NationStates Jolt Archive

I was going to ask this Question on the Baseball thread because I couldn't be arsed writing a new topic but hey...thought it would be interesting to make a poll.

It's mainly directed at Americans but feel free to join in...just wondering what your favourite national sport is...in fact...what I want to know and hopefully glean from this poll is which sport is more popular in the US...Baseball or American Football?

Im going to include a few more Sports including my fave...thats real football...as in...a ball...played with a foot...so if you want that option it will be under Football...not...as I hate the word...Soccer *spits* ;)

Football doenst means a ball played WITH A foot...

In ancient england the distiction was made between games played ON foot...and those played on top of a horse. Football was thus born as a game played on foot...obviously a sport for lower people and villians...

I long for jousting tournaments...

Extreme Sneezing isnt on the list?
Pfft.

Football doenst means a ball played WITH A foot...

In ancient england the distiction was made between games played ON foot...and those played on top of a horse. Football was thus born as a game played on foot...obviously a sport for lower people and villians...

I long for jousting tournaments...


Thanks Santiago...very interesting fact...and its not often I learn something new on here...That little information titbit was worth posting this thread alone ;)

Thanks Santiago...very interesting fact...and its not often I learn something new on here...That little information titbit was worth posting this thread alone ;)

The first forms of football were so brutal and vicious that would made rugby players look like wilderness girls. And sometimes it involved grabbing the ball...but since the one that was STUPID enough to grab the ball was usually pwned, players prefere to kick it.

Pool? Shinty? Tiddlywinks?

Formula One.

The first forms of football were so brutal and vicious that would made rugby players look like wilderness girls. And sometimes it involved grabbing the ball...but since the one that was STUPID enough to grab the ball was usually pwned, players prefere to kick it.

Yeah im sure that's true when it comes to the games origins as a sport, all I know is that it was originally thought to have been invented in the 10th century when a group of Englishmen dug up the skull of a Dane and started kicking it around in frustration and yes you are right about the picking the ball up bit...that form still exists today in Ireland.

Formula One.

Oh shit yeah sorry...forgot any type of Motor Racing DOH!

Yeah im sure that's true when it comes to the games origins as a sport, all I know is that it was originally thought to have been invented in the 10th century when a group of Englishmen dug up the skull of a Dane and started kicking it around in frustration and yes you are right about the picking the ball up bit...that form still exists today in Ireland.

HEhehe...how fun.... if you ask in scotland they will tell you football started with scotish kicking an english skull...

I dont know how much we should believe this skull story.

This kind of games on foot were common all over europe, in Italy they still play a very primal version of football, but it was the english the first ones to set rules for the game, same as boxing.

HEhehe...how fun.... if you ask in scotland they will tell you football started with scotish kicking an english skull...

I dont know how much we should believe this skull story.

This kind of games on foot were common all over europe, in Italy they still play a very primal version of football, but it was the english the first ones to set rules for the game, same as boxing.

Indeed...Queensberry rules...another obvious sport I forgot to put on my poll haha

Out of all the poll options, I'm going to have to say Baseball. It has a strategy and excitement that most non fans don't understand. Hit and run, run and hit, safety and suicide squeezes, sacrifice plays, stealing bases, bunting, shifts, pitch selection and location, holding runners, picking runners off, strike em out/throw em out, intentional walks, pitch-outs, etc.

Maybe.... but I still fall asleep between batting turns in the world series...

so....


BORING!

Maybe.... but I still fall asleep between batting turns in the world series...

so....


BORING!

Between innings of the World Series is the time to go to the bathroom, get a beer, order a pizza (and hope it comes during another commercial), etc. Multi-task, dammit! :p

American football? Is there another kind worth mentioning?

(yes, yes, I know all about soccer and how it's the greatest game in the history of everything and how God Himself plays it. It's just a joke. Spare me the Euro-indignation)

Baseball is, IMHO, the perfect sport. Football is #2.

football is my favourite sport
rugby is my 2nd( we lost today in the semi finals )

American football? Is there another kind worth mentioning?

(yes, yes, I know all about soccer and how it's the greatest game in the history of everything and how God Himself plays it. It's just a joke. Spare me the Euro-indignation)

quite honestly the american version and the original bore me.

