Are any Anglophiles heading to Scotland this summer?  If so, lucky you!  Scotland will be abuzz with the Commonwealth Games! 

The Games, held every four years, run this summer from July 23 to August 3 in Glasgow.  Seventy commonwealth teams will participate in 17 sports, totaling 261 medal events.

(By the way, some are confused by the term "Commonwealth Nations," a term all Anglophiles should know.  The Commonwealth of Nations, also called "the Commonwealth" or the "British Commonwealth" is an association of nations that  voluntarily work together, promoting peace, democracy, and free trade.  Currently, the Commonwealth consists of 53 nations, most of which are former British colonies.)

The first Commonwealth Games, held in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, featured 11 countries participating in 6 sports and 59 events--so the Games have enjoyed great growth!  Since the first Games in 1930, they've been held every four years except during WWII.  

2014 EVENTS

The rental agency SYKES COTTAGES has created a great infographic about the Games.  Here 'tis:

VIDEO: A moving story about one of this years baton-bearers for the games.

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ROYAL ASCOT…Britain’s premier social event of the summer has begun!  The Queen herself has reportedly called this 5-day racing event her favorite—and I adore it too.  The spectacle offers treats for horse-racing fans, fashionistas, and Royal watchers.  A true cornucopia of Anglophile delights!

The “Royal Ascot” refers to the racing event that takes place at Ascot Racecourse, always during the third week of June.  The event this year runs from Tuesday, June 17, to Saturday, June 21.  Races at Ascot at other times are not the Royal Ascot.  While horse racing at Royal Ascot is important, it’s not necessarily the biggest event there.  The Royal family’s attendance, the fashions worn by attendees (strictly enforced by dress codes), and the event’s pomp and pageantry all share center stage with horse racing.    

The Ascot track is closely associated with the Royal family.  It’s located in Ascot, Berkshire, about six miles from the family’s Windsor Castle, and was founded by Queen Anne, three centuries ago.  She was a horse lover, and one day, while riding her horse in an open heath on the castle grounds, it occurred to her how perfect that area was for unrestrained horse galloping, and the idea of horses racing hit her.  She arranged the first Ascot meet on Saturday, August 11, 1711.  Seven horses—English Hunters—entered, but sadly, no record of the winner exists!  Eventually an official racetrack was built, and today, the Royal Ascot is one of the world’s premier horse races, with the “Queen Anne’s Stake” a highlight of that event.  This year, organizers expect some 300,000 people to attend, and they will award over ₤4.5 million of prize money to winners.

The pageantry at Royal Ascot is highly structured and has changed little over the years.  As Anglophiles know, the British are keen on tradition, and Royal Ascot epitomizes their adherence to it.  Each day of the event, at 2 p.m., a Royal Procession, with horse-drawn carriages carrying members of the Royal family, enters the track’s Golden Gates, winds along the racecourse, then enters the Parade Ring.  What a treat for Royal watchers!  TV cameras can’t focus on them enough!  The first race begins promptly at 2:30, and five more races follow, with the last running at 5:35 p.m.  For rousing good fun after the races, attendees are invited to sing traditional songs around the bandstand. 

TICKET PRICES, SEATING, AND DRESS CODES

The track offers three seating areas for the Royal Ascot:

1. The most prestigious and costly seating is in the ROYAL ENCLOSURE.  If you buy seating here, you hang out with the jet set and may get to rub shoulders with the Royal family.  You’re also a member of Ascot, which is no mean feat--for you must be nominated.  You can actually acquire seating in the Royal Enclosure without being an Ascot member if you spring for a seat with a “hospitality package” at the tune of ₤430 to ₤940.  (Keeps out the riffraff, right?)  Security is tight.  And ticket holders have their own dining facilities and lounges, which are different from the ones that ticket holders outside the Royal Enclosure use. 

Dress codes in the Royal Enclosure are strictly enforced, with females required to wear formal dresses and a hat, and males required to wear full morning dress.  


Ladies clothing, specifically, must conform to the following:

• Dresses or skirts of modest length, falling just above the knee or longer
  
• Dresses or tops with straps of 1 inch or greater
  
• Pants suits; the pants should be full length and the colors of top and bottom matching
  
• Hats or a headpiece with at least a 4-inch base (i.e., no more fascinators—as have previously been allowed!)
  

