where the buffaloes roam...
Four years and counting, I've lived here, and this still amuses me.It's the Beeb, doing its best to make sense of an inexplicable situation. Some highlights (notes added):
A quick look at the leading US sports websites will tell you that Ohio State University's gridiron team host the University of Michigan's in a contest that is billed as Verdict/Judgement/Something Extremely Portentous Day (my fellow PTSD-er will probably see it in a similar fashion. As will one or two fairly-regular readers)
In a vote this week on the ESPN site, 35% said OSU v U of M was the sporting rivalry they would pay most to see.
This beat professional rivalries such as baseball's Yankees v Red Sox or the NFL's Cowboys v Redskins (no, that isn't a joke) by some margin. (I liked the "no, that it's a joke" aside. BBC reporters get to put asides in their news stories. What fun.)
But then none of those teams have sold every ticket in a 107,501-seat stadium for every home game since 1975.
And, some more:
In fact, so seriously are the Buckeyes taking this game that they have announced a "Beat Michigan Week".
One of its features is a blood donor drive, which makes me wonder what they are planning if they lose (well, if E's stories are any hint, blood is the least of what people are willing to give up. Furniture, cars, shopfront windows. Hey--maybe they should have a "protect property" training session too. Or, maybe they already do).
After all, the rivalry is thought to stem from the Toledo War - not a US soccer franchise, but a 19th-century border dispute between these two Midwest states - and their games in the 1970s are often referred to as the "Ten-Year War".
And this:
Despite being strictly amateur, US college sport, on the other hand, is very competitive and often very good (yes, with lots of money involved too).
In the top games there is usually a strong chance that many of the players will be performing elaborate celebrations for an NFL or NBA team in the not-too-distant future.
In the UK, most people who are actually any good at sport would not get anywhere near university, even if it was just to study - but not necessarily pass - a degree in "communications".
(Now, that's just harsh. Imagine what some top footy players could have done with a degree in communications--even without the quotation marks).
There's a bit at the end contrasting US college sports with British--banal nationalisms and all that, what?
posted by Priya @ 1:19 PM
1 Comments:
A quick look at the leading US sports websites will tell you that Ohio State University's gridiron team host the University of Michigan's in a contest that is billed as Verdict/Judgement/Something Extremely Portentous Day
Agreed. Michigan's Day of Reckoning is one of my favorites.
But then none of those teams have sold every ticket in a 107,501-seat stadium for every home game since 1975.
Strictly speaking, it was only a 90-some-thousand stadium until about six years ago. They still sold it out every game, but it wasn't quite as big when I lived there. Plus, the South Stands used to shake when we scored a touchdown. Unnerving, but exciting, in a "I'm going to die a gruesome death" kind of way.
In fact, so seriously are the Buckeyes taking this game that they have announced a "Beat Michigan Week".
We do this every year. The week before the Big Game is Beat Michigan Week. It's not a reference to this game, it's a long-standing tradition.
One of its features is a blood donor drive, which makes me wonder what they are planning if they lose (well, if E's stories are any hint, blood is the least of what people are willing to give up. Furniture, cars, shopfront windows. Hey--maybe they should have a "protect property" training session too. Or, maybe they already do).
This year, they gave up the newly-installed turf on the field when the fans rushed the goalposts. C'est la vie.
After all, the rivalry is thought to stem from the Toledo War - not a US soccer franchise, but a 19th-century border dispute between these two Midwest states - and their games in the 1970s are often referred to as the "Ten-Year War".
Not sure about this--after all, I grew up in Toledo, and the Toledo War was never mentioned as being tied to the Game. Not that we didn't study it, just that it was never considered relevant to football. Plus, Michigan got the U.P., so everyone's pretty happy with the results.
I should post about the Ohio-Michigan War. It's a great example of discourse (in this case, the Ohio Constitution) having a concrete effect on political outcomes. Also, it amuses me.
Despite being strictly amateur, US college sport, on the other hand, is very competitive and often very good (yes, with lots of money involved too).
In the top games there is usually a strong chance that many of the players will be performing elaborate celebrations for an NFL or NBA team in the not-too-distant future.
There was a Heisman on the line Saturday. It's a big deal.
In the UK, most people who are actually any good at sport would not get anywhere near university, even if it was just to study - but not necessarily pass - a degree in "communications".
Wait, so not having a tradition of scholar-athletes who are able to both win games and construct a gramatically correct sentence is a *good* thing? I'm confused.
Plus, when your country takes up more than the area of a postage stamp, you need another level of screening to figure out the best players. The thought of NFL scouts having to attend all the high school games looking for draft picks is mind-boggling.
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