I Want To Be In America

Sporting memories from the trip of a lifetime.

I Want To Be In America

One of the bigger stories in the world of sport over the last week has been the official NBA debut of Bronny James alongside his father, the legendary LeBron James, for the Los Angeles Lakers. They encompass the sport’s first father-son duo that are active participants at the same time.

Of course, there may be more than a hint of nepotism surrounding the whole situation considering that Bronny wasn’t actually one of the elite level prospects, has had health issues, and also magically wound up on the same team as his dad when others could have drafted him first, but who are we to really deny one of the greatest to ever play the game his moment alongside his son. And if the Lakers are willing to give Bronny a chance, and pay the money to make this happen, then why not? It will certainly be one of the stories of the season moving forward.

The start of the NBA season is always a huge event and fans are eager to see how any new signings will pan out and who the regular starting fives will be as they begin their journey to try and win the championship currently held by the Denver Nuggets.

This is a big time in US sport in general with the opening of not only the NBA but also the NHL as well as the NFL coming towards the middle of the regular season where the final standings are starting to take shape and of course the beginning of baseball’s World Series, this year being contested between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. It really is a dream time of year for sport lovers with slight insomnia, or with a fully functioning TV recording system!

It also takes me back to an incredibly memorable sporting journey in my own life when I visited the States around this time of year in 2008, determined to soak up as much as possible. I was on the final leg of my gap year travelling after university and although I arrived Stateside with my funds dwindling, I aimed to see the sights and make the most of my time in a country whose culture I had been soaking up through TV, movies and music since any time I can really remember.

I have already told the story of my spectacularly failed attempts at going to watch an American Football game in a previous article (Are You Ready For Some Football) but there were actually some sporting events that I did manage to go and see.

First stop was Los Angeles and, although I wasn’t  actually overly enamoured with the City of Angels compared to other places that I visited (everything seemed just a little bit too fake and forced for me), my trip to Dodger Stadium for the baseball was a definite highlight. It was a Friday evening game and initially my friend Chris and I had planned just to go up to the stadium and buy a ticket at the time of the event, but luckily we had spoken to some locals in a bar who had said that because the regular season was coming to an end, it may be worth buying ahead.

In order to do this, we had to find the local Ticketmaster outlet (smart phones for tickets certainly weren’t a thing for poor travellers at that time) which was a bit of an adventure in itself. Up until that point we had stuck to the main tourist points in Hollywood but the record store where tickets were available from was a little off the beaten track and we got a bit of a shock when we turned a corner to see two policeman holding a man up pressed against a wall, guns at the ready. We didn’t hand around to witness the outcome, decided to quicken our pace and eventually found the store which turned out to specialise in Latino music.

After a bit of an effort in translation (including a wonderful mime impression of trying to pitch and hit a baseball) with a Spanish speaking store clerk whose English was broken at best, we managed to procure our tickets and scurried quickly back to the safe haven of our hostel.

Dodger Stadium sits on one of the hills that surround Los Angeles and, as the sun was setting as we wandered towards it on the night of the game, the view of the lights starting to twinkle across the valley was really quite beautiful. Our attempts to get tickets in advance were also vindicated as we got closer and saw huge ‘Sold Out’ signs flashing.

Like most fans, especially the visitors, we headed first for the souvenir shop and marvelled at all of the merchandise, not that we could afford any! We did stretch to a programme between us though and I was delighted to see that Manny Ramirez who had been my favourite player for the Boston Red Sox (the team I follow), but who had recently signed for the Dodgers, would be starting.

We made our way up through the concourse amidst the throngs of fans, stopping on the way to pick up a footlong hotdog and a giant bucket of Coke each (budgeting priorities!) and then found our way to our seats. As the field itself isn’t huge, the stands need to be quite tall to fit in the number of fans and we were high up above the pitching mound to the right hand side. The far side of the stadium was slightly lower so you could see out over the top and there was again a lovely view of the lights of houses and cars in the darkness.

As the game got underway, I found that I spending just as much time people-watching and taking in everything that was going on around me as I was watching the action. It was a very family orientated atmosphere and there wasn’t the raucous singing that you get at a football or rugby game. People were clapping along with what was happening and chatting happily together while vendors constantly moved up and down the aisles selling a wide variety of snacks and beverages. Music played between the innings and there was just a quiet buzz that was a pleasure to be a part of.

The action in the game picked up after a quiet start and the teams began to hit bases and get runs on the board. As the action entered the 9th, and final, inning, the home team were 4-2 down. However, they then proceeded to hit two home runs (one bringing in another runner too) to go 5-4 up and send the fans wild. It was nice to see the place really come life. In the end though, the joy was short-lived as the Giants managed to tie up the game and then scored a winning run in the extra inning to take the victory.

The home fans still left happy as they had already booked their spot in the playoffs that were starting the following week. They didn’t go on to win the championship that year but I had certainly enjoyed my experience at the game.

Missed football game notwithstanding, my other major sporting adventure on that trip to the States was the one that I had been looking forward to more than any other, a visit to the Mecca of all great American sporting venues - Madison Square Garden.

New York is obviously an incredible city and most people would be happy with the vast majority of sightseeing opportunities like Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building (all of which I did as well), but for me, a visit to the Garden where I had grown up watching so many stars in basketball, ice hockey, boxing and, for me particularly, wrestling, ply their trade, was a prerequisite.

The NBA season hasn’t quite started yet so I had to make do with a pre-season warm up game but just being in the famous old building would be enough for me. There wasn’t even a torrid journey to get a ticket on this occasion as I had simply had to visit the ticket office at the venue the day before the event. The only surprise that I did get was that the building, despite its name, was actually circular and not square in shape (I now obviously realise that it is named after its location and not its shape but I had never seen it from the outside at that point so younger me just jumped to conclusions).

The first thing that struck me as I entered on the night of the game was how compact it seemed. Although I was fairly high up in the stands (all that I could afford) my view was still great and I could make out everything going on. The indoor nature of the venue and the way that it was set out meant that the atmosphere was great and you could see why it was a place where people love to perform.

My other pleasant surprise was just how fast-paced the game itself was. On television you can see that the players are real athletes that move from one end of the court to the other quickly, but the speed in which this happened in reality seems greatly magnified in person. As well as the cheers of the crowd and the chants of ‘de-fence’, the other overriding sound is the squeaking of the shoes you can hear on the court as players turn quickly. This wasn’t something that I had really noticed on TV (until Covid robbed the games of fans), possibly due to commentary as well, but was certainly something I was aware of while being there.

Like at the baseball, there were plenty of other things going on such as music and cheerleaders but the pace of the game forced you to watch in order to keep up and the dimmer lighting meant that it was slightly more difficult to be nosey about what others were doing. Neither the home team Knicks or the visitors, the Atlanta Hawks, had any huge stars that I recognised in those days (although the Hawks did make it all the way to the Conference Finals) but that didn’t matter to me as I was just spellbound as to what was going on.

I don’t actually remember the result of the game, being preseason it didn’t really matter anyway, but again I greatly enjoyed my experience and can now always say that I watched a game in one of the most famous sports arenas of them all.

I loved my time in America, particularly my sporting endeavours, and would absolutely love to go back again with my family and visit. Actually getting to a football game would definitely be on the top of my list.

Whatever happens with Bronny and the Lakers this year, I’m sure the new NBA season will be an exciting one and I will certainly be watching when I can, particularly when the Knicks are playing at home so I can relive my own visit. I will also be keeping tabs on the World Series and was delighted to read that the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the opening game at Dodger Stadium in the early hours of this morning. Let’s see if they can get the job done.