Every few months someone starts a thread on this same topic with zero nuance
American sports
- Thread starter jymufc20
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You and @WI_Red make good points, come to think of it I would love to go to a game to experience it.
And for the record I used to love to play rounders as a kid.
Sorry, mate.
Just NBA guys I’ve seen play...
Muggsy Bogues - 5’3” - 1987-2001
Earl Boykins - 5’5” - 1999-2012
Spud Webb - 5’7” - 1985-1998
Nate Robinson - 5’9” - 2005-2015
Isaiah Thomas - 5’9” - 2011-Now
Even someone like Kemba Walker isn't particularly big.
Muggsy Bogues...that's a blast from the past! Tim Hardaway was my favourite player who wasn't named Michael Jordan back in the 90s, always thought he was on the short side at 6' but he still towered over these guys. A quick glance at his wiki was quite a trip, he made some horrific homophobic comments in the 00s. Cool that his son is now a pro at the Mavs, but still...what a prick.
I also find it interesting that, despite him being on the short side, his son still sprouted to 6'5".
Oh most definitely. Wrigley Field >>> Comiskey Park.Would the Cubs have been any better? I would have preferred them (I thought they were the bigger club, or more history anyway - plus the stadium is downtown), but they were on the road so no choice. I should go again eventually; maybe in Toronto (don't expect to be in the US any year soon). Ottawa has a lower-league team as well, with a decent stadium even (for the level), but from what I understand there's like a handful of people there each game, so that probably wouldn't be the greatest experience for someone who isn't into the spot itself.
Price is definitely one advantage btw. I still haven't gone to see a hockey game here in Canada, despite having been in the Montreal and Ottawa areas. I'd love to, but I think ticket prices are idiotic and I want no part of that. (But apparently cheap tickets are available if you pay attention to specials. I should pay attention I guess.)
Minor league games are really hit and miss. Some are more fun than the MLB club they farm for, some are just bad baseball in a bad venue.
Hockey in person is awesome. Just watch out for the puck flying up at you if you sit above the glass.
NFL is fantastic and RedZone is the most action packed sports TV offering there is, bar none. Anyone talking about NFL players being somehow weak (“rugby for tarts”) is absolutely clueless, those guys are absolute nails.
Baseball is like watching paint dry but going to a stadium is fun for the atmosphere plus beer and hotdogs.
Basketball I’m not particularly into but it’s enjoyable and fast paced.
Baseball is like watching paint dry but going to a stadium is fun for the atmosphere plus beer and hotdogs.
Basketball I’m not particularly into but it’s enjoyable and fast paced.
Worst bit is the over feckin analysing and everything had a stat "this 1inch part of the court has seen 0.21% of tonight's action with no 3 pointers being hit from here due to the coaches madfeckingnamedplay not requiring for their right point front backward tackle only playing 14 of the available 27 minutes which blah blah feckin blah"
Stats stats stats stats.
Stats stats stats stats.
I’ll give you that, some of the stats they come out with in the NFL are so strained. “The most yards achieved in a single game from a running back in a Monday might game which falls in the third week of a month with 5 Monday’s with the wind blowing from the west”
Baseball’s selling point being beer and hot dogs makes me laugh. I can eat hot dogs and drink beer at other sports too, it’s not like it’s exclusive to baseball games.
Few other sports are as boring, making you focus on the beer and hot dogs though.
Definitely haha. With lines like:
you're clearly a cricket nut in exile.
Of course it could work the other way. If I were ever in the US I'd have to give baseball a go at the ground and have the nuances explained to me properly. I understand (I think) the pitchers have different ways of pitching (speeds, angles etc.) and the batsmen are looking to hit balls as far as they can while leaving those outside of the central bit to get three 'balls' and a walk to first base. However a key thing in cricket is the state of the pitch, that is the ball is bowled into the ground and the friction that occurs there can have massive ramifications for the speed and direction the ball will move in before it reaches the batsman. Also the condition of the ball matters a great deal too. Is that also true in baseball and what are the nuances to what the pitcher is doing that I'm missing in lieu of the ball hitting the floor?
Go to a game for hotdogs and beer. How about the actual match, eh?
