Here's one

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Hear me out before you jump to an answer.

 

This discussion came up a few days ago with some buddies

 

A: Fuck, baseball's so boring.

 

B: Not really.

 

Me: It is, but it shouldn't be that way. Look how many plays are set up for the game to be more exciting to fans. Bunts, sac flies, diving catches, stealing bases. There's not many other opportunities in other sports like that.

 

A: I suppose, but who can just sit and watch a ball game?

 

This led to a more elaborate discussion over which sport is the most exciting to watch, and which is designed to be the most exciting and dramatic.

 

I say hockey for which is, and baseball for design.

 

The catch it has to be consistently exciting, not just a good day or two. Though the final round of the 2004 Masters was ridiculously entertaining, I don't consider golf that exciting a sport.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well, this probably comes down to personal preferences, but basketball, football, and hockey tend to get me more riled up than other sports. I haven't been able to watch baseball in YEARS, as it just seems so incredibly formulaic and repetitive to me. You also don't have to be in nearly the shape and condition as is required in the other sports I mentioned.

 

Hockey is exciting because of the constant brutality, and fast action of skating on the ice, but I know it probably turns some people off because of the lack of scoring and the ties. Basketball is just scoring, scoring, scoring, and it's fun as hell to see players make incredible last second shots, dunks, and moves to drive to the hoop, or on defense, turning the ball over and running a fastbreak or a very well blocked shot. Football has an incredible amount of drama and a billion things all happening in one play, and an incredible amount of strategy behind it, which is what makes it fun for me to watch. How is the quarterback going to get the ball 90 yards down the field for the score in a harsh environment like this, when his receivers have been getting shut down all day? Can the defense step up and stop a 4th and goal to prevent going into overtime? Even in the breaks between plays, there's still a lot of tension and strategizing going on, while in baseball it's really just waiting and waiting until the pitch is delivered, unless you're going towards the end of the game. But even then, it's still very formulaic to me.

[Guest OSIcon]

I would probably say Basketball. I really can't bring myself to watch a full NBA game and only ocassionally when I really have something invested in the game can I sit through an entire NCAA game. It comes off as really boring and repetitive to me. The plays that are supposed to be exciting (dunks especially) don't do ANYTHING for me. I can take college over the NBA because I find three point shots to be a lot more exciting than dunks. Plus there seems to be a lot more team work in college basketball. The NBA just does nothing for me. I like playing basketball and generally like the game, but I just can't sit through an NBA game.

 

I assume baseball will win out here, though it is my favorite sport The common complaints about baseball are that there isn't a lot of strategy involved nor are there really a lot of athletic feats. Both are pretty inaccurate. Baseball has so much strategy involved. With the exception of football (and even that is debatable) there are so many different skills on display at one time, not to even mention the little strategic things like bunting, sac flies, base stealing, ect. Pitch selection and placement makes baseball more strategic than most sports. AS far as the "athelete" comment, that usually comes from people who never played baseball. Your average player needs to be able to hit well, run, field, and be generally smart in order to succeed. Those are a lot of different skills and NONE of them are easy to pull off.

[Guest Vitamin X]

For reference, by the way, I played baseball when I was younger and in my freshman year of high school. Conflicts with offseason conditioning for football is what led me to quit, along with being just kinda disinterested in the game (I had shitty eyesight but was the fastest player on the team.. Somehow I led the team in steals while having the lowest batting average)

[Precious Roy 0]

I'm a basketball man, and football is great, but IMO nothing beats a tight postseason baseball game

[razazteca 0]

A: I suppose, but who can just sit and watch a ball game?

With mass qualities of beer, hotdogs, nachos.

 

Most exciting sport........women's tennis!

[megaadvice 0]

Bseball is supposed to be boring to some people, to appriciate a game of baseball you have to understand thats its not going to be all action for 3 hours.

 

All great baseball games/seasons/series tell a story you dont have to rivited on the edge of your seat for 3 hours to enjoy it.

 

Every game can have a mini story to it, eg that "great pitcher pitting his skills against a top batsman" and seeing who will come out on top in that mini duel.

 

Basketball on the other hand is the most repetative shit game you can wish to see when I think about boring a look to basketball, match goes, "team A gets the ball scores, team B get it scores, a gets it rebound team b scores, a get it scores on and on and on with that shit for 60 fucking mins no thanks

[Jericholic82 0]

Bseball is supposed to be boring to some people, to appriciate a game of baseball you have to understand thats its not going to be all action for 3 hours.

 

All great baseball games/seasons/series tell a story you dont have to rivited on the edge of your seat for 3 hours to enjoy it.

