Great Summer for Anglophiles

2012 has been a great summer for us (American) Anglophiles. It seemed like every time I turned on the television there was something British on. It started with:

Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee (loved all of the news coverage and the great documentaries that were shown on public television)

 

 

then the showdown between Andy Murray and Roger Federer in the men's Wimbledon tennis final (that one was a real nail biter for me!)

 

 

 

then there were the London Summer Olympics 2012 (which gave the world a look at Britain beyond the royal family and the pomp and circumstance. Plus, Team GB earned 65 medals, including 29 gold medals!!!)

 

 

 

and then Andy Murray won the tennis US Open (the first Brit to win a Grand Slam since Fred Perry!)

 

 

 

A very exciting summer indeed for those of us who love Old Blighty.  One of my co-workers got so jazzed up about GB from the Olympics coverage that he is going to London on vacation in two weeks. (You don't have to ask if I am super jealous, right? Because I AM. Maybe he will bring me back a souvenir Jubilee mug if I ask nicely.) At least great British television is on with "Doctor Who" running on BBC America, and "Call the Midwife" about to start on PBS, and Masterpiece will be showing new "Upstairs/Downstairs" in coming weeks, and then comes series 3 of "DOWNTON"!!!!

Deuce

Today's Wimbledon men's final is very exciting to Britons (and Anglophiles alike) because this is the first time since 1938 a Brit is in the final. (Fred Perry was the last one to win in 1936.)

And the first time that I have ever rooted AGAINST Roger Federer in a men's tennis final.

Reminds me of this fun rom-com/sappy sports movie...

 If Andy Murray doesn't end up winning today, I will have to give Paul Bettany a shot. (SPOILER: Yes, there is a happy ending to the film. Hopefully there will be a happy ending to today's match!)

Fred Perry has a shirt named after him; I wonder what Murray would get. A kilt?  ;-)  Back to the nail biting (Federer is ahead in the second set as I type.)

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

On Friday, I went to my first Red Sox game at Fenway Park in 12 years. (As RECK pointed out several times during the course of the evening, I need to get out more.) I knew that there is more going on than just the game when you see it live. I had no idea just how much more was going on at the ball park. For example, they don't just walk around selling hot dogs and Cracker Jack, but beers and CLAM CHOWDAH in the stands!?! Who knew? Clearly not this girl.

There was so much going on around me that I had to remind myself to pay attention to the game. When a pop up fly cracked on the pavement 2 feet away from me, RECK looked right at me and said, "See why you need to be watching the game?" I was practically in her lap, trying to avoid getting clocked in the head! We laughed; we cheered; we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Sweet Caroline". When "Shipping Up to Boston" started to play, signifying that Papelbon was coming out to close the game, RECK started jumping up and down in super fandom mode, and we were featured on the Jumbotron!

Thanks to JeGlide we had A-MAZING seats (you can tell how close we were from the photo - no zoom involved), and I had THE BEST time at the game. Definitely will be going to more games at Fenway in the future, although I cannot guarantee that I won't still curse the commute traffic as I head home from work on home game days.