NFL football is boring. Baseball is fun. Soccer is interesting to watch every once in a while, but not every game. Ice hocky is boring, but..... THAT'S IT! YOU MISSED BROOMBALL! GREATEST GAME EVER!!!

Where is the soccer option and why is football listed twice?

/feigned ignorance

Cricket, and not that truncated, commercialised, bastardised shite peddled to the unsophisticated and heathen American masses, but test cricket, and it's 4 day first class equivalent.

Beyond that, only Union and Football really. Apropos football, actually; am I the only person who just felt obliged to laugh at John Terry and Didier Drogba on wednesday?:D

woo one vote for rugby!!:cool:

edit: union, of course

No Australian Rules. That's a tad insensitive given how many Australians post here (third after yanks and poms, I believe).

So, that option not available to me, I have voted for cricket.

Where is the soccer option and why is football listed twice?

/feigned ignorance

I just realised: Australian rules is the option listed as "football". And yeah, it's odd they left soccer out.

Im going to include a few more Sports including my fave...thats real football...as in...a ball...played with a foot...so if you want that option it will be under Football...not...as I hate the word...Soccer *spits* ;)

Oh no! People abbreviate the term Association Football, lets all get angry about it because we own the term football and nobody else should be allowed to use it!

Hockey is faster and tougher than whatever you got. Rugby is a close second, but probably only because I'm Canadian and I know where my loyalties lie. I can't respect soccer players for the most part.

Internet Hearts.

Edit: Seriously, soccer/football... "favorite" in the sense that it is the one I hate least. I could actually bear to watch the World Cup, but I've never seen the Superbowl in my life.

ok most boring sport is soccer.for 1 it's too easy to play.Trust me I know.This 1 time I was playing it.I wasn't even trying and I was still doing very well.I love baseball but it's too long.I've never played rugby so I can't have an opinion on it.Though I hear it's fun.You left out lacrosse though that's not considered a mainstream sport.

Cricket. The old-fashioned sort which goes for five days.

Why? Because it's so boring.

I'm quite serious. The outcome of a sports game doesn't matter a toss, and I just can't get excited about any of them unless I'm actually playing. A nice long game of cricket makes me feel a lot less guilty about how much of my life goes to waste.

I'd probably watch Golf, too, if they didn't try to make it more interesting by switching between holes/players all the time. It would be pleasant to just follow a player around the 18 holes, doing pretty much nothing 98% of the time. I could cover my eyes for the other 2%, that gut-wrenching moment of fate when club meets ball and the card is blown to hell by a body of water some idiot has left on the course.

I don't mean to insult either game. I hope someone knows what I'm talking about.

I absolutely love cricket (and I live in Canada!). I dream of playing first-class, I'm a very defensive batsman. I still enjoy all the other forms of cricket though.

My second favourite sport would probably be either Football or Rugby Union. I've always wanted to try Aussie Rules Football, as well.

Baseball is boring, American Football is kinda pathetic (15 minute quarters with 30s between plays? pffft) and I never really liked hockey.

And soccer is easy? Yeah right, maybe if you play with 4 year olds or fat kids. Soccer requires some serious skill.

Though I hear it's fun.

It looks like fun. Providing you like the idea of huge muscular guys wrestling you to the ground and humping your leg. :eek:

Im going to include a few more Sports including my fave...thats real football...as in...a ball...played with a foot...so if you want that option it will be under Football...not...as I hate the word...Soccer *spits* ;)

You use a foot to punt...

I absolutely love cricket (and I live in Canada!). I dream of playing first-class, I'm a very defensive batsman. I still enjoy all the other forms of cricket though.

Go for it. It's much easier to be competitive in a game few people play in your country. :)

I've always wanted to try Aussie Rules Football, as well.

I feel like I should like Aussie Rules, being an Aussie and not liking Rugby.

But it's too much like Fußball. Take your eyes off the screen for five seconds, someone bloody scores. It's just too random.

Yeah, I'm going for cricket. I'm on my school team, a club, and I plan to go to university in England so I can play for a club.

