My very first football game:)

Hi there, it’s Hayley again.

I think you already know what I’m going to tell you about today.

Yes, right!

I finally got to watch my very first football game!

As you know, there was the first BC Lion’s home game last Friday. BC Lions gave some tickets to Football BC so I could go with my friends.

On the game day, I was in downtown a few hours before the game started and I saw some people walked around downtown wearing football jerseys.

Once I got to BC Place many people waited to get in and there were a lot of kids participating in events outside such as face painting. My dream is also to bring my kids to stadiums make them wear jerseys one day.

I’m not a big fan of football but I feel a thrill whenever I go to any stadium so I was so excited when I finally got into BC Place.

When I got into the stadium and saw the field I thought ‘Yes, I finally came to see football!’ The field was bigger than I expected and 10 yards were father than I imagined.

As you know, I had some expectations of football and football fans before going to the game. (If you don’t know about it, you can read my previous blogs ▶ Football season is about to start!)

So now I’d like to compare what I had thought and what I saw.

1.     Are the quarterbacks really handsome?

Well, to be honest, I couldn’t see their faces clearly because of their helmet. But every sports player wearing a jersey is sexy. Isn’t it? Haha… One thing that I expected quarterbacks to be is very big and tall. Because I heard quarterback is the most important position so I just thought they would be the tallest guys. But they weren’t.

2.    Are the players tough just like hockey players?

I thought they would fight after every whistle but they didn’t fight at all. They were tough enough when they played but after every whistle they didn’t bump into each other. I also thought players would be seriously injured often but they weren’t. Even though they got knocked down they got up right away. Of course it looked painful but they played game continuously. One of my friends who went with me to the game told me she expected ‘real’ fighting like hockey but she was disappointed because there were no actual fights.

3.     Is scoring hard in football?

I think the answer is yes. It’s difficult to go from one end of the field to the other and avoid being blocked. However, the score goes up rapidly because teams can get big score one time. (Touchdown scores 6 and field goal scores 3 points) So when we see the result of the game we might think it’s easy to get score because their scores are over 20 or something like that. But actually scoring was hard. (It can be easy for the strong teams like Lions though)

4.     Do fans drink beer a lot in the stadium?

I couldn’t figure it out well because I set with my friends and they didn’t drink. (Usually they drink a lot but they didn’t at that time…) But when I went to buy beer during break time, there were long waiting lines at the concessions to buy beer. Also there were booths to sell only beer so I guess they drink a lot. I should drink more next time!

5.     Are fans tough on the players?

Fans weren’t tough on the players at all. I thought they would jeer at the players or say bad words, but they didn’t. Even if the opposing team scored they just kept calm. It was quite polite and I was surprised a little bit about it. As I mentioned before in Korea if the performance of players is not good fans get upset, jeer and say bad words. It’s one of ways to cheer but sometimes it’s too much. So fans here were unusual for me. But it’s probably because Lions kept winning the whole game.

One of the biggest shows was the performance of cheerleaders. They performed every break. (My friend shouted it was too short but just for him) Their performance was totally different than cheerleaders in Korea. In Korea, cheerleaders perform like K-pop stars. They just mimic K-pop dance and fans can sing or dance together. However, the cheerleaders I saw on Friday were ‘real’ cheerleaders. By that, I mean they were like the cheerleaders that I saw on American dramas. Both are pretty and attractive but I think Korean cheerleaders are better. Just in terms of the performance! Because we can enjoy together singing and dancing but in here we just can clapping or shouting watching them. 

For cheering the players, fans usually whistled and shouted as I had thought. Some of them used drums or horns. In Korea we usually use sticks to make sound but in here they just clapped.

It was interesting that fans didn’t make a noise when home team was on offense. They shouted when it was the away team’s turn on offense. I heard that’s to disturb the offense from making plans. It was pretty cute.

Every time a player scored a touchdown, there were small fireworks and staff threw small footballs to fans going around the stadium.

My brother and his friends got that balls!

The day before the game, my supervisor explained some of the rules to me. I couldn’t understand all of them at the time but when I started actually watching the game it became clearer. (But I still have no idea about penalties)

To be honest, when I saw the football on TV without any knowledge about it I didn’t understand why people enjoy it. But when I saw it at the stadium and understood the rules, it was more interesting than I expected. Especially when TJ Lee intercepted the ball and touchdown, it was awesome! I want to choose my favorite football player and maybe he’s going to be one…:)

However, the game didn’t flow smoothly. It was stopped often. After every down there was a pause and when the players changed places it also paused. In baseball there are many pauses as well but it was different. I thought it was unusual and a little bit complicated.

