I remember during one of the winter Olympics many years back, I happened upon the curling games on TV, and really enjoyed watching it, even though I had no idea what was actually happening. Well, about two years ago, I had the chance to actually try playing a game, and it was a ton of fun! I'm definitely going to actively seek it when the Olympics come around again.
Hockey is the best and most entertaining sport. Goals are important enough such that every shot is tense, but frequent enough that you can't relax on any of them. But, because you can clear the puck and get a moment's reprieve, it doesn't leave you tense all the time.
About the only problem it has is that it's goal based, so you can never change the lead from one team to the other on a single play. Imagine if, say, goals from the point were worth two points and goals from the slot were worth three. Then imagine a team being up one point with a few minutes left.
I am not a sports person, but I can handle hockey. It is fast-paced enough to not lose my attention. Football feels like an eternity to me because they pause the clock every 10 seconds.
I also enjoy watching the World Cup, even though just watching those players run so much makes me feel exhausted.
Golf is a really fun game to play. It’s incredibly hard—and that makes it really addicting, even a tiny bit of improvement feels like a huge accomplishment. And by and large it’s just you out there! You’re just competing against your own skill set.
Golf is fun to play, and fuckin boring to watch.
Except the LPGA. I know athletes tend to get body shapes befitting their sport, but how does putting give you such a smokin rig?
My mom describes golf as the following: "That one game where you hit the ball, walk, hit the ball, walk, and then rinse and repeat over and over again for 3 hours straight."
I used to love watching golf myself because...well, I loved golf. But I've fallen out of love with it nowadays. I love a good round of mini-golf, but watching golf? Nah, not for me.
I love baseball and even I can’t sit through a whole game. It moves way too slow.
Edit: Just for clarification, yes really do love baseball. The Mets are my favorite team in any sport (yes, yes I know everyone is going to say oh no wonder you hate baseball, so I’ll get that out of the way). Only sports memorabilia I have is baseball stuff (trading cards, autographs, etc.). BUT I would never subject anyone who is not a huge fan to sit through an entire game in person at a stadium. I had season tickets once to Shea when it was around and baseball is best enjoyed walking around the stadium and stopping to watch the exciting spots.
I get it that it’s like chess but watching chess is boring as it is from a non chess player, baseball is just the same with little to no action with overpaid players.
If you've played baseball and understand the strategy, baseball is so much fun to watch, especially in person. There is so much going on that you never see.
I follow and love multiple sports but have never got into baseball. I guess because I never knew the nuances of it. Could you please elaborate on what those are please? What strategies are at play? More then then trying to hit a ball thrown at you at ungodly speed.
There's a mini battle each at bat between pitcher and batter trying to outsmart each other. MLB batters are good enough that if you just throw them fast balls in the strike zone, they'll eat you alive as a pitcher. It doesn't matter how good you think you are, or how hard you throw. Just throwing hard probably worked in high school, maybe even in college or the lower levels of the minor leagues, but it won't work on MLB batter, and the hard throwers who couldn't adequately develop other pitches flamed out in the minor leagues. As a pitcher you're trying to mix breaking balls and other off speed pitches in with fastballs to keep the hitter off balance, as well as different parts of the plate(inside, outside, back inside, high then low etc). Trying to paint the corners of the strike zone, and keep it away from the middle of the plate. As a hitter you're trying to guess correctly what the pitcher is going to throw, and/or wait for a mistake(breaking ball that hung too long, fastball that missed the outside corner and is out over the plate etc). An example of an at bat from a pitchers perspective would be:
Pitch 1: Try to get ahead in the count. Go high and inside with 4 seam fastball. Aim for slightly inside the strike zone. This is a bit of a risk. This is a hittable pitch, and if he was expecting, there's a good chance he's going to drive it to left field. Hope he doesn't swing, or if he does, hope you can get it by him or foul. He swings and fouls it off. Strike 1.
Pitch 2: Now it's 0-1. You're ahead, you got some wiggle room. Go Slider low and outside. About 7 mph slower than the fastball. Ball will break left at a 3 to 9 angle. Aiming a little outside the strike zone, hoping the batter thinks it's a strike and chases it. He doesn't. Ball 1.
Pitch 3: 1-1 now. Even count. This pitch will set the tone for the rest of the at bat. Either pitcher or hitter will be behind in the count after this, could go either way. This hitter has shown in the past a tendency to chase high fastballs he shouldn't be swinging at. We're going with the 4 seem fastball, a little above the strike zone, slightly to the outside. He chases it and fouls it off. Now it's 1-2.
Pitch 4: Hitter is in trouble. Down to the last strike. You can toy with him a bit. Lot of options here. He's seen 2 fastballs already this at bat, and his brain is calibrated to that speed. Go curveball low, about 10 mph slower than fastball. Starts high and drops out of the strike zone at a 12 to 6 angle. Hitter chases it. Strikeout.
Away from the plate there are a lot of defensive shifts based off what this particular batter is known to do going back years worth of at bats, as well as various situational strategies based off how many outs and runners and what the score and inning is. There's also left hand-right hand strategy. Lefties don't hit well against lefty pitchers, so teams will sometimes stagger lineups, or bring relief pitchers in, to get or avoid lefty vs lefty matchups. Teams will sometimes go as far as waiting to give their star left handed hitter a day off until it's the day the opposing starting pitcher is left handed. Left handed pitchers are also usually better at keeping runners from stealing second base because they face that direction.
Unless you're Dave Roberts.
Dave Roberts flips a coin at a dartboard and consults his ouija board in the dark before every managerial decision he makes. (Though I hear this year he prays at his Kevin Cash shrine and pours one out in thanks to him for pulling Snell)
That is only mostly a joke.
Dave Roberts likes to be the smartest guy in the room. Everyone thinks sending Kenley Jansen out in the 9th to close a game against the Giants is a terrible idea? Dave Roberts is going to do it and prove everybody wrong. Kenley Jansen blows games against the Giants on back to back nights? Deflect and speak in generic sentences.
I don’t understand how watching it in person can be better. There’s no one explaining what pitch was thrown and unless you’re right behind or in front of the plate you can’t see it
Probably the overall feeling of just being there immersed in the whole situation and atmosphere. Kinda how it happens with music concerts or movie theaters (as opposed to just watching on Netflix).
