Guest blog by Mike Niles, Press & Public Affairs, British Consulate-General
It is a reasonable generalisation to say that Brits do not really understand baseball. I get it that you try and score a home run by hitting it "out-of-the-park", that you have 9 innings and that you have to get three hitters out before you can change over – but that is the extent of my knowledge. So when asked to play in the annual softball game between the British Consulate-General and Mayor Bloomberg’s Office, I was a little sceptical. You see, British people are born and raised on football. That’s football, not soccer. When you’re young, you get a child-sized jersey and are taken to watch your local team from the stands. It is cold, windy and often rainy, so you’re given a burger and a drink to keep you occupied while your dad and his mates cheer for "the lads". For me, that team is Doncaster Rovers (I’m sure never even heard of by many people).
I find our passion for football is similar to America’s passion for baseball. However, America is coming around to the sport. A great performance in the World Cup this year by the USA team and some big-name signings joining the MLS (including Thierry Henry here in New York) shows that football is gaining popularity and the USA team is gaining international recognition.
So the softball game was my introduction to an all-American sport and, to be honest, it went OK. Both sides played well, and the trash-talk was fun (despite the fact I didn’t know what ‘baserunning’ was or when told to stand ‘right field’- they could have been asking me to stand anywhere in Central Park!). The Brits, however, were victorious. There may have been a couple of American staff on the team, but who’s counting? Don’t get me wrong here, I still have no idea what is going on when I see the Mets or the Yankees on TV but having played a version of the game now, I can kind of understand what all the fuss is about.
It’s just still not football for me though. The new football season begins in the UK this week and whether you look out for the big names of Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea, the English Premier League is the one of the best football leagues in the world. It attracts the biggest names in the sport, including America’s finest such as Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard. Visitors to the UK should list a Premier League match as something they must do. American sporting franchise owners are also investing heavily in British football: Brooklyn’s Randy Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns, is also the owner of Aston Villa and Malcolm Glazer and family members are owners of Manchester United along with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers.
U.S. football fans have had a chance to see some of the British clubs in action this summer with teams like Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic touring the States. I’m sure there will be a large number of British nationals glued to their TV screens around 10 o’clock this Saturday morning, keeping track of the scorelines. While the start of the new football season is imminent, the Mayor’s Office will have to wait another year to beat us at their own game. Maybe we could give them a chance to beat us at ours; we could organise an annual football match? Actually, maybe that’s not such a great idea.