Also players weren’t in a designated place like a dugout but they were just standing close to field so it didn’t seem like a real game. It seemed like a practice or training.

But overall, everything was interesting because everything was new for me.

I was lucky enough to bring my classmates who had less football background than me (means they don’t have football background at all!). So during the game I explained to them what was going on with my little knowledge. Even though they didn’t understand everything they told me it was fun to watch in person and I agree with them.

BC Lions beat the Calgary Stampeders by 37-13 that day. Because Lions won the game, I could enjoy it more. Watching football was a very unique and interesting experience for me. I couldn’t understand all of the game but I think my perspective of sports widened. I really appreciate the BC Lions for giving me this great opportunity:) and if I have a chance I will go see it again before I go back to Korea!

But I will definitely be watching online when Football BC’s under 16 teams are compete at the 2014 Red River Cup. I hope we win the gold medal again this year!

Red River Cup goes from July 5 to 12 and you can get more information here.

▶ 2014 U16 Team BC and the Red River Cup

Football fans! I want to know you

Hello, everyone! It’s Hayley again. How are you?

I know this is football blog, but I’m writing about baseball today because I had a chance to go see Mariners vs Rangers game in Seattle last weekend!

There is a Korean player on the Texas Rangers so I chose to watch that match. His name is Shinsoo Choo and he is third hitter for the Rangers. He played in America after graduating high school and he has been playing as a major leaguer since 2005.

This wasn’t my first time watching MLB. I went to a Blue Jays game when I was younger in Toronto. But at that time I didn’t care for baseball and I didn’t like it much. So I wasn’t that impressed watching it.

However, now, as a girl who is crazy about baseball I know how great the experience watching Major League is. MLB is the biggest baseball league in the world and everyone believes MLB players are the best so watching it in the stadium is a cool experience. There are not many Koreans to get to watch the MLB in person so I was really excited.

Furthermore, it is rare experience to see Choo play because he debuted in America so we’ve never seen him play in Korea. He has become popular so I was very proud to see him.

He is Choo! I saw him!

As I told you, when I go to watch baseball I always drink beer and eat chicken so I also bought it in stadium. BUT, they gave me just three pieces of chicken tenders! I couldn’t believe what I got for my $20 dinner. I expected Americans to eat a big burger or many burgers at the same time, even as a tiny girl I usually eat one whole chicken in Korea! Are they satisfied with that? No way! But beer was good so I let it pass.

But I loved seeing cotton candies because we don’t have it in Korea so it was very interesting and cute so I bought one (and my tongue became blue colored)

Anyways, I figured out some differences between American and Korean baseball stadiums.

We don’t have any dome stadiums in Korea yet so if it rains the game is canceled. I have experienced it many times and it is really annoying. When I went to the Safeco Field, it was also raining so I thought I was doomed. But suddenly the roof started to cover the stadium and I could watch the game without any problems. It was so so cool! Also, MLB used video review so if the result was not clear we could see it again through the stadium screen and the umpires changed their ruling according to it.

But the biggest difference was that MLB didn’t have cheerleaders and fans supported players just by clapping and shouting. In Korea, we have cheerleaders for every team and every team has short ‘chants’ for all of their players on the team. Fans sing the chants with cheerleaders to support the teams. So in Korea there are many people who go to the stadium because of cheering which is very exciting. If you have a chance to go to Korea, I really recommend you to go to a baseball stadium to see it.

But American fans seemed to support teams in different ways. They shouted players’ names, clapped rhythmically and when their supporting team scored they stood up and high fived or hugged each other.

Watching them, I wondered how football fans cheer players. I want to figure out differences between baseball fans and football fans. I haven’t been to watch football yet but I’m going to see it soon, so here are some of the things I’m curious about.

1.     Are there cheerleaders at football games? If so, when and how do they perform?

I know there are football cheerleaders in schools or colleges, but I don’t know if there are in professional leagues. If there are, I want to know when and how they perform. As I mentioned before we have baseball cheerleaders in Korea, they dance with K-pop every break time and they lead fans to cheer.

