Cricket, Growing More Cricket With Each Passing Day

I have a guilty secret.

…OK, so maybe it’s not a secret, because I’ve actually admitted it publicly on the blog before. But still…

Some nights, when I’m all by myself, I watch cricket.

Now, if we’re talking about The-World-At-Large, the fact that I enjoy this strangely-familiar (to my irretrievably-baseball-ish mind) game would make me pretty indistinctive. Conventional wisdom/world-wide sports analysis places it right near the top of the “Popular Sports” list — a mere tick or two below football in most of the estimations I’ve seen. (Hang on a sec. The ‘Merican in me feels it necessary to mention that the word “Football” actually means “Soccer” here — aka Association Football. Duly noted. Carry on.)

In recent months, though, I’ve started to notice something else: the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is growing increasingly cricket-friendly. In other words, “cricket is cricket” in the US now. Or at least more so than it was a couple years ago. Or ever. (They’re even making short, animated instructional videos about how it’s played, as evidenced below.)

Now, I realize that Cricket World Cup 2015 puts us in a particularly high-profile moment, cricket-wise. But would that have made an iota of difference to the Goliath that is ESPN in the past? Not in less there was some statistical/demographical benefit behind it. So, I tell myself proudly, I’m on the cutting edge of the cricket-accepting rear-guard!

Yay?

The language still confuses me a bit. And yes, the rules sometimes fall into that same category, as well. But with each passing day and each increasingly-amusing viewing experience, I’m convinced that the second-largest fan base in the world is not without their reasons. (Also, I’m filing this under “Baseball” in the blog categories. I’m not even sure who I am any more. …though to be honest with myself, I think I’m growing in fondness for the sport because it remind me of baseball. And because THERE’S NO ACTUAL BASEBALL RIGHT NOW, DARN IT!)

Which brings me to another revelation: Some nights, when I’m not by myself, Dominic (First Son) and I watch cricket.

Together.