 

Every game can have a mini story to it, eg that "great pitcher pitting his skills against a top batsman" and seeing who will come out on top in that mini duel.

 

Basketball on the other hand is the most repetative shit game you can wish to see when I think about boring a look to basketball, match goes, "team A gets the ball scores, team B get it scores, a gets it rebound team b scores, a get it scores on and on and on with that shit for 60 fucking mins no thanks

Thats why I i dislike basketball and dont get why so many people like it. its not exciting untill 2 mins are left in the 4th qtr.

 

I like baseball due to the strategy involved and the drama that evolves over 9 innings sometimes, especially in the playoffs. Hockey is exciting and they dont score too much often, but it is just chasing the puck up and down the ice for 3 periods so not that great. Football is fasterpaced but more like baseball in the strategy department. My fav sport is baseball followed by football.

 

I hope I answered the question well.

[The Czech Republic 0]

It's baseball and hockey for me. A good basketball game is right up there, but a bad one is as boring as football is to me.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Football's my favorite to watch of the big ball-oriented sports, but I'd much rather play baseball, because then I can smoke.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Bseball is supposed to be boring to some people, to appriciate a game of baseball you have to understand thats its not going to be all action for 3 hours.

 

All great baseball games/seasons/series tell a story you dont have to rivited on the edge of your seat for 3 hours to enjoy it.

 

Every game can have a mini story to it, eg that "great pitcher pitting his skills against a top batsman" and seeing who will come out on top in that mini duel.

 

Basketball on the other hand is the most repetative shit game you can wish to see when I think about boring a look to basketball, match goes, "team A gets the ball scores, team B get it scores, a gets it rebound team b scores, a get it scores on and on and on with that shit for 60 fucking mins no thanks

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I hear people who say football has just as much inaction as baseball. I can buy that. In general, its odd because the two most popular american sports both feature frequent breaks in the action.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'd say that for potential, it's hockey, as there's a small enough amount of scoring, that when your team finally gets a goal, it's awesome, and in a tight playoff game, every scoring chance the other team gets feels like a bullet whizzing by your head.

 

However, with the way the NHL's gotten, (even before the lockout), I'd have to say that it's kind of lose some of it's luster. Waiting through the game for three or so goals is fine, but when you can go two and a half games without even getting one, it's just painful.

 

As a result, I'd say the best sport right now is football, because the scores don't come so quick as to be meaningless, but they're getting set up the whole time. Also, the NCAA has a huge edge over the NFL here due to the game moving so much quicker. Baseball can be tremendous in the right setting, but your run of the mill regular season game where one team has a five or six run lead can get really boring. College basketball can be beautiful to watch as well, but I can see how people can get bored with the NBA.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I hear people who say football has just as much inaction as baseball. I can buy that. In general, its odd because the two most popular american sports both feature frequent breaks in the action.

I very much disagree with that. In baseball, the inaction is much more frequent than in football, which only occurs in the 10-20 seconds between plays, whereas waiting between hits in a baseball game takes an eternity.

 

That, along with the 100-something game schedule, drives me mad and has never let me get into it. I fall asleep by like the 3rd or 4th inning.

 

And I thought football and basketball were the two most popular American sports? I know baseball is the "pasttime" and all, but I don't think it's on the NFL and NBA's level.

[Guest Brian]

I think Basketball's playoff ratings are pretty bad in comparison to baseball.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I very much disagree with that. In baseball, the inaction is much more frequent than in football, which only occurs in the 10-20 seconds between plays, whereas waiting between hits in a baseball game takes an eternity.

 

There's also commercial breaks, time between possessions, clock stoppages, halftime, and all that fun stuff.

 

That, along with the 100-something game schedule, drives me mad and has never let me get into it. I fall asleep by like the 3rd or 4th inning.

 

That's your perogative. I enjoy the game far more than I could ever enjoy football.

 

And I thought football and basketball were the two most popular American sports? I know baseball is the "pasttime" and all, but I don't think it's on the NFL and NBA's level.

 

Baseball is far, far more popular than basketball, and than football in my opinion. Football is more popular currently, but it doesn't have the same roots and hardcore fans that baseball enjoys. In 2000, baseball drew nearly 73 million fans to major league ballgames. That is an average of almost 30,000 fans a game, sustained over a 30 team league for six months. In addition, minor league baseball draws an additional 36-38 million fans to the ballpark each season. That's over 100 million fans attending professional baseball each season. People care deeply about baseball, unlike any other sport.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I very much disagree with that. In baseball, the inaction is much more frequent than in football, which only occurs in the 10-20 seconds between plays, whereas waiting between hits in a baseball game takes an eternity.

