The Sports Site, Old Chap

While comparing the most popular sports Web sites in my last post, I came across the most popularly searched British sports page, BBC Sport. There were a couple main differences that I noticed between the American and Britain sports pages that I thought would be interesting to go over here.

The Olympics - The BBC Sport page had Olympic coverage very prominently posted on the main sidebar of the page. Not only that, but upon clicking on the page, the various methods of reporting on the events are comprehensive and interesting. The sports are broken out, “Team GB” is featured for faithful followers, there are blogs and other media and–perhaps most interestingly–nothing was really obviously focusing on the negative coverage that the Olympics have received around the protests for Tibet. Just lots of fascinating stories and media to peruse and bookmark.

British Sports - I’ve always known that Great Britain boasts some sports all its own, so I was excited to find that a few of these sports are considered regular fare for the sports lovers there. The obvious candidates are rugby and cricket, but snooker, squash and bowls were also pleasant finds. In case you were curious about what these sports actually are:

• Rugby: Sort of like the British version of American football, rugby involves two teams of 13 players, each trying to score a goal on the other team. Some of the most notable differences between rugby and football are that rugby involves more kicking than passing, and rugby players don’t wear protective padding.
• Cricket: A bat-and-ball sport sort of like baseball, it involves two teams of 11 playing in an oval-shaped grass field. The goal, like baseball, is to score runs by hitting the ball, but some of the more noteworthy differences are the flat wooden bat, the bounce of the ball before the pitch and the funky setup and rules for batting.
• Snooker: Snooker looks like billiards or pool, but the object of the game is to score more points than your opponent. This is accomplished by sinking all of the 15 red balls (one point each), and then dropping the other colored balls in order of point value.
• Squash: This is essentially racquetball on a smaller court with faster speeds. The rules differ slightly, and there are many details to consider in equipment and playing styles, but the two sports are otherwise very similar to one another.
• Bowls: Also referred to as Lawn Bowling, this game involves rolling asymmetrical balls closest to a small white ball, also called a “kitty.” The game is typically played on grass or artificial grass surfaces, indoors and out.

The BBC Sport page has so many links and stories to explore, it’s almost surprising their country is so much smaller in comparison. Click some links and see what you’ll find!

Angela Bull

April 8th, 2009 by Sports Fan | Posted in General | (0)