Today's topic is not connected to the introvert/extrovert relationship however, it is something that is topical, especially in New Zealand.
Currently the 36th America's Cup is being held. For those of you who don't know what the America's Cup is, it is a yachting competition that has being going since 1851. It is the most prestigious yachting competition in the world. (I think. Forgive my ignorance if it is not.)
Currently, I'm watching the live stream of the fifth race and it is quite exciting.
I grew up in New Zealand and my youth consisted of KZ7, KZ1 and NZL32. For people that have seen those you might have an image of these big sailing boats with the huge spinnaker (I think that is what they are called) 'charging'along the race course and hearing the commentators saying the third beat to windward and port and starboard (I still don't know which is which.)
Those yachts looked like this:
Or if you want a better view, something like this:
The above video is Team New Zealand winning the America's Cup for the first time and the country rejoiced in the achievements of these sailors. However, watching it was like watching paint dry. If it wasn't for the New Zealand commentator Peter Montgomery who is considered to be the voice of the America's Cup, the race would have been sleep inducing. The only reason my family anyway was glued to the television was that New Zealand was racing and the theatre of the America's Cup had the antagonist (in New Zealander's eyes) Dennis Conner.
Long story short, Team New Zealand won, "The America's Cup is now New Zealand's cup" and it has well and truly become part of the New Zealand sporting psyche. I'm willing to bet though that most people still don't know what is going on and the words that they hear on television are almost like a foreign language. Well, they are to me anyway.
I'm watching race 5 as we read this together and the America's Cup is chalk and cheese compared to 1986-1987 or 1995. In the past the races might take four or five hours but now they are taking about 25 minutes and the boats look like they are flying. I'm not kidding. Take a look for yourself:
Some of my regular readers will know that I am a cricket fan and have watched it and followed it all my life. Not many of the people reading this will understand the idiosyncrasies of the cricket field but some of you will know that a test match between two countries can last for five days.
This got me thinking of the comparisons between the America's Cup and to cricket.
For more than 100 years the America's Cup was contested by yachts that took their time and sailed around the course.
In cricket, for more than 100 years test cricket and first class cricket reigned supreme. Matches would last for three, four, five and in some cases 10 days and everyone was happy.
Now, what do we have? We have cricket matches that can finish in less than three hours. We have boat races that last 25 minutes as they literally fly around the course.
As a cricketing purist I never understood the attraction of the short games of 'T20' cricket that are prominent around the cricketing world now. I liked the five day test matches that played out and had many twists and turns.
Watching the 36th edition of the America's Cup suddenly made me realise why T20 cricket is so popular. We live in a society which expects instant gratification. We want it now and we can't be bothered waiting around for the result.
I don't think I could be bothered watching a four and a half hour yacht race especially when I don't know what is going on but a 25 minute 'sprint' is doable. I can imagine that applies to cricket as well. Most people don't want to sit around watching a five day test match, but a three hour smashathon with 6's and 4's with a copious amount of beer is very easy to do.
Of course television has a lot to say in what happens. Television wants something exciting, they want something that our eyes want to watch. They want content and a long game of cricket or a long boat race does satisfy those requirements, whether it is exciting or not is up to interpretation.
I wonder what the America's Cup and cricket are going to look like in 2071. Are games or races going to be even shorter? As they say "time will tell."
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