Where sport is about much more than just sport...

Sports on the weekend!

On Friday night I went to my first ever basketball match and first live sporting event in the States.  This was the first game of the year for the Mason Patriots, the women played Virginia Tech and won, the men played Cornell and lost.  It was, for me a marvellous experience!

It was packed.  This was a college game, not a pro match and I reckon there were around 2000 people there at $25 a seat.  There were students, parents but also members of the local community who supported  The Patriots just because they are the local team.

There were a couple of things going on that got me thinking.  

Land of the fur-eeeee……

First was the anthem.  At the start of the each game the band (more of which in a minute) played the Star Spangled Banner.  Everyone stood, everyone was silent, everyone faced the flag.  Most people had their hand on their heart.  Everyone was respectful…I was jealous.  How good it was to be in a big crowd who, to a person, got behind their national anthem.  When I think about Scotland and about our anthem, whether you see it as God Save the Queen or Flower of Scotland it matters not for these purposes,  we cannot claim the same.  Regardless of where or when its sung there always people who disagree with tune, the words and what it conveys.  I don’t think at any point in my lifetime will that change. Having seen how positively the anthem is embraced here, regardless of colour, wealth or politics and how it pulls people together under a common bond, I think that’s a sad thing. I also don’t know how, as a nation, independent or otherwise, that is going to change.

The second thing I saw were the smiles.  People were happy to be at the game.  Sure they wanted their team to win, but more importantly, the crowd wanted to enjoy the game. There was banter, there was cheering, there was crowd participation but there was no edge to it.  There was no cynicism or expectation of defeat before the kick off.  It as just a happy event.  That happiness was in no small part due to “The Green Machine”.  This is the band.  I counted about 120 musicians who played everything from these big trombone things that wrap around your body to the harp!  It struck me, the only qualifications to join that band were an ability to play any form of instrument and to really enjoy doing it!  ‘Killing in the Name Of’, ‘Jump’ and ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ were all in the set list and the crowd loved it - and it made me smile.

And smiling is what its all about.  No opportunity to entertain is wasted, whether that The Green Machine giving it 30 seconds of banging tunes during a ‘time out’ or the ‘tee shirt toss’ which is where the cheerleaders, yup they’ve go them too, spend time tossing tee shirts into the crowd!  Entertainment just doesn’t stop.  I really enjoyed that.  I did take a wee break though between the games to grab a bit to eat.  

But what to have? Well, when if Rome I thought and asked for a pretzel.  The thing was the size of my hand and I was hungry.  ‘Salt or sweet’ asked the server.  Now, America loves sweet.  Everything has enough sugar in it to rot the teeth and expand the waist lines of the best of us, and I still have my teeth to worry about!  So using this as my logic, I asked for salt.  It got three bites.  The think it had been made with a salt pastry and then literally dipped in salt.  It was like eating a box of Saxo.  It took the rest of the night and a good mix of beer and water before I got the taste out my mouth and the felt that the risk of a stroke had passed!  Pretzels? Never again!!

No pies or bovril?

The second sporting event I was at was the Redskins game on Sunday.  Kick of 1310.  Pick up time 0930!  We had to get there so we’d have plenty of time to ‘tailgate’.  This is an American institution.  Fans drive in early and then hook up a bar-b-q to the back of their car or truck and eat, chat and drink beer together for about 3 hours before the game in the stadium car park.  What a sociable way of doing sport!  That said, a wee portal or tow would not have gone amiss! I did mention to my hosts the Scottish traditions of pie and bovril.  To be fair, they got the idea of pies, but a warm, beef flavoured drink just didn’t fly at all…another beer then, ‘aye okay’.

At the tailgate and game there was bother, no drunks, just lots of fun and, with the exception of those directing traffic, no cops.  There were 80 000 fans in FexEx Field on Sunday and no cops were needed in the stadium.  This simply would not happen in Scotland or anywhere else in the UK, particularly with the drinking before hand.  I’m not sure why its different here?  I guess one reason could be the lack of away fans.  Very few if any away supporters come to the game, probably because of the time, cost and distances involved, so that might be a reason.  That said, there were a few there and they were mixed in with the rest of us and no issues arose. 

We just about manage that level of integration in rugby but elsewhere…

How do you become a role model?

The third thing I reflected on was the importance of college sport.  Players are not signed by big teams at 7 years or age, nor are they trained in big club settings, which sees the majority not making it and often left with nothing to show other that being able to say they could have been a contender.  The American system is different, new players come from the colleges.

The College draft is the main, and for most the only way, to enter the NFL and NBA.  The draft happens every year where, rather than buying players, teams get to choose who they want from the college game.  There are several rounds of draft and, broadly speaking, the team who did the worst in the preceding season get to pick first in each round of the draft and the Superbowl winners pick last. This keeps the game competitive.  There are no Manchester United's, Chelsea's or Old Firms here. It is hard for a team to remain dominant for long, that what keeps it enjoyable with everyone thinking this really could be their teams year!

I think the importance of college in sport and the need for players to have attended higher learning is, on balance, a good thing.  Now I am not for one second saying college entry or education of sports players is the same as for regular students, but these folks still have to attend classes and gain passing grades.  If they are not picked up by the pros then they are left with something - a college education.  If they do get  picked up, they take that education with them. That includes learning to respect classmates who may not be like you or have different views as well as forming friendships or at least acquaintanceships with people who are not sportsmen or women.  That must be a good thing when you are preparing, not just to be top of your game but also to be a role model for millions of youngsters who will look up to you.  

Top class

The other thing about sports here is that it’s classless.  Class is not something America seems to go in for much anyway.  I was at a thing today where the speaker suggested social class in the States is based on wealth, education and home ownership, so hard work and personal success appears to be the yardstick; but I’m still thinking about that.  But back to the point, there is no class attached to sport.  There is no working class game or sport for posh kids, its just sport.  Again, I think this is really positive.  Surely is it can only be detrimental both for sport and society if entry into a particular sport is based on the money an individual has, the school they went to or social classification one is deemed to have, probably based on where you live and what your dad does!  How self limiting is that?  Yet it strikes me that it is also something we often predicate our sports on.

Whilst the sports here are good they are very much limited to this continent.  Other than an Olympic year,  America does not do international sport, its all about the States and Canada taking part in league based sports.  That, I think is a bit of a pity, but its not something that bothers the average fan one iota.  They are just happy if their local team are winning and don’t feel the need to pitch teams against other countries, for, as many see it, there’s no point - America would win anyway!

What I’ve learned this week

Its great to be able to get behind your anthem as well as your team

Sport is best enjoyed when its entertaining

Pretzels are to be avoided

You can have big matches and not see the cops

Players and fans can be top of the class without having to have one

Enough about sports, and no more lines about it for a while…that will be hard, as it is such a fundamental part of society here, but nevertheless, there is a lot more besides!

As always any thoughts, views or feedback gratefully received.

Cheers

Richie