Why Ajax?

How did I become an Ajax fan?

One of the most common questions I get in email is, "Why Ajax? You're not an Amsterdammer. You're not even Dutch!" The thousand-plus non-Dutch members of Ajax USA will probably agree when I say, with all due respect... "What a dumb question!" ;-) 

You want a less-lame answer? I don't blame you. Okay, here goes...

	My license plate

In the early to mid-1990's, ESPN showed live soccer from the Netherlands on Sunday mornings. It became my weekend routine to wake up early to watch the games on television. Most of the games featured Ajax.

Well, I had played soccer all my life, but I never had any teams to support. Watching Ajax was a revelation. They were so calm and confident, so fluid and well organized. The way they kept possession of the ball, how they made the other team stand around and watch them play, it was like they were thinking, "Why do you want the ball? Wouldn't you rather just stand there and watch us perform? It's really quite beautiful, isn't it?" The Ajax players loved the ball, coveted it, and refused to share.

I was too late to see Cruyff, Van Basten or even Bergkamp in an Ajax shirt, but I saw Overmars, the de Boers, Edgar Davids and (my personal hero) Jari Litmanen in their Ajax-primes. I saw Kluivert, Finidi George and Kanu. I even saw the last great hurrah for Frank Rijkaard, with his assist to Kluivert in Vienna. I traveled to Holland twice for the sole purpose of seeing Ajax play in de Meer.

For me, it was a lot like falling in love and getting married. You think you are in control, you think you get to choose, but you really don't. Your heart chooses for you. And if circumstances dictate that you can't have her, can't even watch her from a distance, tough luck. You can't decide not to love. You're stuck with just wanting her. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," they say. I'd have to agree.

Jim McGough
Publisher and Founder
Ajax USA