The Baseball 'World' Series?

pjl44

Byrnzie wrote:

MayDay Malone wrote:

If Americans cared about soccer, then the World Cup would be the Super Bowl.

But we don't.

So we get the World Series, and you can have the (Third) World Cup.

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World. The fact that many Americans don't care for it makes zero difference to the rest of us.

Still, the U.S team isn't too bad these days. They're better than China (not that that's hard to achieve). But I suppose it will never take off there, for various reasons, one being that in most U.S sports every period of 'play' lasts about 10 seconds - baseball, American football, basketball. Maybe it's an attention span thing.

I think soccer is behind the sports you mentioned because it wasn't created here and the highest level of competition isn't played here, unlike those three. (There's a reason hockey runs a distant fourth.) And it ain't attention span. If that were the case, baseball would have gone tits up years ago.

cincybearcat

Byrnzie wrote:

MayDay Malone wrote:

If Americans cared about soccer, then the World Cup would be the Super Bowl.

But we don't.

So we get the World Series, and you can have the (Third) World Cup.

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World. The fact that many Americans don't care for it makes zero difference to the rest of us.

Still, the U.S team isn't too bad these days. They're better than China (not that that's hard to achieve). But I suppose it will never take off there, for various reasons, one being that in most U.S sports every period of 'play' lasts about 10 seconds - baseball, American football, basketball. Maybe it's an attention span thing.

Again, clearly you haven't watch a baseball game.

As for soccer, I don't care much for it because it ridiculous to play for that long with a 0-0 tie and then just leave the field. Stupid.

MayDay Malone

cincybearcat wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

MayDay Malone wrote:

If Americans cared about soccer, then the World Cup would be the Super Bowl.

But we don't.

So we get the World Series, and you can have the (Third) World Cup.

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World. The fact that many Americans don't care for it makes zero difference to the rest of us.

Still, the U.S team isn't too bad these days. They're better than China (not that that's hard to achieve). But I suppose it will never take off there, for various reasons, one being that in most U.S sports every period of 'play' lasts about 10 seconds - baseball, American football, basketball. Maybe it's an attention span thing.

Again, clearly you haven't watch a baseball game.

As for soccer, I don't care much for it because it ridiculous to play for that long with a 0-0 tie and then just leave the field. Stupid.

+1. very stupid.

EdsonNascimento

Byrnzie wrote:

MayDay Malone wrote:

If Americans cared about soccer, then the World Cup would be the Super Bowl.

But we don't.

So we get the World Series, and you can have the (Third) World Cup.

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World. The fact that many Americans don't care for it makes zero difference to the rest of us.

Still, the U.S team isn't too bad these days. They're better than China (not that that's hard to achieve). But I suppose it will never take off there, for various reasons, one being that in most U.S sports every period of 'play' lasts about 10 seconds - baseball, American football, basketball. Maybe it's an attention span thing.

If by not catching on you mean the 3rd highest average attendance in US professional sports (behind American Football and Baseball), or having the HIGHEST number of youth participants of any sport in the US, then I guess we're also waiting for basketball and hockey to catch on.

I love the European arrogance when it comes to US and soccer. Can't wait for the day that we advance as far as England, or ties them in a game in the World Cup....Oops!!!! Already happened.

Drowned Out

Monster Rain wrote:

The NHL teams don't usually refer to themselves as the World Champions when they win the Stanley Cup. They know that even though hockey is huge in Canada and there are Canadian teams and the NHL is Canada's hockey league as much as America's, hockey is just as big in other countries and players in European and Russian leagues are often more than happy to play in their home country's league instead of the NHL. The Olympics are pretty much hockey's version of a World Championship since NHL players are allowed to participate. The best players from the various leagues around the world get to play each other.