Men must wear black or gray morning dress that includes these garments:

• A waistcoat and tie (no cravats)
  
• A black or gray top hat
  
• Black shoes
  

Children, aged 10 – 16, have dress rules too, of course:

• Girls must wear smart dresses, but a hat is optional
  

• Boys should dress in either the same type morning dress as adult men or in a dark suit with shirt and tie—hat optional

Interestingly, Overseas visitors are allowed to wear formal the “national dress” attire of their home country  (I’m unsure whether this would be a raw-hide, American-Indian type garment for US citizens. . . . ) and military personnel, currently serving, may wear their dress uniform.



2. GRAND STAND and PADDOCK (or “General Admission”) seating offers mid-priced tickets, ranging from ₤60 to ₤71.  Here, the dress code remains formal, but less so.  Men can skirt by with wearing a jacket or a suit and tie (rather than full morning dress), while women must wear a summer dress or suit, and a hat or fascinator.  (And no bare midriffs or sleeveless shirts!)  Ticket holders have plenty of dining facilities and amenities, but they won’t be hobnobbing with royalty.



3. Very far down the rung is SILVER RING seating, with tickets ranging from ₤20 to ₤30.  This seating area permits an even more relaxed dress code.  Basically, anything goes.  The track encourages attendees in the Silver Ring to dress “smartly,” but the request is not enforced.  And visibility of the track is not always the best.   



HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RACE

On Tuesday, the first day of the race, the “Queen Anne’s Stake” features the top horses in the world.  Thursday’s Gold Cup features an incredible race that tests stamina with a run of over two miles!  Thursday is also “Ladies’ Day," with a fashion show featuring topnotch clothing designers and milliners.  And Saturday, the last day of the race, features one of the world most important international races—the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.  (Previously, this event was called the “Golden Jubilee Stakes,” but organizers renamed it in 2012 as a nod to the Queen’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee.)  This race is the second British leg of the Global Sprint Challenge--a contest consisting of six sprint races ran on tracks in Australia, England, and Japan.

VIDEO: THE "GRANDSTAND" EXPERIENCE

VIDEO: THE "SILVER RING" EXPERIENCE

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Dear Anglophiles: Please welcome today's guest writer, Johnny Peters.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never attended a football game while visiting Britain.  I simply haven't had a handle on how to go about it.  Now, with Johnny's easy-to-understand information, I'm up to snuff and will definitely engage in this quintessential activity next time I'm across the pond!  Maybe you will too!

A PAIN-FREE GUIDE TO BRITISH FOOTBALL
by
Johnny Peters

There’s an old joke that if we didn’t have football in the UK, men wouldn’t have much else to talk about.  While it once had a bad reputation for its association with hooliganism, football has become a much friendlier, family-orientated pastime in recent decades.  There are still those old-fashioned rivalries amongst clubs that often have centuries-old histories though, and if you want to see those typically stiff-lipped Brits going crazy, then you won’t find any place louder or more passionate than the terraces!  (Or as you Americans say, ‘the bleachers’.)


COMPETITIONS
There are hundreds of teams in England and over 140 leagues!  Each team has its own stadium, and over the course of a season, it plays every other team twice--in its own stadium for home games and in the opposing team’s stadium for away games.  Here are the four predominant leagues in order:

Premier League
Sometimes called the Premiership or Barclay’s (the sponsors) Premier League.  It consists of 20 teams that play each other twice, equalling 38 games for each team in a season.  (Premier League website)

Championship
Used to be called Division 1, this league is sponsored by ‘Sky Bet’--as are the other leagues listed below.  This league consists of 24 teams that play one another 46 times.

League 1
Consists of 24 teams that play 46 games.

League 2
Also consists of 24 teams playing 46 games.


The football season starts in the middle of August and continues through to May.  Alongside the leagues, there are two knock-out competitions played between English teams.  The important one is the FA Cup, and the less important one, the Capital One Cup.  These are the ‘domestic’ competitions.

During football season, European competitions also take place.  A selection of the previous season's top-placed teams take part in the Champion’s league and the Uefa cup with other top-placed teams in Europe.  The Champion’s league is seen as the highest honour a team can achieve, as it must beat the best of Europe.  Countries such as Italy, Spain, and Germany can almost match the English for footballing passion!


TEAMS TO KNOW
Here’s a brief guide to the top teams in the Premier League (the most popular league), their rivalries, nicknames, and things to say if you ever meet a fan!

Arsenal
A north London club known as the ‘gunners’, their fans affectionately called ‘gooners’.  Their rivals are Tottenham Hotspur, and there is always a great match between them.  In 2003-4 they went a record 49 matches unbeaten, earning the nickname ‘the Invincibles’, even more impressively, they did so playing free-flowing, fast, and creative football.   Song: ‘One-nil, to the Arsenal!’

