NationStates Jolt Archive

A question to out American friends since there seems to be alot of baseball chat on here lately...

Dont you find it boring?

Dont know whether this is true but if its not im sure ill stand corrected...

is it true that baseball was derived from english rounders? and that the UK had to choose a national game and chose cricket instead?

I personally find cricket boring too...

just dont know what the attraction of baseball is...is it the atmosphere of the game?

I can understand americas like of

american football - big guys in pads beating the shit out of each other

ice hockey - big guys in pads beating the shit out of each other

basketball - My fave american sport...love the NBA

but baseball just looks like there's not much going on at any given point

let me know your views on the subject because I am genuinely interested :)

I love to play baseball but not watch it very much. The thing as far as I can tell is people like the anticipation of something exciting happening.

Dunno about rounders or cricket.

American Football - I personally am more fond of the strategy involved int he game. Coaching is a lot like commanding an army.

Hockey - I eventualy get annoyed and quit watching

Basketball - I love High School and College Basketball... but the NBA sucks.

Atmosphere of being at the game makes any sport better. For me though even if I am just sitting in a chair at home watching a game I love the rules, the faceoff of pitcher vs. batter, all is great.

I suppose it could just be taste, I really haven't analyzed WHY I like it before, or the history of the origion of the game, I just like watching it. :)

I like baseball because I can understand it, it's a really simple game. I have actually been to some really really great games, games that were won in the bottom of the 9th when we were behind by 3 runs.......it's exciting.

I have a cursory understanding of football, I get the basic idea, but there are all kinds of random rules that I don't get......so it's barely interesting to me unless I am there to see it, I would almost never watch it on TV.

Hockey, again, you have to be there for it to be interesting to me...I have a basic understanding, but really I just go to watch the fights. ;)

Baseball in person is far better than baseball on TV, unless it's an important game. There's something about being there that makes it more enjoyable...that's true of any sport, really, but it's more pronounced with baseball in my experience.

The biggest problem I have with baseball? Steroids. It's taken the fun out of the game. It's not enjoyable anymore because of steroids.

I'll stick with hockey.

Baseball in person is far better than baseball on TV, unless it's an important game. There's something about being there that makes it more enjoyable...that's true of any sport, really, but it's more pronounced with baseball in my experience.

The biggest problem I have with baseball? Steroids. It's taken the fun out of the game. It's not enjoyable anymore because of steroids.

I'll stick with hockey.

I prefer to ignore the Barry Bonds and Jason Giambis out there and concentrate on the sport overall which is still great even with the steroid mess.

Baseball in person is far better than baseball on TV, unless it's an important game. There's something about being there that makes it more enjoyable...that's true of any sport, really, but it's more pronounced with baseball in my experience.

The biggest problem I have with baseball? Steroids. It's taken the fun out of the game. It's not enjoyable anymore because of steroids.

I'll stick with hockey.

there doesn't seem to be much of a steroid problem in the minor league.

I also find baseball boring. Allot of the time everyone is just standing.

Maybe it's my ADD, but baseball is boooooring.

I'll take hockey, American football - hell, even cricket! - over baseball any day.

I also find baseball boring. Allot of the time everyone is just standing.

Maybe it's my ADD, but baseball is boooooring.

I'll take hockey, American football - hell, even cricket! - over baseball any day.

do you understand the rules?

do you understand the rules?
That helps with a lot of sports. I was watching a rugby game in a pub earlier this year, and a realised I wasn't enjoying it as I had no idea what the hell was supposed to be going on.

do you understand the rules?

The most complicated part of the game I think is getting down is that a foul ball counts as a strike and after that doesn't effect the pitch count at all. Beyond that I don't see much confusion to be found.

Though maybe understanding the game myself only makes it only seem that way...

do you understand the rules?
Played baseball until I was 11.

there doesn't seem to be much of a steroid problem in the minor league.

There actually have been more minor leaguers caught using steroids than major leaguers. :/

I love baseball for so many reasons...

That helps with a lot of sports. I was watching a rugby game in a pub earlier this year, and a realised I wasn't enjoying it as I had no idea what the hell was supposed to be going on.

They are kicking the hell out of each other to try and get the privelage of punting the ball into the goals. Overall its mildly entertaining...

There actually have been more minor leaguers caught using steroids than major leaguers. :/

I love baseball for so many reasons...