How about the actual match, eh?American football and basketball are great for entertainment value.
Every play matters in those sports while I think there are long periods of a game of football where teams can coast/go through the motions.
Every play matters in those sports while I think there are long periods of a game of football where teams can coast/go through the motions.
Go to a game for hotdogs and beer.
I don't think any of us Yanks are saying we go for the hot dogs and beer alone. My point was that it was part of the package. I have been to American football games (NFL and high level college), NBA games, football games (MLS and US National Team games), and NHL games. All of those offer, to varying degrees, a more dynamic viewing experience compared to baseball. However, and this is probably b/c I was raised on baseball, none of them come close to the viewing experience to baseball. I waxed lyrical earlier, so I won't go back down that path again, but I will close by acknowledging that I can completely see how someone who was not into baseball would find the games incredibly boring.
“The most yards achieved in a single game from a running back in a Monday might game which falls in the third week of a month with 5 Monday’s with the wind blowing from the west”
They were literally making up stats and records for one of the QBs this year with that kinda stuff
Rodgers or Brees I think. "Has broken another record" then would reel off what you said Basketball is elite. Some of the best athletes you can find in any team sports and the winning the ring in a NBA season is an excruciating feat.
Having said that the emphasis on size and physicality in basketball, especially height makes it a bit less popular for the general population as compared to football, not that you don't have to be fit to play that either. Both are still extremely popular around the world as compared to american foot-hand-ball which is a sorry excuse for an outdoor activity, let alone an actual sporting event.
Having said that the emphasis on size and physicality in basketball, especially height makes it a bit less popular for the general population as compared to football, not that you don't have to be fit to play that either. Both are still extremely popular around the world as compared to american foot-hand-ball which is a sorry excuse for an outdoor activity, let alone an actual sporting event.
This is definitely true as much of the appeal for baseball fans is nostalgic. Kids get bored more easily now and need that instant gratification. I actually don't mind the slower pace of a baseball game where you can drink and shoot the shit for 3 hours with your friends/family. And there's something to be said for a sport that's played almost every day.
Are Brits short on average? I‘ve wondered about basketball’s seeming lack of popularity there, at least based on how people talk about it here.
Yeah, even I know Wrigley Field and it's manual scoreboard as a Thing. I did go and see it from the outside at least.
Chicago was a cool town to visit anyway; even the skyscrapers look good, especially the old ones.I've seen hockey live in Finland a couple of times, bigger and smaller clubs, so I know it's fun. Guess I gotta get to it here in Ottawa once this crap is done! Or give my father-in-law tickets for Christmas for a Canadien game in Montreal - and then of course poor old me will have to come along cause you can't send someone off to go alone, now can you. (Did the same for a Canadian Football game here in Ottawa once: win-win!
)Not every play in basketball matters, nope. It's a game of runs and highest volume. You can be down 20 yet still win by 10 because of volume. Teams coast through games and defensive effort and quality is only found in about 1/3 of all teams.
Hockey isn't a pure American sport, but that is entertainment value.
That post highlighted itself to me too..... very much living in the past for me, very few sports with significant money invested in them will really allow for a drop in fitness anymore. Theres a reason why more and more sportsmen in team sports are fitter - it's because they have to be, otherwise it's a very early retirement. Theres very few roles in world of sports that allow you to coast on supreme skill mostly anymore.
I don't follow Baseball as much anymore - but as you say, I don't theres many with guts as there was say, even 10 years ago. Just like there were plenty more Cricketers or Footballers who seemed more working class than fitness cover back in the day too. Tiger probably played a massive part when he killed golf by implementing gym work, all golfers now hit the gym.
Baseball is best learned and appreciated by playing. And you don't have to an athlete or athletic to excel at it, it's an acquired skill.
You know that, so I'm not going to preach any longer. But also, there is distinct sounds, smells, and feelings Americans associate with when talking about their unique sports. Similar to football when a boot sweetly strikes a ball or hits the post or hits the net for a goal.
Theres nothing like the pop of a glove, a crisp sound of a bat hitting a ball. And baseball is a highly strategic and manipulative sport.
