Between the scam of municipalities losing so much $$ on stadiums, how the stadiums cause urban blight sitting empty most of the time then causing major traffic headaches the other times, and the CTE injury rate, I can't fathom how football still exists today as a popular sport. Seems like the whole thing is a house of cards that needs to collapse.
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> I can't fathom how football still exists today as a popular sport
Your first three points make sense, but don't lead to this conclusion at all. People are not going to rationally say "football leads to traffic so I'm not going to watch it anymore." Football is entertaining, which is why it has an audience. Whether or not the negatives you outlined above are funded by the gov't is an entirely different matter.
Football is very boring.
I used to enjoy it, at least when the Steelers are playing. Then I got into soccer, eventually getting a more expensive cable package to watch the Premier League.
Now when I watch football again, I am painfully aware of the time between plays, the incessant commercials, and now the ever increasing number of "official reviews". Seems like every 3rd or 4th play, an official has to leave the field, watch the play over and over and over and over again for 5 minutes, before announcing that, yes, they got the call right in the first place.
Soccer, the action flows pretty constantly, and it's all done in under 2 hours. Watching football is a grueling, four hour commitment. There goes your Sunday afternoon (and evening, if you are enough of a glutton to stick around for Sunday Night Football).
It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun.
(But please don't tell anyone I said this, I live in Pittsburgh!)
> It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun.
Is it really such a crazy idea that people like things that you don't? I like football and don't like soccer. Some people have fun playing Farmville. There's no objective criteria for entertainment, everyones' brain is tickled in different ways by different activities.
"Some people have fun playing Farmville."
Do they? I had this in mind when I made that comment:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cleverest-explanation-as-...
Makes an interesting argument about Farmville's success being based more on creating social obligations, than on being inherently enjoyable. I was wondering if some of football's continuing popularity also rests on social obligations, like people in your municipality talking about the team, wearing the jerseys, posting messages on social media, participating in fantasy leagues, and using support of the team as a proxy for civic pride.
I suspect there are those, like yourself, who actually like watching the games. But I also suspect there are a large number of people who watch for social reasons.
Well...that's just like your opinion man...
Amazed that people still think that other wide-held opinions can't be valid because one person doesn't like it.
Some people say "computer stuff" is boring. Doesn't change the fact that there are entire huge communities (this being one) dedicated to it.
Different people have different opinions. The inability to comprehend that says more about the person making that statement than it does about the people with a wide-held opinion.
> It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun.
"boring" and "fun" are subjective. That you find something boring doesn't mean that it is objectively boring and that those who find it fun have deluded themselves. It just means that people have different entertainment preferences. Which is, decidedly, not news.
Soccer flows, but still seems boring.
It's all boring...
Shirling though... Now that's a sport.
Soccer has it's dull games too. Watching teams park the bus or just kick the ball around to kill time. Thrilling stuff!
Also, as a fan of all sports, I have to say there is probably nothing more entertaining(at least to me) than the NFL Red Zone Channel. Almost no stop in the action, skip most replays, see all the big plays, often in real time. Of course playing fantasy football plays a big part in that.
Hockey is a great game to watch as well with pretty constant shots and action.
Lots of people I know don't understand how I like hockey or soccer. Some can't stand football. Some like watching sports I find boring, but I don't begrudge them or declare that a sport I find boring must be boring to everyone in the world and they're all somehow brainwashed or confused.
Hockey is like soccer in some ways, with the important difference that they have sane substitution rules. In hockey, you have line changes every couple minutes, so when they are out there on the ice, they are going balls-to-the-wall the majority of the time. None of this jogging around, diving, booting the ball out of bounds, conserving energy that you see in pro soccer, because the players have to play the entire game, barring one or two rare substitutions.
When I played in high school, our soccer league had unlimited substitutions, and, even though the skill level was pretty low, the games were more entertaining to watch than professional soccer, because people were actually trying. You start dogging it, and you'd get the hook.
> Football is very boring.
