In every relationship, there comes a time when it all just gets too much and you need to get away for a while.
You have been through the anger, the disappointment and the occasional half hearted reconciliation and now it is time to try something new.
It is the same with being a fan.
Obviously I'm not advocating cheating on partners, or your football team for that matter, but sometimes you just need a break.
And the lure of something new is always exciting.
It started with a charity match featuring a selection of Boro legends. I was just doing my job, covering the event for ComeOnBoro.com, but I was fascinated.
Unlike football, futsal is always played at high tempo. All five players are constantly involved in the game and the rolling substitutions mean everyone gets their chance.
After the charity tournament, one thing lead to another. I found myself going to the Thursday training session and interviewing Middlesbrough Futsal Club's chairman and manager, Damon Shaw, and the team's top scorer, Ryon Leyshon.
And then it got serious. Crushed once again by the disappointment of watching Boro lose (to Manchester City), I accepted Damon's invitation to travel with the futsal team to Sheffield for their first match of the season.
Obviously I have never had the opportunity to travel with the Boro football team but I can't imagine it is much different. Put a group of young lads together, particularly cooped up for a couple of hours and, well, boys will be boys!
A stop for food produced a craze for buying Easter eggs because for a pound, "you can't fall off!"
Upon arriving at the leisure centre (futsal is played indoors on courts, not pitches), the team were in high spirits. Not only were they pumped up for the match, they were also sugar-hyped from the Easter eggs.
Shiny new kits were unveiled and acting as team photographer, I was allowed to sit on the bench.
The Boro futsal bench was full of sweaty, tired but enthusiastic substitutes and short of being in the team (an utterly ridiculous notion baring in mind my total lack of athletic ability), I could not possibly have got closer to the action.
I could also observe the injuries. Futsal players do get injured, but injuries do not get aggravated because if a player gets a knock, they will come off knowing that they can rejoin the action in a few minutes. There is less 'magic spray' and 'magic sponge' as injuries are treated with massage, ice and 'magic tape' instead.
I can only guess at the tension surrounding the subs' bench at MFC but I would guess that there is a lot of room. Given the size of our squad, I'm surprised that they don't employ people to fill up the seats, like at the Oscars. Mind you, that would cost money.
The futsal team were, by their own admission, 'rusty' but changing tactics, combined with the will to win, meant that they got better as the game went on.
They did not win but neither did they lose and I did get to witness ten goals as the final scoreline was five all. How many football matches can boast ten goals?
Whether my new flirtation with futsal develops into a lifelong love or turns out to be a fling which runs its course and fizzles out remains to be seen.
I'm a die hard Boro fan and I won't turn my back on our under-performing team (I'd be out of a job and homeless for starters!), but variety is the spice of life and right now I'm embracing futsal as a valid alternative to football.
Best of all, I still get to support the Boro!
First published on www.ComeOnBoro.com on 10/2/2009
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