By Gokce Aytulu
Here’s the conflict: America’s most popular sport is called “football” despite the fact that it’s not played by foot.
I know it’s played on foot. But this is not enough to call the sport “football.”
Unlike “soccer,” there is minimal foot-to-ball contact in American football. So why is it called football?
I’ve heard the story about the naming of soccer. It’s related to class struggle. In the early days of the sport, the proper term among the members of upper classes of British society was “soccer.” Eventually “football” became more popular with the middle and lower classes. And the winner was the latter.
But forget about football or soccer. Here in Kansas City, I have found a new fun pastime: baseball. Yes, baseball. I used to think it was the most boring sport ever.
But I’d never been to a baseball game before. When my editor, Yael Abouhalkah, asked me if I wanted to go a game, I said yes. Frankly, there was no better option to kill time that evening.
In Kansas City, we have a stupendously successful baseball team: the Royals. Last year, the team won the World Series.
Ok, it sounds a little weird to someone from outside the country. They won the “World Series,” but they only played within America. When I asked about it, Yael mocked me: “You know what? We are Americans. Don’t care about the other parts of the world. If we win, we are the champions of the world.”
I nodded.
When I stepped into Kaufmann Stadium, I found a world that I’m used to. Excited people, the smell of grass and music. I thought, “It’s just like Kadikoy” (home of my football team in Istanbul, Fenerbahce). But there was something different: A gigantic food court like you can see in a shopping mall.
Yael is a real baseball fan. He seems to remembers everything about baseball in recent history: home runs, strikes, pitchers, every kind of number.
But for me, I first needed to comprehend the logic of baseball. Yael explained it. And the game began.
In the first inning, we saw three home runs. Yael said that was unusual: “Normally, you don’t see three home runs in the first inning.” We won the game. And surprisingly I liked the experience.
I decided to go another game. But things are not going well for Royals this time. They started to get far behind the Washington Nationals and it seemed the trend would never end. They lost seven innings.
At the beginning of the last inning, Royals were losing 4-6. Nearly half of the fans had left the stadium. But the Royals made a miraculous comeback. They scored three in the last inning and won the game 7-6.
We celebrated this outstanding victory with a few fans. The fans who left the stadium earlier should have been regretful. But we were at ease. We supported our team until the end.
I thought myself, “Who said baseball is boring?” I loved it.
Let’s go Royals!