I agree! Why spend time on something that I have no effect on the outcome of? That's why I prefer gaming (especially online, against real other people). (Some people think online gaming is boring. But the fact that I do not understand how someone could possibly think that, is not an argument against their opinion.)
> the action flows pretty constantly
Ah, yes, those gripping 2 hour matchups ending in a score of... 2-1. :P
> Pittsburgh
I like Pittsburgh! I have a couple of good friends who live there.
I love it here, too, but not sufficiently loving the Steelers can be dangerous around here. :)
(And I do love the organization and what it means to the city, just finding it harder to actually enjoy the games as much as I used to.)
If you don't enjoy some sport then it can be boring. As a cricket fan that too "Test" cricket(the one which takes 5 days) to complete i find "Soccer" or Football as its know here boring. Cricket even has regular scheduled breaks for commercials. I used to love football at one time, but too many boring draws and player behavior led me away from it.
I was about to say the same thing. I'm a huge test cricket fan (only form of cricket I really like to watch). For me part of the appeal of Test Cricket (6 hours a day for 5 days) is that the Australia summer is too damn hot to do anything else. The big match (Boxing Day Test) coincides nicely with the break week many jobs have between Xmas and New Year. So the fact that you have a bunch of downtime from work combined with it being too damn hot to want to do much else makes vegging out on couch with a beer (or several) and the cricket on the box all that more appealing.
I do not know a lot about American football but I recall hearing or reading somewhere that the breaks in play make it a more popular spectator sport. As it allows for discussion and analysis of the prior event in a way more freeflowing sports do not.
All of this is totally true for cricket and even worse(8 fucking hours filled with commercials like american football). My whole country(India) has somehow convinced itself that its a lot of fun when the real reasos are that most of them aren't aware of good alternates and even if they are aware, India isn't doing well in any of those.
Soccer comes off as slow hockey played by people who are afraid to get hit.
"Now when I watch football again, I am painfully aware of [...] the incessant commercials"
You are not their target audience, I'm afraid
I am generally unaware of the commercials, but after watching a game I always have a strange craving for Budweiser and Viagra.
> Soccer, the action flows pretty constantly
Yeah, but it's the same level of action in a single NFL play spread over an entire match.
OK, a lot of these criticisms are fair enough, but this one seems objectively false to me.
There are constant one on one matchups of a dribbler trying to beat an attacker, or clever link up passes, or long balls contested by attackers and defenders, or, yes, shots on goal.
A fair number of NFL plays are just running up the middle for 1 or 2 yards gain.
So I really fail to see your point.
It doesn't even have to be entertaining if it provides a tribal identity
I don't understand why it exists as a popular sport anyways, it's 5 seconds of action followed by 30 seconds of two guys talking about it. The average football game has 11 minutes of action[1]. Everything but the last ~8 minutes of the 4th quarter is boring. Yet Americans love it. I don't get it.
[1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527487042812045750028...
You know what else is boring? Comments of the form "I don't understand something, and my ignorance should be compelling"
To be fair, that's a non-insignificant amount of HN comments. People should come here with far more curiosity and far less arrogance than they do.
I post comments like that to be educated. Some have already offered explanations, so I'm happy to get your downvote if it means learning something.
> The first layer is the literal meaning of the words: I lack the knowledge and understanding to figure this out. But the second, intended meaning is the opposite: I am such a superior moral being that I cannot even imagine the cognitive errors or moral turpitude that could lead someone to such obviously wrong conclusions. And yet, the third, true meaning is actually more like the first: I lack the empathy, moral imagination or analytical skills to attempt even a basic understanding of the people who disagree with me.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-08-12/only-stupid...
It's best understood as a turn-based strategy game with real-time elements during and between moves.
It's like Total War but with big dudes, a ball, and a time control.
Total war has time control. You obviously never tried the "Run your light calvary around the map until the attacker loses because the clock" trick.
The social aspect can't be ignored.
Football is typically held up as the quintessential American sport in many regions of the country. Those who don't proclaim their interest or love for it do so at the risk of being seen as outsiders and potentially treated as outcasts.
