Best American League

[Dravid]

NBA? NFL? MLB? MLS? Or others. Please vote


I have to NBA, followed by NFL, followed by NHL, and MLB shouldn't even be a league imo, along with baseball not being a sport.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

I can watch baseball quite happily, intriguing sport. NFL is good on Sunday evenings as well, even though I haven't got a clue what is happening. Went to see the old Manchester Storm play ice hockey once or twice, which was exciting but perhaps a little too centred on punch-ups.

The NBA, on the other hand, does my head in. Yes, I can appreciate the high level of skill involved, which is amazing to watch at times, but I just can't see the attraction of it. Since most games involve hundreds of points being scored, there is little excitement scored by a basket as there is a goal in football or a try in rugby or a home run in baseball. The lack of any obvious tactical element also enerves me, as does the fact that territory on the court means absolutely nothing. Unlike virtually every other 'goal' sport in the world (there's probably a technical name), it doesn't matter where the ball is on the pitch as long as you have possession, since you can have the ball under the hoop at the other end in a few seconds.

End of rant.

 

[steds]

AMNRL

 

[steds]

Went to see the old Manchester Storm play ice hockey once or twice, which was exciting but perhaps a little too self-centred on punch-ups.

The Storm rocked. Before they folded. Then the Manchester Phoenix rocked. Then they folded too. Haven't been to see them since they reformed. It's only a matter of time before they fold again.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

The Storm rocked. Before they folded. Then the Manchester Phoenix rocked. Then they folded too. Haven't been to see them since they reformed. It's only a matter of time before they fold again.

What are they called now. IIRC they were just full of poor-quality US and Canadian players.

 

[steds]

What are they called now. IIRC they were just full of poor-quality US and Canadian players.

Phoenix still. And yes they were. In later days they had a few (about 7?) Brits, though, iirc. In the last game I went to, the opponents (Sheffield) only had 1.

 

[Fusion]

MLB for me. I love baseball. The battle between a pitcher and a batter is one of intense intrigue to me. I love the romanticism associated with baseball and the impact the game had on American history. I am fascinated with the legends of baseball and their stories. Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, the dominance of Babe Ruth, the magnificent talent of Cobb coupled with his horrific personality, the tragic fall of Shoeless Joe Jackson. the durability and immense class of Lou Gehrig. I can go on and on. There is something magical about attending a baseball game on a lazy summer day. Of all the American sports, the most relaxing and enjoyable to attend in person IMO.

NFL and NBA are tied for next in my book. I follow both with a passion as well. Don't care about MLS or racing.

 

[Goughy]

On TV, American Football is king.
My Saturdays used to be consumed with College ball and Sundays NFL
Live it is poor. Even if you ignore all the stopages it is impossible to follow. Eg if you are watching the QB and he fakes a handoff and throws deep, then you have no chance of watching how the receiver got open.

Live, Baseball is the best experience. I still take my mit to games when I go

I love basketball. Partially as it is so closely matched with cricket in how many people that are fans (even coaches ahemcelticsandknicks) are completely clueless about the sport and get sucked in by the glamour moments. Basketball is great to watch but I have issues with they way fouls are called (they could go either way many times) and I still cant get over that there are big advantages in commiting intentional fouls late in the game (surely that is cheating!)

Ice Hockey never meant anything to me. I dont get it or have any interest.

 

[Dravid]

I can watch baseball quite happily, intriguing sport. NFL is good on Sunday evenings as well, even though I haven't got a clue what is happening. Went to see the old Manchester Storm play ice hockey once or twice, which was exciting but perhaps a little too centred on punch-ups.

The NBA, on the other hand, does my head in. Yes, I can appreciate the high level of skill involved, which is amazing to watch at times, but I just can't see the attraction of it. Since most games involve hundreds of points being scored, there is little excitement scored by a basket as there is a goal in football or a try in rugby or a home run in baseball. The lack of any obvious tactical element also enerves me, as does the fact that territory on the court means absolutely nothing. Unlike virtually every other 'goal' sport in the world (there's probably a technical name), it doesn't matter where the ball is on the pitch as long as you have possession, since you can have the ball under the hoop at the other end in a few seconds.

End of rant.

The fact that you said that you coud have the ball anywhere it doesn't matter because you will put it up in 2 secs anyway. You know there is a such thing called defense, which makes scoring a bucket really tough, even though scores are in the low 100s. Also 3 pointers are somewhat like goals because they don't come often either.

If you really want to know how hard it is to score a bucket against the defense, watch the Detroit Pistons play when it's their night. In the top 3 defensive teams in the league, and they always win games because of their defense, not their offense.

 

[_Ed_]

I went NFL.

I love football and baseball, but I just find that there are too many games in the MLB for me to be interested. Does every team really need to play 162 times a year? Seems a bit excessive IMO.

Get really interested when it gets to the post-season though.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

The fact that you said that you coud have the ball anywhere it doesn't matter because you will put it up in 2 secs anyway. You know there is a such thing called defense, which makes scoring a bucket really tough, even though scores are in the low 100s. Also 3 pointers are somewhat like goals because they don't come often either.

If you really want to know how hard it is to score a bucket against the defense, watch the Detroit Pistons play when it's their night. In the top 3 defensive teams in the league, and they always win games because of their defense, not their offense.

So how come most attacks ('offenses' if you must) end in a basket being scored. That seems to indicate that missing is more important than scoring. Three pointers may be rare, but you can't compare them to goals in that sense because you can rack up another three points through one-pointers relatively easily. As I said before, I can understand the immense skill involved in the sport, but not the attraction of it.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

I went NFL.

I love football and baseball, but I just find that there are too many games in the MLB for me to be interested. Does every team really need to play 162 times a year? Seems a bit excessive IMO.

Get really interested when it gets to the post-season though.

I tend to agree with you there: it becomes to hard to follow, and games take on less importance. Surely one home and one away game against each franchise should be enough? I suppose it's a different culuture though and it rakes in loads more cash.

 

[Dravid]

So how come most attacks ('offenses' if you must) end in a basket being scored. That seems to indicate that missing is more important than scoring. Three pointers may be rare, but you can't compare them to goals in that sense because you can rack up another three points through one-pointers relatively easily. As I said before, I can understand the immense skill involved in the sport, but not the attraction of it.

Haha, wtf are you serious? Most attempts end up scoring? Sorry to say thats the dumbest thing I have heard in a while.

I suggest you do some research, and you try scoring your self once.

 

[roseboy64]

MLB for mine. The Braves are my third favourite sports team.

 

[Dravid]

So how come most attacks ('offenses' if you must) end in a basket being scored. That seems to indicate that missing is more important than scoring. Three pointers may be rare, but you can't compare them to goals in that sense because you can rack up another three points through one-pointers relatively easily. As I said before, I can understand the immense skill involved in the sport, but not the attraction of it.

Also, since it seems to you that offense scores almost every possesion, then whats the difference between Cricket and Basketball. You have runs coming like crazy in Cricket.

 

[Turbinator]

I play baseball at a pretty decent level, but I don't like watching it. However, when the playoffs roll around, I am very much into the action.

And being the good Canadian I am, I would've gone for NHL. But my interest in it has declined over the past couple of years.

I hate NFL, really boring.

NBA I love, therefore, NBA it is.