I disagree about hockey….The KHL in Russia is, skill-wise, the next closest league to the NHL…and it’s not even close. For the most part, the players there are either washed up, or not quite good enough for the NHL. Same goes for the Swedish Elite league. There are some Russian players in the KHL who got homesick, or had contract disputes in the NHL and went home…but for the vast majority of hockey players, the NHL is where you go to play against the top teams in the world. The Oly’s could somewhat be considered a world championship….but it’s more like an exhibition all-star tournament. The players don’t play together for more than a couple weeks – that takes away from the team aspect of the game, and the single-loss elimination is not a true test of a championship team IMO. The Stanley Cup is BY FAR the most demanding championship to win …playing up to 28 games, every second night…full contact, high intensity…nothing compares.

As far as how international these sports are…I did a quick google search…. not sure of accuracy, but here’s how many countries are represented by currently active players in each league:
NHL –18
NFL – 6
MLB – 45
NBA –34

I honestly don’t understand how the soccer leagues work, so I wouldn’t even know how to search it It’s obviously safe to say that it remains the most widely played/watched sport in the world. But that’s only cause you could play it on a dirt road with a fucking rock if you wanted to…..if we could get free ice and gear in every country, hockey would take over …I’ve played them all; hockey is waaaaay more fun to play than any other team sport, IMO.

Byrnzie

cincybearcat wrote:

Again, clearly you haven't watch a baseball game.

As for soccer, I don't care much for it because it ridiculous to play for that long with a 0-0 tie and then just leave the field. Stupid.

I have watched a baseball game. They're interrupted every 5 minutes by lots of silly flag waving, chest thumping, and advertisements.

As for football games ending with a 0-0 tie and the players leaving the field, this only happens during league games. In any tournament if the game ends 0-0 in normal time then it goes to extra time, followed by penalties.

Byrnzie

EdsonNascimento wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

MayDay Malone wrote:

If Americans cared about soccer, then the World Cup would be the Super Bowl.

But we don't.

So we get the World Series, and you can have the (Third) World Cup.

The football World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World. The fact that many Americans don't care for it makes zero difference to the rest of us.

Still, the U.S team isn't too bad these days. They're better than China (not that that's hard to achieve). But I suppose it will never take off there, for various reasons, one being that in most U.S sports every period of 'play' lasts about 10 seconds - baseball, American football, basketball. Maybe it's an attention span thing.

If by not catching on you mean the 3rd highest average attendance in US professional sports (behind American Football and Baseball), or having the HIGHEST number of youth participants of any sport in the US, then I guess we're also waiting for basketball and hockey to catch on.

I love the European arrogance when it comes to US and soccer. Can't wait for the day that we advance as far as England, or ties them in a game in the World Cup....Oops!!!! Already happened.

So Americans do care about football then? Maybe you and Mayday Malone can argue amongst yourselves?

MayDay Malone

I think settling the "Worlds biggest sporting event" for the supreme foooooooootball championship of
THE WORLD with penalty kicks, is like settling...

...the Super Bowl w/ best-out-of-five field goals.

...or the World Series w/ a fastest pitch competition.

... or the NBA Finals w/ free throws.


It's a little silly, IMO.

Indifference71

MayDay Malone wrote:

I think settling the "Worlds biggest sporting event" for the supreme foooooooootball championship of
THE WORLD with penalty kicks, is like settling...

...the Super Bowl w/ best-out-of-five field goals.

...or the World Series w/ a fastest pitch competition.

... or the NBA Finals w/ free throws.


It's a little silly, IMO.

Yep. It's absolutely fucking ridiculous. That's like game 7 of the stanley cup finals going to a shootout...fucking insane!

81

Indifference71 wrote:

MayDay Malone wrote:

I think settling the "Worlds biggest sporting event" for the supreme foooooooootball championship of
THE WORLD with penalty kicks, is like settling...

...the Super Bowl w/ best-out-of-five field goals.

...or the World Series w/ a fastest pitch competition.

... or the NBA Finals w/ free throws.


It's a little silly, IMO.

Yep. It's absolutely fucking ridiculous. That's like game 7 of the stanley cup finals going to a shootout...fucking insane!

or college football playing an phoney championship game....oh wait.

Indifference71

81 wrote:

or college football playing an phoney championship game....oh wait.