I like the kicking in Aussie rules. I'm good at kicking a ball :p

You use a foot to punt...

Pathetic. Football is the game where you are forbidden to use the hands. The next best way to control the ball is the feet ... and while the head, chest, knee etc are used, it's overwhelmingly played with the FOOT.

Europeans also play a game called "handball." Guess what that involves ?

Pathetic. Football is the game where you are forbidden to use the hands. The next best way to control the ball is the feet ... and while the head, chest, knee etc are used, it's overwhelmingly played with the FOOT.

Europeans also play a game called "handball." Guess what that involves ?

Masturbation?

Pathetic. Football is the game where you are forbidden to use the hands. The next best way to control the ball is the feet ... and while the head, chest, knee etc are used, it's overwhelmingly played with the FOOT.

Europeans also play a game called "handball." Guess what that involves ?


You tell him Nobo ;)

do any of you even play soccer do you even play the mex stated first astecs or mayas something like that not the gods ha ha ha

do any of you even play soccer do you even play the mex stated first astecs or mayas something like that not the gods ha ha ha

I have no idea what you just said? :confused:

I have no idea what you just said? :confused:

I think they were saying that the Aztecs or Mayans created football.

Coming from an american i will say ice hocky followed by rugby followed by american football

It looks like fun. Providing you like the idea of huge muscular guys wrestling you to the ground and humping your leg. :eek:

And they have hookers in the team. :eek:

I love baseball, but there's no question that watching it televised can be a bit dull. Playing it is a rush. Football is the more popular sport in the U.S. (to answer the OP's question) in terms of t.v. viewership. Soccer is basically a children's game here.

Where the hell is Free Running?

Where the hell is Free Running?

Off on its own somewhere?

Never seen so many boring sports in one thread. Sorry. I just can't understand american's tasty for sports. I mean, no soccer? Come on.....:rolleyes:

Oh are you guys also calling soccer football? If so football.

*snip* I'd probably watch Golf, too, if they didn't try to make it more interesting by switching between holes/players all the time. It would be pleasant to just follow a player around the 18 holes, doing pretty much nothing 98% of the time. I could cover my eyes for the other 2%, that gut-wrenching moment of fate when club meets ball and the card is blown to hell by a body of water some idiot has left on the course.

I don't mean to insult either game. I hope someone knows what I'm talking about.

I'd probably watch that, too. And I see a spinoff..."World's Worst Golf Cart Drivers".

...I feel like I should like Aussie Rules, being an Aussie and not liking Rugby.

But it's too much like Fußball. Take your eyes off the screen for five seconds, someone bloody scores. It's just too random.

Of the football codes (association, union, league, American and Australian), the ball moves faster by far in Australian Rules compared with the others. That is, in the course of a full game, the ball moves many more kilometres in Australian Rules than in would in the others. This means that television, restricted as it is by its focus on individual players, struggles to show the tactics that are apparent if you are at the ground.

IMHO, it is the most spectacular sport to watch from a stadium. The scale of the strategies are apparent and the speed and skills are breathtaking, especially the high speed tackles and collisions.

Another cause of its apparent randomness is the fine distinctions made by umpires when awarding free kicks. Was the tackle legal? Did the ball-holder dispose of the ball correctly? Sometimes the decisions seem utterly arbitrary, even to the lifelong fans.

Fußball! http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/Gol.jpg

Never seen so many boring sports in one thread. Sorry. I just can't understand american's tasty for sports. I mean, no soccer? Come on.....:rolleyes:

Oh are you guys also calling soccer football? If so football.

Soccer's exciting? Since when? :p

Also, I had hoped this was a thread celebrating Huey Lewis. Oh well.

Dang do I have to pick only one??

I love College Basketball, Major League Baseball, Superbowl Football, and the Thrashers and Predators!! Oh and I can even watch golf, tennis, and cycling on occassion. Horseracing is sweet too.

It would be easier for me to say what I don't like....soccer. :p

And they have hookers in the team. :eek:

And a Loose Head. :eek:

(plenty more jokes there if someone wants to make another one)

As much as I'm a brit, and a Rugby fan, i had to vote for American football as, there is a very good reason why they wear so much padding, having played a short stint as a quaterback in my short time in uni, i learnt just how violent the game is!

