You may be surprised to discover this, from my demure and British demeanor, but I am a rabid sports fan. Of a competitive nature myself, I love watching any kind of sport--even lawn bowling, which is about a slow and sedate as it gets. However I really love it when I can cheer for MY TEAM.
So for the past few weeks I have been going through a regular dose of Giant's torture. It seems they can never win a game by a clear margin. It has to come down to one run, or, as it was in last night's game, going into the ninth tied. I have a feeling this can't be good for the heart. And baseball is the most heart-stopping game I know. Other games--soccer, tennis, are constant motion, constant give and take with a point here, a point there. In baseball time freezes. All the focus is on two figures-pitcher and batter. One wrongly placed pitch, one good swing of the bat and the world changes. It's like a brilliant chess game.
The other thing that I find fascinating is the pyschology of sports fans. If you've been to a big stadium to watch a game, you're witnessing the closest thing to a tribe we have in the current century. Forty thousand hearts beating as one. An overwhelming sense of kinship, togetherness. Every player down there is our brother, and his triumphs and defeats are our triumphs and defeats. Tonight it's game five and the Giants could win the pennant. I only wish I could be there to be part of that tribe, chanting "Let's go Giants." clap clap clap-clap-clap." I join in at home. Husband John looks at me and rolls his eyes.
LOL You're right about the tribal mentality. Of course, American Football is about as close to the Roman Coliseum as it gets - especially Oakland Raider fans.
ReplyDeleteI'm torn over this series because while I grew up rooting for Pittsburgh teams (those poor Pirates) and have a PA-loyalty towards the Phillies, my son is a huge fan of "TIMMEH!" Lincecum. I'm loving the competitive pitching duels.
At this point, I root for whoever beats the Damn Yankees. ;-)
Now you have me excited to watch! I only wish the Giants had played in San Fran during Bouchercon. We could have escaped to the game.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that a Brit likes baseball...lol. Shouldn't you be picking up cricket on sattelite?? hehe I'm also a rabid sports fan (college football, hockey mainly) and my Aussie husband does the same thing your husband does--especially on Saturdays in the fall when I'm glued to the tv watching college football. Now if it was tennis or cricket, he'd be more understanding--although I do enjoy watching tennis.
ReplyDeleteCricket--well that is a little too slow for me. I mean five days of test match with a break for tea? Now that they have one day slug fests it's become more interesting. But tennis is my number one love, I suppose because I used to play and so can appreciate the nuances.
ReplyDeleteYeah, 5 day test matches are crazy. My husband complains he doesn't like American football bc it's so slow-paced. But then how can he like cricket so much??? I guess a lot of it has to with what you grow up with (in which case you should prefer cricket to baseball..lol). Tennis is a great game. I love watching the grand slams--and I think it can be just as heart attack inducing as baseball. :)
ReplyDelete