Ehhh...dont even get me started on that nonsense. You must be giddy w/ Urban Meyer taking over the Buckeyes, huh?

cincybearcat

Indifference71 wrote:

81 wrote:

or college football playing an phoney championship game....oh wait.

Ehhh...dont even get me started on that nonsense. You must be giddy w/ Urban Meyer taking over the Buckeyes, huh?

Cheaters don't deserve Urban. But now that he is one of them, I wish him all the ill will possible.

mikepegg44

Byrnzie wrote:

So Americans do care about football then? Maybe you and Mayday Malone can argue amongst yourselves?

I would say that most people grow up participating in the sport. And as a person who actually still gets out and kicks the ball around (very poorly but who cares) I can say that Americans like playing it, but the reason people think it isn't a success is because of television ratings...and it doesn't translate well to television in my opinion.
So care about it as a pro sport...maybe not...like playing it...certainly...it is kind of like Arrested development around here...great show...people in the know enjoy the hell out of it but couldn't get an audience on TV...people shouldn't call it a failure because of that...and they shouldn't call Soccer a failure in the states because johnny budweiser won't watch it on a saturday afternoon when Ron Popeil has a set of knives to sell.
but anyway...I disagree with anything you have to say about soccer....whew, back to normal.

SatansFuton

Yeah, only Americans would be so arrogant...







And that was at a time when the league wasn't nearly as international as it is now, mainly just North American players. My dad has a shirt from the Canadiens '93 Stanley Cup victory that says "World Champions".

Johnny Abruzzo

Byrnzie wrote:

I have watched a baseball game. They're interrupted every 5 minutes by lots of silly flag waving, chest thumping, and advertisements.

I don't know what baseball game this guy watched. Flag waving & chest thumping? Yeah, definitely lots of ads, agree with you there.

The reasons why it's (rightfully) called the World Series have been rehashed repeatedly in this thread and I won't bother going over them again.

How about the Super Bowl? It's not a Bowl, it's a game. A bowl is something you eat soup or cereal out of. :? And many years it is far from super, although the quality has generally improved in the past decade or two.

SatansFuton

I'm guessing Byrnzie doesn't watch a lot of sports, whatever the country there is a lot of flag waving and chest thumping. Ever watch a hockey game, lots of Canadian flags in the crowd, painted on people's faces, etc.

Ever watch an Italian Serie A game?



That's extreme flag waving.

I think Byrnzie only has a problem with people waving the American flag. I've never seen an American Flag at a baseball game except for the ones hung up at the stadium, though I'm sure there have been some. I don't have a problem with people waving their respective country's flags at games. Paint flags on your face, wave a flag, do whatever. It's about having fun right? It is still a game correct?

JOEJOEJOE

Baseball may have a lot of ads, but so does the English Premier League. Every team has a shirt sponsor, and the most prominent item on a player's jersey is the name of the sponsoring company. Some lower division teams have sponsor names on both the front and back of their shirts.

So, when you spend money on a club's replica jersey, you become a walking billboard for the team's sponsor.

Most teams also align themselves with legal bookmakers, so betting on matches is actually encouraged by the teams, and, you can usually place your bet at the grounds.

Drowned Out

JOEJOEJOE wrote:

Baseball may have a lot of ads, but so does the English Premier League.

You mean the Barclay's Premier League, right?

I don't know what it is with Euro sports, the hockey teams are even worse...they look like bloody nascar drivers or something

ads on your shins? :?

pjl44

Byrnzie wrote:

I have watched a baseball game. They're interrupted every 5 minutes by lots of silly flag waving, chest thumping, and advertisements.

Ha ha...ok, now you're just making shit up. Either you bathe twice daily in confirmation bias or you're trolling at a Hall of Fame level.

Byrnzie

Johnny Abruzzo wrote:

How about the Super Bowl? It's not a Bowl, it's a game. A bowl is something you eat soup or cereal out of. :? And many years it is far from super, although the quality has generally improved in the past decade or two.

And why is it called 'football' when it's played with your hands? :think: