Raymond Burke 1 In Defence of American Sports I am British and have lived in England, Canada, America, and been in the British Army. As someone who has played football, rugby, volleyball, ice hockey, baseball, cricket, American football, basketball, athletics, I believe that I have a very good insight into these sports than an armchair viewer and casual commentator. Football/soccer is rapidly becoming the fifth sport of America. It probably will not overtake the main sports in America commercially, but it is a big game for schools and universities. Major League Soccer is a much better league now with quality Americans, ex-premiership and British players and managers. With numerous American players in the Premiership, this strengthens their national team, which competes regularly in world cups now. The women’s team is better and is one of the world leaders in football, if one watched the exciting women’s world cup games on TV recently. The quality can only get better; it is certainly not boring and as with the other major sports is shown, albeit in highlights, on Channel 5. American Football is one of my favourite sports. There can be boring games as with other sports, but again, it is not boring overall. Brits for some reason just cannot get over the rugby analogies and the padding. Get over it, it’s part of their game and it’s not meant to be American rugby or a free-flowing game. You cannot hope to understand or appreciate this sport from highlights. Again I have played this game at high school and even now, while watching coverage from Channel 5, I have learned a lot about the game. It is all about strategy, which is way the game stops and starts; you have four chances to go ten yards, running or throwing, if it doesn’t work you kick it to the opposition. But in between plays, the team has to set new play agendas, huddle or maybe not, regroup, sort things out and fake the other team out. Every team member on the offence, defence and special teams has their own position to cover while watching the whole field for action. It is a technical game, which is why for a one-hour game it lasts up to three hours, but the frequent ads do not take away from the game. There’s no attention span deficit, if there was the game would not last three hours and still be enjoyable. There is hardly anything better than seeing a quarterback throwing to a receiver, both knowing they could be hit and yet still making the play, or a running-back finding the hole to run through for a long run. The excitement comes from watching the strategic game unfold, like a military campaign, capturing land, falling back, advancing, etc. As for the fans, they love the game. I have never seen other sports fans dress for a game like it’s Halloween every single week. The fans are also better behaved. I cannot remember a time over decades when there was a riot at an American football game or any crowd problems. It is more family orientated, with tailgate parties (barbeques and picnics) in the parking lot before each game. Also, in America you have university and college players drafted into the NFL. There is nothing like that in Britain, which taps a schoolboy on the shoulder for greatness with hardly any further education. Sure there may be some NFL dunces, but at least they have some sort of academic background after sports. Britain could learn a thing or two about nurturing young sports stars. Raymond Burke 2 American Football IS played outside of the US, hence the (now) defunct NFL Europe, which hosted and traded American and European players for the NFL, and the newly formed and very popular British Universities American Football League (BUAFL). Look at their website. Even the NFL TV coverage is better with split screen views, overhead shots, better telestration and replay technology. Lastly, if anything, Brits do not have the patience for a dynamic and strategic game. I have even watched back-to- back games on Saturday while living in New York. As for cheerleaders, who can be male or female, it’s a job and they are proud to represent their team and get involved. One former cheerleader is now BUAFL Head of Research, Dr. Elesa Argent. I would watch a baseball game over cricket any day. It’s not a jumped-up version of rounders or cricket and the aim is not always to hit the ball as far and hard as you can. There is a strategy to batting and pitching, which is why teams can change batters and pitchers to suit the situation. A batter can try and place the ball where he wants to whether in the infield (bunting), outfield, left, right or centre field in order for his team mate to get another base. This could even involve sacrificing yourself in order to do this. At least gloves weren’t mentioned, because it’s not that easy to catch with them and then make a play. And pitchers have a vast arsenal of pitches to strike out a batter, too. Baseball is played all over the Americas, Europe, China, in Japan (from the 1920s), and I played it in the Army in England, which has a baseball league, as do other countries around the world. Baseball is an Olympic sport from 1992, with Cuba beating Australia in the 2004 final, so it can’t be that boring to others. There is an uncertain myth that the World Series was named after a newspaper The New York World , but it is more likely because in 1903 when the modern World Series began, the team who won was the best in the world, because only Americans played it. The name may be an anachronism now, but no one really cares about it, except pernickety Brits. Basketball and volleyball are also popular world-wide and Olympic sports. Basketball is a fast-paced game, which attracts players to the NBA from Africa and Europe. Athletics in America is not hugely followed outside of high school and college, and because of this, they can concentrate on their sport and become champions without all the media hype, unlike British athletes who wilt from all the stress. Ice Hockey is one of the most physical sports around. It demands tremendous fitness while skating, keeping your balance while hitting the puck or other players, dodging those same hits and trying to score. There’s hardly a still moment in the game and is physically exhausting. Again it is a winter Olympic sport, enjoying success in Europe with Sweden the current champions. A big difference, as a black man, is the high number of black players, coaches and staff on American teams, in sports which are not considered elitist fare. Only football here offers a suitable comparison. In my opinion, Brits need to come to terms that other nations play sports that may not be to their tastes. America may have TV markets for their sports, but other countries like Canada (lacrosse), Ireland (hurling), India (kabaddi), etc., also have strange sports, which may seem boring to us, but are hugely popular to others. The only thing to do is to research these sports and see how popular they are outside of America and also see rugby and cricket being played across America and Canada. You’d be surprised. .