American and English Sport

Compare and contrast. Limeys and septic tanks, sportswise.

I'm assuming that their major league games are American Football (a sort of multi-player, stop / start rugby with huge physical specimens, all able to run twenty metres in under twenty seconds despite wearing enough protection to make them, legally, armour-plated), baseball (rounders with endless statistics), basketball (ultimate proof that we are not all born equal and that trying to eliminate 'exclusion' is a worthy enterprise doomed to failure, at least until the first 5'4” NBA star emerges), and ice hockey (or violence on ice). I'm assuming that ours are football and rugby (winter) and cricket (summer).

The draw:

If not draw-lovers, we're draw-accepting, sanguine about matches finishing all square. Try explaining to an American that there's endless fascination and interest in a five-day test match that ends in a draw...

...actually, for that matter, try explaining that to BLISS.

They manufacture a result. Extra time, American Football, extra innings, Baseball, I'm not sure what they do in Basketball, other than have such high-scoring games that a draw's all but impossible, and I seem to remember ice hockey players starting from the halfway line and going in on goal in a succession of one-on-ones with the goalkeepers in a penalty shoot-out type affair.

VFM:

We've got better, recently, but the approach was always that the game was being played in any case, come and watch it if you wish, but don't expect any fancy-Dan rubbish, this is serious business, mate. There's something to be said for this attitude, too. I also preferred it when unwanted attention and opinion was met with open hostility. However, putting on more of a show and giving better value for money has to be a good thing. Being willing to countenance business-folk and politicians having and spouting opinions is less welcome. Here's a fine example of what happens when one of them puts his money where his mouth is:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DZQIjp4vjo


The Yanks have always wanted the spectator dollar to be willingly rather than begrudgingly handed over at the gates. They also take a more egalitarian, less hierarchical approach. As the Lady (who is a tramp) says. “the bleachers are fine”.


There's stuff still to learn from each other.

They need to learn that football, the single most universal, worldwide game, is football. If you must call it soccer, that soccer soc-ah, not soar-cur.

We need more players with nicknames like 'The Refrigerator'. Or, at my current weight, I need more guys like William Perry to look up to. His team mates called him 'Biscuit', because, one more biscuit and he'd hit 300 lbs.

We need those hot dog guys wandering about, and that passing orders and money up and down the rows.

No-one needs or deserves Sebastian Coe.