Manchester United
Man Utd - the ‘Red Devils’ - have dominated English football for years and are known all over the world as one of the biggest franchises not only in England but the world.  Despite their popularity, you won’t find much affection for them amongst rival teams, owing to their ‘win at all costs’ mentality and incredible success.  Their rivals are none other than…

Manchester City
“Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.”  So goes the song for Man City, a team that plays in sky-blue shirts and since being bought by wealthy Saudi Arabians, are known for spending big on players.  Their superstar team won the league in 2012 with a memorably dramatic, last-minute-of-the-season goal!

Liverpool
The Beatles, the Mersey, and the Kop (a famous terrace in Anfield) singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ - these are the first things that come to mind when thinking of Liverpool.  Their team was one of the best in the world throughout the 70s, and they earned a worldwide reputation in places like Europe, Africa, and South America.  Since then, they have been patchy on the field, but their renown and allure still resonates.

 
MATCH DAY
There are few places in the UK that you can experience the kind of buzz and sense of community that surrounds a stadium on match day.  Wherever you are, the process is usually the same.  Games tend to be at 3 pm on a Saturday, and the morning will usually see replica shirt-wearing fans proceeding toward the stadium (and the pubs!) in groups.  Various teams and stadiums tend to have somewhat different atmospheres, and you can almost tell the expectations of the coming game from the level of tension and joviality in the air!

The atmosphere after the match entirely depends on the result!  A bad one will see hung heads traipse to the pubs for a post-match analysis, whereas a good one will see raised heads chant their way to the pubs for a post-match analysis!  As such, you never quite know what the atmosphere will be like just as you never know how the match will turn out - but if you choose smartly, it can be quite euphoric!  I remember vividly being there when Arsenal won the league in 2004; huge crowds poured out of pubs into the surrounding streets, singing and dancing, standing on cars, and expressing their love for the team.  It was like Notting Hill Carnival in May!

HOW TO SEE A MATCH
The process of arranging to see a match varies somewhat between teams.  The first thing you need to do is find your team’s stadium and decide on the match - make sure to check if the game is ‘Home’ or ‘Away’.   (Usually the first team named is the home team, e.g. Tottenham vs Man Utd would be played at Tottenham’s ground).  Most modern stadiums have good facilities including wheelchair access, though be aware that parking is often very scarce on a match day.   (You’ll often see people leaving a match 5 or 10 minutes early just to avoid the rush!)  Larger teams can often cause quite a bit of traffic in the surrounding area.  The best way to travel to and from stadiums is by public transport, and stadiums in cities tend to be located near tube stations and bus stops.

The next step is to buy tickets.  Unless the team you’d like to watch is smaller, or the match is unlikely to be very popular, then it’s never a good idea to buy your tickets at the stadium.  It’s difficult to judge when a stadium will be sold out, but the process of buying a ticket at the stadium can take quite a lot of time and tickets are often cheaper if bought in advance.

Most stadiums usually have snacks and drinks available, but the quality can vary wildly, and as expected, it won’t be cheap!  It’s a good idea to eat before you head out, and possibly bring something with you.  Pubs and diners in the area will usually be quite busy also, but you’ll usually find some very good places to eat and drink around stadiums.

Be sure to pick up a program when you arrive.  It’s a small magazine that usually features articles and information on the players, managers, and the situation they find themselves in.  You can glean pretty much everything you need to know about the game from a program, and they make a nice souvenir - people even collect them!  Don’t be afraid to start a conversation, join in a chant, or get enthusiastic about the team.  Supporters are only too happy to explain their views on players, managers, and results.  Never underestimate how invested fans are in their teams!

ENJOY YOURSELF!
That’s all you need to know to have a great time at a football game!  If you like the UK and its culture, seeing a football match is one of the most British things you can experience, and will give you real insight into how British people think.  I’ll leave you with a quote from ex-Liverpool manager Bill Shankly that sums it up perfectly: 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death.  I'm very disappointed with that attitude.  I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.’

GUEST WRITER'S BIO
Johnny Peters was born and raised in East London, and it's still the place he calls home when he isn't travelling.  He has worked as a musician, teacher, and librarian.  Currently, he is writing a novel set on the very streets he grew up in.