I'll let you count the ways if you want to. :p

Played baseball until I was 11.
well, then maybe you just really don't like it.

There actually have been more minor leaguers caught using steroids than major leaguers. :/

I love baseball for so many reasons...
yeah, I remember that now......I am mostly watching for the game, I don't really care how stupid the people are outside of playing.

just dont know what the attraction of baseball is...

I just like the idea of swinging a large wooded stick at people. :D

A question to out American friends since there seems to be alot of baseball chat on here lately...

Dont you find it boring?

Dont know whether this is true but if its not im sure ill stand corrected...

is it true that baseball was derived from english rounders? and that the UK had to choose a national game and chose cricket instead?

I personally find cricket boring too...

just dont know what the attraction of baseball is...is it the atmosphere of the game?

I can understand americas like of

american football - big guys in pads beating the shit out of each other

ice hockey - big guys in pads beating the shit out of each other

basketball - My fave american sport...love the NBA

but baseball just looks like there's not much going on at any given point

let me know your views on the subject because I am genuinely interested :)

Most Americans don't like hockey....Just look at the fan turnout in Dallas, Phoenix, Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, New Jersey, Nashville etc.........

I find all sports to be boring.

I find all sports to be boring.

Red Sox/Yankees tonight. Never boring.

My thoughts after thinking on it is that perhaps it's similar to cricket over here...

when the football (soccer) season is finished over here then cricket starts...then fans who watch the football start going to the odd game of cricket...just to get drunk in the sun and generally socialise...most of the time they are not even watching the game...just having fun...perhaps thats the same?

I understand the rules of baseball completely...I am reasonably well versed on most american sports...

But I just dont understand the american nations fascination with something which is essentially just a childs bat and ball game over here in the UK

Red Sox/Yankees tonight. Never boring.

What makes that more interesting that an X vs. Y game?

My thoughts after thinking on it is that perhaps it's similar to cricket over here...

when the football (soccer) season is finished over here then cricket starts...then fans who watch the football start going to the odd game of cricket...just to get drunk in the sun and generally socialise...most of the time they are not even watching the game...just having fun...perhaps thats the same?

I understand the rules of baseball completely...I am reasonably well versed on most american sports...

But I just dont understand the american nations fascination with something which is essentially just a childs bat and ball game over here in the UK

most people at the baseball games around here are pretty drunk......except for the kids, they are just annoying.

It’s hard to explain exactly why I love baseball. It’s not exciting in the bone-shattering, fast-paced way, I’ll grant you that. However, those few seconds while the pitcher is staring at home plate, twirling the ball around in his fingers to find the right grip and deciding where to place the ball while the batter stares back trying to anticipate what’s coming and the fielders make ready to leap into action in any direction in a split second -- that’s where baseball’s excitement is. The pitch might be fouled off into the crowd or taken high for a ball and then you go through the entire sequence again.

I like to compare it to the difference in horror movies: more ‘exciting’ sports are the cheap summer productions with lots of special effects and zombies leaping out of the closet without warning. Baseball is more Silence of the Lambs or Deliverance.

((and forget Yanks-Red Sox. The only thing I'm more sick of hearing about than that bloody rivalry is Roger Clemens' sixty-fourth "OMG RETURN FROM RETIREMENT!"))

well, then maybe you just really don't like it.
Pretty much. I prefer faster, more competitive sports like hockey and sleeping.

What makes that more interesting that an X vs. Y game?

Rivalry! Always makes a game have a more electric atmosphere. But then I'm sure you know this. So we'll just consider this a +1 post. :)

My thoughts after thinking on it is that perhaps it's similar to cricket over here...

when the football (soccer) season is finished over here then cricket starts...then fans who watch the football start going to the odd game of cricket...just to get drunk in the sun and generally socialise...most of the time they are not even watching the game...just having fun...perhaps thats the same?

I understand the rules of baseball completely...I am reasonably well versed on most american sports...

But I just dont understand the american nations fascination with something which is essentially just a childs bat and ball game over here in the UK

Over here soccer is just a stupid kids game. Yet most of the world is obsessed with it. Near as I can tell soccer is like football sans violence and strategy.

Show me the beer!

\

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/vonbek/sepp.gif

Rivalry! Always makes a game have a more electric atmosphere. But then I'm sure you know this. So we'll just consider this a +1 post. :)

But why don't they fight? Like.. with bats and stuff?

But why don't they fight? Like.. with bats and stuff?

