Now hold on!
American Football is as close to a chess match as you can get from a sport, and has some of the most varied people of different skill sets on one team. Plus it's not like other more popular sports that developed in other countries are the height of athleticism. Sure, out of them rugby is a decent sport...and that about it.
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold-on!
I wouldn't go to that extreme, there
are other sports that bring similar to the table.
My prior post on American Football only tried to explain why many people watch it, even outside the US.
It's getting ever so popular in the UK and Commonwealth, although I'd hardly say it will challenge other sports there anytime soon.
I (an American) wasn't trying to tell anyone in Britain, or the greater Commonwealth for that matter, what is and isn't a sport, and what are the greatest sports.
Just that the American Football league, stripping out all the hype/marketing (that's just our media/funding), does have its merits.
Personally, I find American College Football even more enjoyable, but that's another story.
Cricket, golf, and tennis don't belong being described as involving athleticism. Things like water polo and indoor volleyball aren't big enough to take seriously, and martial arts isn't really a conventional sport.
Er, um, er, don't know what to say. I really just do
not agree.
Soccer is pretty much a bunch of skinny people running around all the time kicking a ball and flopping to the ground at the slightest touch. If I wanted to watch running endurance I would go to a marathon.
You have to be pretty tough to play Football (Soccer), don't short-change the players.
I'd argue that Hockey is more physically challenging overall (the skating and injuries involved), but there are some unique aspects to Football (Soccer) that make it very athletic and a sometimes brutal sport.
I wouldn't be surprised if 98% of non-punters/kickers in the NFL would dominate soccer players in pretty much everything that didn't involve running long distances over time. Even half of the NFL punters could probably kick nearly all Soccer players asses in a fight.
Ummm, considering a lot of American Football kickers come from Football (Soccer), I'd change that viewpoint.
No pads and the collisions do occur.
Actually,cricket is the nearest game to chess and is often described as such.It is the most complex game in existence, there are so many variables to take into account.You set traps, try to lure your opponent to his destruction,vary your attack and in longer games your decisions might be affected by what the weather has in store two or three days away.
As for athleticism , this takes many forms. A batsman who has to face hostile bowling for hours on end (the bowler is allowed to aim the ball at him) , a bowler or wicket keeper has to be active all day, not just a mere hour or two.
Cricket is definitely more involved than American baseball on many levels, I'll give it that.
It's really different than American football, much longer but not the same type of contact, and the strategy is different.
American football is really a team strategy where the first 3 seconds of any play make up most of the strategy-counter.
Nearly all media coverage focuses on the "skill positions" but 90% of the game is about the collective team execution.
You really have to be into American Football to become familiar with it.
