You all know which sports are exclusively American I assume. I speak of Baseball, American Gridiron Football, Basketball and Lacrosse. The latter I can’t speak about but I suspect it is an amateur sports. The others are in the life blood of American society. Those cities that don’t have a AFL or NFL team are graced with a college or state team. The stadia built to watch games is an attraction in it’s own right. Go downtown in Seattle the stadia for the Seahawks is right next door to the baseball field of the Mariners. It is the same in most major cities. The infrastructure to get to the games is modern, well equipped and easily navigated.
I wanted to introduce a tour of Eastern cities that included a tour of the major teams in that region. It never made it to sale but I thought it was a great idea.
To go behind the scenes of one of these modern colosseums is mind blowing. I think it is the sheer size of the auditorium and the vast parking lots that are astonishing. I have been to quite a few baseball games when I have been over in the States. Some were greatly entertaining such as Kansas City Royals at home to the Chicago Whitesox where the score ended 16 vs 15 and there was a grand slam as well. (Where all the bases are loaded and the batting team hit a home run). The game was even interrupted by a thunder storm. The last game between Washington Nationals and Texas w6as still 0 – 0 at the top of the ninth innings. Really boring!
I have not been to an American Football game as the tickets are so hard to get and they don’t play that many games in comparison to the summer baseball teams. I have been to one game in London between Miami and San Francisco but because it was being broadcast on American T.V the number of times everyone was waiting around for something to happen was too frequent. The screens at either end of Wembley said it was a T.V Timeout and this was on top of the teams time outs.
I did however do a self guided tour of AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth. To stand on the Dallas Cowboys Star in the middle of the field was unbelievable. The playing surface was so spongy that it was like walking on the moon. The cheerleaders have their own dressing room and that alone was bigger than a tennis court.
Apparently there are over 6,000 members of staff that work at this stadium. It is hard to describe the enormity of the place and that just along the road is the Texas Rangers stadium as well as a Six Flags theme park.
So next time you are in the States why not seek out a baseball game even if it a minor league game because often the minor league teams are affiliates of the major league.
USA Road Trips by Max 
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