American football versus English football

In March I attended my first game away and it was completely different from the matchday experience I am used to in England. I was visiting my girlfriend Kristin, who lives in America and we went to see the Colorado Rapids, her local MLS team. They hosted Minnesota United at their home at Dick's Sporting Goods Stadium.

There was an English connection because Adrian Heath is the manager of Minnesota. The former midfielder played for seven different English clubs during his career, including Everton where he won two league titles and an FA Cup. In fact, it was Heath who scored the winner of the 1984 semi-final against Southampton to secure Everton's first FA Cup final appearance in eighteen years. United are the third American team Heath has managed after previously taking charge of Austin Aztex and Orlando City. /p>

Adrian Heath, coach of Minnesota United, when he was playing at Everton

There is a misconception among many fans in England that Americans have no real idea of ​​our national sport. Opinions such as "They call it football" and "They have their own sports that interest them more" are both valid. American football, baseball, ice hockey and basketball dominate the nation's interest. You often get crowds of over 80,000 at college football games (gridiron) and the Superbowl and World Series draw huge TV audiences. p>

My visit to the United States coincided with March Madness, a college basketball tournament where it seems everyone (basketball fans or not) participates and fills out a grid predictions to guess who will win the competition. Kristin and I visited a sports bar where they would hopefully show the Arsenal vs Sporting Lisbon game. The place was huge and must have had about twenty television screens. All but one showed different college basketball games, with only one in the corner showing the Arsenal game!

There are a few videos online of American football fans singing various chants at games that England fans consider grumpy. The chants are very supportive of their teams and show no anger or hatred towards the opposing team or match officials. Chants here in England tend to be more of the latter, especially when things start to go wrong for their team.

The view from the hall behind the stands during halftime

The stadium was a little more than half full when I walked into Dick's Sporting Goods Stadium, with a small gathering of Rapids fans behind a goal leading the chant. They had a small band playing instruments to help create an atmosphere and a fan up front who led the vocals.

If they intended to blackmail the whole stadium, it didn't work. The loudest moment of the evening came when everyone sang The Star Spangled Banner, a tradition before every sporting event. The national anthem is only sung here before major cup finals and international matches, so it was strange to hear it before a league game!

Having been used to chants and shouts of abuse with colorful language (to put it mildly!) here in England, it was surreal not to hear that throughout the game. In fact, the only controversial chant that was uttered during the ninety minutes was an anti-Mexican slur that was chanted against the Vikings...