Here's one

[the max 0]

When I worked at Wal-mart, we played a game of baseball in the receiving area with a broomstick and a ball of packing tape.

 

All you need for football is a football.

 

I'd say both of those are on par with the recreational simplicity of basketball.

[strummer 0]

All you need for football is a football.

 

 

Yes, and you need a hell of a lot of people to make the game interesting. Myself, my brother, our friends and basically all the neighborhood kids once played a pick up football game on our street, it was awesome. But when not everybody was around, and we played like 2 on 2 or 3 on 3, it was just brutal.

 

We played wiffle ball on our street, but it didn't have the feel of a game. Baseball is very hard to play on pavement and playing 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 just isn't as fun as having a full team

 

Basketball was BY FAR the easiest to play, one on one GREAT, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, it was much easier and had the feel of a real game. All we needed was a ball and a hoop in the front yard, and we didn't need the entire neighborhood to play to make it interesting. People play basketball more because it is more accessible, not because it is more popular than the other major sports

[EVIL~! alkeiper 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".

 

Where? Eastern Europe and South America. Baseball is popular in all of Latin America, Asia, and the Netherlands. A substantial portion of their athletes come from Central America, and the asian contingent grows every year.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Globally speaking, it's obviously soccer.

 

Basketball is the correct answer in terms of "Anyone can go out and play this." There's hoops on the sides of barns, in jails, inner cities. Every paved driveway in Indiana has a backboard and hoop on a post, anyway. One person can just go out and shoot baskets for a while, then throw the ball in the garage and do whatever. People in wheelchairs can play it.

[iggymcfly 0]

I've never heard anyone say "Let's play a game of pickup baseball"

Really? When I was in middle school and elementary school, it would happen a decent amount, although there did have to be a lot of people together already. I will agree that basketball and football are much easier to start games up for, however.

[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".

 

Where? Eastern Europe and South America. Baseball is popular in all of Latin America, Asia, and the Netherlands. A substantial portion of their athletes come from Central America, and the asian contingent grows every year.

all throughout Europe, South America, Africa, Asia......

 

I'll give you baseball in Latin America, but it's pretty much non-existent in Europe and Africa.

 

Soccer I left out of the discussion because I was speaking strictly of the American big 3, but that's obviously still #1 worldwide

 

And if baseball were more popular on a recreational level it wouldn't be so fucking hard to find a game. All you need is 18 guys w/ gloves, 1 bat and a couple balls, which shouldn't be THAT hard to find if everyone supposedly likes baseball so much. I see double that in weekly turnout at some of the weekly pickup b-ball games I attend, and know a shitload more people who own basketballs than baseball gloves. Recreational basketball leagues are a dime a dozen, good competition too, but all you can find "weekend warrior" wise for baseball is shitty softball leagues, because nobody plays. Believe me, I wish people would just show up at local parks to play pickup baseball, but it only happens in the movies...

[CanadianGuitarist 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".

 

Where? Eastern Europe and South America. Baseball is popular in all of Latin America, Asia, and the Netherlands. A substantial portion of their athletes come from Central America, and the asian contingent grows every year.

all throughout Europe, South America, Africa, Asia......

 

I'll give you baseball in Latin America, but it's pretty much non-existent in Europe and Africa.

 

Soccer I left out of the discussion because I was speaking strictly of the American big 3, but that's obviously still #1 worldwide

 

And if baseball were more popular on a recreational level it wouldn't be so fucking hard to find a game. All you need is 18 guys w/ gloves, 1 bat and a couple balls, which shouldn't be THAT hard to find if everyone supposedly likes baseball so much. I see double that in weekly turnout at some of the weekly pickup b-ball games I attend, and know a shitload more people who own basketballs than baseball gloves. Recreational basketball leagues are a dime a dozen, good competition too, but all you can find "weekend warrior" wise for baseball is shitty softball leagues, because nobody plays. Believe me, I wish people would just show up at local parks to play pickup baseball, but it only happens in the movies...

Unfortunately that might be true. I miss the shit of playing baseball growing up. Not softball, not 3 pitch. Stealing bases, dirt on my uniform, diving catches, full counts, sliding into home. That's baseball.

