Ha! I read through the thread and saw everyone dismissing baseball so figured someone needed to stick up for it.
A question for American sports viewers
- Thread starter VorZakone
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1) don’t feel bad, the Rockies generally don’t know what’s going on out there either
2) that’s part of the beauty of baseball. A great afternoon out
Sure one can have a personal preference. I think football is unique in that scarcity yes, but I don't think it makes it better in an objective sense. Subjectively, to each his/her own
It is appreciated. The game of baseball is and will always be the first thing I fell in love with.
It's a great sport and it's actually fun to play and watch, the duel nature of the game is also great there is nothing like the excitement of watching someone like Verlander face the likes of Judge or Betts, no mistakes are allowed.
Yes indeed!
As an aside... one of my buddies from college went and played baseball in France for a couple of years.
I'm a big fan of the NHL, but the regular season can be pretty damn tedious. It comes alive in the playoffs, but an 82 game regular season is too much IMO.
I haven't watched the NBA in years but I always felt the same about that.
NFL is the opposite. Great game but there's not quite enough of it. I'd like the regular season to be a little bit longer. A bad run in the first 3 or 4 games, and you're pretty much out of playoff contention. The drama of a close game is almost unrivalled though.
I haven't watched the NBA in years but I always felt the same about that.
NFL is the opposite. Great game but there's not quite enough of it. I'd like the regular season to be a little bit longer. A bad run in the first 3 or 4 games, and you're pretty much out of playoff contention. The drama of a close game is almost unrivalled though.
Except that scarcity or one moment is found in many sports so I'm not sure what you're arguing.
An other thing about Baseball that as a coach you probably appreciate is youth development and promotions, there is always a buzz around it, it's different to other sports where players disappear quickly, in Baseball you see players evolve and grow over the years, to some extent the NHL has that too where every team has athletes that are very raw and will develop in front of everyone.
Oh yes, absolutely. You can follow a player from their time in grade school all the way up to the MLB. It’s awesome.
It's the darnedest thing. American society is extremely capitalistic but when it comes to sports, they turn into hardcore socialists
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It's not really socialism though, is it? I mean you have companies (franchises) form a cartel, which uses its monopoly to keep wages down and put out a cheaper product. In these sense of generating profits it's the most capitalistic system there can be for a sport.
Let's not get too technical with this. It is a concussion inducing sport we're talking about here and I've been on the receiving end of too many of them.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...icas-socialist-utopia/?utm_term=.731ba1108742
The biggest sports mess with people's emotions, especially when it's their team that's playing. Sports have different rhythms and patterns but when you're lost inside it's like a world of its own. I don't normally watch cricket, but sometimes the struggle is so tight even as a 5 day test match draws to an end, that I get totally wrapped up in it. In which case, as much as most American sport leaves me cold, I understand that it's a different experience for its fans.
If you look at some of the studies of the heart rates of fans watching their teams play, you find them going up as the players' pulses rise - to all practical purposes we trip the fight/flight response with pulse rates that look as if we're doing hard exercise. Studies have even been done of match day related heart problems and they're pretty compelling for a number of sports: https://www.onlinecjc.ca/article/S0828-282X(17)30934-0/fulltext I've not seen similar stats for American football but I can't see why they wouldn't be similar.
If you look at some of the studies of the heart rates of fans watching their teams play, you find them going up as the players' pulses rise - to all practical purposes we trip the fight/flight response with pulse rates that look as if we're doing hard exercise. Studies have even been done of match day related heart problems and they're pretty compelling for a number of sports: https://www.onlinecjc.ca/article/S0828-282X(17)30934-0/fulltext I've not seen similar stats for American football but I can't see why they wouldn't be similar.
That article very kindly elborates on my point then somehow jumps to "bottom line: socialist".
Rich people collaborating to cut wages and squeeze workers rights = ultimate act of socialism?
Socialist or re-distributive, in the sense that top talent is routed to the worst teams, and the salary cap serves as a great equalizer, preventing too much accumulation of talent on any one team, and forcing teams to do more than just spend money to get to and stay at the top.
Yes. I get that, but the motivation for that isn't some philosophy of fairness, it's profit driven isn't it?
No idea to be fair. Would the NBA make more money if the salary cap was removed as well as the draft?