They are baseball cheerleaders in Korea.
Fans are all standing up and cheering the home team.

2.     When a player scores a touchdown, how do fans react?

In a baseball game hitters play one by one so we can support each player when they come to hit. But in football, everything happens at the same time so I’m wondering what I should focus on and who I should cheer for.

3.     When a player is tackled how do fans react?

In a baseball game it is rare to bump into each other so when players get hurt fans are upset at the player who caused it and worried about the player who gets hurt. However, in football, tackles always happen so I have no idea how the fans deal with it. Maybe they get upset because the team can’t score but I think they will not worry much because it happens often. I’m really curious about it.

                                                                                                         

4.     When the home team scores, how do fans react?

I think it will be almost the same as baseball. Fans will stand up, shout, toast or hug each other. Anyways, I want to see their reaction when the team scores.

The BC Lions have their first home game on Friday even though it’s a pre-season game and I’m looking forward to it! Finally I can solve my curiosities:)

Also I hope I can be friends with other fans supporting BC Lions. In Korea, we usually become friends with other fans cheering together even though we’ve never met before. So I expect that will happen in here as well!

I hope I see you there too!<3

Football season is about to start!

Hi, everyone! How are you?

I can’t believe it’s already the second week of June. Time flies! I just have 70 days more before going back to Korea. I should enjoy Vancouver as much as I can for last days. If you know any good places, restaurants or any other things I should do before I go back, please let me know. I’m planning things to do, place to go.

Of course one of those activities is watching football game at BC Place.

Football season is finally about to start and I can understand how football fans are excited and looking forward to watching it. I feel the same way for baseball season!

I’m so excited to go to watch football as well because I’ve never been to a football stadium.

Even before I go I have some expectations about what I will get to see.

First, I will see fabulous players in the flesh:-) I enjoy watching American dramas, and there are some football player characters in the dramas. It’s hard to see football players in Korea so I have always been curious and wanting to see them.

The second thing is drinking!XD It’s my favorite (but don’t tell my boss!). You may not believe, actually I’m a big ‘beer person’. When I go watch baseball in Korea I always drink beer and eat fried chicken. It’s necessary.

Of course I said these things just to make you laugh! (It’s true though…)

Actually I have some images of ‘Football’ in my head.

1.     I think the quarterback is always handsome. As I mentioned before, I enjoy American dramas and there are some football player characters. All of them are handsome and they are almost always quarterbacks. As you know I’ve been watching some football movies (if you don't know about it, you can read my previous post ☞ Let's be 'RUDY'!) and usually quarterbacks are the main characters and they are of course handsome as well. I know it’s ridiculous but my concept of quarterbacks is like that… I’m looking forward to seeing them.

This is my concept of quarterback... Oh Finn!

2.     I think football players are very tough and they will fight just like hockey players. I haven’t seen hockey games either, (OMG what did I do for 10 month in Van!) but I watched many hockey fights even when the players don’t always bump into each other. On the other hand, football players have to crash into each other all the time! I’m sure they will fight on the field after every whistle.

3.     I think scoring is hard in football. To score, offenses have to carry a ball and all the defenses have to do is tackle and block them. Blocking seems easier than carrying the ball.

4.     I think football fans would drink a lot at the stadium. I think Canadians like beer very much and I’ve seen many people watch sports game in pubs drinking beers. So I think it would be the same at the stadium.

5.     Lastly, I think football fans would be tough on the players. If the home team makes a mistake or the opponent tackles, fans probably get upset and jeer at the players. I’m just like that when I watch a baseball game… in Korea some really enthusiastic fans shout bad words to players, (yes, that’s me) or sometimes fight with rival team fans. I think Canadians are more enthusiastic and tougher than Koreans so I expect there are so many bad words, jeering, and fighting among the fans.

These are my own thoughts about football. I should go to BC Place ASAP to see if these are right or not.

Now I’m really looking forward to going there. I can’t wait! Also please let me know what I should bring to enjoy more the game:3

This is BC Place game schedule. I’m going to go on June 22 and hopefully more. If you go on the same day as me, please comment me! I’d love to meet my readers<3

Movie review: Let's be 'RUDY'!

Hi there, Hayley again. How are you doing?

