In Which I Suddenly Care about Sports

A few days ago, I posted a Facebook status lamenting the troubles I was having finding a way to stream college basketball in Ireland, poking fun at how I'd never imagined this was an issue I'd have during study abroad.One of my best friends from high school commented that she didn't know who I was now, and it was a very fair point- gone are the days where I go on angry rampages about the pointlessness of all athletic events (though don't get me started on salaries of professional players), because now I have a Cinderella story that's very near to my heart. I've also always loved underdogs, because well, who doesn't?

So in the possibility that someone's reading this who doesn't know, my home college, La Salle University, is in the famous March Madness tournament for the first time in 21 years- and we're doing phenomenally. It's been so strange to be away during this (and I have to admit, I'm a bandwagoner for our basketball team) and watch it unfold from video clips of everyone celebrating to just getting in the tournament, to waking up to seeing that we won the first game, finding a way to stream the second despite shoddy internet connection, and then last night not having a working video stream but refreshing the live score on Google every 10 seconds. Now we're in the 'sweet 16' top of all schools in the US, and have a fairly good chance of going even farther. The next game is showing at 2am Ireland time Friday morning- just four hours before my family lands in Shannon Airport!

It's all been terribly exciting and stressful and I think I might have installed some scary programs on my computer while unsuccessfully trying to find a way to get the live footage last night, and eventually passed out a little after 2 am without seeing the final score. I must have had several of those Inception 'fake out' dreams of waking up and checking the score, because I was fairly certain we'd lost by 2 points when I finally got up this morning- but it was just the opposite, and our rise to the top continues. Watching the videos online of everyone celebrating in the streets and being interviewed by major news channels gave me homesick goosebumps, but in a happy way, still. Reread why I'm La Salle Proud if you need a refresher, but basically it's awesome to be able to now proudly introduce myself as from Philly and have La Salle be known- maybe not to the Irish, but at least the other Americans! (I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm the only person in the country who cares about our success. BUT I CARE A LOT.)

Now while the Irish couldn't be less concerned with our NCAA takeover, there are definitely a ton of very invested sports fans in this country. Earlier in the year, well basically the very first week, I went to a game of Connaught rugby, which is a very big deal, and yesterday I was able to catch matches of very local and historic sports: Gaelic football and hurling! Also, rugby has lost a little of it's 'major leauge' shine since one of the players is friends with my roommate and is always over with his daughter, who is an adorable ball of energy and makes the whole sports star thing seem more human.

Yesterday's cultural sports excursion was sponsored by the NUI International Students Society, which has been wonderfully instrumental in helping me to see so many important parts of Irish life, and this event was no exception. While it was freezing, we were treated to seeing two totally different sporting events. Both were played out on a field that looked about the same size as a soccer pitch. Gaelic football, as far as I could tell, was a big combination of our 'soccer', combined with a little basketball (they passed the ball and bounced it off the field) and a little bit of rugby/American football where they can carry it for a short while and make points by throwing the ball through high goalposts (but also if they get it in the soccer net- that was confusing). Any true followers of the sport would probably either laugh or be angry at this description, but it's the best I've got. 

Following the Gaelic football match (we came in halfway through), the hurling team came out to face off against their rivals from Cork! Their uniforms, for both games, were also maroon, which was another nice hometown-pride swell of remembrance for the Lancers. Hurling was also really different, and without looking up any official rules, I'll give you my take on the matter. They all had long wooden sticks that they used to whack the ball across the field  scoop it up off the ground, catch and volley. They also caught it from the air with their bare gloveless hands, and that looked painful, and as far as I can tell it was just a much more difficult version of lacrosse.

So now, begrudgingly, my journey of learning how to appreciate sports is coming to a new peak. It's expanded through a lot of my other travels- mostly by admiring the passion of fans from all over: soccer as peacekeeper in Israel, national pride in Kenya, the cricket craze in India, and now here in Ireland. It's something that unites peoples from all over, even while driving competition. I may not be a major fan yet, but it's progress. This trip is making me become more open minded in ways I never would have guessed, it looks like!