THE Boat Race!

The UK has a long history steeped in ceremony and tradition. One of those traditions is The Boat Race. It's not just A boat race. It is THE Boat Race. When we first heard about it, we thought it sounded fun and we thought we'd probably go see it. Then, Gloria mentioned it to one of her coworkers and he commented that it was one of the biggest events in the UK. The we knew it was a must see. So we went.

We really didn't know what the race even was, so first we had to do a bit of homework. When I heard boat race, I thought of something like this:

or this:

or if we got really lucky, maybe even something like this:

Hover Cat takes the lead!

Alas, I was way off. It's actually more like this:

It turns out, THE Boat Race refers to the annual rowing race between Oxford and Cambridge, and it is indeed steeped in history. It began in 1829, and has been held annually since 1856, except during the two World Wars. It's also highly competitive, with Cambridge holding a slight 81-78 edge over Oxford. Not only that, both teams are known as "The Blues" with Cambridge being light blue and Oxford being dark blue.

In the spirit of our Duke/UNC rivalry back home, we naturally went with the dark Blue Oxford team.

So, we met up with Erica and Jordan and headed down to a riverside pub to catch all the action. Luckily we got a great spot and had a perfect view.

I love the smell of rowing in the morning.

Before long, the crowds filled in, rife with anticipation.

This are very serious boat race!

In the build up to THE race, there are a few other preliminary races between the reserve crews, and what appeared to be a leisurely race(ish) between these boats.

Finally it was race time. It's time for the excitement! Especially considering the fact that some of the rowers are olympians. Here they come!

Oxford in the lead!

To give you a flavor of it, here's what it looked like in real time:

Now that's excitement! Thrilling, spine tingling drama! I kid, I kid. Ultimately, it was over very quickly and really wasn't much of a race as Oxford ran away with it. But, it was cool to see one of the oldest sporting traditions here. I'm not quite sure if it really is one of the biggest events in the UK, as football (soccer) matches seem to draw much bigger crowds and more passion. Maybe it's still a big deal to some people because it gives them a chance to hang on to one of the old traditions that isn't nationally all that meaningful anymore. 

Some of you may be laughing and thinking, "Silly Brits". But remember, every Saturday in the US, grown adults by the thousands do things like this:

'Murica!

In the end, we're all overly attached to our sports traditions, and it's awesome. Go (insert team name)!!!!