Baseball match

Went to see a Baseball match on 25 Jul 08 (Fri)between San Francisco Giants celebrating their 50th year in Baseball and Arizona Diamond Backs.33 USD per ticket ! The Americans are really crazy about Baseball just like we are crazy about cricket .The match was held in AT & T stadium near the water front .A huge stadium which accomodated about 33,000 spectators that day .The match started at 7 .15 pm and went on till 10 pm. It could go longer if the teams were evenly matched .The Giants lost to the Diamond Backs 10 - 2 ,in spite of a highly partisan crowd which cheered the Giants all the way !

The Giant scoreboard was very beautiful. It showed instant huge replays whenever a player was out or whenever there was a run scored.The sound system was excellent.The game is very racy and you do not get bored at all .In between, you are of course welcome to go get your beer and your burgers or pizzas or anything edible to suit your taste ,from plenty of stalls .You require energy don't you ,to keep cheering or booing !Yes there were hawkers selling peanuts, coffee , etc advertising their wares loudly just like back home .Latha and I had popcorn and some good hot coffee as it got cold as the night advanced .

The sight of the surrounding areas from the top of the Stadium was also great. We could see the Bay bridge on one side and on the other the large number of boats anchored for the evening on the waterfront.We had to park our car in an unofficial parking lot though - parking fees 20 USD just for the duration of the game !The parking lot was however quite close to the stadium.The crowd in the stadium was initially thin although it started

increasing as the office goers joined in and started thinning out once the audience came to know the match was going out of the hands of their favourites- the San Francisco Giants!

Yes they have an amusing tradition .The TV cameras in between the game start focussing on the audience and any couple caught on camera have to kiss each other. They call it Kiss scam !They showed about 20 couples like that .Most of them did not hesitate but in some cases there was some hesitation and they looked at the camera with a look - ME ? And then they also continued with the fun.It was hilarious to say the least ,to see the couples looking into the camera ,with their puzzled looks and then kissing each other- on camera.I believe in one such match the camera focussed on two males - for quite some time . San Francisco is the world capital of gays you see ! The two males were not gay.They were really embarassed and did not know as to what they should do .Ultimately they somehow managed by just hugging each other, as the camera did not leave them!

The video shown below was taken from the place where we were seated .We got good seats and could view the game quite well - ring side seats. As I have been following the game somewhat on TV ,I could make out as to what was happening. Latha did not know anything about the game . Yet she was cheering the maximum! I wonder how many were there like her in the audience !Overall it was great fun to see a game after which Americans go crazy , cheering and booing like children, like we do for cricket !

The Baseball season has just begun and will keep going on for the next 6 months till a National champion team is chosen . Here they have very well organised championship schedules for all the games like Basketball, Football ,Ice hockey etc .Each sport is played during a fixed season every year . No two sports seasons clash. For each sport they have 32 teams . 16 teams from the West Coast ,where we are located and 16 teams from the East Coast ,towards New York.These 32 teams play against each other.The winner of the West Coast finals plays the winner of the East Coast finals .And the National champion team emerges out of this battle.

There is huge money invloved in the game .All corporate sponsorships.Sportsmen are icons and they earn millions of dollars every season. They even have there own private planes and people go ga ga over them .And the sportsman is chosen right from the College level and coached and trained all the way up !The game that these sportsmen play is also excellent. I have seen the NBA's (National Basektball Association's)matches right upto the finals , live on TV and they are just incredible in their technique, their physical fitness and even sportsman spirit !