Cricket
Big sports fan, me. The only one I never really followed to closely was American football, but then I was born and raised in Arizona. It was a long time before we had any professional sports teams. The Cardinals move from St. Louis to Arizona did not do much to increase the hype. It is a bizarre place to try and be a fan of the home town teams as well. I am one of those people who support The Diamondbacks, The Suns, The Coyotes and ..grumble.. the Cardinals. But in that area there are a lot of Dodger fans. When the Dodgers came to town it was often hard to tell who the hometown team was.
Moving on, literally, to England where I am now a permanent resident. Much tougher to catch Arizona sports. But now I support Crystal Palace, a bit like supporting the Cardinals unfortunately. Since London is now my town, and the U.S. doesn't have a Cricket or Rugby team to speak of, I support England.
Cricket. Well, I am trying. I do know genuine cricket fans, even those who hate sports but still follow the Ashes. In terms of excitement, it is sort of a cross between baseball, golf and tennis. I never really followed golf. My enthusiasm for tennis has dwindled since the number of colorful personalities has diminished. I guess what I need to do to follow cricket is, first, to understand the game. I could spend all day telling you about American football before I could tell you how cricket works. It has the same all day quality of golf. It has the starting and stopping vibe of tennis. I suppose if I understood the personalities more, knew who the kick ass (or arse) bowlers were and who the most feared batsman were, like the epic battle between pitcher and catcher in baseball, I might have something. Right now, what I appreciate about the game is the throws and hits, even if I don't know what they mean, and the quality I find with baseball. The matches are long, one can do other things and look up every so often to see how it's going. The crowd is fun to watch. They are really into it.
I've been told that cricket is a thing to watch live, with food and beer. I do look forward to taking up an offer from a British friend or two who has suggested going to watch and getting pissed. I will need to have the rules explained to me over and over (how many overs?) I pretty much get that the object, is to hit the ball. I would love to give it a try.
Moving on, literally, to England where I am now a permanent resident. Much tougher to catch Arizona sports. But now I support Crystal Palace, a bit like supporting the Cardinals unfortunately. Since London is now my town, and the U.S. doesn't have a Cricket or Rugby team to speak of, I support England.
Cricket. Well, I am trying. I do know genuine cricket fans, even those who hate sports but still follow the Ashes. In terms of excitement, it is sort of a cross between baseball, golf and tennis. I never really followed golf. My enthusiasm for tennis has dwindled since the number of colorful personalities has diminished. I guess what I need to do to follow cricket is, first, to understand the game. I could spend all day telling you about American football before I could tell you how cricket works. It has the same all day quality of golf. It has the starting and stopping vibe of tennis. I suppose if I understood the personalities more, knew who the kick ass (or arse) bowlers were and who the most feared batsman were, like the epic battle between pitcher and catcher in baseball, I might have something. Right now, what I appreciate about the game is the throws and hits, even if I don't know what they mean, and the quality I find with baseball. The matches are long, one can do other things and look up every so often to see how it's going. The crowd is fun to watch. They are really into it.
I've been told that cricket is a thing to watch live, with food and beer. I do look forward to taking up an offer from a British friend or two who has suggested going to watch and getting pissed. I will need to have the rules explained to me over and over (how many overs?) I pretty much get that the object, is to hit the ball. I would love to give it a try.