If/when i go back to uni its certainly a game I'd like to get back into and at least once in my life I want to travel to the USofA to see at least one Superbowl.

Dang do I have to pick only one??

I love College Basketball, Major League Baseball, Superbowl Football, and the Thrashers and Predators!! Oh and I can even watch golf, tennis, and cycling on occassion. Horseracing is sweet too.

It would be easier for me to say what I don't like....soccer. :p

Glad to see you're supporting the Thrash and the Preds. Southern Hockey needs all the help it can get these days.

1. American Football. I played it for years and loved every minute. It certainly is something you have to understand though. I can see why Europeans who have access to nothing but the Super Bowl have little interest.

2. Baseball. The other sport I played. There is nothing better in ANY sport than the rush you get with a game-winning homerun. I regularly DH'ed and LIVED for that moment.

3. Hockey. Living outside of Pittsburgh, the Penguins have been my team since birth.

I just don't really get soccer. I hate ties, I hate pussy men who flop and flail all over the pitch to get a call only to get up and run full speed the next minute, I think it's weird that you can't use your hands, I didn't like the soccer players in highschool. Still, the World Cup is quite a spectical, and I did watch the matches from time to time. England entertains me. Easy team to root for.

1. American Football. I played it for years and loved every minute. It certainly is something you have to understand though. I can see why Europeans who have access to nothing but the Super Bowl have little interest.
.

Being a Brit, and having played it, its the the fiddly rules that i love. Other than being able to get away with nasty tackles that are considered 'legal', running 20 yards to get the first down award after your on the 5th feels awesome, even if the tackle made you feel small.

Its a game where you know every yard you can make counts, especially if you can keep the forward momentum up :)

I just don't really get soccer. I hate ties, I hate pussy men who flop and flail all over the pitch to get a call only to get up and run full speed the next minute

That's a bad thing about the game, yes. Hard to see how to avoid it, though, without just permitting violence.

==========

[...] the ball moves faster by far in Australian Rules compared with the others. [...] This means that television, restricted as it is by its focus on individual players, struggles to show the tactics that are apparent if you are at the ground.

IMHO, it is the most spectacular sport to watch from a stadium. The scale of the strategies are apparent and the speed and skills are breathtaking, especially the high speed tackles and collisions.

You've convinced me. Sometime that I have money and a friend who can explain the game to me, I'll go along to a match.

THAT'S IT! YOU MISSED BROOMBALL! GREATEST GAME EVER!!!
BU student by any chance?


1. Ice hockey. Combines high level of team play, constant flow of action, and goals that actually mean something. Baseball fails on points one and two, football on point two, and basketball on point three.
2. Football. The only real problem I have is that the game is very stunted...every play is entirely discrete...ball snaps, play begins. Whistle blows, play ends. Beyond that, love it.
3. Lacrosse/rugby...don't get to watch them often, but love them
4. basketball

very bottom, baseball. There has never been a more boring sport created. It focuses too heavily upon individual talent, is incredibly halted, and lacks any level of action. By and large, very dull, slow, annoying sport that all of my roommates love and force me to watch on a regular basis.

Football, there's no close second.

American football, followed by soccer.

Aussie Rules Footy.

Go Pies! (http://collingwoodfc.com.au/)

*snip*

Europeans also play a game called "handball." Guess what that involves ?

Masturbation?

Winner! :D

Pathetic. Football is the game where you are forbidden to use the hands. The next best way to control the ball is the feet ... and while the head, chest, knee etc are used, it's overwhelmingly played with the FOOT.

Europeans also play a game called "handball." Guess what that involves ?

The british also play a game called "cricket", it involves surprisingly few small chirping insects...

very bottom, baseball. There has never been a more boring sport created. It focuses too heavily upon individual talent, is incredibly halted, and lacks any level of action. By and large, very dull, slow, annoying sport that all of my roommates love and force me to watch on a regular basis.

It's almost like cricket then. Hardly surprising ...

The british also play a game called "cricket", it involves surprisingly few small chirping insects...

