A few words on ice hockey

There are a few things here that are different only because they haven't been exported yet - things like garbage disposal units, personalised credit cards, car sharing schemes, ATM deposit boxes, note-feeds on vending machines which actually work ... I dunno, there's loads of stuff. Other things will never export because they're about attitude, which is just something you can't export. I can't think of a better example than american sports. It sums up at least these american orientations: family, food, belonging/tribes, and money. American sport is virtually nothing to do with sport. You may argue that sport - american or otherwise - has got virtually nothing to do with anything, and that would be aside the point.

As recently mentioned elsewhere (much more eloquently, I will add, than any attempt made by me) yesterday I went to my first NHL game - San Jose Sharks versus Tampa Bay Lightning. Sharks won 7-1 - an absolute drubbing by ice hockey standards. The last time I went to a sporting event, the team I went to see (the Plymouth Raiders basketball team) were the best team in the league. I only choose the best of course - the Sharks were also doing pretty well (Pacific champions last year, on course for the same this).

Now, ice hockey is in the top 4 of 'all-american' sports, but it's by no means the biggest (football, baseball and basketball are all bigger - maybe if they changed the name to hockball ...). In addition, it's bigger on the east coast and in Canada than on the west and in fact, when temperatures in Santa Cruz hit 26C (! I know!) this week, it seems a little silly to even have an ice hockey team in San Jose. This all belies the fact that San Joseans are mad for it! Last night was not a particularly important fixture - a drubbing was always on the cards. It was also a week day. It was packed, and everyone wore a ($150!) shirt. The buses outside proudly displayed 'go sharks!' on their screens.

As far as is my impression of sport in the USA, no-one gets muddy, no-one gets cold, no-one swears, no-one drinks in excess or fights (at games), no-one need miss anything to feed or go to the toilet because they'll be an ad break any minute .... It was hard to follow the game through the constant stoppages (for change-overs, substitutions, penalties, advertisements). The 'competitions' and stoppages masked easily the skills of the players.

As was said elsewhere, I won't go again (especially now we have tickets to the Giants baseball team in San Fran - thanks sis!), but it was a great night and a fascinating - I won't say insight, but reminder - of a couple of aspects of american life. I don't follow sport, but, I dunno, and this may or may not surprise you, professional sport is only entertaining to me if its full of dodgy characters, or its painful to watch (like a good horror film). You shouldn't enjoy sport, you should endure it. Or it should be made amateur. Otherwise, where's the sport? I don't want to high-five the man next to me 6 times, and say goodbye to him at the end - it's too sanitised and bland. Roll on the baseball ...