Sports in the USA

(But different from last week)

Baseball – Our National Pastime

• 50 Million “Little League” Players (15 million play soccer)

• 30 Major League teams each play 165 games a year

• Hundreds of baseball idioms in the English language

Rules

• 9 players on defense

• One batter• ‘Pitcher’ throws

ball to batter, tries to get a strike-out

History

• Professional sport since around 1900

• First Spanish player played in 1913, Al Cabrera, born in the Canary Islands

Latinos in the Major Leagues

• Over 30% of players are Latino

• Most popular sport in the Caribbean

• Teams have English/Spanish namesRoberto Clemente – Pittsburgh

Pirates

Baseball Names

Different Styles of Translation• Los Vigilantes de Texas• Los Yanquis de Nueva York• Los Azulejos de Toronto• Los Mets de Nueva York

Translate to Spanish• San Francisco Giants• Boston Red Sox• Detroit Tigers• Tampa Bay Rays• Toronto Blue Jays• Baltimore Orioles• Milwaukee Brewers• Seattle Mariners

Translate to English

• Los Nacionales de Washington• Los Marlines de Florida• Los Rojos de Cincinnati• Los Angelinos de Anaheim• Los Padres de San Diego• Los Reales de Kansas City• Los Bravos de Atlanta

Weird Ones

• Arizona Diamondbacks = Los Diamantes

• Minnesota Twins = Los Mellizos• Philadelphia Phillies = Los Filis• Los Angeles Dodgers = Los Doyers• Chicago Cubs = Los Cachorros

Baseball Idioms

• Play ball • Ballpark• Pinch-hit• Go to bat for someone• Raincheck• Homerun• Team player• Take a swing at it• Strike out

Baseball Idioms

• Base System for romantic encounters

Basketball

Basketball Idioms

• take a shot• Slam Dunk• Airball• Full-court press

Basketball Slang

• Shut Down• All Day• Make a Shot (Can, Cash, Nail,

Swish, Drain, Sink)• Posterize• Gun• On Fire, Hot, Heating Up, Fuego,

Caliente

African-American Sports History

African-American Sports History

African-American Sports History

Native American Sports History

• Lacrosse, similar in rules to Hockey, except uses sticks with nets

Lacrosse

• Played for parties, to resolve problems, to heal sick, or prepare for war in Native American societies

• Played on a field many miles wide (today field is 100 m)

Iroquois National Team

• Native American team, separate nation from the United States, with their own passports

• One of the best teams in the world• Do Native American dances before

their games• Passport wasn’t accepted by the EU

for the 2010 finals, caused a scandal

Iroquois National Team

Iroquois National Team

Wrestling – Real and Fake

Quidditch

Ultimate Frisbee

Cue ball, cue stick

pool

club

golf

saddle

Horseback Riding

Shuttlecock

badminton

jockey

Horseback riding

outfielder

Baseball

infielder

baseball

midfielder

soccer

Left-fielder

baseball

Point guard

basketball

goalie

soccer

center

Basketball, football

striker

soccer

Small forward

basketball

Right halfback

soccer

tailback

American football

safety

American football

linebacker

American football

sweeper

soccer

wideout

American football

ring

Boxing

rink

Ice hockey

love

tennis

ace

tennis

Cleats

Soccer, football

paddle

Ping-pong

gloves

boxing

Protective pads

Hockey, football, lacrosse

bat

baseball

puck

Ice hockey

racket

tennis