It’s already my third week with Football BC and third post! Thank you all for reading:)

This week my supervisor was out of the town so he wasn’t in here. It meant I was totally free in the office! So I decided just to relax and watch movies all week. Just kidding! :P

As you know, I don’t have enough football background. I can learn the rule or terms by watching football games, but I haven’t had chance watch a football game yet!

Before I watch games I wanted to know why football matters and why so many people are so interested in it. I thought if I watched sports movies, I could see that side of it.

So today, I’d like to post about the movie I watched, ‘Rudy’

                             

Above all, I’m with Football BC so I wanted to watch movie related to football. So I considered between ‘The Blind Side’ and ‘Rudy’, and I chose ‘Rudy’

Because ‘Rudy’ had Korean subtitles… no I’m kidding.

Before my supervisor left, he recommended those two movies, so I researched about them. ‘The Blind Side’ is a famous movie in Korea also so there are many reviews on the web but ‘Rudy’ is an old movie which wasn’t even opened in Korea. Nevertheless, there were a few comments about it on the website which said it’s a five star movie. I was curious so I decided to watch it.

Before you read my review, here are a couple of questions for you to think about:

"Do you have a dream in your life? Are you making an effort to achieve it?"

Well, as I told you, my dream is to be a sports journalist and I think I’m trying to achieve it.

But when first I told my friends about my dream, they didn’t take it seriously. They said ‘If you want, just try it. But it’s not that easy. There are so many people who share the same dream as you but are better than you’

However, now, I’m stepping toward it by working here and developing myself.

The reason I’m telling you this is because ‘Rudy’ is a movie about making his dream come true.

Rudy is a boy who wants to be a football player at Notre Dame University which is famous of football. But his father made him work at his factory because he thought Rudy wasn’t smart enough to go to that university. But he still had a dream to go to the University.

One of Rudy’s best friends and supporters was another boy named Peter. After Peter dies in an accident Rudy decides not to live like others want him to and leaves to make his dream come true. Of course, he was rejected entering Notre Dame University but he got a chance to go to a college near there.

Rudy studied hard and tried to transfer to the Notre Dame University. Two years later, finally he enters the university and also realizes another dream by joining the football team.

This is a brief summary of the movie. It may seem like a common story about success,but it is based on the real story of Daniel E. ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger.

(N.45 is Daniel E. 'Rudy' Ruettiger)

Rudy shows us that there is nothing we can’t achieve if we truly want and try hard. Rudy was not the smartest person but he studied for 20 hours every day to enter the university. Also he was not the ideal football player because he was short and didn’t have athletic skill. Nevertheless the reason he became a member was because of his desire. During his time with the football team, his teammates didn’t like him because he made others look bad by working so hard. But at the end of the movie, all of them recognize his effort and give him an unforgettable moment. (Check it in the movie!)

If you have a dream that you really want, just go for it. Don’t limit yourself. When Rudy left to enter the Notre Dame University, he said, “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to go to school here. And ever since I was a kid, everyone said it couldn’t be done. My whole life, people have been telling me what I could do and couldn’t do. I’ve always listened to them, believed in what they said. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

He is totally right. Why do we allow others to judge our future? It’s our life and nobody can make or control it except for us. Believe in yourself. As I mentioned, people around me also told me achieving my goal would be hard. When people said like that, sometimes I doubted if I could do it. But one day I realized that I had doubted myself because of others’ opinion. And I concluded if I believe myself, nobody can block (or tackle) me. After that conclusion, what I had to do was just make an effort.

Like Rudy did, I try my best. And when I fail, I would ask myself, “Did I do my best?” If not, I have one more chance to do my best.

I know there are many young people with Football BC. And also, even if I don’t have football background, I know it’s hard to sometimes make the team or go to university or even become a professional player. You might fail several times or you might want to give up because you think you can’t do.

This is what I want to say. Even if you fail one time, it doesn’t mean the end. If you fail two times, consider yourself lucky because you have more chances to do your best. If you really want to make it, don’t be scared, don’t think you can’t, don’t compare with others, and just make an effort like ‘Rudy’.

And not for only young kids with Football BC, but also for anyone reading this post, I want to recommend this movie.

Do you think you don’t have talent to be what you want to be?

Do you think you are not smart to go to university which you want to go?

Do you think your dream can’t come true because just others say it can’t?

Watch this movie and be Rudy. You can be, you can go and your dream can come true.