Stoday, I lived in the UK for almost 20 years, and I discovered that there were at least three occasions during which it was really hard to be a sports-loving septic, and they were duriing the Olympics, the Ryder Cup and the World Series. I was always a fan of Radio 5 Live's Saturday morning programming (my favourite show was when they had a popular female opera singer in the studio singing football chants!) So, I would hear the whingeing every damn year..."Why do the Yanks call it the 'World Series'?" That's a good question, and the answer comes clearer once you realize that not only Americans play baseball in the American Major League. Baseball is fantastically popular in Latin America; there are many players and coaches from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and other such nations. And nowadays it seems that every team has to have a Japanese player. Indeed, many teams have scouts that set up farm teams in Central and South America. So it is true that baseball is probably exclusively an American sport, but "American" in this case means not just the US but the rest of the Americas.
I don't know why the Brits get their knickers in a twist every year in October about the World Series.
And omg, the Ryder Cup! I think that's when the Yank bashing is at its peak. I remember one year when the wives of the American players all got matching outfits, and the British media went absolutely ballistic!!
The funniest thing was, though, that these women DID all look alike! All very toothy and blonde and tall. I don't know what they were thinking. It wasn't "Footballers' Wives" (what a great garbagey show!!), but it was "Golfers' Wives". Great stuff!
And there always seemed to be a fair amount of vitriol thrown at American basketball players and track members at the Olympics. It was a bit cringe worthy.
If it makes you feel any better, we've been hearing all about Wayne Rooney over here...
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