[Guest OSIcon]

And if baseball were more popular on a recreational level it wouldn't be so fucking hard to find a game. All you need is 18 guys w/ gloves, 1 bat and a couple balls, which shouldn't be THAT hard to find if everyone supposedly likes baseball so much. I see double that in weekly turnout at some of the weekly pickup b-ball games I attend, and know a shitload more people who own basketballs than baseball gloves. Recreational basketball leagues are a dime a dozen, good competition too, but all you can find "weekend warrior" wise for baseball is shitty softball leagues, because nobody plays.

 

There's a big problem with this argument. The learning curves in baseball and basketball are completely different. It is much easier to become a competent basketball player, and therefore participate in recreational leagues/pick up games at your certain skill level, then it is with baseball.

 

Simply put, with basketball, a person just needs to have the ability to handle the running load and be able to phyically shoot/pass a basketball. From the time most kids are 7 or 8 (or younger), they can adequately shoot and pass enough that they can play in a recreational league or pickup game with others at their given skill level. The basic basketball skills also aren't effected by age as much as in baseball. Putting aside obvious physical problems that would keep someone from playing ANY sport, a person can still shoot and pass a ball just fine well into their 40's and 50's.

 

With baseball, it is much harder to even gain adequate enough skills to play in a recreational league or effective pick up game. You can't just pick up a pall and learn to shoot and pass it. You need to learn how to hit, how to effectively pitch (ie. throw strikes), field, ect. There are a lot more skills needed to even reach the level where you can play in a recreational game. A lot of kids never reach that level because it is more involved. Plus, the skills needed for baseball are more hampered by age. While nearly any 30 year old can shoot a basketball, how many normal 30 year olds (ie. those who don't play professionally or even semi-professionally) have enough arm strength and skill to pitch an effective game every week or so in a recreational league? People simply cannot play baseball as long as they can play basketball since the basic skills of baseball call for a lot more physical output.

 

I'm not saying that baseball players are more skilled than basketball players at the top level. All I am saying is that it takes a lot more phyiscal skills in order to play baseball at a basic level than it takes to play basketball at a basic level.

[Precious Roy 0]

Having played both sports, competitively and for fun, I disagree. It's really not that hard to put contact on a ball, throw a strike or field, and I think anyone with a degree of athletic ability can pick it up enough to be competent with players on their own level. Baseball is, in basic terms, more skill than athletics, but we're talking basic competence for a pickup game here and there, not hitting/throwing pro pitches with all sorts of movement and speed changes. Throw the ball hard over the plate, and swing equally hard, it's not rocket science, and nobody's asking for pro skill sets. If you can throw any sort of curve or slight semblance of a changeup in this hypothetical pickup league you're gonna look like F'n super ace supreme.

 

I mean, who DIDN'T play little league and/or babe ruth? The basics. The thing is, not so many people keep playing after that. I also think you're understating the skill it takes to be a competent offensive basketball player, I know kids that have played for years, been coached at various levels, and still aren't very good skill wise (dribbling/passing/shooting), though it's true that someone who can run, d and board will always have a place, even if they can't contribute much on offense.

 

And it's not at all an issue of age diminishing skills, and basketball is MUCH more demanding on your body than baseball. How many 30-40+ yr olds do you know that have the stamina and are in good enough shape to run full court basketball on a regular basis without completely blowing up or injuring themselves? Every 30 and 40 yr old guy I know who plays basketball is a total fitness nut. Baseball is a lot less intense, only brief bursts of aerobic activity, which is why softball is so popular with chubby duffers who like the ability to stand or sit around and do nothing 80% of the time as much as they like running out a grounder or flyball once a game. Baseball is viewed as a lazy man's sport.

 

What I'm asking for is those same 20, 30, 40 yr olds who keep in good shape and play basketball...to play baseball, and it doesn't happen, and it's not because baseball is too hard or too physically demanding, because it isn't, it's because it's just not as popular as some of y'all want to believe....

Edited April 5, 2005 by Precious Roy

[Positively Kanyon 0]

As an Australian... I think I'd like to throw my hat into the ring and say that the AFL (Aussie Rules Football) has to be, in my opinion, the most exciting sport. Some people describe it as aerial ping pong but there's alot more to it than that. It's a very fast and scrappy game with plenty of tactics thrown in as well...

 

As for commercials, they are usually just shown when a goal is scored, which happens pretty often but only the one advertisement is shown, so it's about a 20 second break or so which gives the players time to go back to the centre square for the bounce, so it all works out in the end...

 

If anyone is interested, just go to http://www.afl.com.au and there should be plenty of game footage available for download, if you want to see what the hell I'm talking about!