"Why does he throw his club away? I'd take it with me!". No clue what the hell that's from.

Near as I can tell soccer is like football sans violence and strategy.

lots of violence in football...just not necessarily on the pitch ;)

and there is alot of strategy involved believe it or not...different formations...tactics etc

I must admit...football/soccer is my one true love...nothing like it...would love to take everyone of my american NS friends to a real football match...to hear thousands of people singing for their club...there is no atmosphere like it

But why don't they fight? Like.. with bats and stuff?

Well you can always have your occassional brawl.

Observe (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2318015461869646833&q=Red+Sox+brawl&hl=en)

"Why does he throw his club away? I'd take it with me!". No clue what the hell that's from.
:p
Well you can always have your occassional brawl.

Observe (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2318015461869646833&q=Red+Sox+brawl&hl=en)

:eek::D

lots of violence in football...just not necessarily on the pitch ;)

and there is alot of strategy involved believe it or not...different formations...tactics etc

I must admit...football/soccer is my one true love...nothing like it...would love to take everyone of my american NS friends to a real football match...to hear thousands of people singing for their club...there is no atmosphere like it

If they don't fight for the fan amusement it's not fun.

lots of violence in football...just not necessarily on the pitch ;)

and there is alot of strategy involved believe it or not...different formations...tactics etc

I must admit...football/soccer is my one true love...nothing like it...would love to take everyone of my american NS friends to a real football match...to hear thousands of people singing for their club...there is no atmosphere like it

City or United?

If they don't fight for the fan amusement it's not fun.
In soccer, the fans fight for their amusement!

If they don't fight for the fan amusement it's not fun.

fans fight fans!

Its a real tribal thing football in the UK...we are an island nation reknowned for being tough and football is a release for those violent undercurrents some people possess

I'm a Manchester city fan...and the derby between Man City and Man Utd is one of the fiercest rivalrys in the game

Manchesters city centre bars have to close on derby day because of violence...and the game is usually played in the morning to stop excessive drinking leading up to the game...

there is usually mass brawls all around the city with fans beating the shit out of each other before the game has even started

City or United?

Blue moon...you saw me standing alone....without a dream in my heart...without a love of my own ;)

city till I die :cool:

Blue moon...you saw me standing alone....without a dream in my heart...without a love of my own ;)

city till I die :cool:

Thank fek for that!

Leeds here. I am sure you understand my question LOL

Thank fek for that!

Leeds here. I am sure you understand my question LOL

was gutted for you going down mate...and you're right...anyone else I dont mind...

hate those dirty munich bastards :upyours:

was gutted for you going down mate...and you're right...anyone else I dont mind...

hate those dirty munich bastards :upyours:

*admits cheerfully that I have no idea what you are talking about* :)

was gutted for you going down mate...and you're right...anyone else I dont mind...

hate those dirty munich bastards :upyours:

Nah...we deserved it...played like a bunch of one legged half blind tosspots.

But don't get me started on Ridsdale...

Had to laugh at Manure in the Cup though....nice too see them get cheated for a fucking change.

*admits cheerfully that I have no idea what you are talking about* :)

Well I support Leeds United who got relegated into the 1st division. Beeker supports Manchester City who are still in the Premiership. We both absolutely fucking hate and despise Manchester United (Manure).

There are 4 main leagues in the English game. Premiership, Championship, 1st and then 2nd Division.

There are further leagues below that starting with the Conference League. These leagues are semi pro teams whereas the league is professional for the most part.

If you win (or come in second) your league you get automatically promoted to the next higher league. If you end up at the bottom (or in the bottom 3 or 4) of the league table you get relegated to the lower league or conference.

My club Leeds was relegated from the Championship coz we were shit and finished the season at the bottom of the table.

5/6 years ago we were challanging for the Premiership title and reached the semi finals of the Champions League (a pan european league of all the teams that placed in the top two or three of that nations top league).

Now we are fucked thanks to our chairman at the time who nailed our club with £100 million in debt.

Its a long and painful story.

Oh yeah...forgot...

The Munich reference is with regards to the Munich Aircrash in 1958 when the plane carrying the Manure team crashed killing several of the so-called Busby (Matt Busby the Manure manager) Babes (as they were quite young).

Since then there have been many songs made about it (esp by Leeds fans) regarding this.

English football rivalry is hardcore. I think only the Italians could be considered worse.