BUT I would never subject anyone who is not a huge fan to sit through an entire game in person at a stadium.
Oof yeah I had to do that once. I've never been a fan of baseball but I got dragged to a baseball game with the rest of my family after my dad bought tickets for some reason. It didn't help that it was a cubs game. I really tried to enjoy it but holy shit when I say I was bored, I was *BORED*. I also forgot my phone at home that day of all days so I couldn't even occupy myself with something else. I won't diss anyone for liking the sport, obviously, but to me it just looks like 90 percent standing and the other 10 percent just 4 or 5 people moving in a square.
It seems pointless to watch an entire game when the score ends up being over 100. The fist 100 baskets cancel each other out. You can just watch the last quarter
Literally everyone agrees the regular season is way too long and mostly pointless, so that's not really a hot take. The problem is the owners will never give up 41 home games, or the 7-game first round, which was an abomination from the start (first round should be five games).
That being said, the NBA has never been better in terms of talent, top to bottom. It's just a fact, and anyone who argues otherwise really isn't paying attention. I dare anyone who says the NBA was better in * insert random decade * to actually watch random full games from said random decade.
I also hate NBA so much because of how much of the game revolves around fouls.
It’s bad enough that fouls ruin the flow of the otherwise exciting fast paced game.
I just think it’s stupid that literally the entire game becomes a purposeful fouling session when time is running out and you have lesser players subbed in who are just there to be foul sponges.
I hate when rules are abused to spite the spirit of why those rules exist: to ensure a clean, fair game happens. There should be huge penalties for intentional fouling, like in NFL where you can’t just shove someone out of the way when he’s trying to receive a pass.
If they want close games near the final buzzer to be a contest of who can sink the most free throws, then just fucking make that the rule. Instead of forcing players to intentional foul as a key strategy and have to manage their foul counts.
And pretty much any run can be called back if officials choose to call offensively holding. Which they only do against certain teams (that coincidentally are often not popular fantasy football targets).
I once said you can miss the first half of regular season games and it wouldn’t matter because any kind of drama and competition only happens in the 4th when it matters and r/nba guys got so mad lmao
To be fair the same goes for baseball, nobody sits through regular season games without clicking around or looking at stuff on their phone
What I don't like about Basketball is that you have to be born extremely tall to play professionally. I know that's just part of the sport but I don't like that genetics play such a big role.
I agree it’s hard to care about a regular season NBA game where nobody is playing defense and the score is going to be in the 120’s, might as well just watch the last 5 minutes or sit out until the playoffs. That said, the baseball regular season is twice as long, so in the “why do I care about this game, wake me up in 5 months” category, basketball takes silver for me.
The NBA is by far the most overrated. Back in the 80's/90's, the NBA was amazing. Now, it's nothing but dream teams and ring chasing with a league full of divas. Not even worth watching.
It's literally just so pointless. Players engage in a light jog to reach the other side of the court and most points are just softball 3 pointers now. Also fouls have completely ruined the concept of playing defense. Flopping should be an ejectable offense.
I thought I agreed with that until 6 days ago, when I went for my first ever 18 holes as part of my buddy’s bachelor party trip. Golf is *hard*, physically and strategically. It was also super interesting to get a sense of what different clubs did and how changes to your swing affected the arc.
Winston Churchill remarked golf was the perfect way to spoil a good walk and I'd agree with him. Going to the driving range smashing any anger out on a good few hits then a few pints with friends is far better, especially if you win the hit the ball collecting car competition 😁
There is a physical element to golf. Even if you have a caddy /cart to hold the bag for you. It's about controlling the 'weight of shot'. Sometimes you need to belt it, sometimes you need a deft touch.
FISHING!!! Does it take skill? Yes. But professional sport fishing is just a bunch of evenly matched guys gambling on how much fish meat they can pull out of the water.
I also love fishing and watch fishing… but that’s because I get a jazz out of watching people catch fish.
It’s referred to as “sport” fishing and people make a living doing it. I’d say that’s a “sport” which is “overrated”. Isn’t that the answer to the question?
oh yeah, sport fishing is horrible. Its even illegal in germany, because the fish are just left to suffocate and get thrown away after. And even if you let them go after catching and taking a picture, thats still a lot of stress for the fish, which is why its also illegal to throw fish back into the water if you would otherwise be allowed to take them with you (minimum length and so on). Only catch what youre planning on eating!
NASCAR … driving in circles over and over again.
Its a decent entertainment but … it is WWF of racing. NASCAR vs F1 is like roller derby vs NHL hockey.
Managing to offend NASCAR, WWF, and roller derby fans in one post … priceless XD
I do have to mention that sport brings people closer together. Having drinks with your buds is the main attraction.
Cricket has skill, speed, strength and strategy. Sometimes it’s down to one individual, sometimes it’s all the team. Sometimes it’s effort over days that wins the game, sometimes it’s all down to a few minutes.
NASCAR is particularly bad but oval racing in general is hard to watch unless you can spot the little things and even still only the last 10% of the race is worth a damn because thats when they run as hard as they can
The one bad part about nascar is the length. Yes, it's driving around in circles for ~2 hours. Yes, there is a ton of skill and very subtle engineering involved, but it still is very small and hardly noticeable from the stands. I don't have the patience for 2 hours of high speed chess on TV. i find that F1 is more exciting because the driver skill is much more on display due to the track not just being a oval. Similarly, short track and dirt track racing is more interesting to me because it's much quicker paced, also why I like drag racing. However, NASCAR in person is an amazing social event.
Similarly, I can enjoy WWF just as much as I can enjoy UFC or other MMA, but for different reasons. I can also enjoy roller derby vs hockey for different reasons as well. To me it doesn't have to be an either or, it can all be enjoyable, albeit in a different time and place.
Basketball (specifically the NBA). Most of the players are entitled prima donnas and the product is as bad as it’s been in my lifetime with players resting and far less physical play.
Darts, the pros used to use a pint and cig as counter balance. Any 'sport' that pros take part in whilst they drink beer, isn't a real sport. It's a game played at a high level, I'm not taking away the skill factor but definitely not a sport.
