TIME to own up: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to feed your football habit?

Have you behaved in a way your family found acutely embarrassing ? Perhaps you've lied, cheated or been otherwise tempted by the lure of various football fan sins.

You might have told friends or relatives you "just can't make it" to their important event because you're feeling "terribly ill" (but not so ill that you can't watch that crucial match live on the box while lying in bed). Or you've developed a sudden desire to organise a "romantic" weekend in Melbourne when your team just happens to be playing away.

Then there's the Seven Deadly Sins :
Greed - Yeah, we beat the Uzbeks but it's "still not good enough"
Lust - Mmm, I like the look of that team's big midfielder (he'd look even better on our bench).
Pride - "Stand Up If You're Up Three Nil ! Stand Up If You're Up Three Nil!"
Sloth - " I'll just watch another ten minutes of this game...how about pizza tonight ?"
Envy - Watching The Jets do well in the ACL (even if they deserve it)
Gluttony - Four Words : "Fox Sports Viewer's Choice"
Wrath - This Space Reserved for Match Officials

Hey, it's OK - you can own up now because we've all done it. When the siren chant of the round ball game calls, we just lose all capacity for reason. It's not simply that we love the game - we need it, we crave it, in a way that could best be described as primal.

When we watch our team play we are transported to another headspace, temporarily shut off from the outside world. When they play badly we feel drained and exhausted, but when they win it's the greatest high any human being can experience.

Sure, there are other pleasures in life : champagne, The Killers, a beautiful pair of high heels [*coughs manfully* or equally a new pair of Tiger trainers... - KA]. But they're usually shared with a fairly small group of people. Football highs can be shared, understood and enjoyed with any of the billions of people on this planet that love the game. Language, class, race, religion and gender cease to divide us when we share the experience of supporting our teams.

That's why I'm incredibly excited at the prospect of watching Kawasaki Frontale play the Mariners and best of all, seeing their fans. Japanese football fans are renowned for their devoted displays of support and I understand at least 100 fans have made the journey to Gosford. While they could be in for a bit of culture shock (especially if they pop into the Leagues Club), I'll be looking forward to hearing and seeing their colour and excitement.

Watching the Nagoya fans last night was very entertaining, even if their team wasn't. I'm fascinated with the way J-League fans have adapted songs, slogans and crests from other countries. Is it just me, or were they singing La Marseillaise at one point ? Totally baffling ! And their fan slogan "fightin together, lovin forever" is surely adapted from The Dukes of Hazard.

Watching the J-League Highlights in the past few weeks has been fantastic - yet another hour to waste on world football...hey, I even watched the State League show on Aurora over the weekend - excellent stuff ! Lawrie needs to check out that Hamlet Armenian sometime.

But it's clear from this week's news that Lawrie has been busy, as CCM looks to say "bienvenue" to Pierre Wajoka and Nicky Travis, two new strikers. Is this the first hint of that terrible news we've all been dreading.....Bon Voyage Matt Simon ? I just don't wanna think about it right now...

Sadly, Matt won't be playing against Kawasaki due to an incredibly soft yellow card last match, but I believe we can get the three points. Sure, Kawasaki are "technically gifted" and they beat Nagoya "Grandpas" (well, they did look tired...) on Saturday, but The Mariners defence is looking very good indeed. Here's hoping all the craziest CCM fans get behind the team just like their Japanese counterparts.

I can only pray that there's no repeat of the "half-time entertainment" from last month's ACL match : two non-Japanese ladies dancing round in wigs and kimonos, like extras from Wyong Musical Society's production of The Mikado. Oh well, at least the strip looks classy.

Visit this link for some excellent J-League blogs (my favourite is tokyonerdy1969)