One of the most cherishing and coveted experiences I always wanted to have after coming to US was the Football here. Well yeah, I am talking of 'american' football, which is supposedly the 'heart throb' of both young and the old here: much like cricket in India. So finally grabbed this opportunity to go and watch the ASU vs UCLA game yesterday evening at the Sun Devil Stadium. It was a totally instantaneous decision by me and another friend and we were very much excited! What was just putting us away from the 'football fever' here in the weekends all through the Fall was that we are going to be singled out in the match crowd because we did not wear the Maroon-Gold Tee (read, supporters of ASU). But that was not good enough a reason to subside our sudden decision to go. The evening when I was skeptical to spend even $10 for a drink or dinner, the thought of going to the watch the game threw all the economizing strategies to thin air! I was ready to spare $15 for a first time real football experience!
Leave aside what the result of the game was. It was very vivid to me that ASU will lose to UCLA since it has been really a bad season for us this time. But the only pushing factor that kept me captivated all the time was the experience.
The first thing, it was my first 'stadium' experience of any match. Even though being a huge cricket fan back home in the nineties, never came in lines with an opportunity to watch a cricket match in any stadium. So this footbal thing, though not my 'yet' favorite cricket, was going to be interesting for me! The second thing was of course, getting the 'feel' of the Football in US!
So many times had I heard about the profuse popularity of Football, but I only got to gauge it qualitatively and quantitatively watching the game in the stadium. The most interesting thing is, even if your team is playing badly, you can pass your time watching at the people, rather the attires of them! And I am serious. How weirdly people would dress up to show their support to a team! It was amazing! And then the entertainment that comes in between the quarters and at the half time. Impressive stuff: you can always have something exciting beyond the game! The feel of the 'fever' was great indeed!
Coming back and jotting down my feelings here, I am kind of feeling nostalgic now. I feel like going back to those times when a cricket match playing India as one team used to be one of the nerve-recurring actions and events for one and all of us; those times when we would put cricket on top of probably everything else! And then the joy when Sachin would score a century! A feeling as though of 'self' accomplishment!
I was actually surprised that I literally went back to those memories; more because after the match-fixing thing, I was totally heart-broken and left watching matches for good. But I think this time, trying to enkindle the passion for Football as an ASUrite, I managed enkidling my old passion for cricket to a great extent. I would now agree, "Old habits die hard!" A frivolous event has struck a 'temporal transition' in me...
Leave aside what the result of the game was. It was very vivid to me that ASU will lose to UCLA since it has been really a bad season for us this time. But the only pushing factor that kept me captivated all the time was the experience.
The first thing, it was my first 'stadium' experience of any match. Even though being a huge cricket fan back home in the nineties, never came in lines with an opportunity to watch a cricket match in any stadium. So this footbal thing, though not my 'yet' favorite cricket, was going to be interesting for me! The second thing was of course, getting the 'feel' of the Football in US!
So many times had I heard about the profuse popularity of Football, but I only got to gauge it qualitatively and quantitatively watching the game in the stadium. The most interesting thing is, even if your team is playing badly, you can pass your time watching at the people, rather the attires of them! And I am serious. How weirdly people would dress up to show their support to a team! It was amazing! And then the entertainment that comes in between the quarters and at the half time. Impressive stuff: you can always have something exciting beyond the game! The feel of the 'fever' was great indeed!
Coming back and jotting down my feelings here, I am kind of feeling nostalgic now. I feel like going back to those times when a cricket match playing India as one team used to be one of the nerve-recurring actions and events for one and all of us; those times when we would put cricket on top of probably everything else! And then the joy when Sachin would score a century! A feeling as though of 'self' accomplishment!
I was actually surprised that I literally went back to those memories; more because after the match-fixing thing, I was totally heart-broken and left watching matches for good. But I think this time, trying to enkindle the passion for Football as an ASUrite, I managed enkidling my old passion for cricket to a great extent. I would now agree, "Old habits die hard!" A frivolous event has struck a 'temporal transition' in me...
2 comments:
We are performing pathetically in cricket...
I have also stopped following it
Yeah!! I has stopped since my undergrad days... :(
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