Well I support Leeds United who got relegated into the 1st division. Beeker supports Manchester City who are still in the Premiership. We both absolutely fucking hate and despise Manchester United (Manure).

There are 4 main leagues in the English game. Premiership, Championship, 1st and then 2nd Division.

There are further leagues below that starting with the Conference League. These leagues are semi pro teams whereas the league is professional for the most part.

If you win (or come in second) your league you get automatically promoted to the next higher league. If you end up at the bottom (or in the bottom 3 or 4) of the league table you get relegated to the lower league or conference.

My club Leeds was relegated from the Championship coz we were shit and finished the season at the bottom of the table.

5/6 years ago we were challanging for the Premiership title and reached the semi finals of the Champions League (a pan european league of all the teams that placed in the top two or three of that nations top league).

Now we are fucked thanks to our chairman at the time who nailed our club with £100 million in debt.

Its a long and painful story.

Alright, the clouds are parting. :)

Alright, the clouds are parting. :)

You mean it made sense? :eek: LOL

Ok well this thread has involved my two favorite sports baseball and football.

(Notice the American saying football)

Why I love baseball: The anticipation of the pitch like what Iansisle was talking about and also the atmosphere of the stadium. Watching a baseball game at a stadium is wonderful. The other great thing about baseball is that it is the true stat head sport. There are statistics that measure everything from how many hits a guy gets to how many times on average a guy scratches his balls in the 3rd inning with 2 outs and a runner on 1st. Try keeping score one time on TV for a baseball game and see if you enjoy it more, it keeps you more in the game.

Onto football: Liverpool fan. I feel like I should have a less successful team considering I'm a Cubs fan, I feel almost guilty whenever they win and how they are in the Top 4 major clubs but I have 5 years of liking them too much to stop.

Can't wait till Wednesday hope Benitez is smart and puts Gerrard in the center with Alonso.

The fans, the teams, the atmosphere everything. Baseball is one of those things either you like or you don't...

You mean it made sense? :eek: LOL

If you were saying that the teams in Premiership, Championship, 1st and then 2nd Division determine how good your team is than yes. If you are saying that you are pissed that your team is sucking and fell into a crappier league than yes. But than again, I may have totally misread your post and I don't really know what the hell it is I'm saying.

Could go either way I'm sure. :D

If you were saying that the teams in Premiership, Championship, 1st and then 2nd Division determine how good your team is than yes. If you are saying that you are pissed that your team is sucking and fell into a crappier league than yes. But than again, I may have totally misread your post and I don't really know what the hell it is I'm saying.

Could go either way I'm sure. :D

Celery!

I've never seen the appeal of baseball.

I nearly died of boredom, back in highschool, when one of our teachers came back from the US and decided that we should all play softball instead of cricket. Many an objection was raised for perceived similarity to what the girls were playing =)

If held at gunpoint over the issue, I expect that I'd sit through a game of baseball rather than American football. Mostly it would be, I'd tell myself, out of curiosity and a desire to figure out what the heck apparently intelligent people like Iansisle see in it.

I'd have to assume, though, that the appeal is similar to that of cricket -which I do enjoy- but... it surely can't offer as much, hey?

Never quite known why Yanks don't go for cricket. One of the most frequent complaints I've heard against football (the one played with feet, not hands) is the low scoring. Cricket matches include hundreds of runs... tests usually have more than a thousand! And dozens of wickets down!

...granted, teams still frequently draw, after five days and fifteen hundred runs, but that's not the point!



(Also, ha-ha! to Leeds. Best consolation when North End missed the playoffs by a single point... at least those defectors Creswell and Healy got relegated ;) )

(Also, ha-ha! to Leeds. Best consolation when North End missed the playoffs by a single point... at least those defectors Creswell and Healy got relegated ;) )

Healy will be with Rangers in time for the next season :(

The haha....well we are are Leeds and everyone hates us!

The haha....well we are are Leeds and everyone hates us!

I dont hate leeds...only the munichs I despise

I can empathise with leeds...wasn't that long ago that city were in the same boat...in fact...if it wasn't for two late goals against gillingham in the division 2 playoffs then we would probably be still there

I dont hate leeds...only the munichs I despise

I can empathise with leeds...wasn't that long ago that city were in the same boat...in fact...if it wasn't for two late goals against gillingham in the division 2 playoffs then we would probably be still there

Yeah there are a few fans (even Chel$ki!) who would to see us back in the top flight.