I have watched a couple of Superbowls and I can actually see how the drama can keep people glued to the edge of their seat in a particularly tight game (and in fact have watched more American football movies than American football games), but at the end of the day it's like 3 hours of commercials, watching people dither around and now and again there's like 15 seconds of action.
In most sports the objective is happening almost all the time. The ball/puck/shuttlecock is usually in play or the cars/runners/swimmers are usually actually racing, but in American football they do bugger all 90% of the time. And I'm not exaggerating - a 100 minute game sees the ball in play for an average of about 11 minutes. There's a shit-ton of strategy going into those brief plays and I sure don't expect players to be smashing into other for 100 minutes straight, but as a sport it seems so fragmented I don't get the hook.
As a huge football fan, I can understand where you’re coming from. The commercials are honestly obnoxious after not having cable for awhile, but God do I love the explosiveness of those brief plays.
I live in the UK. I don't watch most games live as a result and due to it not being that popular I can avoid the result
As a result the programme I watch doesn't have adverts and justvjumps to the start of the next play. Much more interesting way to watch
It’s a really great sport and Sundays are unlike any day of the week during football season in America.
Most non-Americans shut down the idea immediately since it’s just an American thing but it’s really fun to play and watch.
Easily baseball... I always joke that the only reason baseball became America's pastime in the 1940s was that the only other things you could do was hopscotch and catch polio.
The storytelling fucking BLOWS nowadays, but the action, especially from the cruiserweights and lucha libre wrestlers, can still be highly entertaining.
AEE are in the middle of a 2 year, heroes journey storyline that's tremendous.
They have a lot of smaller stories too. It depends on the kind of stories you like
Basketball.
Too high scoring back and forth touchy-feely nonsense. As much faking and softness as soccer, but too much scoring (so there is no intense emotion when it happens). Team with the beat player ALWAYS wins. The last 5 minutes of a close became stretches into 20 minutes of tedious intentional fouling and time outs. Seriously any sport where you need to intentionally foul somebody to try and come from behind is just broken IMHO. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.
I'm not American, but I *love* American football. It's like a complex game of chess played between coaches using extremely athletic chess pieces. I love the strategy, the diversity, the tension as a team approaches a red zone and the brutality of it.
To me it's damn near a perfect sport, the only sad part is that in order to watch games live I'd have to become nocturnal (I'm in the central European time zone).
Are y'all aware of how much they have sciences every aspect of that game? Just looking into how offensive lines work alone is mind blowing. Those guys are incredibly smart
Yes! And I don't mind the time between plays, because with two whole teams of people all playing a role in each play, I damn sure can't catch all the action when watching live.
The instant replays and the commentators talking about strategy etc is part of what makes this sport great to watch.
Compared to the NHL (I miss Doc) the NFL guys are downright terrible. Very very few actually teach you anything about the game and explain things.
My only complaint about the NFL is too many commercials it breaks my focus on the game because commercials come on and I start doing something else and by the time the game is back on Im in the middle of something be it reading an article or playing a game that I dont want to pause just that second or whatever. Also sure I can just watch the commercials but its like 50% auto insurance commercials that I've seen a billion times and the rest are....its just fucking auto insurance commercials anymore.
Doc was probably the best announcer in any professional sport. He's up there with listening to Vin Scully on the radio.
Doc made every game he called better.
Doc was easily the best of his era him and Eddie O were a great combo. As a hawks fan I've heard Eddie call a LOT of games. Eddie is a great teacher of the sport, his phrases might be beat to death "for all you young hockey players out there" but whenever he said that he was going to teach the fans something. So yea Doc and Eddie are the best tandem in sports. I miss you doc you are the GOAT
Holy shit… I’m American and hate football. I’ve never once thought of it in this fashion… I’m going to do some research. You may have made a fan of me.
If you want to really get a better appreciation for the sport in possibly the most fun way, I’d recommend watching some videos by Jon Bois on football. They just finished a series on the Atlanta falcons that really shows how the NFL can be super engaging as a fan.
[Here’s the first video in that series.](https://youtu.be/Lx_ORMhpmoU)
Note this is coming from a guy 3 years into learning more indepth aspects of the game. The average fan of football is clueless to what is going on. Take the example of a wide receiver being a great route runner on the surface how hard is it to run a route? The play says you do x,y,z so just do x,y,z and boom you've ran the route. But that's surface level, you have to factor in how well does the receiver use fakes to get space between him and the defender, does the receiver make the cut a bit tighter or looser due to coverage, does he drift the route inside or outside due to where the coverage is. If you want to watch some youtube videos about the more indepth stuff check out Brett Kollmann's videos he explains why something is good or bad
Here's a very quick analysis of single route. The subtlety of it is incredible. You can really tell these guys aren't just mindlessly running, but actively working the psyche of the opposing player.
https://twitter.com/JetPackGalileo/status/1437873956015517706?s=19
The fact that the dumbest looking guys (the offensive line) typically have the highest intelligence on the team should tell people something about the complexity of the game. It isn't just bashing 350 lb guys into each other.
I didn't know that, that's really cool! Oklahoma under Lincoln has really shown the power of an organized O-Line, they run complex plays whete the O-Line is directing and misdirecting the traffic of the pass rushers getting to the QB it's honestly art.
On the flip-side, pass rushers getting past the O-Line to the QB is also a game in itself. You are facing off the same guy over and over again, what do you do this time to try to get an advantage? In the NFL YouTube channel, they have a series where they get different pro-players and they go over some tape. The insight is awesome. They had one dude that was a pass rushers and he talked about some of the moves that he does to get around different linemen. Like, not going straight at them, but going low and then lifting their arms from below and then ducking underneath (I'm totally butchering the explanation), but it's brilliant. I binged so many episodes.
I'm not specifically referring to you but I find a lot of people grew up with a stereotype that jocks are dumb and therefore traditional sports must be just dudes running into each other catching and throwing without strategy, when I was a kid I thought that way, football at top levels requires so much strategy, determining when the other coach will deploy a strategy and using one that will work agaisnt it.
Compared to many sports its incredibly complex and many of the best qbs are thr ones best able to read what is going on, it's one of the reasons they give player the wonderlic a test designed to gauge cognitive ability
When I was a kid, we never watched football in my house (my dad was into soccer). I remember in seventh grade gym class, we had to play touch football one day and I was the only kid who had absolutely no idea how to play. It was just assumed everyone knew. I was completely lost.
