THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Before we talk football, let's talk ... football

Football is now upon us.

Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs kick off the 2020 season Thursday night with a tough joust against Houston.

The Texans will be keyed up, to say the least, since they blew a 24-0 lead over the Chiefs in last year’s playoffs.

Even more important, the Seahawks tee it up Sunday in Atlanta — which should be a pretty good test of Seattle’s revamped defense.

But today, I don’t want to talk about these games.

No, today…

I want to talk about soccer.

It’s the sport that almost the entire world calls football, which makes sense since the game is played with the ball almost entirely at the players’ feet.

Football here, meanwhile, involves 22 massive brutes crashing together at the line of scrimmage.

Feet are only seriously involved on field goals and extra points.

Odd that our football didn’t get another name, you know, back before Princeton and Rutgers knocked heads in 1869.

THIS IS the right day to talk about soccer.

First of all, there will be a media avalanche coming for months on the Seahawks and the NFL — not to mention all those universities east of the Rockies who insist on trying to carry out a season in defiance of COVID-19.

That effort could be marred with outbreaks because, unlike the NFL, college players will interact with thousands of other students.

The pros, however, have learned from Major League Baseball — and they have a chance to get through a season with only minor infection issues with “moving bubbles.”

But now…

Soccer.

Perhaps you follow MLS, the American league which keeps improving year after year.

Yes, I watch it, but my heart truly lies across the Atlantic Ocean.

It turns out that the English Premier League — the very best the sport has to offer — also opens this weekend.

Maybe I’ve mentioned this before, but I am a heart-and-soul follower of Arsenal Football Club in north London.

Somehow, Arsenal diehards became known as Gooners a few decades ago, and I answer to it proudly.

In fact, if there any Gooners out there reading this — perhaps a crew that gathers to watch matches each week — then please, please contact me.

I need company from others in the Red Army.

Oh, and by the way, Arsenal has the privilege of actually playing the season’s first match — on the road at Fulham, another London club which has a lovely, even quaint, stadium right on the banks of the Thames River.

YES, I’M excited about Arsenal starting new season — but being the very first game means that it’s a 12:30 p.m. kickoff at Craven Cottage.

That’s 4:30 in the morning out here.

It’s always a decision whether to stay up all night, or try to set an alarm which sounds like an alien invasion at that ungodly time of day.

Fortunately, we don’t always have noontime starts in London — it’s routine to kick off around 3 p.m., which at least is a civilized time to be up in the Pacific Time Zone.

Believe it or not, thousands and thousands of Gooners will get together every week, whatever the time.

Same for supporters of Liverpool. Manchester United and all the rest.

European footy is for life, a bit like American football in Texas and the deep South.

The idea of changing affiliation would be considered treason.

Or worse.

I’M NOT exaggerating when I say that Arsenal, one of the world’s dozen most popular clubs, has millions of supporters.

Multi-millions.

This season-opening match against Fulham will be televised in 140 countries.

There are three channels carrying it in Luxembourg — which may not be any larger than Kootenai County.

How popular is “The World’s Game”?

Well, NBC threw in tons of money to outbid several other U.S. providers for the right to carry EVERY Premier League game — which is 10 per weekend.

Bottom line…

If you just watched a bit, and learned to appreciate the sport at the level of true excellence…

You’d get hooked, as well.

Me?

From this weekend onward, I’ll be knee-deep in the NFL and watching every snap of the Seahawks games.

But I’ll have one keen eye on Europe, too, along with seriously jangling nerves.

As we say…

“Gooner ‘til I die.”

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball, once per month during the offseason.