Sports in the springtime

     I love to watch sports on TV and live.   I was just thinking today that sports used to all have their separate seasons during the year, but it seems like the seasons have gotten longer now and you can see different sports all year long. Spring is an especially good time for sports.  Right now the baseball season is starting, the basketball season is ending, we're in the middle of the hokey season, the winter Olympics just ended, and you can even follow the off-season activities, draft, and trades in football. You can watch college and professional teams. You can watch soccer pretty much all year round.  I'm a big fan of the Indianapolis teams, the Pacers and the Colts. There is even a minor-league professional baseball team in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Indians. Their season just started last week. My wife and I like to go to a few games each year. They play at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis. It's a beautiful stadium and the tickets are inexpensive. Even if you don't understand baseball, you would enjoy going out to watch a game. Someone said that you can't really understand Americans unless you understand baseball. You can even get a discount on Indians tickets as an Ivy Tech student. If you're a sports fan like me, you can enjoy watching lots of sports right now, and maybe even play some sports yourself.

What are your favorite sports? Do you like to play, watch, or both?

Playing to Win or Playing Not to Lose?

It seems that soccer is one of the few sports where a game can end in a tie. I wonder if that is a good thing. I think when you play a sport you should always try to win. That is the main mission. In the World Cup, teams get a point for a tied game, which can help them pass on to the second round of play. I see the teams sometimes playing conservatively for a tied game, instead of playing more aggressively to win the game, and maybe risk losing the game. Maybe it would be a good idea to change the system and not give points for a tie, only for a win. Another idea would be that every game tied at the end of regulation time would have to go to penalty kicks to decide the winner, as they do in the championship game where one of the teams has to win. What do you think?

The Vuvuzela

I have always wondered what that droning sound like a giant hive of bees at international soccer games was. I've been hearing it again at the World Cup games. So I decided to ask my international students what caused the sound. They explained that the sound comes from a three-foot long plastic horn called a vuvuzela that many of the fans use to cheer on their teams. Apparently the horn came from South Africa originally and then spread to Mexico and then around the world. I imagine the word comes from an African language. It is also called a lepatata. Apparently, some people don't like the sound of the horn and want to ban its use. I think that would be a shame. That crazy, constant noise has become a part of soccer.

The World Cup: USA vs. England

This might be the most important day in USA soccer history. Can the USA beat England? I don't think the USA team has ever beaten England. England is favored, as they should be, but the USA team is getting better, so they have a chance to knock off England. I understand that most knowledgeable soccer fans don't give the USA much of a chance, and certainly in England everyone assumes England will win. I wouldn't bet on the USA, but I do hope they win. Soccer in the USA is improving. In past World Cups, many of the players on the USA team were from other countries. Now I notice that all the players on the team seem to be from the USA. They say that Donovan is very good. So that is an indication that soccer in the US is getting better. We'll see if the USA team can make history today.

Soccer

I was watching Mexico play South Africa this morning in the first game of the World Cup. I realized what a great game soccer is. It's a simple and elegant sport. There are no complicated rules like in American football or baseball, only one way to score, and the players are great athletes in excellent condition. I doubt most baseball or football players could run up and down the field without resting between plays for two 45-minute halves. I hope that soccer continues to become more popular in the US, so the US teams will play at the same level as the best teams in the world. That will take a few years, but it will be worth the wait. Maybe the US will be able to win the World Cup someday.

Race Day

Today is the running of the big race--the Indy 500. They say it is the single-day event with the largest attendance in the world. For some reason, the organizers of the event never reveal the actual attendance each year, but estimates of spectators range from 300,000 to 500,000. I've been once (see my blog of May 25th), and it was fun, but I think once is enough. I don't like to be around that many people and sitting out in the sun all day. I'd guess that over half of them have had too much to drink. So watching the race is only part of the fun; you get to watch lots of drunk people stumble around and see some who are passed out under the stands in the shade. I guess they wake up after the race and ask "What happened?" The race isn't televised live, here in Indianapolis, anyway. We like to watch the race in the evening, after it is all over, and you know who the winner is. It's still fun to watch. But you don't get the complete experience of going out to the track with the crowd. Since I'm not a big car racing fan, watching it on TV on tape delay is just fine.

The Indy 500

The big race is coming up this weekend. I am not a big car racing fan, but I have lived in Indiana for the past ten years so I have gotten somewhat interested over the years. I follow the Indy 500. Not interested in NASCAR. Two years ago my wife's sister and my brother-in-law Arnold were visiting from Mexico. Arnoldo loves cars and car racing. So I took him to Carb Day (Friday before the big race) and the Indy 500. It was a great experience for the both of us. I think it was a highlight in Arnoldo's life, being able to go back to Mexico and say he had actually seen the Indy 500. We sat on Turn One (the cheap seats), the area they used to call the "Snake Pit," because people went there to do everything except watch the race. We didn't see much of that, except excessive drinking, and people passed out under the stands. We saw a couple of crashes, but nobody got hurt. We had a great time and the next day we went to the Museum inside the Speedway. Arnold was like a little kid looking at all the cars. He knew a lot about the different kinds of cars and engines, too. We spent most of the day there. I would have spent about an hour in the museum if I had been alone. That might be the only Indy 500 I will ever see live. Since I'm not a racing fan, I think once is enough. But I'll bet Arnoldo would like to see another one.