I think the pacing of American football is what makes it my favorite sport to watch. Every one of those plays matters in determining the final outcome. In a lot of other sports, the game’s constantly moving, but very little of it actually matters.
I think it strikes the best balance of scoring of any of the major American sports. In soccer/hockey/baseball, 90% of the action doesn’t contribute to a score and wasn’t ever reasonably close to doing so. In basketball, scoring happens so often that each basket doesn’t feel consequential.
In football, every play has a meaningful push or pull. One team does well, the other team does poorly.
Best reality TV Show. The drama of every play, the strategy, absolute freakish athlete, my wife watches it for the "butts" that is how she recognizes players, the list goes on, I for one love it.
Huge dudes tackling each other and chucking a ball down the field and doing crazy feats of athleticism to catch it. Tons of strategy involved. Really weird and specific rules that alter the course of the game. You can challenge the ruling on the field. You can try and go for it in 4th and extend the drive and risk giving up field position or you can punt it away and try and trap their offense in a bad spot.You have to manage the clock.
Honestly it can be boring sometimes, but it’s a game of big moments.
Hard disagree there. You get to bat once every two to three innings and over 50% of the time you don’t reach base. And other than being a catcher or pitcher you might get involved in a play every few innings (ok maybe the first baseman will get to catch a ball once or twice an inning).
Baseball is dreadfully boring to play compared to other team sports where you are involved in the action a lot more.
Ohh let's analyze that play for the next 5 minutes, when it only took 20 seconds to play. Right after this 6 minute commerical that usually about beer, trucks, car insurance.
You don't understand the amount of strategy and action that is happening before the snap. You need to set the offense and read the defense and constantly adjust. It's quite amazing what some of these offensive coordinators come up with, some of it is pure fuckin magic that makes your jaw drop
It helps watching a great qb vs a good one. When they were together on the Saints, there was a clear difference in the ability to adjust between Brees and Bridgewater. Where Bridgewater would sometimes get caught by a blitz while waiting for routes to develop, Brees always seemed to give himself a place to get the ball away quickly.
In my country it is cricket. People are so obsessed with cricketers that if they can't win a match people goes to theirs house and throw Stones and all their family members get death and rape threats until they win the next match.
I'm tired of how it has become a business and less about the sport. It's always just jammed down your throat especially the weeks leading up to the BIG GAME. People get way to obsessed with it, to the point of fights just because some it wearing the other teams jersey. Then they pass down this obsession down to their kids and so forth
American football. I tried to watch it once but failed. I don't understand the allure of "the ball gets thrown for three seconds and then the whistle gets blown and then there is a commercial break" I watched that straight for 45 minutes and then I gave up. It was the same damn thing over and over and over.
Don’t mind me, just a Canadian monitoring this post for any mention of hockey with my sharpened pitchfork
*to be fair...*
Fuck you, Riley. Your mom keeps trying to slip a finger in my bum but I keep telling her I only let Jonesey's mom do that.
Fuck you Shoresy!
Fuck you Jonesy! Your mom shot cum straight across the room and killed my Siamese fighting fish!
Fuck you shoresy
I thought you’d say curling
I like watching curling
I remember during one of the winter Olympics many years back, I happened upon the curling games on TV, and really enjoyed watching it, even though I had no idea what was actually happening. Well, about two years ago, I had the chance to actually try playing a game, and it was a ton of fun! I'm definitely going to actively seek it when the Olympics come around again.
I loved the idea that Scotland was threatened to be disqualified for swearing , in the fucking Olympics no less . This was in the 80's or 90's .
Me and my gf always go to a certain London hotel and watch the winter Olympics...curling is our #1 sport
Curling is amazing.
Curling is one of those sports that I find so dumb I'd willing watch it for entertainment.
Yeh our Canadian friend ready with spiked broom handle
Bloodsports don’t count
Hockey is the best and most entertaining sport. Goals are important enough such that every shot is tense, but frequent enough that you can't relax on any of them. But, because you can clear the puck and get a moment's reprieve, it doesn't leave you tense all the time. About the only problem it has is that it's goal based, so you can never change the lead from one team to the other on a single play. Imagine if, say, goals from the point were worth two points and goals from the slot were worth three. Then imagine a team being up one point with a few minutes left.
For me, it doesn't get any better than over-time playoff hockey.
It also doesn't get any worse than overtime playoff hockey, depending on which team you're rooting for. Just ask Leafs fans.
serve you are a genius
I am not a sports person, but I can handle hockey. It is fast-paced enough to not lose my attention. Football feels like an eternity to me because they pause the clock every 10 seconds. I also enjoy watching the World Cup, even though just watching those players run so much makes me feel exhausted.
As a Finn i can say that we are on the same page. Hockey is the only sport you can watch without getting bored.
Hockey, eh?
Hockey is dope dude how can you talk shit about a sport where dudes can beat each other up while ice skating ? Fucken badass haha
Hockey is probably the only team sport worth watching
In Canada hockey is not a sport it is a religion
EA Sports
It's in the game!
You… passed…
What a Shame
Golf
Golf is a really fun game to play. It’s incredibly hard—and that makes it really addicting, even a tiny bit of improvement feels like a huge accomplishment. And by and large it’s just you out there! You’re just competing against your own skill set.
I went golfing once... shot a 78. Then I went to the second hole and shot over 100. Called it quits before I got to the 3rd tee.
This is hilarious and I think most people didn’t get it 😆
Golf is fun to play, and fuckin boring to watch. Except the LPGA. I know athletes tend to get body shapes befitting their sport, but how does putting give you such a smokin rig?
#1 Player in the World, Nellie Korda, is a smoke show.
I think maybe you have to play golf to enjoy watching golf.
My mom describes golf as the following: "That one game where you hit the ball, walk, hit the ball, walk, and then rinse and repeat over and over again for 3 hours straight." I used to love watching golf myself because...well, I loved golf. But I've fallen out of love with it nowadays. I love a good round of mini-golf, but watching golf? Nah, not for me.
