The Travesty of Allegiance

In the aftermath of Everton's miraculous Premier League survival, I explore the complicated nature of our loyalties.

The children are crying. They’ve got their heads in their hands. Their hair is disheveled. Salty tears stream down their fingers like furious rivers. The intensity of the emotion is written on their faces, and there’s nothing you or I can do to block out the pain.

This is what it means to love something—even something as trivial as a soccer team. It is t…