Hi sports fans!
Of course, being an American here at CERN, we have to find some way to keep up with American sports! Tonight was the US vs. Canada Olympic Hockey final, and I went to the nearest pub to take in the action. That was an incredible game, for anyone who missed it, and we watched in a crowd of Canadians and Americans (with a Swede and a few others in the mix):
A crowd of Canadians and Americans focused on a great hockey match
It seems there are British Pubs no matter where in the world one goes. So we headed down to our regular pub in Geneva to enjoy the game. The last few weeks we’ve had to compete for viewing space with the Carling Cup and a few Champions’ League matches (that’s European football for the baffled Americans…), but we’ve been able to find enough space. And watching the US beat the Swiss team twice in 10 days was quite a treat! In fact, one of the best Swiss teams is the Geneva-Servette Hockey Club, and they (and the league, I assume) took three weeks off to let some of their players head for the Games (Servette is the neighborhood of Geneva just west of the main train station, where I happen to live).
Next week baseball’s spring training games will start, which can be even harder to find on the television over here. I’m lucky that the Cubs have a long history of playing many day games, which are night games over here (the Superbowl started at 2am over here…). But we find a way to watch when the big games come around – frequently via internet, or even via videochat with a friend who’s willing to point there computer at the television!
During the summer, I play on one of the CERN softball teams, called the “Quarks,” in the Geneva Softball League. It serves as a little trip back to American every Sunday. The games are hosted, very kindly, at the US Marine Corps House just north of Geneva, and the league includes a team of Marines (jocks vs nerds anyone?), a team of Cubans (Buena Vista Softball Club), and two CERN teams (the Quarks and the Leptons). Our team is usually about half homesick Americans wanting to swing a bat, and half Europeans wondering why the bat isn’t flat and there are four bases instead of two. But we have a lot of fun, and we even occasionally win a game.
The 2009 Quarks Softball Team!
But I’m a Cubs fan, so I know it’s not all about winning….
–Zach