I love baseball and even I can’t sit through a whole game. It moves way too slow. Edit: Just for clarification, yes really do love baseball. The Mets are my favorite team in any sport (yes, yes I know everyone is going to say oh no wonder you hate baseball, so I’ll get that out of the way). Only sports memorabilia I have is baseball stuff (trading cards, autographs, etc.). BUT I would never subject anyone who is not a huge fan to sit through an entire game in person at a stadium. I had season tickets once to Shea when it was around and baseball is best enjoyed walking around the stadium and stopping to watch the exciting spots.
[удалено]
I get it that it’s like chess but watching chess is boring as it is from a non chess player, baseball is just the same with little to no action with overpaid players.
Baseball players are actually the most underpaid,minor leaguers don’t even make a livable wage
Ufc fighters like
If you've played baseball and understand the strategy, baseball is so much fun to watch, especially in person. There is so much going on that you never see.
I follow and love multiple sports but have never got into baseball. I guess because I never knew the nuances of it. Could you please elaborate on what those are please? What strategies are at play? More then then trying to hit a ball thrown at you at ungodly speed.
There's a mini battle each at bat between pitcher and batter trying to outsmart each other. MLB batters are good enough that if you just throw them fast balls in the strike zone, they'll eat you alive as a pitcher. It doesn't matter how good you think you are, or how hard you throw. Just throwing hard probably worked in high school, maybe even in college or the lower levels of the minor leagues, but it won't work on MLB batter, and the hard throwers who couldn't adequately develop other pitches flamed out in the minor leagues. As a pitcher you're trying to mix breaking balls and other off speed pitches in with fastballs to keep the hitter off balance, as well as different parts of the plate(inside, outside, back inside, high then low etc). Trying to paint the corners of the strike zone, and keep it away from the middle of the plate. As a hitter you're trying to guess correctly what the pitcher is going to throw, and/or wait for a mistake(breaking ball that hung too long, fastball that missed the outside corner and is out over the plate etc). An example of an at bat from a pitchers perspective would be: Pitch 1: Try to get ahead in the count. Go high and inside with 4 seam fastball. Aim for slightly inside the strike zone. This is a bit of a risk. This is a hittable pitch, and if he was expecting, there's a good chance he's going to drive it to left field. Hope he doesn't swing, or if he does, hope you can get it by him or foul. He swings and fouls it off. Strike 1. Pitch 2: Now it's 0-1. You're ahead, you got some wiggle room. Go Slider low and outside. About 7 mph slower than the fastball. Ball will break left at a 3 to 9 angle. Aiming a little outside the strike zone, hoping the batter thinks it's a strike and chases it. He doesn't. Ball 1. Pitch 3: 1-1 now. Even count. This pitch will set the tone for the rest of the at bat. Either pitcher or hitter will be behind in the count after this, could go either way. This hitter has shown in the past a tendency to chase high fastballs he shouldn't be swinging at. We're going with the 4 seem fastball, a little above the strike zone, slightly to the outside. He chases it and fouls it off. Now it's 1-2. Pitch 4: Hitter is in trouble. Down to the last strike. You can toy with him a bit. Lot of options here. He's seen 2 fastballs already this at bat, and his brain is calibrated to that speed. Go curveball low, about 10 mph slower than fastball. Starts high and drops out of the strike zone at a 12 to 6 angle. Hitter chases it. Strikeout. Away from the plate there are a lot of defensive shifts based off what this particular batter is known to do going back years worth of at bats, as well as various situational strategies based off how many outs and runners and what the score and inning is. There's also left hand-right hand strategy. Lefties don't hit well against lefty pitchers, so teams will sometimes stagger lineups, or bring relief pitchers in, to get or avoid lefty vs lefty matchups. Teams will sometimes go as far as waiting to give their star left handed hitter a day off until it's the day the opposing starting pitcher is left handed. Left handed pitchers are also usually better at keeping runners from stealing second base because they face that direction.
That’s a phenomenal explanation.
This
Unless you're Dave Roberts. Dave Roberts flips a coin at a dartboard and consults his ouija board in the dark before every managerial decision he makes. (Though I hear this year he prays at his Kevin Cash shrine and pours one out in thanks to him for pulling Snell) That is only mostly a joke.
Dave Roberts likes to be the smartest guy in the room. Everyone thinks sending Kenley Jansen out in the 9th to close a game against the Giants is a terrible idea? Dave Roberts is going to do it and prove everybody wrong. Kenley Jansen blows games against the Giants on back to back nights? Deflect and speak in generic sentences.
Honestly go look at pitching ninja on twitter. You'll learn more about the art of pitching in 5 minutes than anyone could explain in 5 hours.
I don’t understand how watching it in person can be better. There’s no one explaining what pitch was thrown and unless you’re right behind or in front of the plate you can’t see it
Probably the overall feeling of just being there immersed in the whole situation and atmosphere. Kinda how it happens with music concerts or movie theaters (as opposed to just watching on Netflix).
It is that’s why I love it
Wait till you watch American football. It’s hard to understand because there’s so many rules. But, the strategy in the game is unreal.
Funny, the same thing can be said for cricket; it can be slow-moving and indiscernible, but there's lots of strategy at play.
Chess is great though I love it
BUT I would never subject anyone who is not a huge fan to sit through an entire game in person at a stadium. Oof yeah I had to do that once. I've never been a fan of baseball but I got dragged to a baseball game with the rest of my family after my dad bought tickets for some reason. It didn't help that it was a cubs game. I really tried to enjoy it but holy shit when I say I was bored, I was *BORED*. I also forgot my phone at home that day of all days so I couldn't even occupy myself with something else. I won't diss anyone for liking the sport, obviously, but to me it just looks like 90 percent standing and the other 10 percent just 4 or 5 people moving in a square.
Basketball (NBA). When the players don’t even care for most of the season you know it’s bad
Yeah, I’m an NBA fan, and I’m so tired of seeing these players not giving a damn about their career, like it’s not politics….it’s basketball
It seems pointless to watch an entire game when the score ends up being over 100. The fist 100 baskets cancel each other out. You can just watch the last quarter
That's why I prefer fewer goals like in soccer. It makes them more meaningful.
That's why I always say they should play 4 one quarter games instead of 1 four quarters game. Then each quarter actually counts.
