Rob's Obs 3

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.
Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra 1949

Harvey & I had a real busy sporting day last week.
Firstly we stood on the pier watching the surfers. Then we walked on a bit further and watched a bunch of people fishing. (All the men had dry nets but a little old Chinese lady was reeling them in hand over fist).
Finally we ended up having a cup of coffee in the bowling alley watching the bowlers.
That just about finished Harvey off as he's never been much into sports so is a bit unfit and his stamina is somewhat suspect. Being younger, I carried on with my marathon effort and managed to get through nearly an hour of TV poker before my energy finally ran out.

This got me to thinking about our different sports. I've always loved Baseball and have been a Cardinals fan for over 40 years but it's never really caught hold in England and the US games are very difficult to find on TV, so I've lost touch.
As a boy I used to play Little League with the Burwell Wildcats and later in life I played for the Worthing Warriors but there weren't many teams in the league and we spent far more time training than playing.
Same with American football. It's played in a desultory sort of fashion at home but after an initial spurt in the 80's, it seems to be fizzling out. Basketball and Ice hockey seem to have a better toe-hold but with nothing like the fanaticism shown over here.

Conversely, Cricket & Rugby suffer the same fate over here and are only played by isolated groups.

Soccer seems to be the only one that has successfully crossed the divide but in a strange way. It seems to me to have been hi-jacked by the girls. It is my firm belief that the US will dominate ladies soccer in a few years. Wherever we go we see young girls in their soccer kits, coming from or going to a game or training. (We haven't actually seen any playing yet so we might just be confused by a fashion trend).
No doubt an inordinate amount of money will be ploughed into the sport as it is into all the others.

Last week I read of one person who was leaving his team, despite their upping his wage from $1.1m to $1.8m, so desperate were they to keep him on the books.
Can you guess what his role was?
A high school football coach!! High School coach! I ask you. How desperate are they to win.
College sports are hugely popular here. Far, far more than they are at home. Almost as popular as the pro games. With the exception of the annual Varsity Rugby match and the Boat race, I cannot think of a single other event that makes the TV screen. Here there seems to be a College Basketball or football game on the box nightly.

San Diego was in near delirium on Sunday. Their beloved Chargers have made it to the AFC play-offs for the first time since1995 and are just one game away from the Super Bowl.

One last thing. Doping.
There has been a great deal in the news lately about doping scandals. I doubt if you'll have heard of Roger Clemens, the 45 year old pitcher for the New York Yankees and considered to be the greatest living pitcher. He's battling against steroid accusations at present. However, you may have heard that Marion Jones has just been jailed for her participation in drug related sprinting events after being stripped of her Olympic medals.
I don't know what the answer is but I'm dead certain that there are many more tainted medals out there than clean ones, which is such a pity for those trying to get by on ability alone and even these are treated with the same suspicion if they do manage to win.
One headline tucked away in the sporting pages about doping brought a smile to my face last week.
One of the Bramah bulls used in the Pro Bull riding Championships, had tested positive for anabolic steroids!!!
Apparently, the bulls are provided by independant contractors and on of these contractors had taken to doping his bulls to make them bigger and stronger.
Life's funny, 'ain't it?
Finally. If football is played by footballers, golf by golfers and cricket by cricketers, who plays tennis?