Alex had a taste of a very American pastime today - watching College sports. Our friend Ohemaa is in the American University women's basketball team and invited us to go and watch her play this afternoon. Naively, I was expecting a few dozen spectators seated on hard wooden benches and applauding rather awkwardly when the home team scored. Instead, we were treated to an all-singing, all-dancing affair, complete with a live band, sequinned cheerleaders, acrobatic gymnasts, half-time competitions, free T-shirts, an over-enthusiastic announcer and dodgy animal mascot (in this case, an Eagle). Alex really enjoyed himself, and looked right at home with his AU T-shirt and his coke. He stayed awake long enough to see Ohemaa grab her first basket after 13 seconds, nodded off for almost the entirety of the match and woke up just in time to help the Eagles celebrate their best victory of the season thus far, winning 82-47. For a flavour of the action, see highlights of the game (and the cheer-leading) here.
College sport in the US is a big deal, particularly for football and basketball players, as the universities provide recruiting grounds for the professional leagues. Although a minor women's university basketball game is small fry compared to the top College football matches, which can draw regular crowds of over 75,000, the Eagles take their sport incredibly seriously. Ohemaa's training regime is brutal (to use my favourite American adjective of the moment), comprising multiple fitness, gym and coaching sessions per day. But the hard work is worth it - the basketball players all receive sports scholarships to cover their tuition costs. And given that American University fees average around $35,000 per annum, even I might be tempted to get up at 5.30am to put in a few training sessions...
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