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Corte Madera Chelsea fan Anziano hopes video is worth your vote
Jul 10, 2009 (The Marin Independent Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Alex Anziano has a bad case of Chelsea fever.
The 18-year-old from Corte Madera has taken her seven-year obsession with the English Premiere League soccer team to new heights this summer. Anziano, who just graduated from San Francisco's Drew School, is a finalist in the World Football Challenge No. 1 fan contest.
Video: See all the videos and vote here
How did the Drew goalie become one of two Chelsea finalists in a contest sponsored by the organizers of this summer's biggest club
tournament in the United States? She collected her friends, her video camera and her creativity.
"As soon as I saw the video contest, I wanted to try it," said Anziano, reached by phone on a family vacation in Paris where (no kidding) she was awaiting a trip to Chelsea's home pitch in London the next day.
"I talked my friend Katharine (Jessup) into helping me. At first we had a lot of ideas. We kept changing it because we realized a lot of things we thought of were too hard. We wanted it to be a little bit corny, but still funny and cool. I was happy with how it came out."
The video, titled "I Dream of Chelsea," tells the clever tale of Alex's difficulties falling asleep in her bedroom, which is draped in logo-covered blue and white
memorabilia from the team. She finally drifts off, not by counting sheep, but by counting Lampards. Frank Lampard is a Chelsea standout, a member of the English national team and, most importantly, Anziano's favorite player.
Katharine, her brother Graham Jessup, Ariel Saland and Ben Cook helped Anziano transform the small plot of grass in her backyard into Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's home stadium, for the dream sequence of the movie. The game action is detailed, with tight shots of slide tackles, goalie saves and even a takedown resulting in a yellow card. Spoiler alert: Anziano's friends really know how to celebrate a game-winning goal.
"For filming the game in the backyard, we started at 8:30 in the morning and didn't stop until nighttime," said Katharine, a member of the Branson School class of 2009 who played on the two-time section winning softball team. "She's a hard-working perfectionist who takes it seriously. She's done contests like this before. I remember in third grade when Alex entered a draw Garfield contest. She won, of course. ... The movie we made was a lot of work, but it was fun. I'm glad we did it. Sometimes Alex is a little shy, but this really brought her out."
Shy? Not when showing her love for Chelsea. When Anziano found out her favorite team would be playing in the United States during the World Football Challenge, she organized a trip for her, her parents and Jessup to go to Southern California's Rose Bowl for the July 21 game against Italy's Inter Milan.
She saw the link to the contest while on the Web buying tickets to Pasadena. If she wins, she gets two tickets to the July 26 game in Dallas, two club jerseys, round trip airfare for the winner and a guest, plus two nights accommodations.
Two trips in the same month to see Lampard and the boys after a lifetime watching the Blues on television? That's a fulfilling thought for Anziano. It wouldn't be easy though, she is scheduled to have ankle surgery performed by a specialist in Seattle the day after the game in Dallas. If she wins, she would fly directly from the game to Seattle, where her mother will be waiting.
"They're crazy, but they are soccer crazy," said Debbie Anziano of her daughter and Katharine, the pair who would make the trip to Dallas if the video wins. "The surgery makes it a bit tough, but we'll make it. e We didn't see the video until it was done, but they did a great job. It's been fun reading the comments from all over (from people who watched it on YouTube). One guy wrote, 'If you guys don't win, you would be robbed.'"
It won't be easy, the other Chelsea finalist is Sara Normand from Cincinnati, Ohio. Anziano acknowledges that her video is good too.
"It is tough competition," she said. "I have to admit it's good. She put a lot of effort in too."
Voting is open through Tuesday and the winners are announced Thursday. In the meantime, Anziano is putting the power of her widespread family into action.
"It feels like I have all of Vermont and Florida on my side thanks to my grandparents and my uncle," she said.
At the end of the video Anziano says, "the success of the team directly affects my mood. When they win, I have an awesome day. When they lose, I get kind of upset and angry."
As a Chelsea fan growing up in Marin, the No. 1 fan competition turned out to be a worthwhile way for Anziano to express her devotion to the team. Whether her video wins the vote or not, it's clear nobody can top the passion of this true blue fan.
SUPPORT THE SUPPORTER
Corte Madera resident Alex Anziano's video 'I Dream of Chelsea' is a finalist in the World Football Challenge's No. 1 fan contest. Watch it and vote for your favorite at www.worldfootballchallenge.com.
Tournament info: Chelsea is one of four club teams playing in the World Football Challenge, a collection of games around the U.S. played during the last two weeks of July. Mexico's Club America joins Italy's Inter Milan and AC Milan in the event.
In the Bay Area: July 19, Club America vs. Inter Milan, at Stanford Stadium
E-mail Dave Allen at dallen@marinij.com
To see more of The Marin Independent Journal or to subscribe to the newspaper,
go to http://www.marinij.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Marin Independent
Journal, Novato, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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