Sport – or rather – people’s attitude to it, can define a culture. Coming from Melbourne, I find it hard to find a sport I don’t like. And I love watching the crowds at a sporting match even more. Take, for instance, Major League Baseball. I know nothing (well, very little) about the game. But I did know that I wanted to go to Yankee Stadium in New York to soak in the atmosphere. And consume $10 beers. And giant pretzels.
Not only was I entertained by the game – which went down to the wire (I’m wrong in my baseball terminology – but New York beat Toronto on the last ball of the 9th innings by getting 2 home runs – it was pretty exciting) – but I loved the attitude of the crowds.
Bearing in mind this match is being held on a Thursday afternoon. An ordinary Thursday. No public (bank) holiday. Yet 55,000 people managed to rock up. I suppose out of a city of 8 million, that’s not a huge percentage, but I was still impressed.
Behind us sat a couple of families – well, mothers and a lot of kids. Speaking Spanglish throughout the game – one of the mums convinced her kid that one of the stars from the Yankees was her boyfriend. So we’ve got a 5 year old kid yelling out (in half English, half Spanish) – “hey – that’s my mum’s boyfriend! Wow, he’s good! When can I meet him?” Others sitting around us were exploding at ‘rookie’ mistakes made in the field – and yet others (like myself) seemed far more entertained by the old men sweeping the field at the end of three innings. These guys swept a huge area in unison – all the while dancing to YMCA. Pretty funny stuff. And very American.
Days later I found myself in Finland watching cricket. I wasn’t supposed to be in Finland. It was just a stupid stop over with a bad connection on my way to see everyone in London. But I figured, it’s better wandering around a city rather than killing time in the airport, so I jumped on the bus and explored Helsinki for a few hours. It was ok – pretty much similar to other northern European cities (ok – I’m a complete travel snob for that last comment – but I think I over did the weekend trips while living in London). But what really surprised me about the place was a dirt pitch in the middle of a lovely park. On that dirt pitch were two bona fide cricket teams playing what looked like a pretty high level match. While there were only a few supporters surrounding the huge oval, the people there seemed pretty enthusiastic. I chatted with a bloke from Surrey, who I think was the vice captain of the team about cricket in Finland. He enthusiastically told me about the history of the game in Scandinavia, and how they’re aiming to get to the ‘2nd rung’ of the ICC tournaments. But they need to convince local councils first that they have to play on grass. Not dirt. “Because trying to get mums to want their kids to play in cricket whites on a dirt pitch is an uphill battle”
Had a couple of days in England too, to watch the mad passions of British supporters watching Euro 2008. And they’re not even in the tournament their team is that crap! But they’re still insane for the game. It’s fun to watch.
On my last leg of my travels now … so I’ll be able to get home to see some real sport (AFL) soon!
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