Is Soccer Cool?

Soccer is a very cool game, in my opinion. Not just in my opinion, but in the opinion of people around the world; it is the most popular game in the world, everywhere except the USA that is. With the World Cup coming up next month, everyone around the world will be watching the games and rooting for their countries to win, including Americans who will be cheering on the US team.

But what happens after June? Americans will be back to the NBA, baseball, and getting ready for the NFL season, and soccer will be largely forgotten until the next World Cup in four years. I was listening to the host on an ESPN radio talk show about this very thing this morning. His theory is that in the USA soccer isn't perceived as "cool" and to be a successful sport in the US, a sport needs to be seen as "cool," like professional baseball, basketball, and football. We love "cool" players like Lebron, Payton Manning, and Alex Rodriguez. Quick: Name a "cool" professional U.S. soccer player. The host made the comment that in the US, when you mention soccer, most people think of "soccer moms" driving their daughters to games in mini-vans, eating orange slices, and everyone gets a trophy after the game. I have three daughters who played soccer, when they were young, so I know about this first hand. So, the host says, maybe soccer has an image problem in the US. It just isn't perceived as "cool." Until it is thought of as "cool" with "cool" soccer hero players, it really won't be considered a popular sport here at the professional level. This will take a while.

May, What a Great Month

May is a great month for at least three reasons. First of all, it is that month with nice warm days and cool nights before the hot summer hits in June. Second, May has a lot of nice holidays, beginning with Cinco de Mayo on May 5, followed by Mother's Day, and then wrapping up with Memorial Day. Something for everyone. Finally, May is a month for sports lovers and fans. We have the NBA playoffs, major league baseball, the Stanley Cup professional hockey championship, big professional golf tournaments like The Players over the past weekend, and I get to watch my daughter's rugby games. Her team came in fourth place in the Midwest Girls Rugby Tournament with teams from Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. The Kentucky Derby started off the month with the running of the ponies, and the month ends with the most famous car race, the Indy 500, right here in Indianapolis. We had the Indy Mini-marathon over the past weekend, one of the biggest mini-marathons in the world, with over 35,000 participants. So May is really a big month for sports fans, with all major sports represented except NFL football. But the real football, or soccer, will be here in June with the World Cup Soccer Championship. Is there another month that has so much to offer as May?

Is Baseball Dying?

It seems that interest in baseball is slowing declining over the years. I think there are several reasons for this decline. I remember in the 1950s and 1960s all the kids like me loved to watch and play baseball and collect and trade baseball cards of famous players. We knew all about players like Mickey Mantle and Roger Marris. I don't see many kids doing that anymore. Baseball is a slow game, and lacks the action and speed of basketball, footbal, and soccer. Our lives have been speeded up by technology with the Internet, cell phones, Twitter, and so on. We want everything fast. Fast food and fast sports. Baseball is not a fast game. I was listening to a radio sports talk show today and a writer for ESPN was talking about how over the years baseball is becoming slower, with more pitches, more walks, and fewer hits. Most people are not patient enough anymore to sit and watch a baseball game. There is action, but between the action the players stand around a lot. We want action and excitement. That is not what baseball is about. I think in the future, as action-oriented games like football, soccer, basketball, and hockey become more popular, baseball will slowly fade into the past as a game of the 1900s. That would be a shame, but it looks like that is exactly what is happening. A slow death for a nice, slow sport.

NBA and the World Cup

This is a great time to be an NBA fan. You get to see some really great games in the playoffs. It looks like the two strongest teams this year are the Lakers and the Cavaliers. I don't like the Lakers. They seem arrogant and cocky. If the championship game ends up being Lakers and Cavaliers, I hope LeBron and the Cavaliers win. But I wouldn't bet against the Lakers, either.

And just around the corner, in June, is the beginning of the soccer World Cup. I'm glad that soccer is becoming more popular in the U.S. and more people are following the games. I'd like for the U.S. to do well this year in the World Cup, but I wouldn't bet on it when they have to play teams like Italy and Brazil. They are not at that level yet.

A Good Time for Sports Fans

Today has been a busy day and I really don't have anything in mind to write about, so I will practice a little stream of consciousness writing. So what's on my mind? I'm thinking that this is a good time for people who are interested in sports, like me. We've got the Winter Olympics going on, Tiger Wood's statement today, March Madness coming up soon, and the NBA. Something for everyone except football and baseball fans. Oh, I almost forgot the soccer World Cup will be coming soon. My daughter Maria is getting ready to start the rugby season next week. So this is a pretty good time for sports fans. At least for this sports fan.