At Least There's Darts

This is the headline on the print edition of The Sun, Britain's trashiest newspaper, reflecting the typical British attitude about sport. This weekend saw the English rugby squad crash out of the Rugby World Cup championship with South Africa. Then British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton missed out on a chance to win the 2007 drivers' title in the last race of the season. These two events came only a couple days after the England football team lost against Russia, potentially knocking them from the Euro 2008 tournament finals. The British don't have high expectations for their sportsmen, but they occasionally have them dashed anyway.

Three cultural notes: Mrs. Werbenmanjensen and I went to a local pub, one we'd never been to before, to watch the rugby finals with a friend who's a rugby enthusiast and his wife. The pub erupted in laughter each time the camera cut to Gordon Brown's stern visage. (My friend had to keep interjecting: "He's Scottish, you know.") Then we learned that "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is the English rugby song, which makes no sense whatsoever, to begin with, and, in addition, just doesn't sound right coming from white Englishmen. Third: Believe it or not, rugby is the sport of the upper class in Britain. It's the game learned by public school toffs, while football (soccer) is the game of the streets. I asked my friend if the class issue was why there was a notable absence of St. George's Cross flags fluttering everywhere when compared to the run-up to the football world cup last year. He said, "No. It's that nobody expected the rugby team to get this far."