Stephen Brandt

It’s hard sometimes to be an American and follow the beautiful game. Imagine, it’s even harder to follow it when you’re in up-state New York. I’m not arguing, but this region isn’t one of the biggest hotbeds. As a fan of the old New York Cosmos, Celtic, and Liverpool, there’s alot out there for me to watch. 

This isn’t about me. This is about my late mother Carol Brandt. See, January 7th 2012, my mom lost her battle with cancer. One of the things that brought us together was sports, and later my writing of soccer. My mom had a horrible last three years, in and out of hospitals, centers, and just sleeping on the couch. One of the things that cheered her up was watching soccer with me when I was home on breaks.

Last November 27th, I got the chance to sit with my mom after a treatment, and watch a match. While she never really understood the game, she’d want to watch any sporting event. And the chance to be around her son? That was an added advantage. 

Liverpool were playing Manchester City. It was a boring 1-1 draw, or so you’d think. I can count the many times my mother said: 

“Oh, what a good ball,” It’s one of my greatest memories of her.

When former Everton man Joleon Lescott scored an own goal my mom was sad, but I got to spend another match with my mom. She asked me until her final days about matches, or how my writing was going and how many matches she’d watched or read about because of the Manchester City match.