I am always amazed at how excited Americans can get about their major sports, i.e. Baseball, Basketball and American Football; all of which are pretty much confined to North America with the exception of Basketball.
Let's start with Baseball. Really of all the major sports in USA, Baseball has to be the most utterly banal and boring game and people actually get paid obscene amounts of money to play in those oddly shaped stadiums with fences and walls. In Britain there is a childrens' game called Rounders, basically the same game albeit not played with a hard ball. In Scotland there is a similar kid's game - Podex. So in America Baseball is essentially a childrens' game played grown-ups (?) wearing ill-fitting pyjamas. The play is so simple that anyone with an IQ of 40 or 50 can understand it - one guy flings a ball as hard as he can at another guy who tries to hit with a lump of wood called a baseball bat (these are more commonly used by criminals and nightclub bouncers to beat people over the head, generally with a better strike rate than in the game) and then run round a series of bases. The highly excited commentators are always rabbiting on about "the top of the fifth" or "the bottom of the night" as if anyone could care less. Anyway for whatever reason the crowd gets worked up into a frenzy - completely beyond my comprehension, as is the question why any of the overweight, overpaid "stars" need to take performance enhancing drugs to play the game. Give me Cricket anyday! A bat and ball team sport that truly involves strategy, tactics and a great deal of skill. And it is a worldwide sport unlike Baseball which is confined to a few countries where USA had a miltary presence - Japan and Philippines or are in close proximity - Canada and Cuba.
And now Basketball! Another major American sport that can get the crowds whipped up into a frenzy of excitement. OK, basketball is a fun game to play but as a spectator spectacle it is just a great big yawn. What is exciting about a bunch of tall freaks running up and down a small court and endlessly popping the ball into a basket that is only marginally higher than the players. Almost all the professional players tower over 6 feet and many approach 7 feet. The basket needs to be raised by at least 2 feet to introduce a modicum of difficulty. Or they could have leagues for smaller height categories. At least all the team members have a chance to get involved unlike Baseball and American Football where the principle action is restricted to a few individuals.
And on to American Football, which is frankly the only major American sport that engages just a little interest. It is certainly a game of strategy and quite a lot of skill, but for God's sake the game only lasts precisely one hour of action divided into 4 quarters. The enormous teams are divided into offence and defence so it logically follows that in an evenly contested match (ball game, I should say) any individual is unlikely to be on the field for more than 30 minutes. And as for the "kickers", these poor souls only appear momentarily if at all - based on appearance time, these guys must be the highest paid sportsmen in the world! Unlike Rugby Union, very few of the players, whether offence or defence, ever actually touch the ball during a game and my guess is that some players can go through a full season without laying their fingers on a ball. The most annoying thing about the game is the "touchdown". Most of time they don't bloody well touch the ball down and I have frequently seen "touchdowns" where there would never have been a score if the player had attempted to really touchdown. This is a blatent misrepresentation! And then why on earth do the players have to turn out in more body protection than a Roman legionnaire ever did? Rugby Union is just as physically combative a sport, if not more so, and they manage perfectly well with a gumshield and the odd scrumcap. In Rugby Union (much the superior game) almost all the players are on the pitch for a full 8o minutes with only a short half-time break and everyone has an opportunity to handle the ball, attack or defend as the case may be. And they play many more games in a season than the American Football.