God help me, I actually like Dave the Cricket. :headbang:

EDIT: On the remote offchance you actually meant that as a serious rebuttal: the name "cricket" isn't claimed by other sports. Why rename it, when no confusion is likely with its homograph*, the chirping insect?

Sure, we'll consider changing it when competitive grasshopper-stomping hits the big time.

* My new word for the day. Ain't it great?

Being a Brit, and having played it, its the the fiddly rules that i love. Other than being able to get away with nasty tackles that are considered 'legal', running 20 yards to get the first down award after your on the 5th feels awesome, even if the tackle made you feel small.

Its a game where you know every yard you can make counts, especially if you can keep the forward momentum up :)


You do mean running 10 yards for the first down after you are on the 4th down, right?

My university was the national champ in Aussie Rules footy in the USA this year... go SJU Yankaroos!!! (And all the Australians in this thread groan...)

Anyway, I do agree that (American) football is a sport that you have to see and know the rules of, and in some cases play, to actually understand how tough it is. I voted for it because it's really a great game to watch when you know what's going on, and it has a wonderful mix of individual talent and team dynamics.

Go Vikings!!! Adrian Peterson's gonna run all over the NFL this year. Too bad I won't be in the country to see it.

My university was the national champ in Aussie Rules footy in the USA this year... go SJU Yankaroos!!! (And all the Australians in this thread groan...)

I thought you'd hear that. Over here, buildings shook and bits of bark fell off the trees.

Anyway, I do agree that (American) football is a sport that you have to see and know the rules of, and in some cases play, to actually understand how tough it is. I voted for it because it's really a great game to watch when you know what's going on, and it has a wonderful mix of individual talent and team dynamics.

Go Vikings!!! Adrian Peterson's gonna run all over the NFL this year. Too bad I won't be in the country to see it.

yeah the pads make American football more painful all the players use them as weapons. what hurts more a shoulder in your groin or a big unyielding piece of plastic in your groin? Even more so since the person shoving it in your groin has pads and doesn't feel anything.

God help me, I actually like Dave the Cricket. :headbang:

EDIT: On the remote offchance you actually meant that as a serious rebuttal: the name "cricket" isn't claimed by other sports. Why rename it, when no confusion is likely with its homograph*, the chirping insect?

Sure, we'll consider changing it when competitive grasshopper-stomping hits the big time.

* My new word for the day. Ain't it great?

I'm not usely very serious with any of my posts :p

The point I failed horribly at making, is that this problem shouldn't exist. English is messed up, lots of terms don't make sense, so much so that having something called "football" where feet are hardly used is an extremely tame example. If you need to clarify which one you're talking about it's easy enough to just use it's full name and depending on the country the person you're talking to is from (although in my experience Australian Association Football fans tend to screw that up) you can usually guess which one they're talking about.

Which rugby? League or Union

Aussie Rules Footy.

Go Pies! (http://collingwoodfc.com.au/)

Cripes. You blokes didn't just beat the reigning premiers, you spiflicated them!

But we fixed you.

Go Hawks.

motorsport

You do mean running 10 yards for the first down after you are on the 4th down, right?

Sorry, :p got a liuttle arried away.. i meant running 20 yards on the 4th (I know 10 gets you the down but I managed 20 before being smashed to the ground..)

Its so long since I played the game :(

I actually have different preferences based on listening and playing. Most sports can be interesting if you play them but a more select bunch are actually enjoyable to watch. In some ways this is related to your depth of understanding of it.

I enjoy watching football but don't play it any more. I play badminton and (field) hockey but they are rarely shown on TV. One-day cricket can be good to watch, but test matches get dull unless you're near the end of the day/series. I like watching rugby but was never the right build to play it to a high level. I like playing table tennis when I get the chance, but watching it is intolerable as it is too fast to perceive.

Which rugby? League or Union

I'm guessing it's a catch all phrase for both of them. Either that or Union.

As for me, rugby (Union). Also got quite fond of American football once I learned what was going on half the time although I'm still not a big fan of all the ad breaks (which I realise is a problem caused by how the game is broacast rather than the sport itself). I recently started watching Aussie rules as well which looks interesting if only I could get someone to explain the rules.

