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Why is'nt Football the biggest sport in the world? Or at least in the olympics?


Gingerly Grumkin

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And apart from joke countries Liechtenstein and East Germany (hpmh), we reign supreme.

Also, football is the only game I know that can transcend merely being a sport. It's called the beautiful game for a reason. At it's best, it's athletic art.

Ndrew: So rather than all the other reasons that have been mentioned, you think it's an anti-imperial conspiracy that's responsible for American Football not being an Olympic sport?

Well, Charles The I Jr. as much as i want to say yes... lol thats mad fucking ridiculous, but slightly convince me and im on board!
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Anyway, the only Olympic sport where I get pissed when America loses is basketball.
Because America tends to play it like a free-for-all personal exhibition game and not as a team sport.

Could someone explain to me the attraction of American Football?

Like, what makes it superior to Rugby Union/league?

I would probably prefer rugby if it was actually on American TV, as I do enjoy watching it more as a sport than American Football, but sadly, it's not. My guess is that Americans like being able to call the set plays of American Football, which is easier to do when lines are reset every 4-10 seconds. Also it is American.
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The only sport that I can say that I enjoy watching without having played or without having a personal stake is Rugby.

It's interesting you mention rugby. I love rugby but something it definitely suffers from in terms of attracting fans is that it can often be difficult for casual viewers to pick up on more than the broad strokes of what's happening, especially things like why the ref is giving a penalty etc. I think that's something that American Football suffers from as well outside of the US where people have a good grounding in the sport in comparison with, for example, football which is pretty good at drawing in casual fans.

ETA: MFC, I seem to remember that BBC America had Six Nations games on last year if you're looking to watch rugby in the US.

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Could someone explain to me the attraction of American Football?

Like, what makes it superior to Rugby Union/league?

The equipment helps better define the shoulders and buttocks of the players.

Drives the fans wild.

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You see flopping or stuff like that in college football. Oregon opponents are well known for faking injuries to give their defenders time to get a breather. Yeah you're really badly injured, guy who returns to the field the minimum one play later after rolling on the ground looking like a gunshot victim.

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It's interesting you mention rugby. I love rugby but something it definitely suffers from in terms of attracting fans is that it can often be difficult for casual viewers to pick up on more than the broad strokes of what's happening, especially things like why the ref is giving a penalty etc. I think that's something that American Football suffers from as well outside of the US where people have a good grounding in the sport in comparison with, for example, football which is pretty good at drawing in casual fans.

I initially had a similar problem with ice hockey, but I caught on very quickly to the penalty rules. If people get enough into the sport, they will learn the rules if for no other reason than to hold their greater knowledge over the head of their sports geeks. Sports geeks operate much the same as any other variety of geek; no geek wants to be caught knowing less about geeking things than another geek. This inferiority complex spurs geeks of all stripes, including sports geeks, to pick up these things and educate others.

ETA: MFC, I seem to remember that BBC America had Six Nations games on last year if you're looking to watch rugby in the US.

It's exciting, but it's hard to feel any personal stake in it, since it has not developed with much traction in the US. It's hardly like just turning on ESPN or talking about it around the office watercooler. There are things about sports that make them fun to watch that lie outside of watching the sport itself.

Football/soccer definitely benefits most from just being goddamn simple to follow. Its the same principle as mainstream music.

Also it costs nothing to play, and you can play it anywhere. Accessible to every section of society.

It's how I feel about basketball. I realize that a net and a court (of some sort) make basketball slightly less accessible than soccer, but the order of magnitude of difference is not that great.
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Football also requires a lot of people. But it's very possible to play bare bones football using powderpuff or touch football rules. Heck, flag football exists too.

I think basketball's allowance of 1v1, 3 on 3, horse, etc. makes up for the fact that you need a hoop in order to play. Two people can play basketball. Two people can also play soccer but personally, that's less interesting.

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I would say there is a huge order of magnitude between access to international football and basketball. To play basketball, you need an actual ball. Footballs can be reasonably simulated with bits of garbage taped together. If you Google, you can see improvised soccer balls from all sorts of rubbish.

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Football also requires a lot of people. But it's very possible to play bare bones football using powderpuff or touch football rules. Heck, flag football exists too.

I think basketball's allowance of 1v1, 3 on 3, horse, etc. makes up for the fact that you need a hoop in order to play. Two people can play basketball. Two people can also play soccer but personally, that's less interesting.

not at all true. two people can in fact play soccer against or with one another and it can be very interesting. for me nothing is quite as boring and without meaning as basketball regardless of the number of people involved or what barnyard animal.

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