Love or Confusion?

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			Love or Confusion? - De File Does Collecting Make You Feel Dirty?

cbertsch


	Love or Confusion?
	I've decided that I want to follow the sports that are big in the Commonwealth. I lack the TV package, unfortunately. But the wish is there. And top on my list is a burning desire to become conversant in cricket. Unfortunately, even though I've done a little reading, I am still utterly baffled by the sport: Yousuf was run out while taking a single, with Paul Collingwood diving to hit the stumps after Khan had played Mahmood to point. With Pakistan on 80-4, Iqbal was caught behind off Mahmood after hitting it leg side. Akmal then edged the ball for an easier catch for Read. Then again, given my preference for the difficult, perhaps it's the very impenetrability of cricket narratives that appeals to me. Tags: sports Current Location: 85704

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	Comments

	From: masoo	Date: August 8th, 2006 12:49 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

I really don't think you want to increase your involvement with cricket, but if you're serious, look into various Internet streams. Most of the ones I am familiar with come from Asia ... I have watched the occasional soccer match that way, when Fox Soccer Channel/GOL TV don't come through, and while the commentary is often in Chinese, the streaming video is quite watchable.

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	From: cbertsch	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:10 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

The thing is, I can't really watch over the internet. The low-res annoys me. And the pauses and other glitches drive me insane. Or, rather, I can keep up with something I already know and care about, like Cal Bears or the Giants, but not something I'm new to, if that makes sense. But do I really want to become a cricket fan? Maybe. C.L.R. James is a big fave of mine.

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	From: masoo	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:13 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

Cricket is the boringest sport I ever wasted any of my life on. It's also proof that Lagaan is a terrific movie, since it spends about an hour on a cricket match and is still interesting.

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	From: cbertsch	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:24 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

But I'm sort of into boredom at a conceptual level. It's that avant-garde thing. I might even watch paint dry!

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	From: masoo	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:26 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

Try to imagine a sport so boring, even the announcers need to get drunk during the matches to keep from walking out.

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	From: cbertsch	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:29 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

Have you read any of the C.L.R. James? He makes it sound good. Sometimes I see the South Asian guys playing pick-up matches on campus. They seem to be having a grand time. Maybe the problem is in the watching.

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	From: masoo	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:35 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

As you note, watching isn't the same as playing, or even reading about it. Playing a sport is always fun. But some sports aren't made for spectators. Just the fact that they stop the match every couple of hours so the fans can go drink some tea tells me those fans are bored out of their skulls. When you're watching an interesting sport, you don't want to miss a second. When you're watching cricket, you want them to stop the match so you can have some English Breakfast.

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	From: cbertsch	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:42 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

A lot of people complain that baseball is boring, though not that boring. I wonder, though. From a cultural studies perspective, wouldn't it make more sense to incorporate the spectators' boredom or at least their wavering attention into the analysis of a sport. From this perspective, cricket would, like baseball only more so, be an occasion for social exchange as a way of staving off boredom, an "invitation to tea" in a metaphoric sense.

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	From: masoo	Date: August 8th, 2006 01:54 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

Let's say baseball is boring. Take the three hours of boredom, and stretch it out for five days. Do that and you have cricket. I've never been one of those people who was willing to torture myself just to advance my studies, so no, I won't be doing a cultural studies analysis of cricket any time soon!

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	From: cbertsch	Date: August 8th, 2006 02:27 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

I didn't mean that you should! I just wanted to express how, in slower-paced sports, the ancillary conversation and activities like "tea" aren't as ancillary as they initially seem. That guy who got #715 while getting a hot dog was participating in the game, just like the guy who hit it. Not as prominently or as well, but still participating.

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	From: cbertsch	Date: August 8th, 2006 02:24 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

Military officer class. Yes!!! I think cricket functions that way in Pakistan, India, and the West Indies, though.

Why are the French into rugby?

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	From: derdriu	Date: August 8th, 2006 05:17 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

I know a little bit about cricket, and the only reason I do is because of the movie Lagaan. If you like Bollywood, it is a good intro to cricket and you get the additional bonus of dance-and-song numbers.

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	From: cbertsch	Date: August 8th, 2006 05:55 pm (UTC)		(LINK TO SPECIFIC ENTRY)

Cool. I'll check it out. My friend Steven also recommended it.

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