I was talking more about new fans, journos and the footy establishment....

Thing that really impressed me about City was the huge crowds you guys pulled when in the lower divisions...I doubt you'd have stayed out of the Prem for that long...

I find baseball exciting because it is suspenseful. You become invested in a team and sit on edge of your seat for every single game. Wondering what the next pitch will bring.

Bloody Gillingham. They beat us in the Div 2 play-offs a few years ago. We won the league next year, though, so I suppose it matters not.

I was always going to be happy with Leeds' relegation... they beat us in the playoffs last time.

As for City... meh, no strong opinions. Thanks for the five mil on Macken, though. If only we'd done more with it.

See, this is much more interesting than baseball =)

More than that, baseball is an intricate sport, where players are required to juggle countless factors on how to respond to a split-second event. Precision and flexibility are key to any play, and striking the right balance between the two is important, as well as embracing the unkowable and random chance.

yeah definatkly baseball is boring to watch but playing its the best!:cool:
GO RED SOX!!(i must say)

Over here soccer is just a stupid kids game. Yet most of the world is obsessed with it. Near as I can tell soccer is like football sans violence and strategy.

American football has tactics? I always though football (Soccer) was a more tactical game. Football(Soccer) have many tactics when it comes to exploiting the weaknesses in the other teams and different formations that may be undertaken. I also think it requires more skill than American Football. I suppose it just depends what game you are brought up following....in the U.K. if we want violent we watch Rugby or Boxing...both are alot more intertesting than American Football. :p

yeah definatkly baseball is boring to watch but playing its the best!:cool:
GO RED SOX!!(i must say)

You can say it all you want. Go Red Sox, Death to the Yankees, etc., etc. :)

American football has tactics? I always though football (Soccer) was a more tactical game. Football(Soccer) have many tactics when it comes to exploiting the weaknesses in the other teams and different formations that may be undertaken. I also think it requires more skill than American Football. I suppose it just depends what game you are brought up following....in the U.K. if we want violent we watch Rugby or Boxing...both are alot more intertesting than American Football. :p

As someone whose been brought up following/playing both, American football is actually way more tactical than real (rest of the worldian) football also is quite tactical.

As for skill, the "skill positions" in American football require as much talent as the players of any other sport, while other positions arguably require more durability and physical strength than talent.

As someone whose been brought up following/playing both, American football is actually way more tactical than real (rest of the worldian) football also is quite tactical.

As for skill, the "skill positions" in American football require as much talent as the players of any other sport, while other positions arguably require more durability and physical strength than talent.

You learn somethin new everyday. I stick to Football(soccer) over American Football anyway, I find American Football boring.

...apparently intelligent people like Iansisle...

Aha! Fooled another one!

I nearly died of boredom, back in highschool, when one of our teachers came back from the US and decided that we should all play softball instead of cricket. Many an objection was raised for perceived similarity to what the girls were playing =)

Well, duh. Everyone knows softball is a game for girls, little kids, and corporate picnics =P

Never quite known why Yanks don't go for cricket. One of the most frequent complaints I've heard against football (the one played with feet, not hands) is the low scoring. Cricket matches include hundreds of runs... tests usually have more than a thousand! And dozens of wickets down!

I've always wanted to like cricket. Like, seriously. I've secretly read online glossaries and mapped out a pitch on graph paper trying to understand it. There was a group of foreign students who used play what I assume was cricket on the common at my university and I'd watch them through binoculars from the student union.

Alas, you really need to watch a game with someone explaining it to you. Here in the states, you can actually find football fairly often. Rugby is almost ubiquitious. Cricket, for whatever reason, is only shown at 3:00am on ESPN 17 and announced in Hindi (well, either that or a particuarly thick Scots accent. I've trouble telling the difference sometimes).

So, here's the deal BG: if you ever end up in San Diego, I'll take you out to see the Padres. I'll buy you a beer, some peanuts, and a hotdog and even a cap (though I might have to make it the old piss-and-poop (http://baseballhalloffame.org/exhibits/online_exhibits/dressed_to_the_nines/images/nl_1978_sandiego.gif) colors from the 70s, just to amuse myself). I'll sit next to you in the stands and explain the infield fly rule and what the first base coach does. I'll even mention that the seventh-inning stretch only exists because president Taft was too fat to sit through nine innings in a row.