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Dear Anglophiles: As many of you are aware, I am taking a sabbatical from blogging due to my mother being critically ill.  I expect to resume blogging in September.  Until then, I am very excited to announce that guest writer Vicki Speegle will be sharing her travel journal with us!   Vicki traveled by ship to England and is now in London for the first time and will be touring the U.K.  Warning: Her posts will make you want to drop everything and fly across the pond straightaway!  Feel free to make comments or ask her questions. --Zella

THE HIGHLAND GAMES

What fun.  A long day of seeing things I may never see again – piping bands, Highland dancing, caber tossing.  When I got home tonight, I was so tired I could barely walk straight.  Happy tired.  The sound of pipes still playing in my ears.

The Highland Games began in the 11th century when King Malcolm Canmore organized a foot race up Craig Connish in Braemar to find the fastest courier for his court.  Soon other Kings and Chieftains copied the idea, and the games expanded to include dancing and piping contests so the best entertainers could be hired.  Games of strength were introduced to find the strongest men for bodyguards.  In the 1700s, the rulers of England did their best to destroy the Clan system for fear of uprisings from the Scottish people.  The playing of bagpipes and wearing of the kilt, among other things, were banned by Act of Parliament!  But the spirit of the gatherings was kept alive by the Highland regiments until by 1848, Queen Victoria herself was attending.  Now there’s a royal tradition of attendance at Braemar.  How things come around.

My favorite activities at the games today were the Highland dancers and what they call the "heavy events" – putting the ball, throwing the Scots hammer, caber tossing.  It’s so cool because all the heavy events use weights and objects that were used in everyday life on the farms – activities that people had to do in real life.  The caber toss originates from crofters transporting newly-felled tree trunks (cabers).  To get them across the river, they would try to toss them into the center of the stream and make the trunk turn end over end until it landed on the other bank.  There’s evidence that Henry VIII participated in caber tossing.

Women now participate in the heavy events, and I have to say, I found this annoying.  First of all, they just weren’t exciting to watch because they weren’t as good as the guys.  And I came to Scotland to watch big burly boys toss logs, not girly girls.  Is it really necessary for women to do everything the men do?  :)  But it was amazing because there were competitors from all over the world – even two guys from the USA!  Bands came from such disparate places as North Carolina and the Netherlands.

I got lucky at the Highland dancing competition.  A dancer and her mother were sitting right next to me, and the girl got up and started practicing!  Got some great photos of her.  Even the wee ones participate in the dancing and there was the cutest little blond boy – looked like he was only three – up there dancing with everyone else.  He slipped part-way through his dance, got up, and kept right on going.

At the end of the day, all the piping bands get together for a mass march through town, but I had to leave before it started to catch my bus.  I was so disappointed.  And then the most perfect thing happened.  When I got to my bus stop, I noticed there were lots of people standing around, sitting on the curbs, waiting for something.  And I realized the bands were going to march right past my bus stop!  Sure enough, after only about 20 minutesm I heard the sound of the pipes coming down the hill.  All of the bands marched right past me!  The people loved it, cheered and clapped.  And as the last band marched away, my bus pulled up.

And that, my friends, is what they call a perfect day.

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Dear Anglophiles: I'm delighted to present a guest writer for today's post.  Jon Malings, of the UK, reflects on the changing ways of British sports. 

Post by Jon Malings

One day, when she was about nine years old, back in the 1980s, my daughter came home from school and announced, triumphantly, “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.”  I paused momentarily, aghast at how the world was changing.

I was brought up to believe that playing the game, whatever it was, was more important than winning.  We even had phrases that reflected that ideal: someone who didn’t mind losing was a  “good sport.”  “It’s not cricket” implied that, while the rules may not have been broken, they were certainly being stretched.  In that far-off perfect world it wasn’t enough just to obey the laws of the game, we had an inherent belief in the unwritten rule of “fairness.”  We didn’t want to win unless our opponent was given a “sporting chance.”  We’d rather lose than have a victory achieved by underhand means on our conscience. 

I sometimes think that sport was invented so the English could show the rest of the world how to lose gracefully.  Not that we would, if we could avoid it.  Lose that is. And we’d be just as graceful in winning, trotting out self-deprecating phrases like, “luck of the draw”, “rub of the green” or even “better luck next time.”  Even if you “played fair” there was something decidedly uncomfortable about “whitewashing” your opponent.  It didn’t do to demonstrate your superiority too overtly.  We English didn’t like to “kick a man when he was down.” 

But now the world has most definitely changed.  All our top-flight sportsmen and women are professionals earning megabucks--yes, we say that. Winning, at almost any cost, is what counts.  So we have footballers “diving” at the slightest provocation to try and persuade the referee (umpire) to award a “free kick” or an even-more valuable “penalty” because of a supposed “foul” by a player on the opposing side.  Gone are the days when a cricketer would “walk” or declare himself “out” just because he knew he was, even if the umpires didn’t think so.  Gone are the days when the official’s decision was the final word.  Although I’ve never seen one change his mind, and I’m sure players don’t expect it, I think the protests at questionable decisions are designed to soften the ref up so the next debatable one goes their way…. “it’s only fair.”

