It's time to return to grassroots? Supporting the local 3rd division team and bringing the family along like the old days?
I was visiting people out there and they wanted to take me along to their local town's baseball game.
Bear in mind that I find nearly all sport incredibly dull on TV, and have never been to a football match in the UK, let alone a match of anything else abroad.
So we arrive at the stadium in their local town.
The first thing that I noticed was how clean everything was. The walkways, the seating areas, everything.
The second thing I noticed was WHOLE families were turning up. Mom, Dad, the kids, granny, the works.
That immediately created a certain mood...a family mood.
Before play started, there was half an hour to warm up, and a group of clowns (no not nu-labour) came on the pitch in a clowns car, did slapstick, told jokes, etc. At the end, they opened up the boot of the clowns car, and inside was a heated box, and they drove along the edge of the seated area and threw foil wrapped hotdogs to the kids who could "make the most noise".
I was suprised to see people allowed alcohol.
The game kicked off, and my host explained the rules of the game.
I think with the atmosphere, a beer, and the general feeling of goodwill, I must admit I actually enjoyed the game. I started to care about whether the local team would win against the out of towners.
Half time, cheerleaders and a rock video, then several kids invited to the pitch to do a mini "It's a Knockout". Then back to the game.
The rest of the match was rivetting (and the locals won).
Then everyone left in a good mood and time for home.
I asked my host what was it about the game that made it so much fun and he replied that the whole point was a family day out and that was utterly sacrosanct. Sure, alcohol was allowed, but no one seemed to get tanked up and pick fights. They just weren't that sort of people. And I didn't see any cops at all.
The whole day changed my perception of spectator sport forever.
Although by my own admission Ive not been to an organised football match here in the UK, I can only imagine that it is a far removed place from my experience in the USA. (Watching rival teams fight on the terraces in the UK only reinforces my belief).
If the UK adopted the USA "family style" event, I think I might just get addicted....
Would others agree that this would be the way to go for the UK ?
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