In return, you must take me to a cricket match if I ever end up in the UK and explain just what the hell is the deal with...everything. Because I really want to know. I have this sneaking suspcion that I'm a cricket fan and can't realize it.

Heh, deal. Though I'm currently in Australia, and desperate to find some mug who'll marry me so I can stay (alas, prohibitively high standards refuse to depart)... their cricket confuses me because they have this weird idea that you're supposed to be good at it, which, in England, isn't really such a big deal.

The odds are against the commentary being Scottish, since they generally don't know a cricket ball from a haggis. Well, they do play, but their national side gets its backside handed to it by the Anglo-Welsh league teams.

See, that's why cricket's better. You get Scotland vs. Glamorgan one day, and the next thing you know you're watching Namibia fall all over the place. The Netherlands thrashed Scotland in the last world cup, then got obliterated by everyone else. It's fun. You get names like Dr Rudolph Janse van Vuuren, who played cricket and rugby union for his country, because, presumably, everyone else was busy starving and stepping on landmines.

As an aside, I especially enjoyed Family Guy's attempt to make fun from the complicated nature of cricket, in which they threw a few cricketing terms together with absolutely no idea what they were saying. Needless to say, it didn't make any sense.

Well, I'm just making this sound even more complicated... anyway, nice kits. Hum. I'll absolutely refuse to let you get a one-day kit with all the fancy colours and logos and stuff. You can get a white jumper and sit there puzzling over the fact that both teams are wearing white and wondering at the point of wool in a summer-time sport. Along with the rest of us who can't figure it out, either.

Enough rambling, off to get drunk in Fitzroy, again.

I need a job.

Hrm, I'm rapidly losing my "apparently intelligent" qualifications by failing to perform complicated tasks like, you know, checking BG's location, which is awkwardly located directly below his name.

It's also becoming rapidly obvious that I must have faked a great deal of my alleged research into Cricket, as my vague notions failed to turn up any references to a Scottish disinclination to the game. Too busy playing golf, are they? ...maybe I was remembering some of those World Cup games I watched and getting confused.

At any rate, baseball's biggest failing has always been its amerocentrism. That's starting to fall away a little bit, as the teams finally let their major-league property play in an international tournament. I wasn't all *that* surprised to find out that American ball players, even professional ones, aren't without peer. The Japan-Cuba final, which featured a total of what? two? major leaguers was just as exciting baseball as anything I've ever seen in the big leagues. Hopefully Steinbrenner and his ilk won't be able to kill the Classic -- I think it was a big step forward for the sport in general.

Oh, and I promise to use the term kit during my cricket education if you promise not to use it here. It's 'uniform' in American, and especially baseball, lingo and I'd rather not have you torn limb from limb for such a faux pas in the stands. =P

You learn somethin new everyday. I stick to Football(soccer) over American Football anyway, I find American Football boring.

Put that in reverse. How one can watch people kicking a ball up and down a field in no seen structured rules is beyond me. In (American) football you at least can easily tell when one team is doing well or poorly not only by the score but with progress up the field which actually means something unlike in soccer.

Oh yeah...forgot...

The Munich reference is with regards to the Munich Aircrash in 1958 when the plane carrying the Manure team crashed killing several of the so-called Busby (Matt Busby the Manure manager) Babes (as they were quite young).

Since then there have been many songs made about it (esp by Leeds fans) regarding this.

English football rivalry is hardcore. I think only the Italians could be considered worse.

South America I think. There was the Colombian player who got shot by a fan for scoring an own goal or something similar. That's how much it means to them.


Put that in reverse. How one can watch people kicking a ball up and down a field in no seen structured rules is beyond me. In (American) football you at least can easily tell when one team is doing well or poorly not only by the score but with progress up the field which actually means something unlike in soccer.
Major part of the amusement of British sport, it leaves openings for things to be argued about for days by the millions of 'experts' who watch it.

Major part of the amusement of British sport, it leaves openings for things to be argued about for days by the millions of 'experts' who watch it.

I've noticed that. I was also curious why they bother with a clock when they don't really pay close attention to it. When there is some downtime from penalties or injuries or something they just seem to guess with how much time they add back on. I don't know why they don't stop the clock. Would keep things much simpler.

