Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Baseball
Despite high salaries and its biggest stars being dogged by steroid rumors, baseball re-
mains America's favorite pastime. It may not command the same TV viewership (and
subsequent advertising dollars) as football, but baseball has 162 games over a season
versus 16 for football.
Besides, baseball is better live than on TV - being at the ballpark on a sunny day, sit-
ting in the bleachers with a beer and hot dog, and indulging in the seventh-inning stretch,
when the entire park erupts in a communal sing-along of 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'
The playoffs, held every October, still deliver excitement and unexpected champions.
The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs continue to be America's fa-
vorite teams, even when they're abysmal (the Cubs haven't won a World Series in more
than 100 years).
Tickets are relatively inexpensive - seats average about $25 at most stadiums - and
are easy to get for most games. Minor-league baseball games cost half as much, and can
be even more fun, with lots of audience participation, stray chickens and dogs running
across the field and wild throws from the pitcher's mound. For information, see
Football
Football is big, physical, and rolling in dough. With the shortest season and least number
of games of any of the major sports, every match takes on the emotion of an epic battle,
where the results matter and an unfortunate injury can deal a lethal blow to a team's play-
off chances.
It's also the toughest US sport, played in fall and winter in all manner of rain, sleet and
snow - some of the most memorable matches have occurred at below-freezing temperat-
ures. Green Bay Packers fans are in a class by themselves when it comes to severe
weather. Their stadium in Wisconsin (Lambeau Field) was the site of the infamous Ice
Bowl, a 1967 championship game against the Dallas Cowboys where the temperature
plummeted to -13°F - mind you, that was with a wind-chill factor of -48°F.
The rabidly popular Super Bowl is pro football's championship match, held in late
January or early February. The other 'bowl' games (such as the Sugar Bowl in New Or-
leans and Orange Bowl in Miami) are college football's title matches, held on and around
New Year's Day.
The Super Bowl costs America $800 million dollars in lost workplace productivity as em-
ployees gossip about the game, make bets and shop for new TVs online.
