My First Soccer Game...er...Football Match
Yesterday I got to see my first English football match. Norwich City lost to Preston 3-0. The loss snapped a 4 or 5 game winning streak for Norwich, but on the whole they didn't even deserve to win. All those in attendance deemed the team's performance as entirely lackluster and without passion. They got out hustled and out played the entire game (match). Still, it felt good to see a live sporting event since Cameron Indoor is out of my grasp.
A few observations from the game--first, griping about your team's performance and the poor officiating transcends culture. The home fans, though, weren't shy about letting their team know how they felt about the poor effort shown by the players. Neither were they overly polite in their dismay over the calls and no-calls made by the refs. Some things are just universal, I guess.
One thing I didn't like happened in the second half. Two guys went for the ball at the same time and slid into one another. The guy from the other team broke his leg. At home, for the most part, when someone from either team gets injured, the crowd goes silent out of respect for the wounded player. Not the case yesterday. Instead, the Norwich fans heckled the other team, accusing them of wasting time, and booing them...even when they brought out the stretcher! To their credit, they did applaud when they carried the player off the field, but only half-heartedly. English fans are brutal!
On the way to the game, I had a conversation with the folks who got me the extra ticket about the differences between English and American sports. I explained that soccer wasn't all that popular at home because a lot of folks considered it quite boring--especially since the score never gets very high and it takes so long to develop the game. He responded that he didn't like basketball because it was boring. I had to keep my mouth shut. Basketball? Boring? In the end, we admitted that the more one understands how the game is played and the strategies employed to win a game, the more one can enjoy that sport. But I still don't understand how basketball can be boring.
A few observations from the game--first, griping about your team's performance and the poor officiating transcends culture. The home fans, though, weren't shy about letting their team know how they felt about the poor effort shown by the players. Neither were they overly polite in their dismay over the calls and no-calls made by the refs. Some things are just universal, I guess.
One thing I didn't like happened in the second half. Two guys went for the ball at the same time and slid into one another. The guy from the other team broke his leg. At home, for the most part, when someone from either team gets injured, the crowd goes silent out of respect for the wounded player. Not the case yesterday. Instead, the Norwich fans heckled the other team, accusing them of wasting time, and booing them...even when they brought out the stretcher! To their credit, they did applaud when they carried the player off the field, but only half-heartedly. English fans are brutal!
On the way to the game, I had a conversation with the folks who got me the extra ticket about the differences between English and American sports. I explained that soccer wasn't all that popular at home because a lot of folks considered it quite boring--especially since the score never gets very high and it takes so long to develop the game. He responded that he didn't like basketball because it was boring. I had to keep my mouth shut. Basketball? Boring? In the end, we admitted that the more one understands how the game is played and the strategies employed to win a game, the more one can enjoy that sport. But I still don't understand how basketball can be boring.
posted by RevSarah at 10:33 PM
3 Comments:
Is Basketball even considered as a sport?
Well. Uhm. Basketball IS boring. *hide*
Way to go North End! When Preston wins, my church is a happier place!
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