Worlds #1 Sport?

[Igor]

Soccer/Football.

 

 

 

-End Thread Here-

 

 

 

:lol:

[Dracion1]

I'd say football (the one you yanks call soccer) is the most popular worldwide. I'd go so far to say that for the really big and popular games, you could easily have 1 Billion people watching.

 

 

 

As for watching, I don't really have a favourite.

[ididnotlol]

personally, I dont find any sport intresting to watch, I get bored of it too quickly and think to myself I'd be better off getting the exercise playing the sport rather than watching it.

 

 

 

The by far I'd say the most fun sport to take part is football/soccer, as it requires teamwork and tactics, I myself am a reletivly good defender (apart from that 1 own goal I accidentally scored friday...).

 

 

 

I think the least entertaining sport is prehaps cricket, you have to be quite as it is considered a "gentlemans sport", as a player you'll spend the majority of the time waiting to play than actually playing, overall its like watching paint dry, except worse becuase you have to be quite whilst doing so.

 

 

 

Edit: Actually, I do like watching and playing 1 sport, Its fun and im good at it too, its grifball (halo 3 players with live will understand...)

[Pan_Nx]

Most popular is soccer/football.

 

 

 

My favorite sport to play is soccer. My favorite to watch is college basketball.

[Ginger_Warrior]

I'd say football (the one you yanks call soccer) is the most popular worldwide. I'd go so far to say that for the really big and popular games, you could easily have 1 Billion people watching.

 

More people watch the Superbowl every year than the World Cup final every four. Hell, they even have massive official NFL parties all around the world for the game. The only way you could generate that level of interest for football is if England somehow made it to the final.

[Igor]

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/32295

 

 

 

Ginger, did you just phrase that wrong? Because it's like the other way around...times 10.

[Ouchy]

I don't think it is possible to have a #1 Sport. Football would come close, but every country/city/state has it's own game. For my country, rugby, all though I wish it was something else...

[angryjoe]

 

I think the least entertaining sport is prehaps cricket, you have to be quite as it is considered a "gentlemans sport", as a player you'll spend the majority of the time waiting to play than actually playing, overall its like watching paint dry, except worse becuase you have to be quite whilst doing so.

 

There is alot of talking and banter in cricket. Even the fielders stand around making jokes in the outfield. A great example: :mrgreen:

 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X1NFbVx0uN8

[eggzs]

Not gonna make a thread to say this but NZ rugby league world cup champions!

 

\ \

 

 

 

This was the most fitting relevent thread to post it in.

 

 

 

I'll do it.

[Ginger_Warrior]

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/32295

 

 

 

Ginger, did you just phrase that wrong? Because it's like the other way around...times 10.

 

When The Rolling Stones play the half-time interval during the 2010 World Cup final, like they did in 2006 for the Super Bowl, I'll take it back.

 

 

 

When we have an organised party for whoever makes it to the final, England or otherwise, I'll take it back.

 

 

 

Do you even know how much money an average player in the NFL makes? There's that much worth in the franchise.

 

 

 

The NFL is far better than international football. I'm a football fan too, not some chauvinistic American patriot.

[Phil]

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/32295

 

 

 

Ginger, did you just phrase that wrong? Because it's like the other way around...times 10.

 

When The Rolling Stones play the half-time interval during the 2010 World Cup final, like they did in 2006 for the Super Bowl, I'll take it back.

 

 

 

When we have an organised party for whoever makes it to the final, England or otherwise, I'll take it back.

 

 

 

Do you even know how much money an average player in the NFL makes? There's that much worth in the franchise.

 

 

 

The NFL is far better than international football. I'm a football fan too, not some chauvinistic American patriot.

 

So can you provide a link for thinking the superbowl is more popular because I've only ever heard the opposite. Just because more money is involved in the actual event doesn't mean it's watched more.

[Igor]

It's not. The Super Bowl gets 1/8 the viewers of the World Cup, and ONE TEAM (Chelsea) is worth more than HALF of the NFL.

[Guest]

I like exciting sports. My favorite to play are:

 

 

 

Paintball

 

Skiing (yes, its a sport)

 

Basketball

 

Football (American)

 

 

 

To watch:

 

 

 

Ski jumping

 

Bike jumping

 

board jumpnig...

 

 

 

I can safely say any thing that involves jumping.'

 

Oh. And baseball and american football

[Lacross]

Look at my TIF name and add an e to the end :

[dragoonson]

Paintball is not a sport.Its a game.

[magmaguard3]

American Football is the best sport in history. :thumbsup:

[Zierro]

 

and most dedicated fans have to be football(america) aswell..

 

That probably one of the most wrong statements I have ever read.

 

 

 

In your opinion, obviously. :D

[syndrome445]

Nascar or Football (American) are for sure the best to watch.

[sparticus348]

soccer/football or cricket

 

 

 

it does help cricket that India has a population of 1.15 B

 

 

 

But probably between those two

[InkofDeath]

Wrestling - Most difficult/tiring/hardest to condition/challenging (realistically).

