We went to as many Roses events as physically possible: Part two

I know even less about sport than when I started

2 years ago

I am attempting to go to as many Roses events in one weekend as possible, to educate myself on the mysterious ways of sporty people, which I am categorically not. Friday saw me watching Ultimate frisbee, Lacrosse, Football, and American Football, all of which I enjoyed immensely.

Saturday morning rolled around, and I slept through my alarm and had to get up quite quickly to get to my first event of the day. I managed to see seven events, which I was pretty pleased with. As with the previous day, the sports were ranked on both their vibe and the vibe of the crowd.

Badminton (Men’s 1sts)

This is tennis for tall people, and with a funky feathery thing called a shuttlecock instead of a ball. It looked very intense, and everyone was very focussed on what they were doing. The crowd was small, though that could have been to do with the fact that it was 9 am, but they were also very focussed (despite the fact that volleyball were playing next door and were very loud which was off-putting). We got there just before the break in between sets so we didn’t see much, but what we saw was very good.
Crowd vibes: 2/5
Sport vibes: 3/5

Volleyball (Men’s 1sts)

This was loud: the crowd had clappers and was using them! It was really cool to watch the players as they kept punching the ball. The thing that I don’t get about sports like this, though, is why they keep giving the ball to the other team? It doesn’t make sense to me. Why don’t they just run off with it? Though I guess that would get then disqualified… Do they have to knock it way from the other team? I couldn’t figure it out, and everyone was so into the match that I didn’t dare ask. Also, I think it’s worth noting that the York team had all spray painted their hair white, which is dedication to the cause.
Crowd vibes: 5/5
Sport vibes: 4/5

Futsal (open)

This was Football but smaller. It had smaller goals, smaller nets, smaller everything. I got very into it very fast, and stayed for way longer than I had intended to, which says a lot about it as a sport. The crowd was small but enthusiastic when Lancs scored, which is all you can ask for really. I am still trying to figure out the thinking behind York’s shirts, and this occupied a lot of my thinking during this match: they are either white, or yellow and black, whereas Lancs are always red. Just pick one!
Crowd vibes: 3/5
Sport vibes: 4/5

Tennis (Men’s 1sts)

I didn’t stay long for this one because I know how to play it. This looked a lot more intense than anything I’ve watched before though, the players were treating it really seriously. There were only four people in the crowd so it was a little underwhelming, but it was slightly out of the way so this was understandable. (Note to everyone reading: next Roses, go watch the Tennis – it was really cool).
Crowd vibes: 1/5
Sport vibes: 3/5

Rugby Union (Women’s 3rd)

Ok, I’ll say it. I don’t get rugby. It looks like American football without all the protection, where they just wrestle for the ball. We did one lesson on it in high school and I think you have to run at people’s legs, and I was paranoid about getting my white P.E. top dirty – that’s all I remember. The crowd was mainly the rest of the rugby teams, but credit where it’s due to the York rugby team for their sign that read “Lancaster, do you wish you had ‘runfaster’?”, which, despite insulting us, was very funny.
Sport vibes: 3/5
Crowd vibes: 3/5

Swimming

We arrived last minute and it was packed so we were stood just inside the door for the first bit, and had to wiggle our way inside over the space of about fifteen minutes. It’s just splashing, isn’t it – who can propel themselves through the water the fastest? The crowd were enthusiastic though, so it was really exciting to watch, and it was lovely and warm in the pool (I was COLD by this point) so that cheered me up. It got very tense at points, and I stayed for way longer than I intended.
Sport vibes: 4/5
Crowd vibes: 4/5

Hockey (Men’s 2nd)

This was the crowd with the most alcohol by far: it was flowing properly down there, possibly because it was away from the other events. There were picnic chairs, there were blankets – this was a crowd that had come prepared. Hockey always strikes me as a funny boarding school type sport, running around with sticks, but I think I read too many books as a child.
Sport vibes: 4/5
Crowd vibes: 5/5