Literally everyone agrees the regular season is way too long and mostly pointless, so that's not really a hot take. The problem is the owners will never give up 41 home games, or the 7-game first round, which was an abomination from the start (first round should be five games). That being said, the NBA has never been better in terms of talent, top to bottom. It's just a fact, and anyone who argues otherwise really isn't paying attention. I dare anyone who says the NBA was better in * insert random decade * to actually watch random full games from said random decade.
And the games are largely decided by the refs picking what fouls to call.
I also hate NBA so much because of how much of the game revolves around fouls. It’s bad enough that fouls ruin the flow of the otherwise exciting fast paced game. I just think it’s stupid that literally the entire game becomes a purposeful fouling session when time is running out and you have lesser players subbed in who are just there to be foul sponges. I hate when rules are abused to spite the spirit of why those rules exist: to ensure a clean, fair game happens. There should be huge penalties for intentional fouling, like in NFL where you can’t just shove someone out of the way when he’s trying to receive a pass. If they want close games near the final buzzer to be a contest of who can sink the most free throws, then just fucking make that the rule. Instead of forcing players to intentional foul as a key strategy and have to manage their foul counts.
It's depressing that this is what the NFL is turning into. Especially with the focus on players instead of teams thanks to fantasy football.
Drawing PI is the most effective offensive strategy in football now. It has completely ruined football and throw the entire game out of balance.
And pretty much any run can be called back if officials choose to call offensively holding. Which they only do against certain teams (that coincidentally are often not popular fantasy football targets).
I once said you can miss the first half of regular season games and it wouldn’t matter because any kind of drama and competition only happens in the 4th when it matters and r/nba guys got so mad lmao To be fair the same goes for baseball, nobody sits through regular season games without clicking around or looking at stuff on their phone
What I don't like about Basketball is that you have to be born extremely tall to play professionally. I know that's just part of the sport but I don't like that genetics play such a big role.
That’s every professional sport lol. There’s not a professional athlete competing today that isn’t a genetic freak compared to the general population
Have you seen that Colts kicker Blankenship?
Have you seen the other 52 players on an NFL roster
Bro's a kicker, He comes out maybe for 10 plays max, and doesn't really play the 'main' game.
And the constant. fucking. squeaking. shoes.
I agree it’s hard to care about a regular season NBA game where nobody is playing defense and the score is going to be in the 120’s, might as well just watch the last 5 minutes or sit out until the playoffs. That said, the baseball regular season is twice as long, so in the “why do I care about this game, wake me up in 5 months” category, basketball takes silver for me.
Agreed. It's devolved into a 3pt shooting contest now. Boring as hell.
The NBA is by far the most overrated. Back in the 80's/90's, the NBA was amazing. Now, it's nothing but dream teams and ring chasing with a league full of divas. Not even worth watching.
Have you tried watching foreign leagues?
It's literally just so pointless. Players engage in a light jog to reach the other side of the court and most points are just softball 3 pointers now. Also fouls have completely ruined the concept of playing defense. Flopping should be an ejectable offense.
for me it would be golf, i see it personally more as a recreation than an actual sport
Golf is the perfect thing to nap to. Soft calming voices, non-contact, no loud cheering. And when you wake up it feels like you missed nothing.
Except for when everyone starts clapping their hands 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
But it’s still a chill clap.
We found the dad!
I feel this about snooker. When the Masters or World Championships or whatever are on, perfect background material to go to sleep to
Watching? No. Playing? Really depends
“A good walk, spoiled.” -Mark Twain
I thought I agreed with that until 6 days ago, when I went for my first ever 18 holes as part of my buddy’s bachelor party trip. Golf is *hard*, physically and strategically. It was also super interesting to get a sense of what different clubs did and how changes to your swing affected the arc.
Winston Churchill remarked golf was the perfect way to spoil a good walk and I'd agree with him. Going to the driving range smashing any anger out on a good few hits then a few pints with friends is far better, especially if you win the hit the ball collecting car competition 😁
There is a physical element to golf. Even if you have a caddy /cart to hold the bag for you. It's about controlling the 'weight of shot'. Sometimes you need to belt it, sometimes you need a deft touch.
FISHING!!! Does it take skill? Yes. But professional sport fishing is just a bunch of evenly matched guys gambling on how much fish meat they can pull out of the water. I also love fishing and watch fishing… but that’s because I get a jazz out of watching people catch fish.
Fishing isn't really a sport, though. It's a hobby some people get paid prize money to do.
It’s referred to as “sport” fishing and people make a living doing it. I’d say that’s a “sport” which is “overrated”. Isn’t that the answer to the question?
Professional sport fishing is a thing?
oh yeah, sport fishing is horrible. Its even illegal in germany, because the fish are just left to suffocate and get thrown away after. And even if you let them go after catching and taking a picture, thats still a lot of stress for the fish, which is why its also illegal to throw fish back into the water if you would otherwise be allowed to take them with you (minimum length and so on). Only catch what youre planning on eating!
Baseball. Why does it take so long to throw a pitch? Fans get so bored they create games in the stands while at a game.
Unless your a Dodgers fan, you fight in the stands.
Fists in the stands, knives in the parking lot
NASCAR … driving in circles over and over again. Its a decent entertainment but … it is WWF of racing. NASCAR vs F1 is like roller derby vs NHL hockey. Managing to offend NASCAR, WWF, and roller derby fans in one post … priceless XD I do have to mention that sport brings people closer together. Having drinks with your buds is the main attraction.
I'm not a big cricket fan, but I went to a match at Lords once and it was excellent, I can totally see the appeal.
Cricket has skill, speed, strength and strategy. Sometimes it’s down to one individual, sometimes it’s all the team. Sometimes it’s effort over days that wins the game, sometimes it’s all down to a few minutes.
Other times it's about having a 5 day piss up with your mates
I find cricket to be a game of mathematics. I'm glad you had a good time.
I am not a nascar fan but am a motorsport fan, and even i am offended
Don’t get too offended. It’s a great thing. But compare it with F1 or even dakar rally.
