“One of the things I came away from was if you were to say in Britain ‘Only in Britain,’ it would mean something to do with queuing misery, grayness, bureaucracy, waiting, inefficiency, a dullness of spirit. If you say ‘Only in America,’ it means something daring, dazzling, original, weird, often mad, someone trying to fly by jumping off a building or walking across a tightrope between skyscrapers or something really out there, and it’s a positive thing, whereas in Britain, it’s a negative thing. And that’s what I came away with,” he said. “That game exemplified that yes, it’s preposterous that for kids, students who should be learning Socrates and mathematics and there they are, being more professional in their sport than most professionals in Europe are. It’s the hoopla, the marching band… and the painting of their faces and the release of an eagle and a jet flying overhead. It’s mad and the hoopla is insane, but my God, it’s wonderful. It makes goosebumps rise on your flesh and you feel a privilege to be a part of it. And that is the great American paradox, I think. It’s the great the mix of madness and brilliance and the excess, which has a glory to it. And I think most of us, if we’re honest, envy you. That is part of your national identity to call on.”
Some context for Europeans who are puzzled by this. College sports existed before professional sports (baseball excluded) and allegiances were formed long before professional sports became mainstream. Decades ago these teams became less about true college students and more about recruiting top talent to play for your school. They don’t pluck these players from the regular student body. Compared to English football leagues which have many different levels, there are very few professional sports teams/leagues in the US. Lots of regions are not represented by professional teams. In the case of American football, because of the requisite physical maturity required, NFL requires that a player be out of high school 3 years and there is no viable developmental league . That means college sports are the developmental league and filled with some of the best up and coming players. (Most college players won’t make it to the NFL but almost all who do make it play multiple years in college.) Finally, since this video was made, all pretenses of amateurism in college sports has been abandoned.
there’s a special kind of joy i get from english people being impressed by america. being praised by a person from a country who laid so much of the foundation for our own country emulates in abstract the pride of impressing your own father
It is fascinating to us to see what you have been able to do. YOu certainly do well for the big spectacles but I do think that when it comes to other stuff (like healthcare), it has been neglected.
He was right about most everything except: "It"s reality nothing more than a local Darby between amateur students." It's a hell of a lot more than that. National TV. Conference and maybe a national championship on the line. The outcome affects careers, lives, the next 365 days, the rest of your life. Take the Kick 6 for example.
He's such a distinguished gentleman. He sees things so clearly and is always so well spoken when he sums things up. He's the best of britain experiencing the best of america, including the jet fighters. The air force loves to show off.
Screw you racist! Think you did any better because of Trump, Obama, and now Biden? Tory 1, Tory 2, and Tory 3. I didn't exactly vote for May, Johnson, and Truss but I had to put up with their sh*t and the 2008 crash.
It is so perfect that he is already overcome with emotion just from the stadium hoopla and singing and then the perfectly timed fighter jet flyover sends him into complete overload.
To be fair this would be like an American going to the UK or Europe and going "Wow all this for a silly soccer game??" You people would rip the dude to shreds.
Welcome to America! Things are going to shit! We are being sabatoged from within! But that's alright as long as we have sport and drink, shiny and other trivial things to keep our minds occupied!
I think it means something that he went to a college football game particularly an SEC one to introduce football to a foreign audience. This is the purest american football experience you could get
You can't compare college ball to the EPL though and I'm not American or British. EPL is so much bigger but the feeder teams are the lower leagues not the Unis. In most parts of the world people go pro after high school. Same with rugby. If a player is awesome they don't waste time at Uni/College they go pro.
@@goodshipkaraboudjan Makes it less likely to get screwed on money so that's nice. Granted it seems like colleges have fixed that with the NIL FINALLY so people are getting paid to play instead of playing for free
