Sports

Since coming here, I've made some interesting observations regarding the world of sports. In the United States, I think it would be safe to say being a sports fan is a way of life for most people. The fall is spent watching college and pro football, winter is hockey and basketball season, and the spring/summer/fall is devoted to baseball. For fans, there are the fanatics who watch all sports all the time, those who just favor one sport or one team, those who watch games once in a while, those who prefer going to games in person or listening to them on the radio, those who could care less, and everyone in between. Men and women alike. America thrives on sports. At my high school, there were about 1300 of us and no less than 24 different sports teams with most having both varsity squads and junior varsity and some even with a third or fourth squad. I don't have the statistics, but it seems like a good majority of our school was involved in some sport or another, both boys and girls and all grades.

Here things are different. At my host family's house, my mom and sisters don't like watching sports at all. My dad watches sports on the little TV in the kitchen while my mom and sisters watch other shows on the normal sized TV in the living room. In one of my classes yesterday, we had a conversation about sports and football (soccer), and I brought up the point that at my house, my dad watches sports and the rest of the family doesn't care at all about sports. My professor told us that though things are starting to change a little now, watching sports is a very masculine pastime here. Traditionally, men watch sports, women don't. The class I was in was all girls. And I'm pretty sure every one of us gasped in some way when she said that. The conversation then progressed into sports teams in school. Their secondary schools have sports, but not nearly to the extent that we do and they are not nearly as important as actual school work. In college, anyone can be on any team. There are no try-out, no special favors given for players with talent. Anyone can play. There are no big college rivalries like Minnesota/Madison, Michigan/Ohio State or Kansas/Mizzou. Here, sports aren't that important. 

Football is the thing. Not American football. America's soccer. Spain has the two best teams in the world. Real Madrid and Barcelona. With a rivalry that goes back as far as the teams to. But even that isn't always considered a "sport." My host dad last night told me that those two teams aren't sports teams. They are businesses. Who bring in the best players in the world and rake in the cash. There is only one player on Real Madrid who is actually from Spain. The rest are from elsewhere. An interesting philosophy. An interesting way of life. Especially to a 21 year old American woman who loves watching sports.