 

 

 

Not talking WWE or anything like that, but:

 

 

 

WEyNTvl527E

 

 

 

You need strength, endurance, the ability to think in a fraction of a second and decide how to move, or not to move, and basically anything to come out on top.

 

 

 

There is no teamwork, but the teamwork between your muscles and your brain.

 

You rely only on yourself.

 

 

 

Freestyle wrestling demands more strength, and endurance than any other 'major' sport, as it's usually 5 minutes of using every piece of energy you have. You are basically tired for hours after a good wrestling match.

 

 

 

Thought I'd just spread some light onto Wrestling as it wasn't getting nearly as much attention as it should've been. It isn't the most popular, but I believe it's the most demanding, as it's releasing all your energy in 5 minutes or whatever, instead of releasing it gradually through an hour, two hours, or however long another sport could be. Unlike in other sports though, Wrestling demands every muscle to be developed to a very high point, as well as making sure you know how to adapt to how the opponent wrestles.

 

 

 

Still soccer is enjoyable, and you can play with friends, which is why it's the most popular.

[KnightLite]

American football is for nancies. All that unneeded armour. Pfft.

 

Are you kidding me? We wear pads, doesn't that make us the smarter country? Some of the hits you see in the NFL would never occur in Rugby (I've watched both), because you would literally die from it. When I go home over Winter Holidays, I'll take a picture of my facemask from my Semi-Pro team and upload it for you. I would literally be dead without that thing.

 

 

 

 

 

Baseball sucks, it's boring as [bleep]. It's all skill no strategy.

 

 

 

Soccer rocks.

 

 

 

You are an absolute idiot.

 

 

 

Baseball doesn't require strategy? Baseball is almost 100% mental, more so than any game. There are so many different situations, particularly for pitchers such as myself. At all times, you have to know who is up, what the hitters tendancies are, where the runners are, how many outs there are, what the score is. There are so many things to think about, it's almost infinite. What's there in strategy of soccer? Drawing up X's and O's on a board in a few different situations? I played 11 years of soccer growing up, and it did'nt take more than a week of practices to learn all of our plays. In soccer, I'm sure there are different strategies varying on the score, which usually doesn't rise above 6.

 

 

 

Baseball is the ultimate thinking game. It's what's kept me playing it clear up until college (now). The hardest thing to do in all of sports, is to hit a major league fastball. As a hitter, you have a 33-37 inch bat, which is only 2 3/4 inches thick, usually weighing 30-40 ounces. You have absolutely no idea where it's going to go, what it's going to do, or if it will be a ball or a strike. A pitcher can come inside with a 95 MPH fastball (giving you about 0.20 seconds to react) that moves to the right 3-4 inches. The next pitch can be a 80 MPH slider (giving you about 0.5 seconds to react) that breaks 12 inches to the left. The next pitch might be a splitfinger fastball. It starts out coming right down the middle of the plate at 89 MPH (about 0.30 seconds to react). As soon as the hitter starts his swing, the ball drops over a foot, maybe even bouncing in the dirt.

 

 

 

Hitters have less than half of a second to decide where the ball is coming, how fast it's coming, and which way the ball is spinning which will give the batter an estimate of where it will end up. There is nothing tougher than hitting in baseball. If you succeed in getting a hit 3 out of 10 times, you are a very good hitter.

 

 

 

Pitching is a physical version of chess. There are so many aspects of strategy, I can't even scrape the surface of it. In the late innings of a game, my team is up by 1, with nobody out and a runner at first base. The other team is obviously going to bunt them over to try to advance the runner into scoring position. The defense has to be aware of this, and has to know exactly where to go on a bunt. Everything changes simply if there was a runner on 2nd. The first basemen would crash home instead of the 3rd basemen, the 2nd basement would cover first instead of 2nd, and the short stop would break to 3rd, all with perfect timing.

 

 

 

You're pitching. You just threw a fastball for a strike, and then a second one for a strike. The 2nd pitch however, he fouled straight back. What does that tell you as a pitcher? The batter timed your fastball perfectly, and you need to come with an offspeed pitch. Don't throw it for a strike though. You're ahead 0-2, and you have a pitch to waste. Throw him a curveball in the dirt, followed by a fastball head-high. This changes the batter's eye elevation, which will screw him up for the 2-seam fastball you are about to throw on the lower outside corner. The pitch looks low to the batter, even though it's right at his knees.

 

 

 

Want any more strategy?

 

 

 

You're a batter, with a runner on 2nd base and nobody out. The coach doesn't give you a bunt sign, enabling you to swing away. Where are you going to hit the ball? You have to take the ball to right field. Why? A groundball to the left side of the infield will not let the runner on 2nd get to 3rd base. A flyball to the left fielder will not let the runner get to 3rd base either. However, a grounder to the 2nd basemen or 1st basemen will give the runner on 2nd base ample time to get to 3rd base. A flyball to rightfield as well will enable the runner on 2nd to tag up and move to 3rd base. If the batter successfully does his job, the batting team now has a runner on 3rd base with 1 out. Now, with a runner on 3rd and 1 out, what are you trying to do as a hitter? Get under a ball and try to hit a deep flyball to the outfield. This lets the runner tag up and score.