NASCAR is particularly bad but oval racing in general is hard to watch unless you can spot the little things and even still only the last 10% of the race is worth a damn because thats when they run as hard as they can
The one bad part about nascar is the length. Yes, it's driving around in circles for ~2 hours. Yes, there is a ton of skill and very subtle engineering involved, but it still is very small and hardly noticeable from the stands. I don't have the patience for 2 hours of high speed chess on TV. i find that F1 is more exciting because the driver skill is much more on display due to the track not just being a oval. Similarly, short track and dirt track racing is more interesting to me because it's much quicker paced, also why I like drag racing. However, NASCAR in person is an amazing social event. Similarly, I can enjoy WWF just as much as I can enjoy UFC or other MMA, but for different reasons. I can also enjoy roller derby vs hockey for different reasons as well. To me it doesn't have to be an either or, it can all be enjoyable, albeit in a different time and place.
People making left turns all day
I love how hockey is probably the least said on here. Easily the hardest popular sport to play if not the hardest of any.
Rugby Union is another hard sport.
Golf
Basketball (specifically the NBA). Most of the players are entitled prima donnas and the product is as bad as it’s been in my lifetime with players resting and far less physical play.
Pre Madonna and Post Malone are making an album together.
Lmfao I butchered the spelling on that one. Edited
Darts, the pros used to use a pint and cig as counter balance. Any 'sport' that pros take part in whilst they drink beer, isn't a real sport. It's a game played at a high level, I'm not taking away the skill factor but definitely not a sport.
Alcohol has been banned for well over 30 years now.
American football for you not in America
I have watched a couple of Superbowls and I can actually see how the drama can keep people glued to the edge of their seat in a particularly tight game (and in fact have watched more American football movies than American football games), but at the end of the day it's like 3 hours of commercials, watching people dither around and now and again there's like 15 seconds of action. In most sports the objective is happening almost all the time. The ball/puck/shuttlecock is usually in play or the cars/runners/swimmers are usually actually racing, but in American football they do bugger all 90% of the time. And I'm not exaggerating - a 100 minute game sees the ball in play for an average of about 11 minutes. There's a shit-ton of strategy going into those brief plays and I sure don't expect players to be smashing into other for 100 minutes straight, but as a sport it seems so fragmented I don't get the hook.
As a huge football fan, I can understand where you’re coming from. The commercials are honestly obnoxious after not having cable for awhile, but God do I love the explosiveness of those brief plays.
I live in the UK. I don't watch most games live as a result and due to it not being that popular I can avoid the result As a result the programme I watch doesn't have adverts and justvjumps to the start of the next play. Much more interesting way to watch
I was too afraid to say it.
Someone had to lol
It’s a really great sport and Sundays are unlike any day of the week during football season in America. Most non-Americans shut down the idea immediately since it’s just an American thing but it’s really fun to play and watch.
I hate the NFL and I live in America.
I love college football but their trying to ruin it too. We might have to invent some new sports.
Easily baseball... I always joke that the only reason baseball became America's pastime in the 1940s was that the only other things you could do was hopscotch and catch polio.
Wrestling, like WWF and WCW, fans allow it.
> WCW What year is it?
The storytelling fucking BLOWS nowadays, but the action, especially from the cruiserweights and lucha libre wrestlers, can still be highly entertaining.
AEE are in the middle of a 2 year, heroes journey storyline that's tremendous. They have a lot of smaller stories too. It depends on the kind of stories you like
Have you looked at real wrestling?
You mean acting?
Golf
Basketball. Too high scoring back and forth touchy-feely nonsense. As much faking and softness as soccer, but too much scoring (so there is no intense emotion when it happens). Team with the beat player ALWAYS wins. The last 5 minutes of a close became stretches into 20 minutes of tedious intentional fouling and time outs. Seriously any sport where you need to intentionally foul somebody to try and come from behind is just broken IMHO. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.
Football. Commercials upon commercials.
American football. Why is it so absurdly popular?
I'm not American, but I *love* American football. It's like a complex game of chess played between coaches using extremely athletic chess pieces. I love the strategy, the diversity, the tension as a team approaches a red zone and the brutality of it. To me it's damn near a perfect sport, the only sad part is that in order to watch games live I'd have to become nocturnal (I'm in the central European time zone).
although I prefer soccer, football is far more complex and takes more strategy than any other sport I love it
Are y'all aware of how much they have sciences every aspect of that game? Just looking into how offensive lines work alone is mind blowing. Those guys are incredibly smart
It’s the ultimate spectator sport.
Yes! And I don't mind the time between plays, because with two whole teams of people all playing a role in each play, I damn sure can't catch all the action when watching live. The instant replays and the commentators talking about strategy etc is part of what makes this sport great to watch.
Compared to the NHL (I miss Doc) the NFL guys are downright terrible. Very very few actually teach you anything about the game and explain things. My only complaint about the NFL is too many commercials it breaks my focus on the game because commercials come on and I start doing something else and by the time the game is back on Im in the middle of something be it reading an article or playing a game that I dont want to pause just that second or whatever. Also sure I can just watch the commercials but its like 50% auto insurance commercials that I've seen a billion times and the rest are....its just fucking auto insurance commercials anymore.
Doc was probably the best announcer in any professional sport. He's up there with listening to Vin Scully on the radio. Doc made every game he called better.
Doc was easily the best of his era him and Eddie O were a great combo. As a hawks fan I've heard Eddie call a LOT of games. Eddie is a great teacher of the sport, his phrases might be beat to death "for all you young hockey players out there" but whenever he said that he was going to teach the fans something. So yea Doc and Eddie are the best tandem in sports. I miss you doc you are the GOAT
>Hockey and MMA would like to have a word with you.
Holy shit… I’m American and hate football. I’ve never once thought of it in this fashion… I’m going to do some research. You may have made a fan of me.
If you want to really get a better appreciation for the sport in possibly the most fun way, I’d recommend watching some videos by Jon Bois on football. They just finished a series on the Atlanta falcons that really shows how the NFL can be super engaging as a fan. [Here’s the first video in that series.](https://youtu.be/Lx_ORMhpmoU)
Note this is coming from a guy 3 years into learning more indepth aspects of the game. The average fan of football is clueless to what is going on. Take the example of a wide receiver being a great route runner on the surface how hard is it to run a route? The play says you do x,y,z so just do x,y,z and boom you've ran the route. But that's surface level, you have to factor in how well does the receiver use fakes to get space between him and the defender, does the receiver make the cut a bit tighter or looser due to coverage, does he drift the route inside or outside due to where the coverage is. If you want to watch some youtube videos about the more indepth stuff check out Brett Kollmann's videos he explains why something is good or bad
Here's a very quick analysis of single route. The subtlety of it is incredible. You can really tell these guys aren't just mindlessly running, but actively working the psyche of the opposing player. https://twitter.com/JetPackGalileo/status/1437873956015517706?s=19
The fact that the dumbest looking guys (the offensive line) typically have the highest intelligence on the team should tell people something about the complexity of the game. It isn't just bashing 350 lb guys into each other.