There would be more power to the players = higher wages = less profit for owners.
I remember watching the Olympics and genuinely getting off my seat for fecking dressage just because it looked like GB were up for a medal. Doesn't necessarily matter what sport it is; if someone is emotionally enough invested in it then it will become entertaining.
Not across the board actually, if you think about it. The likes of LeBron James would earn insane amounts of money. But the middle tier players would be worse off. They actually get overpaid in this current system. Overall I agree that there would be less profit for owners initially, but eventually they would realign their business to maximize profit.
The NHL is pretty good for excitement. NBA isn't bad. NFL and MLB are too static to offer the same level of excitement.
I'm not really sure I understand that logic. With no cap, there's very little chance that mid-tier players would get paid less than they are now. Mid-tier players that are overpaid now are overpaid under restrictive cap rules...I don't see why removing the limits of a cap would make them get paid less. Removing the cap increases competition for players, assuming there isn't soft collusion by owners, but doesn't deepen the total player pool.
The best NFL/NBA playoff games i watched were far better than football. I can't watch an entire season of any of those sports for some reason.
In the case of Baseball its hard to understand why someone would watch that.
You are conflating fans with parasitic monsters[i.e. owners]. American culture is hardcore socialist when it comes to sports. Owners are not and prey upon that
It all comes down to the sport of choice.
If you watch football daily you will have more of an emotional attachment to the drama, even when it isn't your team involved and vice-versa.
I love the Aussie Rules, so get the same emotions to late action/winners as I do for football because they are both sports I watch regularly.
As it has been mentioned alot, the play offs for the NBA & NHL carry alot of emotion, especially when it gets down to a game 7 when ythe season is on the line but the regular seasons are too long that a late winner doesn't carry much of a buzz because there is still 80+ games to play compared to the much smaller number of games in football.
If you watch football daily you will have more of an emotional attachment to the drama, even when it isn't your team involved and vice-versa.
I love the Aussie Rules, so get the same emotions to late action/winners as I do for football because they are both sports I watch regularly.
As it has been mentioned alot, the play offs for the NBA & NHL carry alot of emotion, especially when it gets down to a game 7 when ythe season is on the line but the regular seasons are too long that a late winner doesn't carry much of a buzz because there is still 80+ games to play compared to the much smaller number of games in football.
Baseball is similar to golf or tennis. Much more fun to play or attend in person just to experience the atmosphere than watch, and watching on TV is actually a good way to fall asleep.
But the drama when they're at their height of tension with greatness involved is uniquely intense.
Baseball is a good theme in movies. Field of Dreams is among my all times favorites.
There are some sports you think its an absurd idea but when you actually watch its great. For example i always watch Curling in the Olimpics.
The thing about Baseball on TV is that you need to know your commentators and analysts, some are extremely boring while others are fun, I love sabermetrics talks and pitching techniques.
And see, I hate hate hate hate hate sabermetrics.
Just talk about the game dammit!
There is so little you can say about the game though, games last hours and there is a point where launch angles, grips or home plate umpire consistency will get old. I need some stats, history and anecdotes!
That’s what I mean by “the game”.I need some stats, history and anecdotes!
All about stats. The traditional ones
Those who think basketball cannot be exciting should have a look at the streets of Toronto today.
They’re playing street basketball? Cool!
I saw the last few mins of a game yesterday (or was it Saturday?) Toronto beating someone in a close game. Was that the NBA final?
On US sports: I like attending them but can’t watch them on the telly. They take way too long and have too many commercials.
I saw the last few mins of a game yesterday (or was it Saturday?) Toronto beating someone in a close game. Was that the NBA final?
On US sports: I like attending them but can’t watch them on the telly. They take way too long and have too many commercials.
I can only really speak of NFL but yes, it is superb entertainment. The drama is brilliant. I sometimes watch some NHL when i have nothing else to do whilst working nights and it is pretty damn entertaining.
No doubt none of them having watched a game all season.
Can't go to a bar during play off season without them being packed with that sort.Glad to see the raptors doing well. I actually remember at one point as a season ticket holder for TFC, we used to get free tickets back in the day to some of their games, as support was so low for them. How times have changed. Not a basketball fan, but great for the city that the raptors are doing well.