I am not a fan of any other sports than football. I have lived in England my whole life and I have yet to see a tennis, or cricket, or rugby game in the flesh. Football takes up all of my time and I have designed my life that way. I watch football for work and I watch football for relaxation.
I grew up not far from Crystal Palace so when I was a kid, I watched the London Towers play basketball. I went to a rugby playing school and hated every single second that I was forced to interact with the sport of rugby. Anyway, today, I went to see the baseball.
But first, I walked from my hotel to the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Wall. I was too tired to reach these destinations yesterday but today, I was happy to take on the 45 minute walk from my hotel to the Lincoln Memorial. There is something humbling about seeing such a world famous attraction and the walk towards the memorial itself is gorgeous.
As I make way way back to my hotel (another 45 minute walk to make the hamstrings good and spongey) someone approaches me as if they know me and I assume they are going to tell me that they love Arseblog but actually it’s a nice Christian lady who asks me if I want to join them in ‘worshipping Jesus Christ’ this coming Sunday but I explain that I can’t do that because Arsenal play Chelsea on Sunday and I would rather fight Satan. (I don’t say that at all, I tell them I am going home tomorrow and thank them for their interest).
Anyway, I make it to about 9,990 steps before 11am, which I consider a result ahead of an afternoon at the baseball drinking beer and eating the sort of food that will almost certainly give you a coronary if you don’t exercise soon after. Martin (the artist formerly known as Heisenbergkamp on twitter) picks me up from my hotel at about 12.30pm. I haven’t spoken to Martin for a few years but for my wedding he bought me and my wife a nodding Clay Davis doll that says ‘sheeeeeeeeeeeet’ when you tap its head and that is the kind of gift that creates a lifetime bond.
We watch the Washington Nationals against the Colorado Rockies who, as far as I can tell, have been playing one another every single day since 1957 and are desperate to stop. Despite growing up opposite one of the grounds the Kent cricket club uses I have never been to cricket live but the thought of semi paying attention to a sport while paying more attention to beer and greasy food sounded like a winner to me.
I don’t entirely understand everything that happens but this is no kind of impediment to the experience because, much like cricket in the UK, very few of the small Thursday afternoon crowd are enormously engaged. Baseball is long form content, the individual games and actions are just not meaningful enough for there to be any sort of tension. We chat, we drink, we eat, we watch some baseball.
Football obviously has so much more tension because every goal, every game feels meaningful. I had a lot of time for the baseball experience but there is a lot to be said for watching sport that doesn’t feel life or death in every single moment. Martin describes baseball as a kind of background hum on his life, which I entirely get, while, for me and many others, football is our heartbeat.
Nevertheless, I really enjoy the experience. We move seats, some time in the sun, some time in the shade, some time in the concourse buying beer and fast food. I encounter my first accent challenge as a I order a ‘tall draft’ beer but the woman serving clearly hears ‘two draft’ and that is what I am served at the cool price of 16 dollars a beer.
It’s such a different experience to football where everything happens so much more quickly, including half time beverages and food. Any sport that encourages me to drift into the concourse for a beer and a chilli dog is to be celebrated, even if I still don’t understand all the rules. Tomorrow is a media day so this diary should take on more of a football vibe then.
I’ve stood in most of those places.
I am enjoying these diary posts. There’s something quite relaxing about them.
Yeah agreed! If this football stuff doesn’t work then Tim has a good sideline as a travel writer I reckon 😉
Clay Davis!
No risk of getting crushed in the rush as people dive for the exits twenty minutes before the game finishes then?
Baseball is “different” to put it politely – but “Death or Glory” to quote the Clash City Rockers, beckons on Sunday. I do admit the analogy is perhaps excessive!
DC is a special place. The fact that the Audi stadium is a 5 minute walk away from where the Nationals play is bonkers. Most baseball, football and even soccer stadiums in America are set up for driving there – where you can tailgate before a game. These two stadiums are not. They are surrounded by bars and restaurants which are quite busy before and after the games. More like London than not..
DC is a special place. The Audi stadium is only a few minutes walk to where the Nationals play with a great view of the Capitol building. Most stadiums (soccer, football, baseball) in the US are designed to drive there with big parking lots where tailgating is the preferred pre/post game tradition. Not so much with these stadiums that are surrounded by bars and restaurants that are quite busy on game day. A bit more like London…
What do you mean there was no tension? Nats-Rockies is a relegation six-pointer!