Sports that make no sense to me ...

The good news for those who enjoy touring the States with me, via my pictures is… I brought a new camera. I saved up a little and got a Sony cyber shot, it’s not that fancy but the best part is that it is PINK!!!! Oh yeah, so it fits into my life perfectly! It takes really good pictures too, which of course is the real reason I got it, although my host dad (Dave) still thinks it’s just ‘cos it’s pink.

New camera :) So now I don't have to miss pictures like this (Milwaukee County Zoo)

I’m more of a cricket and rugby type of girl but since most American’s have never heard of cricket and they definitely don’t understand the appeal of rugby, I have had to convert. (But don’t worry I have my T.V recording South Africa rugby game so when my South African friends come over we can watch them)

Nadine, Monique, me *wearing our South African rugby jerseys* and Tamara

My conversion of South African to American sports started with Baseball. My State’s local team is called the Milwaukee Brewers (they are sponsored by Millers beer.) The game was on a Sunday starting at one (so I figured we’d be finished at 3 latest, ha ha!) For those of you that don’t know much about baseball, it is a very slow game, not the actually hitting or pitching, but the game that I went to took almost 4 hours! No jokes! This is largely due to the fact that you have 9 innings for each side. To end a team’s inning you need to get three of their players out. You get them out by either running them out or by pitching three balls that they fail to hit (strike.) Once you achieve this everyone on the fields switches, and in between this, they pitch a few practice balls, and the commentator has something going on so either it’s a competition, sports stats or random video that they show you.

Miller Park baseball stadium, WI

I know there are no rules involving foul balls and all that, but I not here solely to educate you on the rules and regulations of foreign sport, so I’ll leave it at that. During this time people get up and walk around doing pretty much whatever they want, which is strange for me I am used to rugby which is 40 minutes intense game play, an interval, and another 40 minutes intense game play…Then you go home to celebrate or try to forget the last 2 hours! Anyway, after all of that we went into extra time (or innings, not sure what you would call it) as The San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers were tied, after 3 more innings, we got a run and won the game! So my first game was really special, even if I did spend the first hour asking the one au pair, who knew about baseball, what was going on!

Au Pair group attending a baseball game at Miller Park, WI

Has anyone watched football before, and I’m not talking about your standard 5 min clip you see on most American stereotypical college movies. I mean like a whole game. If you answered yes, the next question may be a little trickier, and be truthful. Did you understand what was happening???

The isn't a pic of the Packers (however these are their colours) it's my friend Kevin's football team in CA

I went to watch a game with some of my American friends (at their house, not the stadium) and I tell you that is one complicated game, (mom) it may actually be more barrack than rugby! Plus you don’t even get to check out the cute guys as they are wearing tights and helmets, the former not the manliest attire while the latter totally hides their facial features. That aside, it is a really intense game. The rules are something like you get 4 plays to get a down (which is over the 10 foot mark or something like that), then you start all over again from the new mark and have 4 more plays to advance 10 feet more…and so on. Which sounds pretty boring and basic but believe me it’s quite fun to watch, although it is long game that involves a lot of strategy, but the nice thing is you can still watch and appreciate it regardless of how into the game you are. The Green Bay Packers (Wisconsin’s football team) won their game against the … um wait I can’t remember who they played … will get back to you on that. So Brody, Tyler and I were all hanging out before the game chatting and having fun, the game started and I kid you not Tyler turned into a monster…we were not allowed to look or talk to him cos “the PACKERS are PLAYING!” Wow dude…does he realize it’s only a game? Haha

I guess I shouldn't be surprised though...this is the Diary State, and the Packers are part "religion" here