I used to struggle with the NFL, as there's not much action comparative to the length of the game, but all of a sudden it clicked and I got sucked in. Now when I watch games, the time just flies by. I got interested back around 98/99 via playing Madden and NFL Blitz on the Playstation, but I didn't really start watching it properly until about 10 years ago.
I love the NHL too, but the regular season is real slog. 82 games is a crazy amount of hockey. The intensity of the games early in the season is quite low. It really shifts into gear around the final 20 regular season games. Then the playoffs are pretty great. High intensity hockey is an incredible spectacle.
NBA and MLB never grabbed me, and the above applies here too. 82 and 162 regular season games respectively is wild. Comparatively, it feels like the NFL season is a flash in the pan, and I always wish there was a little bit more of it.
Crowds at US sports are rubbish though, particularly at chanting. I went to a Red Wings game many years ago, place was packed, but it was silent apart from an occasional half arsed "let's go red wings" delivered with zero enthusiasm by no more than 50 people. Not a single "you're shit! ahhhhhh!" throughout. Terrible. NHL teams need to coordinate some ultras.
I love the NHL too, but the regular season is real slog. 82 games is a crazy amount of hockey. The intensity of the games early in the season is quite low. It really shifts into gear around the final 20 regular season games. Then the playoffs are pretty great. High intensity hockey is an incredible spectacle.
NBA and MLB never grabbed me, and the above applies here too. 82 and 162 regular season games respectively is wild. Comparatively, it feels like the NFL season is a flash in the pan, and I always wish there was a little bit more of it.
Crowds at US sports are rubbish though, particularly at chanting. I went to a Red Wings game many years ago, place was packed, but it was silent apart from an occasional half arsed "let's go red wings" delivered with zero enthusiasm by no more than 50 people. Not a single "you're shit! ahhhhhh!" throughout. Terrible. NHL teams need to coordinate some ultras.
With basketball and hockey, during the regular season, I just stick to watching my own team about once a week mostly and even then it has to be a midnight kickoff. Anything later than that I'm a walking zombie the next day. I've stayed up for the occasional Rockets playoff game that kicked off at 2:30-3AM but they're rare.
NFL is by far the easiest one to follow because it's once a week on a Sunday and mostly at a convenient time in the evening - 6 or 9PM.
I admit I spent years just watching the Super Bowl not having a clue what the hell was going on but eventually it just clicked. I find it much easier now to watch a random NFL game and be thoroughly entertained than a random PL game, let alone random games from other European leagues. Perhaps it has something to do with the regular season being just 16 games so literally every game is vital.
Americans are genuinely spoilt when it comes to sports entertainment.
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Out of curiosity, what do you mean by 'pure American'? Cause all of the others are popular elsewhere in some countries as well. (Including American football, if you see it as just yet another variant of Rugby football.)
That the sport has deep origins in the U.S. or the highest quality pro league/level is in the U.S. NHL is still Canadian even if the Original Six was only two Canadian teams. NHL is still heavily influenced by Canada.
America has the benefit of natural pipelines to their major sports via high school and college athletics. Baseball, baskeball, am football, and to a lesser degree hockey. High school and College soccer is dogshit and is a hindrance to the development of promising youth talent.
Yah, one thing we don’t do is sing.
Too busy causing minor earthquake readings at touchdowns.
I find American sports much more professional than our football. Data analysis, approach to the game, business management...
Everything is done at a higher standard.
Not a fan of American football nor baseball, but I admire American sports setting an example to other sports when it comes to marketing, management and data.
Everything is done at a higher standard.
Not a fan of American football nor baseball, but I admire American sports setting an example to other sports when it comes to marketing, management and data.
Plus singing gets in the way of consuming peanuts, nachos, hot dogs, and beer
So what you're saying is: the best parts of baseball are the parts that don't really include baseball?
So what you're saying is: the best parts of baseball are the parts that don't really include baseball?
If that's what you took from what I said then sure.
The only American stuff I watch is the Masters and the boxing but they are world sports anyway.
I suppose if you live there it may be different but I live in Oz and I cannot stand AFL.
I suppose if you live there it may be different but I live in Oz and I cannot stand AFL.
The grass and the beer is my favourite part of sports too.
So the answer is yes, you ignored the parts of the statement dealing with the sport.