 

There's also commercial breaks, time between possessions, clock stoppages, halftime, and all that fun stuff.

The game doesn't stop for commercial breaks, but timeouts do occur. All these things also apply to baseball too, except for halftime..

 

That, along with the 100-something game schedule, drives me mad and has never let me get into it. I fall asleep by like the 3rd or 4th inning.

 

That's your perogative. I enjoy the game far more than I could ever enjoy football.

 

Indeed, to each their own.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I very much disagree with that. In baseball, the inaction is much more frequent than in football, which only occurs in the 10-20 seconds between plays, whereas waiting between hits in a baseball game takes an eternity.

 

There's also commercial breaks, time between possessions, clock stoppages, halftime, and all that fun stuff.

The game doesn't stop for commercial breaks, but timeouts do occur. All these things also apply to baseball too, except for halftime..

Baseball stoppages aren't as bothersome as football stoppages though. Everything feels more laid back, it's like you can afford to wait a minute. It's a nice day, why rush? Football is so overhyped as A BATTLE BETWEEN MEN, BIG MEN, BIG MEN ON A FIELD OF WARFARE IN WHICH THE PACE OF BATTLE IS AS UNRELENTING AS THE PAIN THEY INFLICT, that when you have to sit there in the stands with the cold wind blowing in your face as you sit there with a letter painted on your body in lieu of a shirt, waiting for everyone to stop grabbing each other's asses and pick a position to get into, it's really just tedious, if nothing else.

[iggymcfly 0]

I very much disagree with that. In baseball, the inaction is much more frequent than in football, which only occurs in the 10-20 seconds between plays, whereas waiting between hits in a baseball game takes an eternity.

 

There's also commercial breaks, time between possessions, clock stoppages, halftime, and all that fun stuff.

The game doesn't stop for commercial breaks, but timeouts do occur. All these things also apply to baseball too, except for halftime.

Actually, that's completely untrue. Both college football and the NFL take TV timeouts. The NFL is by far, the greater offender, as they'll take a TV timeout both before and after a kickoff whenever points are scored. I'd venture to guess that there are 15 to 20 TV timeouts on average, per NFL game, not even counting the timeouts taken by the actual teams. Also, in the NFL the average time between plays is about 30-40 seconds, so it's no wonder that people complain that the game is slow. I mean, when you have a 3 and a half hour game, and the teams are actually playing for probably 15 minutes of that time, it's no wonder that people think the game is slow and get bored.

[The Czech Republic 0]

BUT IT IS THE MOST TAXING SPORT KNOWN TO MAN. IT IS FOOTBALL. FOOOOOOTBAAAAAAAAALLLL

[Art Sandusky 0]

It actually is. Football is legitimately one of the most physically demanding sports out there, proven through actual research and all that. Don't be a smartass.

 

Football and Baseball are the most exciting for me to watch, but I have to give Baseball the edge when it gets to the postseason. Any ol' normal game I'll watch football, but if a (tightly contested) playoff baseball game is on, forget about it. That's in terms of the pros though. College football tops both of them in my mind.

[strummer 0]

And I thought football and basketball were the two most popular American sports? I know baseball is the "pasttime" and all, but I don't think it's on the NFL and NBA's level.

 

NBA national TV ratings have been on the decline the last couple of years while baseball's numbers have been climbing. How anyone could argue that today's NBA game with isolations, zone defense, slowed down half court offenses and 87-82 scores is more exciting than baseball is beyond me, but to each their own. At one time I was a big NBA fan, but the game is just not as exciting as it once was IMO. Or it could be that the Knicks really suck now and I have no reason to watch

 

 

And let's not forget the NBA almost folded in the mid to late 70s because of drug scandals and just the general unpopularity of the game. It got so bad that the NBA Finals were shown on tape delay The day the World Series is shown on tape delay is the day I admit basketball is more popular than baseball. But again in the end, to each his own.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Of all the times for hockey to go on strike, this would have been a great opportunity for small market and non traditional teams to thrive. Atlanta is shit at basketball right now, and they have a soon to be great hockey team, as does Miami. Tampa and Calgary surely brought hope to small market hockey towns with the Cup finals last year. And this isn't a shot at the game, but basketball's only going to continue to decline with the Artest thing and the poor performance of the US Mens's team at the Olympics.

[Red Baron 0]

Soccer is the most exciting sport of all time.

 

If you have two really great clubs going at each other, you can get a rough, physical exciting game, even if its low scoring.

