You just don't understand.
I'm already
on record as saying that soccer is mind-numbingly dull, but then I think basketball is mind-numbingly dull too, so I may not be the best judge. Also, I'm sympathetic to the argument that one's perception of soccer is based on how much one knows about the game -- I am, after all, a big baseball fan, and my reaction to people who say that "baseball is boring" is pretty much the same: "if you took the effort to learn more about it, you'd appreciate it more." I feel the same way about nationalized health care, Dadaism, the Marx Brothers, and stuffed pizza.
That being said, it is still a scientifically proven fact that soccer is mind-numbingly dull.
@George,
You could be right, SoccerGeorge. On the other hand, maybe the Emperor is really just nekkid.
Breaking news from the world of soccer:
http://tinyurl.com/2axrodo
I don't watch collective sports. I like solo sports, and love athletics, i'll watch the olympics anytime.
that said, i wouldn't make fun of those that do or diss it...i mean why? i do confess to watching two games during this world cup. one i truly enjoyed (uruguay-ghana...i rooted for ghana... no good reason), and of course the final one, with my nephew, who's a big fan. that one i didn't enjoy much, in fact found it boring, but so what? i am sure there's plenty of things i am enthusiastic about that would put other people to sleep.
@joefromchicago,
joefromchicago wrote:
I'm already
on record as saying that soccer is mind-numbingly dull, but then I think basketball is mind-numbingly dull too, so I may not be the best judge. Also, I'm sympathetic to the argument that one's perception of soccer is based on how much one knows about the game -- I am, after all, a big baseball fan, and my reaction to people who say that "baseball is boring" is pretty much the same: "if you took the effort to learn more about it, you'd appreciate it more." I feel the same way about nationalized health care, Dadaism, the Marx Brothers, and stuffed pizza.
That being said, it is still a scientifically proven fact that soccer is mind-numbingly dull.
I'd LIKE to be interested in more sports (as long as not thuggish and brutal, which is what I see most forms of football as being) because I think passionately following some sport or other can add a great deal of excitement and interest to one's life. Soccer appears to me (from extremely cursory watching) to be the least brutal of the football games, and American gridiron, or whatever it is called, the most...so if I could bear to watch any football, soccer would likely be my choice.
I agree that the more you know the more you enjoy...which is why swimming and tennis and horse sports are the only ones I can bear to watch....and that very occasionally.
@Region Philbis,
Region Philbis wrote:so i think these are the keys to enjoying a particular sport:
(a) appreciation of the game -- rules, strategy, nuances, having personal experience playing the sport;
(b) knowledge of the players -- their styles of play, personalities, tendencies, ect.
Spot on! The world cup final was the first sporting event that I watched all the way through in about 6 years but I used to be a die-hard sports fan. Now I barely watch sports (mainly because I barely watch TV) and every time I've tried to get back into a sport I loved (like basketball) I had a hard time because I didn't know any of the players anymore.
Right now I know so little about football (American) that I can't enjoy it at all (it'd take getting wasted and making a big bet to make me watch, but I"m not into sports betting), even though back in the mid-90s I watched it almost as religiously as basketball.
I don't think I watched a single game last cup, but this time I watched the highlights from them all and watched the final and one reason I found the final enjoyable was because of how many players it featured that I recognized.
It seems to me that Americans like sports that are finite state
machines. A finite state machine, probably familiar to the software
geeks among us, is a process consisting of a finite number of
well-defined states, with transitions from state to state triggered by
well-defined events.
Baseball, one of America's favorite sports, is a good example. Say
I'm driving along Rt 128 and remember that the Sox are playing. I
turn on the radio and hear that it is the top of the sixth, two outs,
a man on first and a count of 3 and 2 on the batter with the scored
tied at 2 all. This is a well-defined state. Depending on the next
event, say ball 4, the game transitions to a new state.
In (American) football, another of America's favorites, the states are
defined by possession of the ball, downs, and line of scrimmage.
After each transition, the players huddle up and the fans get to
discuss the situation.
Basketball is less rigidly defined, but we have definite transitions
based on scoring and possession. Scoring happens often enough for the
American fan to adjust to the new state. So Basketball, while popular,
is less popular than baseball or football.
Hockey is the least popular of America's four major sports. It's just
too hard to define the states and transitions. Hockey is also the
sport most similar to the free flow of soccer.
Quote:it is the top of the sixth, two outs, a man on first and a count of 3 and 2 on the batter with the scored tied at 2 all.
Just reading that got my heart pounding!
I agree there needs to be a sport for people with no hand-eye coordination, but who the hell would pay to watch it??
@George,
Quote:So Basketball, while popular, is less popular than baseball or football.
I'm not sure if this is true. It wasn't the case for me in childhood, anyway, as the first sport I really latched on to was basketball.
Some quick Googling revealed stats from the U.S. Census Bureau, which reported in 2007 that, of the sports you mentioned, basketball was the most popular sport by participation, ranking just ahead of baseball and leaps and bounds ahead of football (which ranked behind fishing, yoga, volleyball, and darts, among others). I'm still trying to find out what the most popular sports are by spectatorship as well as by merchandise sold...
@Shapeless,
This is really just my own observation.
I have no statistical data at all.
@tsarstepan,
I don't understand that you think this is somehow more boring than US football.
@ossobuco,
The soccer is more boring then Am Football by 5%. It has been scientifically proven by scientists at MIT and Harvard University.
@tsarstepan,
Sounds within the realm of routine error.
@ossobuco,
Stepan is a standard deviant!
I must say that this past week's thrilling games in the Women's World Cup have given me a new appreciation for the sport. I don't know if I've entered into full "fan" status, but the possibility at least exists now.
Another way to say this is that I would like to marry Alex Morgan.
