Let’s Wrestle is younger. These guys love the suburbs, and they’ll miss it, and they’re not afraid to admit it:

“In the suburbs,everything will be all right/In the suburbs, friends will come over each night/In the suburbs, I’ll have dinner with my mother, then play computer games all night/All I’ll ever worry about is feeling out of sight/’Cause I feel so safe here.” But they’re also worried about when school ends, ” ‘Cause that’s when I’ll have to move from here.” It doesn’t have the scope and vision of the Arcade Fire song, sure, but it’s just as honest. Maybe even more so.

If nothing else, enjoying Nursing Home lets me know that I’m not too old yet. Because when you’re too old, sometimes, it’s hard to know.

1. Fleet Foxes — Helplessness Blues

This is what you want a second album to be. Fleet Foxes’ full-length debut was very good, with some amazing high points. But spots of the album did drag just a bit. Not the case here. The sound is larger and completely assured. Rather than just a talented band carving a niche for itself, on Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes sound like a group fully aware of its many powers.

The opener, “Montezuma,” grabs you from the outset. Shimmering and wonderous, I believed almost immediately that it was the band’s best song. But it has major competition on this album alone. “Battery Kinzie,” the title track, “Lorelai,” “The Shrine/An Argument” are all worthy foes.

Fleet Foxes have earned comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills and Nash, among other classic bands. There are times when I sense a bit of slower prog-rock influences creeping into their work, as well. But all of these comparisons — which can be scattershot — only convince me the band has its own sound now. Its own instant-classic sound. Maybe we couldn’t all hear that before, but it’s been solidified with Helplessness Blues. And the lyrics are a thing of beauty. From the majestic title track:

“I was raised up believing I was somehow unique, like a snowflake, distinct among snowflakes, distinct in each way you’d conceive. And now after some thinking, I’d say I’d rather be a functioning cog in some great machinery, serving something beyond me. But I don’t, I don’t know what that will be. I’ll get back to you someday, soon you’ll see.”

But one thing is new and certain: A podcast I’m hosting with my good friend Kevin Purdy. It’s called In Pod Form, and it deals with matters tech-related, entertainment-related, and so forth. That “so forth” could include any number of topics and tangents.

Note: We are not yet experts in matters broadcasting or podcasting, so if we’re a little rough around the edges, well, that’s part of the appeal, innit? At least we’re hoping.

What’s that link again?

In Pod Form