Also got quite fond of American football once I learned what was going on half the time although I'm still not a big fan of all the ad breaks (which I realise is a problem caused by how the game is broacast rather than the sport itself).

I've also found it annoying how televised football (soccer) games now begin the game based on when the broadcaster decides it's ready, not when the referee decides.

The british also play a game called "cricket", it involves surprisingly few small chirping insects...

Harbajhan Singh?

yeah the pads make American football more painful all the players use them as weapons. what hurts more a shoulder in your groin or a big unyielding piece of plastic in your groin? Even more so since the person shoving it in your groin has pads and doesn't feel anything.

This is an endless argument the response being, what hurts more, a straight body contact or a big unyielding bit of plastic hitting another bit of big unyielding plastic. But it's really pointless, even by NSG standards.

It's almost like cricket then. Hardly surprising ...

Given what little I know of cricket, it may be the one sport that would outrank baseball on the scale of "god I want to slit my wrist instead of watching this"

Ice hockey, i'm Canadian, it's the sport i grew up watching.

I used to watch baseball too, but i slowly lost interest about two years ago. I used to watch football as a kid, both NFL and CFL but i grew out of it. I watched Tennis for years, until Andre Agassi retired. Now the only sports i watch other than hockey are the Olympics.

yeah the pads make American football more painful all the players use them as weapons. what hurts more a shoulder in your groin or a big unyielding piece of plastic in your groin? Even more so since the person shoving it in your groin has pads and doesn't feel anything.

I always though that the padding was nessicary simply because of the ferocity of the tackles in American football. Having played oth, dump tackles in rugby hurt, but certainly not as much as being dumped to the ground by two players in American football...

My ultimate dream would be for the European AF league teams to become good enough to actually compete with NFL teams so that we could have a true world champion declared at the superbowl...

I don't mean that to belittle the Superbowl in anyway, the reason the team that lifts the trophy are the world champs is quite simply because no other countries teams (outside of the USofA) could put up a decent game..

I recently started watching Aussie rules as well which looks interesting if only I could get someone to explain the rules.

Don't try to understand the rules for Ariel Ping Pong, I have watched many games and sometimes one thing happens and a free kick is given two minutes later same thing happens no free kick, it's a mess. Not to mention the governing body is screwing with the rules, despite protest from the Rules commission, the players, the coaches and the fans, there are so many bullshit rules (push in the back, interchange, holding the ball) that has a very thin line on if these rules have been broken.

Of the football codes (association, union, league, American and Australian), the ball moves faster by far in Australian Rules compared with the others. That is, in the course of a full game, the ball moves many more kilometres in Australian Rules than in would in the others. This means that television, restricted as it is by its focus on individual players, struggles to show the tactics that are apparent if you are at the ground.

IMHO, it is the most spectacular sport to watch from a stadium. The scale of the strategies are apparent and the speed and skills are breathtaking, especially the high speed tackles and collisions.

Another cause of its apparent randomness is the fine distinctions made by umpires when awarding free kicks. Was the tackle legal? Did the ball-holder dispose of the ball correctly? Sometimes the decisions seem utterly arbitrary, even to the lifelong fans.

So true.

I like playing table tennis when I get the chance, but watching it is intolerable as it is too fast to perceive.

Table tennis is a great game for when you are drunk. It's funny without being dangerous.

=============

I recently started watching Aussie rules as well which looks interesting if only I could get someone to explain the rules.

The best explanation I've heard is "what rules?"

Table tennis is a great game for when you are drunk. It's funny without being dangerous.

So is beer pong...

So is beer pong...

I'm not going to Google that. Do tell!

Go Vikings!!! Adrian Peterson's gonna run all over the NFL this year. Too bad I won't be in the country to see it.

Pfff..Vikings. They're too busy with hookers out on Lake Minnetonka to be bothered with actually playing. I give AP one more year(if that)before he realises that if he ever wants to see a Super Bowl, he's going to have to go to a team that actually knows how to play football(preferably Green Bay).

And speaking of The Pack, even without the greatest quarterback in the NFL who's recently retired, they're still going to stomp a mudhole in the Vikings and then walk it dry.