Today it seems that snooker players are the last sporting gentlemen, always willing to declare their own foul if the ref doesn’t see it.  They manage this despite earning megabucks too.  Perhaps it’s because they know that they’re playing against the balls on the table, or even themselves, rather than the opposing player.  And a man ( I’ve not yet seen a ranking female snooker player) must be pretty low to cheat himself.

I’ve spent quite a while trying to think of any sport played worldwide that was not “invented” by the English.  After a lot of head-scratching, I could only come up with golf. We codified most of the others back in the nineteenth century, presumably as part of a cultural colonising strategy that spread the red of the British Empire across the map as successfully as any regiment.  Even now that the sun has set on that Empire, our international sporting links remain. 

As an example, the mystifying (to Americans) game of cricket is not just an English pastime but is played seriously, with just as much care, attention and devotion in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and the West Indies.  Ireland recently discovered that they, too, have a cricket team, as they “broke their duck” playing England in last year’s cricket World Cup.

Most other English sports have escaped the confines of the Empire too.  Argentina, France and Italy have international rugby teams.  Snooker is very big in Asia, particularly China, while tennis and football ("soccer" is a word we rarely use) run rampant across the world.  Next time you see a news report from a refugee camp in Africa, or wherever, look for someone wearing a Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool team shirt--they’re sure to be there.

Before we go any further, there’s something I need to tell you: I’m a citizen of the United Kingdom, my nationality is British, and England is my “national” football team--got it ?

Most sports in the UK are organised on a country basis, i.e. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is no UK football team for example.  This presented a bit of a problem at the London 2012 Olympics.  It was unthinkable that Team GB (in actual fact Great Britain, Northern Ireland and a few off-shore islands.. .i.e. the UK) wouldn’t compete for the football gold medal.  There was a lot of resistance from the “home” nations to forming a joint team as the world governing body, FIFA, has started questioning why four teams from one country are all allowed to compete in the football World Cup.  Of course, FIFA’s interest in the subject has nothing to do with the fact that British newspapers have spent the last few years making allegations of corruption in that august body.

A final word from my daughter, ten years on, when she was at University in Manchester.  We were visiting her one evening, with thousands of  Pakistanis on the streets celebrating their victory over India in the Cricket World Cup final, a game which had been played in Manchester that very day. Someone called out to her,  “Which side were you on?” There was no pause, momentary or otherwise.  “The winning one,” she said. 

I've never had the urge to grab a cricket bat and play a game, but this Top Gear video featuring "Straight Six" cricket is brilliant.  I'm ready to play!

Mary King, the “queen” of equestrian Eventing, will ride for Britain in the 2012 Olympic Games.  I watched a video about this charming woman and wanted to call her—and Olympic equestrian events--to your attention.  As Anglophiles, we should understand the importance of horses in British culture.  In fact, the British Museum currently offers a free exhibit entitled The Horse: From Arabia to Royal Ascot.  If you’re in London, be sure to check it out!  If you’re not in London, you can get highlights online by watching this short VIDEO and reading this ARTICLE about the exhibit, both presented by the British Museum.

Now, back to Mary and the Olympics…  Mary has had a stellar 30-year career.  While many female equestrians leave the sport after marrying and having children, Mary did not.  She says she found a way to balance motherhood, marriage, and her equestrian pursuits.  She broke her neck a few years back, but that didn’t deter her either—as soon as she was able, she was right back atop her horse! 

Mary has won six Team World and European Championship golds and four British Open titles, and has appeared at the Olympics five times, winning one silver and one bronze in Team Eventing.  (Interesting note: The equestrian competition and sailing are the only two Olympic events in which men and women compete against each other.)  The Olympic equestrian competition is divided into three categories:

Dressage (team and individual) – The rider must guide a horse through a set of particular movements, which test the horse’s strength and obedience and the rider’s ability to control the horse with cues.

Show jumping (individual) – The horse and rider must jump over obstacles, such as fences, within a specific timeframe.  Penalty points are acquired if obstacles are knocked over, the horse bulks, and/or either the horse or rider falls.

Eventing (team and individual) – A combination of dressage, jumping, and cross-country riding.  The most grueling of the equestrian events.

To watch a video of the very charming and demure Mary King, click HERE


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