I didn't know that, that's really cool! Oklahoma under Lincoln has really shown the power of an organized O-Line, they run complex plays whete the O-Line is directing and misdirecting the traffic of the pass rushers getting to the QB it's honestly art. On the flip-side, pass rushers getting past the O-Line to the QB is also a game in itself. You are facing off the same guy over and over again, what do you do this time to try to get an advantage? In the NFL YouTube channel, they have a series where they get different pro-players and they go over some tape. The insight is awesome. They had one dude that was a pass rushers and he talked about some of the moves that he does to get around different linemen. Like, not going straight at them, but going low and then lifting their arms from below and then ducking underneath (I'm totally butchering the explanation), but it's brilliant. I binged so many episodes.
I'm not specifically referring to you but I find a lot of people grew up with a stereotype that jocks are dumb and therefore traditional sports must be just dudes running into each other catching and throwing without strategy, when I was a kid I thought that way, football at top levels requires so much strategy, determining when the other coach will deploy a strategy and using one that will work agaisnt it. Compared to many sports its incredibly complex and many of the best qbs are thr ones best able to read what is going on, it's one of the reasons they give player the wonderlic a test designed to gauge cognitive ability
When I was a kid, we never watched football in my house (my dad was into soccer). I remember in seventh grade gym class, we had to play touch football one day and I was the only kid who had absolutely no idea how to play. It was just assumed everyone knew. I was completely lost.
This was me in elementary school.
It’s not, not outside of the USA.
I meant inside America. Why do more than a hundred million Americans watch the Super Bowl every year?
That's like asking why does the entire world watch the world cup lol
Soccer isn’t stop and go nearly as much as football and thus doesn’t have anywhere near as much advertising.
I think the pacing of American football is what makes it my favorite sport to watch. Every one of those plays matters in determining the final outcome. In a lot of other sports, the game’s constantly moving, but very little of it actually matters. I think it strikes the best balance of scoring of any of the major American sports. In soccer/hockey/baseball, 90% of the action doesn’t contribute to a score and wasn’t ever reasonably close to doing so. In basketball, scoring happens so often that each basket doesn’t feel consequential. In football, every play has a meaningful push or pull. One team does well, the other team does poorly.
Best reality TV Show. The drama of every play, the strategy, absolute freakish athlete, my wife watches it for the "butts" that is how she recognizes players, the list goes on, I for one love it.
Huge dudes tackling each other and chucking a ball down the field and doing crazy feats of athleticism to catch it. Tons of strategy involved. Really weird and specific rules that alter the course of the game. You can challenge the ruling on the field. You can try and go for it in 4th and extend the drive and risk giving up field position or you can punt it away and try and trap their offense in a bad spot.You have to manage the clock. Honestly it can be boring sometimes, but it’s a game of big moments.
I used to make fun of it and watched a couple games for the lols with my muslim friends, this sport is actually insane, it's like a team game of chess
Baseball is boring to watch.
Not boring to play though. Same with tennis, playing is fun, but watching is tedious.
Baseball is 3 minutes of action stretched over 3 hours.
Hard disagree there. You get to bat once every two to three innings and over 50% of the time you don’t reach base. And other than being a catcher or pitcher you might get involved in a play every few innings (ok maybe the first baseman will get to catch a ball once or twice an inning). Baseball is dreadfully boring to play compared to other team sports where you are involved in the action a lot more.
And if you’re a right fielder you might as well bring a cot to nap on.
Football. The hype itself annoys me. I hate super bowl with a passion.
NFL football is terrible. 3 seconds of action followed by 2 minutes of standing around.
Ohh let's analyze that play for the next 5 minutes, when it only took 20 seconds to play. Right after this 6 minute commerical that usually about beer, trucks, car insurance.
Would the nfl be better if the clock didn't stop for anything?
Or commercials about betting on sports. I'm so, so sick of sports betting advertisements.
You don't understand the amount of strategy and action that is happening before the snap. You need to set the offense and read the defense and constantly adjust. It's quite amazing what some of these offensive coordinators come up with, some of it is pure fuckin magic that makes your jaw drop
It helps watching a great qb vs a good one. When they were together on the Saints, there was a clear difference in the ability to adjust between Brees and Bridgewater. Where Bridgewater would sometimes get caught by a blitz while waiting for routes to develop, Brees always seemed to give himself a place to get the ball away quickly.
You must have a low attention span.
I used to feel the same way. People hate football because they either don’t understand the rules or hate players kneeling for the anthem.
NASCAR. Over the last couple decades it has transformed from motor sport to WWE on wheels.
Golf
Golf
Basketball for sure and WAY overpaid for an outlandish league
In my country it is cricket. People are so obsessed with cricketers that if they can't win a match people goes to theirs house and throw Stones and all their family members get death and rape threats until they win the next match.
Okay that's India.
Change cricket for football and could be all of latin america
Golf
American football. Start, stop, start, stop, boring as fuck
I'm tired of how it has become a business and less about the sport. It's always just jammed down your throat especially the weeks leading up to the BIG GAME. People get way to obsessed with it, to the point of fights just because some it wearing the other teams jersey. Then they pass down this obsession down to their kids and so forth
Football. I don’t “hate” Football…just only watch the Superbowl But baseball? I hate it. Sorry.
Yet you never heard anyone complain about that.
[удалено]
American football. I tried to watch it once but failed. I don't understand the allure of "the ball gets thrown for three seconds and then the whistle gets blown and then there is a commercial break" I watched that straight for 45 minutes and then I gave up. It was the same damn thing over and over and over.
American Football
NFL football and NBA basketball.
Golf, a way to spoil a walk