Columnist Ron Kantowski: Arsenal has ammo to make history

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 9:54 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

The three most overused words in the English language -- at least in the place where it originated -- are "massive," "brilliant" and "Beckham," as in "Bend It Like."

But only two of those can be used in the context of Arsenal, a popular London-based team in the English Premier League, which is trying to go where no soccer team in the Motherland has gone since the Premiership began in 1888-89.

In that inaugural campaign, a side (which is what Britons call their soccer teams) known as Preston North End won 18 games and tied four without a loss. It was the only time that a club has gone through England's top league undefeated.

Contrary to what you may have heard, Her Majesty The Queen didn't have Preston season tickets. She just looks that old.

Moving ahead ... some 115 years, Arsenal has yet to lose, winning 24 and tying 10. With just four "fixtures" remaining in the regular season, it is closing in on history. A lot of history.

But on this side of the pond, Arsenal's pursuit of perfection hasn't caused so much as a ripple. As a nation, we had little use for soccer until we discovered it would get the kids out of the house for a couple of hours on Saturday morning.

But there are a few places, even in Las Vegas, where the only football that is discussed is the brand the rest of the world plays, and plays with passion.

For instance, patrons at the Crown & Anchor Pub on East Tropicana wouldn't know Eli Manning from Eli Whitney. But they could tell you the shoe size of Thierry Henry, Arsenal's star player.

When I stopped by the pub this week to chat about the "Gunners" (Arsenal's unofficial nickname), I didn't have to look very far for conversation.

At the end of the bar, Jason Small, the daytime barkeep, was swirling some peas around what remained of his Shepherd's Pie. I asked him, as a longtime soccer fan, to put Arsenal's record into perspective.

"That's massive," said Small, who looks like a young Roger Daltry.

"They are definitely one of the best teams anybody has seen. They are exciting to watch, one of the best teams to ever get out."

And this was coming from a Newcastle supporter. The soccer side, not the ale he serves in 16-ounce glasses.

Andrew Vear, a native of Bath, whose mineral waters first became a tourist destination in the 17th century, was playing central midfield on our conversation.

"Brilliant," he said of Arsenal, before making a comment on the team's dearth of English-born players that started with "bloody."

But Vear, who recently moved to Las Vegas to run a brick company, said he and his American wife Christine would probably get up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday to watch Arsenal play Birmingham on the Crown & Anchor's satellite hookup.

"The pints will be flowing," he said while poring over that day's London Daily Mail, which devoted three pages to Arsenal and only one to David Beckham's latest hairdo (nearly shaved).

Not that an Englishman ever needed a reason to hoist his glass, but what Arsenal has accomplished truly is worth toasting. Remember the '72 Dolphins? Well, had Miami also finished 17-0 in 1973, its unbeaten string would be exactly equal to Arsenal's.

Relax, Killer B's. I know that ties are rare in the NFL and that Arsenal has had 10 of 'em in the EPL. So let's compare it to hockey. In 1976-77, the Montreal Canadiens set an NHL record by going 60-8-12. The hockey season is twice as long as the soccer campaign in England, but even cutting it in two still leaves the Habs with four losses, or four more than Arsenal.

Never mind massive and brilliant. Arsenal is downright shag-a-delic.

"To win the league itself is a tremendous achievement, but to go through it unbeaten has never been done before and may never be done again," said David Dein, the Arsenal chairman (think George Steinbrenner).

But Arsenal's fluid style has captured the imagination of even non-English soccer enthusiasts.

"They are a beautiful team to watch because they play with so much flair and spirit," said Michel Platini, the French soccer great.

It may be time, as the front page of The London Times proclaimed in a headline on Monday, to "Hail the Masters of the Beautiful Game."

Not that going to an Arsenal game has always been a beautiful experience.

Adam Bucci, a graphic artist at the Sun, grew up in northeast London a Gunners supporter. About 10 times a year he would take the Central Line tube (subway) to Highbury, Arsenal's ancient stadium that opened in 1914, where he purchased a terrace ticket for a couple of pounds -- roughly 7 or 8 American dollars.

The terraces were little more than concrete slabs which offered a place to stand. It was where hardcore fans gathered to watch their team after getting their game face on by consuming mass quantities of Guinness in places such as The Drayton Arms, a pub adjacent to the stadium.

It was not a pleasant place to watch a game, especially when "second generation" Guinness began to flow 'round about the 55th minute. You see, there weren't any restrooms in the terraces, one of the reasons they no longer exist, having been replaced by seats. And plumbing.

Bucci, who wears his hair in a ponytail a la David Seaman, the great Arsenal goaltender who retired this year, has been here so long that his British accent has been relegated. But he still has his Arsenal shirt and his Arsenal scarf and he still follows the team on TV or through the Internet.

That's not the same thing as being there. But at least there's a restroom down the hall.