Last weekend, I had the great fortune of seeing the US women’s water polo team play Italy at Olympic Park in London (the USA won). My sister, who lives in London, had a spare ticket to the semifinals, and she asked me to go along with her to see the USA-Spain match followed by Great Britain versus Spain.

I grew up watching her play water polo, which she did for a decade, first in club teams and then for her college team, and while I don’t understand the minute details of the game, I can watch a water polo game and know what’s going on, which is more than I can say of most sports ...