SUMMER

Now that Chelsea can officially win nothing this season, following their crushing loss to Manchester United, and with the rugby and basketball seasons over, I feel it is time to turn attention to the best thing about the summer: summer sports! I must admit, there was a time in my life when I bemoaned the summer, and greatly mourned the close of Premiership football each year...how very young and foolish I was. I am here to tell you that there exists a magic formula in sport, and this is it - the sun. There is something so very special about those sports that are half about the result, but just as much about sitting in the sun, eating strawberries and cream, and watching a fine sporting contest.

Cricket

Doesn't this just look like the perfect day?

Many people struggle to understand the sport of cricket, with its long matches and complicated rules. So here's the Sparknotes version: the most runs and you win. Try watching a game of Twenty20 first, as it's more exciting and it's fun to see them wack the ball so much - that's how I got hooked. Americans always argue that higher scores in sports are better, so then cricket would be the perfect sport - run totals are always in the hundreds! Well except sometimes when England have an off day...

Tennis

Yes, I realise that tennis is going all year round, but the climax of the tennis season for many people is that wonderful tournament, Wimbledon. There's nothing like (Kent) strawberries and cream, sunshine, a struggling British hope, and lots and lots and lots of rain to make a great British summer!


Baseball

Now I won't profess to be a huge baseball fan...THIS is a huge baseball fan...

But I did stay up all night in 2004 to watch the Red Sox win the World Series...that's gotta count for something, right? Anyway, much like cricket, baseball is a sport that - for me - is best enjoyed casually, with a cool (non-alcoholic) beverage, and good company.

Athletics

Known in the United States as "track and field", athletics is getting a lot of exposure due to Usain Bolt, which is fair...because he can run the 100m in 9.58 seconds without even breaking a sweat. Anyway, despite the strangeness of having regular competitions of "I can run faster/jump higher/jump longer than you" or the triple jump (weirdest event ever, I have never understood where that came from), there is something really compelling about watching these competions and rooting for your country's athletes. I challenge you to do it (sometime other than during the Olympics) and not get hooked!