America
I love America.
And not in the ultra-nationalist, “AMERICA FUCK YEAH” sense – but in the “grand experiment”, utopian sense. When I bike by a park in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis on a summer’s evening, and it is full of people of every shape, size, color, and creed, playing soccer, softball, lacrosse, horseshoes, and chess: that is when I love America. That is when I am proud to be an American.
And, so, last weekend, as I was walking the dog, I noticed kids playing cricket in the park down the street from my house, and I was in love with America; I was proud to be an American.
Of course, that sounds silly, and of course America, and especially Minnesota, has serious segregation issues. It was not a rainbow of humanity playing cricket on Saturday, in other words.
But my point stands, as cricket slowly but surely inches its way into the average American’s consciousness, I fall a little bit in more in love with my country.
Cricket becoming popular in America is what America is all about.
Children of Asian immigrants playing cricket on a baseball diamond in the Midwest United States is what America is all about.
The next step is for children of all backgrounds to join them; that’s when my heart will really swell.
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Infinity
I have been greatly enjoying the Champions Trophy.
There is a part of international cricket that I have a hard time wrapping my brain around: the infinity of it all. Tours and tests and round and round with no clear season or winner or ending. I think my inability to comprehend it or for my brain to find sense in it springs from the fact that I am an American and that I came to the sport late in life. But tournaments such as the one taking place in England and Wales this summer are the opposite of forever: a short period of time, a clear winner, and most importantly: an ending.
It is a nice antidote to the literally endless international schedule.
Also, the tournament itself, despite being a wasteful ICC money grab, has been a great success. Thrilling matches, great individual performances, packed houses, and the final everyone wanted: India vs England.
Well, that was the final I wanted.
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British Baseball Announcers
This is worth your time if you have not seen it already. Downright hilarious; especially for those that follow both baseball and cricket:
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