I've been a Real Madrid fan since before the Ronaldo era peaked. Here's what it's actually like to love a club that wins too much.
I get a lot of grief for supporting Real Madrid. 'You're just a bandwagon fan.' It's the easiest thing to say about anyone who supports a big club. So let me set the record straight: I became a fan in 2010, which means I watched us lose the Champions League final to Inter, watched Mourinho's era unfold in real time, and suffered through some genuinely painful Copa del Rey exits.
What drew me in wasn't the trophies — it was the players. That 2010-12 squad had Özil pulling strings from midfield, Benzema making runs nobody else saw, Di María flying down the left, and Ronaldo just doing things that didn't seem physically possible. I watched every game I could find a stream for, even if it meant being up until 3am.
What I love about following football seriously is how much it teaches you about systems thinking. The way a manager sets up a press, how fullbacks create overloads, why a team's shape falls apart under pressure — it's genuinely complex. I find myself applying the same kind of pattern recognition I use in data work.
I went to the Montreal Grand Prix in 2023 with the same energy I bring to El Clásico. Sport, at its best, is just people doing unreasonable things at the highest level. I'll never get tired of watching it.