Reverse Culture Shock

I hope that the National Basketball Association brings regular season games to London. As exciting as the odd exhibition game is, like Monday’s preseason friendly between the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls, the crowd would be mostly American expats like me.

With the start of games that actually matter to the US season, Brits might actually start to care.

But maybe that’s a stretch. Brits, I’ve found, are purists about their sports. Scantily-clad dancers, jumbotrons and action-appropriate theme songs (i.e. Final Countdown during the last few minutes of an NBA game) wouldn’t go down well there.

At football games in the UK, most stadiums are creaky, the concession stands sell a fraction of what you find in the average US arena, and the sound of the fans singing and shouting obscenities at the opposing team would drown out any stereo system that tried to offer themed music.

So the NBA games would probably be played for the ex-pats. But there are enough ex-pat basketball fans in London to fill the stands. I wish I was one of them.