 

And soccer is harsher on a persons body than football (well rugby, but those guys are mutants I think)

[Tawren 0]

Baseball always seems too damn laid back for me to get into it. Almost every year I get into playoff MLB and really like it and become a huge fan and say to myself "I am going to watch baseball in the regular season next year." But I just can't bring myself to do it until at least August. Crowds are silent, there's the pitch, swing, miss, ball thrown to pitcher, he waits 30 seconds, pitch, no swing, ball, ball thrown to pitcher, he waits 30 seconds, pitch, no swing, ball, ball thrown to pitcher, he waits 30 seconds, pitch, no swing, ball, ball thrown to pitcher, he waits 45 seconds, pitch, swing, miss, ball, ball thrown to pitcher, he waits 45 seconds, pitch, swing, miss, strike out, NEXT. I just can't get into it. I can understand how some people can, but I cannot.

 

Football (NFL at least, I don't watch college or AFL and only occasional CFL) stops too damn much. Ball to the quarterback, he passes, the guy runs 5 feet, tackled, COMMERCIAL BREAK. We come back, the coaches talk, COMMERCIAL BREAK. Replay, COMMERCIAL BREAK. Or at least that is what it feels like.

 

So that is why I can't get into those. As far as most exciting sport goes, for me it is lacrosse, rugby, or hockey.

 

Lacrosse is awesome. It's violent, high scoring, fast paced, strategies, hard shots, loud music, fights. If you have a lacrosse team in your area (NLL, college, junior, anything) go watch a game. I promise you that you will like it. Rugby is just the definition of bad ass. No pads, a ball, and a field. Go fuck each other up to score points. It has everything. Anyone who likes watching football would love rugby. Such a great sport. Hockey is great to watch when the players get going - yes, the trap is boring beyond belief, but when teams start playing balls out and go as hard as they can, it is incredible.

[The Fett 0]

Baseball is too repetitive to be exciting. Too many foul balls, too many routine fly balls, and routine ground outs. I can tolerate playoff baseball. But regular season baseball is just excruciating. Each game means so little.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Football (NFL at least, I don't watch college or AFL and only occasional CFL) stops too damn much. Ball to the quarterback, he passes, the guy runs 5 feet, tackled, COMMERCIAL BREAK. We come back, the coaches talk, COMMERCIAL BREAK. Replay, COMMERCIAL BREAK. Or at least that is what it feels like.

What offense are you watching, the Bears'?

 

There are arguably way more big plays in football than there are in other sports, I guess that's what can keep me tuned in for the whole time. Any given time there could be a 15-yard gain, or a huge running play, or an awesome catch. I understand in baseball there could be a home run at any time, but it's just not as exciting watching a ball fly over a fence as it is to see a guy athletically make his way up field and score. Also takes a lot more strategy I think to figure out a way to get past 11 big, fast, strong, gifted athletes on a field 50 yards wide than to hit a ball with a bat.

 

But again, to each their own.

 

Lacrosse is awesome. It's violent, high scoring, fast paced, strategies, hard shots, loud music, fights. If you have a lacrosse team in your area (NLL, college, junior, anything) go watch a game. I promise you that you will like it.  Rugby is just the definition of bad ass. No pads, a ball, and a field. Go fuck each other up to score points. It has everything. Anyone who likes watching football would love rugby. Such a great sport. Hockey is great to watch when the players get going - yes, the trap is boring beyond belief, but when teams start playing balls out and go as hard as they can, it is incredible.

 

I was wary of any sport with a French (or at least French-sounding) name as badass, but lacrosse is actually pretty cool, I agree.

[iggymcfly 0]

Actually, I really enjoy rugby when I watch it. It's right on par with boxing in terms of pure aesthetic appeal. (Another sport I should have mentioned, as potentially boxing can be just as enjoyable as hockey.)

 

However, as far as team sports go, I like the idea of a regular season followed by playoffs leading to a champion. The idea of repetitive test matches with an occasional "cup" with three or four teams at the top level just kind of leaves me cold. If rugby had a World Cup that was on the same caliber as soccer's world cup, I think it would be absolutely huge, and I wouldn't miss it, but the format, and general lack of exposure in the States has kept me from getting as into rugby as any of the four major American team sports.

[Precious Roy 0]

NBA ratings and attendance aren't really relevant. What about college basketball? High School basketball? Basketball's popularity is on par with baseball and football, and as far as people who actually play the sport, both organized and recreationally, I'd wager to say it's the most popular. Certainly the biggest internationally of the "big 3".

[strummer 0]

Basketball is the easiest game in the world to play recreationally, all you need is a ball and a hoop, in the other major 3 sports you need a lot of equipment, more players, fields, and in-door stadiums. I've never heard anyone say "Let's play a game of pickup baseball"

 

People play basketball more because it is more accessible, not necessarily because they like it the best