My goodness, we do get emotional about our sports, now don't we?
OK, let's see if a Yank can really get everyone's undies in a bunch.
Baseball is by far the best sport to watch if you want to examine the intricacies of a game while watching and play manager. Each pitch is a legitimate "play" with a different defensive alignment and offensive goal associated, and the average baseball game has over 275 pitches (or "plays"), with time in between to absorb what's going on, and respond accordingly.
For many it's pace is too agrarian; too slow for the run and shoot/hit attention spans of the MTV generation. To paraphrase a writer from years back: "Slow minds think that baseball is a slow game." In short, it's the chess of ball games, and as such is the most popular game with literate people.
It also features the single most difficult thing in all of sports to do: hit a small round object moving at a swerving 90-100 mph (or 130+ kph) with another small rounded object, with the goal being to hit the ball "square" or solidly.
Proof: A hitter is considered to be a member of his sport's elite when he is successful at attaining his goal -- getting a safe hit -- just 30% of the time, or a .300 average. Shoot 30% from the field in a basketball game and you're not going to get much playing time. Complete only 30% of your passes in an American football game and you'll never get off of the bench. Move the ball forward with control in a soccer match only 1 out of every 3 times your team mates pass to you, and you won't be on the field very long. (My golfing friends will argue that the intricacies of hitting an itty bitty ball with a really long stick are comparably complex, but that ball isn't moving. The variables are mostly within the player's psyche, much like in bowling, where a controlled repetitive stroke wins the day.)
Baseball is also the only team sport where the primary action is a 1-on-1 confrontation: hitter-vs-pitcher. This is my favorite element of the game. Metaphorically, a baseball hitter literrally walks on the field with a "club" and does battle against the pitcher and 8 other guys for his team. It's 9 against 1, with no blockers or guys setting picks for him, so when he succeeds, he has beaten the odds for not only his own cheers -- like in tennis or golf -- but in the name of his compadres. This personal effort and sacrifice on behalf of the team builds the biggest "heros" in the minds of the fans.
As far as "football", "futball", or "soccer" is concerned, granted the athletes have to run constantly, so their stamina and general physical condition is without question better than the average baseball player's, and it's arguably the most popular sport in the world, but what's up with a ball oriented sport that only lets you use your feet and your head?
Finally, an endorsement for the best all around athletes: basketball players. You must have the stamena of a soccer player, coupled with grace, agility, full body control, and eye hand coordination, all while pushing a 6'10 inch, 225 lb plus body around without using this girth as a true weapon, like in American football.
But then, the only sport I'm any good at is tonsil hockey with my girlfriend, so what do I know?...
OK, let's see if a Yank can really get everyone's undies in a bunch.
Baseball is by far the best sport to watch if you want to examine the intricacies of a game while watching and play manager. Each pitch is a legitimate "play" with a different defensive alignment and offensive goal associated, and the average baseball game has over 275 pitches (or "plays"), with time in between to absorb what's going on, and respond accordingly.
For many it's pace is too agrarian; too slow for the run and shoot/hit attention spans of the MTV generation. To paraphrase a writer from years back: "Slow minds think that baseball is a slow game." In short, it's the chess of ball games, and as such is the most popular game with literate people.
It also features the single most difficult thing in all of sports to do: hit a small round object moving at a swerving 90-100 mph (or 130+ kph) with another small rounded object, with the goal being to hit the ball "square" or solidly.
Proof: A hitter is considered to be a member of his sport's elite when he is successful at attaining his goal -- getting a safe hit -- just 30% of the time, or a .300 average. Shoot 30% from the field in a basketball game and you're not going to get much playing time. Complete only 30% of your passes in an American football game and you'll never get off of the bench. Move the ball forward with control in a soccer match only 1 out of every 3 times your team mates pass to you, and you won't be on the field very long. (My golfing friends will argue that the intricacies of hitting an itty bitty ball with a really long stick are comparably complex, but that ball isn't moving. The variables are mostly within the player's psyche, much like in bowling, where a controlled repetitive stroke wins the day.)
Baseball is also the only team sport where the primary action is a 1-on-1 confrontation: hitter-vs-pitcher. This is my favorite element of the game. Metaphorically, a baseball hitter literrally walks on the field with a "club" and does battle against the pitcher and 8 other guys for his team. It's 9 against 1, with no blockers or guys setting picks for him, so when he succeeds, he has beaten the odds for not only his own cheers -- like in tennis or golf -- but in the name of his compadres. This personal effort and sacrifice on behalf of the team builds the biggest "heros" in the minds of the fans.
As far as "football", "futball", or "soccer" is concerned, granted the athletes have to run constantly, so their stamina and general physical condition is without question better than the average baseball player's, and it's arguably the most popular sport in the world, but what's up with a ball oriented sport that only lets you use your feet and your head?
Finally, an endorsement for the best all around athletes: basketball players. You must have the stamena of a soccer player, coupled with grace, agility, full body control, and eye hand coordination, all while pushing a 6'10 inch, 225 lb plus body around without using this girth as a true weapon, like in American football.
But then, the only sport I'm any good at is tonsil hockey with my girlfriend, so what do I know?...