I must admit...football/soccer is my one true love...nothing like it...would love to take everyone of my american NS friends to a real football match...to hear thousands of people singing for their club...there is no atmosphere like it

PLEASE COME GET ME!!! :D

MLS is a sham, and I love my (real) football. I don't have digital cable to get the tape delay games though. I'm a Bundesliga man meself, Bayern to be exact (though I do harbor a love for Miro Klose up at Bremen). World Cup was the last chance I had at decent football.

I do love every sport (US football, football, baseball, hockey [when the Flyers don't blow]) except basketball. Love playing basketball, hate watching other than NCAA. All require strategy and tactics, just different each time.

Cricket? If someone explained the rules fully, I'd love playing it, I bet. :)


Side note: Favorite sport has to be fencing. Gotta love my sabre.

South America I think. There was the Colombian player who got shot by a fan for scoring an own goal or something similar. That's how much it means to them.

Yeah that was during the World Cup in the US...Can't remember the players name but I do remember the incident.

And you are right as well about the South Americans....Bocca Jnrs V River Plate...always an interesting match from what I understand...

Major part of the amusement of British sport, it leaves openings for things to be argued about for days by the millions of 'experts' who watch it.

Oh everyones an expert in the UK ;)

Put that in reverse. How one can watch people kicking a ball up and down a field in no seen structured rules is beyond me. In (American) football you at least can easily tell when one team is doing well or poorly not only by the score but with progress up the field which actually means something unlike in soccer.

Of course you can tell how well a team is doing in football (soccer) other than the score. Possesion and the amount of play in different areas of the pitch tell you how well a team may be doing. And obviously, if you are in your opponents half, you are more likely to score.

Football has alot of structured rules whereas I don't really know if American football does. They just seem to run intro each other all the time. At least in football (soccer) you have the excitement of the fact that the best team doesn't always win....you can beat the best teams if you get your tactics right or do some very funny last ditch defending.

I suppose we'll just have to accept that America will never like soccer as much as its own spin offs. Meanwhile the rest of the world will carry on playing the biggest and most enthralling game on the planet.

I've noticed that. I was also curious why they bother with a clock when they don't really pay close attention to it. When there is some downtime from penalties or injuries or something they just seem to guess with how much time they add back on. I don't know why they don't stop the clock. Would keep things much simpler.

you're missing the point here...thats why football(soccer) is so enjoyable...is that its a flowing game...and why mostly in the UK american football has a low audience...we hate that stop start stop start approach to sport...

there is a big debate at the moment over here about introducing video replays/goal-line technology to counteract dubious refereeing decisions...alot of people think that if there was no room for human error then it would sterilise the sport and give the fans nothing to talk about after the game ;)

Of course you can tell how well a team is doing in football (soccer) other than the score. Possesion and the amount of play in different areas of the pitch tell you how well a team may be doing. And obviously, if you are in your opponents half, you are more likely to score.

Football has alot of structured rules whereas I don't really know if American football does. They just seem to run intro each other all the time. At least in football (soccer) you have the excitement of the fact that the best team doesn't always win....you can beat the best teams if you get your tactics right or do some very funny last ditch defending.

I suppose we'll just have to accept that America will never like soccer as much as its own spin offs. Meanwhile the rest of the world will carry on playing the biggest and most enthralling game on the planet.

American football does have way more structured rules, it's way more structured overall. And the better team does lose pretty often, as they do in most sports. Some of the appeal of real football is that it flows, it's cheaper to play (less equiptment), less violence, while the appeal of American football is the organisation, TV watchability (play stops=time for socializing, replays, analysis, food, beer), and a larger range of realistic scores.

American football does have way more structured rules, it's way more structured overall. And the better team does lose pretty often, as they do in most sports. Some of the appeal of real football is that it flows, it's cheaper to play (less equiptment), less violence, while the appeal of American football is the organisation, TV watchability (play stops=time for socializing, replays, analysis, food, beer), and a larger range of realistic scores.

:confused: If the better team loses most of the time, why are they the better team.....:confused::confused:

:confused: If the better team loses most of the time, why are they the better team.....:confused::confused:

No, not most, as I said, "pretty often", which is an entirely subjective term. In most sports, the better team wins a majority of the time, but the worse team wins "pretty often".

:confused: If the better team loses most of the time, why are they the better team.....:confused::confused:

If they have controlled possession and created the most chances but lost by one goal (taking soccer/football as an example) you can't really say that the best team won the game rather the winners took their opportunities but were lucky not to have lost.

Hopefully thats made it clear.