 

 

 

This probably seems like a foreign language to you, because you are ignorant to the sport. It's one thing to be unknowing of a sport, but it's another thing to talk poorly about it.

 

 

 

As a pitcher, with a runner on 2nd base, pitching from the stretch position. As I come set on every pitch, I have to anticipate the Short Stop breaking towards 2nd base for a Pick-Off move. If he does this, I instantly have to do my quickest pickoff move to 2nd base, throwing the ball about 3 feet high over 2nd base. Anything else is considered failure.

 

 

 

Justin Verlander has the supernatural power to throw a baseball 102 MPH. He's considered one of if not the hardest throwing pitcher to ever play the game. If he can throw so hard, why did he struggle so much this season, and end up with a losing record? Jamie Moyer hasn't been able to throw over 85 MPH in the last 10 years, and yet he's one of baseball's winningest pitchers of all time. Why? Because Jamie Moyer is a perfect example of a man that's mastered the mental part of the game. He practices all the little things that are so often overlooked by idiots such as Rebdragon. I haven't even skimmed the surfaces of how much strategy there is in baseball. I could spend 50 years of writing about it, and still not cover it all.

 

 

 

I'm not arguing that baseball is the greatest sport of all time. In my personal opinion, it is. I know it's boring for most people to watch, because they don't understand or recognize all the little things that are going on during the game. Most people think they're seeing a man try to throw a ball past another man. Most people think that hitters try to hit homeruns every at bat. There is so much intellect involved in this game that goes unnoticed, that it's almost unnatural. Try to watch a baseball game with somebody that really knows the game. You'd be surprised how much is really going on.

[Ginger_Warrior]

American football is for nancies. All that unneeded armour. Pfft.

 

Are you kidding me? We wear pads, doesn't that make us the smarter country? Some of the hits you see in the NFL would never occur in Rugby (I've watched both), because you would literally die from it. When I go home over Winter Holidays, I'll take a picture of my facemask from my Semi-Pro team and upload it for you. I would literally be dead without that thing.

 

They're both hard games. In Rugby League, you can be making impact with G-forces up to 9. For context, Alton Tower's Oblivion ride goes to 4.5 G.

 

 

 

In fact, if we're going by impact, F1 has to be the toughest sport. Kubica crashed last year in the Canadian Grand Prix. The FIA estimate he experienced 75 G, and there have been worse crashes.

[angryjoe]

 

and most dedicated fans have to be football(america) aswell..

 

That probably one of the most wrong statements I have ever read.

 

 

 

In your opinion, obviously. :D

 

Nope, that is fact. I know I'm a hypocrite. :D

[BlueLancer]

Sorry Ginger, but you're way off on the NFL popularity and net worth.

 

 

 

Manchester United alone is worth $1.5 billion dollars:, out of hundreds of top-level soccer teams in EU like Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus, Barcelona, Bayer München, Lyon, Inter Milan just to name a few http://www.forbes.com/2004/03/24/soccerland.html

 

 

 

Also, just in 2002, 1.5 billion people or 1/4th of the world population tuned in to the soccer Fifa 2002 World cup: http://www.allbusiness.com/entertainmen ... 939-1.html

 

 

 

The numbers don't even remotely compare to each other, really, NFL is only cared about in the USA, with about 150 million viewers (impressive feat though, half of the US)

 

 

 

European soccer teams have huge amounts of fans in almost every country on Earth, plus you can bet on soccer games anywhere; An australian can bet on swedish soccer league matches, a thai peasant can place bets on the norwegian 2nd league soccer games. NFL as a form of betting and as a game itself is completely unknown in most countries of the world.

 

 

 

http://www.manutdnsw.com/

 

http://mymanutd.com/

 

 

 

Just a few examples.. The latter is the malaysian fanclub of ManU, the first is the australian one. I dare say that not a single NFL team has widespread support all over the globe like soccer teams. The abovementioned team literally has 5% of the world population supporting it, or about 330 million fans: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14641698

[RichieMcD]

American football is for nancies. All that unneeded armour. Pfft.

 

Are you kidding me? We wear pads, doesn't that make us the smarter country? Some of the hits you see in the NFL would never occur in Rugby (I've watched both), because you would literally die from it. When I go home over Winter Holidays, I'll take a picture of my facemask from my Semi-Pro team and upload it for you. I would literally be dead without that thing.

 

 

 

There's two pretty different goals of tackling though when comparing American football to Rugby. In AF it's just hit the guy, get him to ground while in Rugby you must hit, keep him up and rip the ball or bring him to ground depending on how much support yours or the opposition side has close by, then once tackled you must make sure he doesn't get up and make it hard for him to feed the ball back easily without giving away a penalty.

 

 

 

If Rugby players were to spend the whole game throwing in AF tackles there'd be a lot more tries scored per game as less Rucks / Mauls would form.

 

 

 

Both games are very close on terms of the beating your body takes, after you come in from a game of Rugby after spending 80 minutes tackling, being tackled, rucking and mauling with very few breaks longer than 10 seconds other than half time you're certainly going to feel it everywhere on your body as everywhere will get hit.