This starts at a very early age for many Americans due to the close ties between the education systems and football programs. Starting while they're children, those who are capable of playing are often expected to play, and those who aren't capable are expected to participate as fans. This continues through to high school, college, and to the NFL.
Even if the fans don't particularly like the game itself, they often like the social aspect of it, or just pretend to like to to avoid being stigmatized.
Association football (soccer) and cricket play a similar role in other countries. They can be seen as a form of religion, in some sense.
I think you nailed it.
"They can be seen as a form of religion, in some sense."
In my family it was Sunday School with mom and then football with Grandpa and Dad.
Football is kind of like drinking...even if you don't like it at some point it is easier to just pretend and fit in.
There's a lot of strategy between plays. Because the action isn't continuous it has a different flavor from a continuously played game like the other football. It's sort of a hybrid between a real-time game and a turn-based game, which is cool. I think it would be much more interesting if there were more time on the field, but i'm sure the NFL and their advertising partners love all that time that can be filled up with ads.
I dislike the game because the players get horribly injured, either immediately, or decades later. The NFL is a company that makes money by encouraging degenerative brain disease in its employees.
That doesn't explain the popularity, strategy is invisible to the viewer. Chess is not a popular spectator sport.
As someone who recently moved to the US, should I first try to learn about American football, or about baseball?
Definitely football, it's more popular (unless you're in St. Louis).
Baseball games are really fun to watch in person though, more so than football in my opinion. It's just an excuse to drink and shoot the shit while hearing a bat crack every once in a while, always a great night out
Also checkout basketball, especially if you're in the bay.
Where do you live? First of all, we need to get around the inaccurately named regions of the US.
If you live in the midwest (the middle of the country; from top to bottom) or the south (southwest of the country), football without a doubt.
If you live anywhere else, you can pick and choose. To me, baseball is a lot more intellectually stimulating and has a lot more interesting strategy, but the more I learn about football, the more I see how much goes into it as well. I was a rabid baseball fan as a youth, but these days can't be bothered to spend the time required to watch a game (let alone 160 games a season). As such, I'm more of a football fan now-- frankly, there is more action, and there are fewer games per year so it's easier to follow a team.
Start with baseball. Season starts April 3. Football season ends this Sunday with the Super Bowl. You can pick up football in August.
Why not try both? The vibe and culture surrounding the two sports are totally different I find. Baseball teams, for instance, play almost every day as opposed to once a week for football. I think at least partially because of that (each game is less consequential), it's more common to casually watch baseball games as opposed to football where it's a proper event and people get really into every game. Depending on where you are, it's probably easier and cheaper to get tickets for a baseball game.
Two totally different sports, really. Buy some tickets to some games and see what tickles your fancy.
If you do go to a baseball game though, I recommend at least once getting bleacher seats (basically equivalent to general entry). That's where the fun happens!
Probably football if you're interested in contemporary culture, baseball if you're more interested in U.S. history. Baseball has more history and tradition associated with it, football is currently much more popular.
NCAA March Madness is coming up - it's probably the most exciting event in basketball, possibly all of US sports. There's always surprises, some team that comes out of nowhere to make a big run, some heavy favorite that goes down in flames, buzzer beaters, human-interest stories, the minor gambling aspect of filling out a bracket in the office pool.
College basketball can also be some of the most entertaining basketball to watch. There's a lot more variation in style and strategy than you typically see in NBA or international ball. As long as you don't get stuck seeing too many Big Ten style grind-it-out defensive slugfests.
It's kind of like the World Cup, with less flopping.
If you are in a town with soccer (football) then you might follow the local team rather than learn about the other sports.
College sports are also fun to follow.
Football. But only if you like sports. If not, just forget it and tell people you don't watch.
How about neither? Pursue what you enjoy and find meaningful.
Football is great for tailgating and then watching on TV. Baseball is fun to go to in the summer and maybe watch on TV when the playoffs are on.
Sorry - not gonna stop liking things you don't like :)
Football and baseball are things to which people are inoculated when young. I suppose the same is true of basketball but I'm just not familiar with it beyond attempting to play it in a pickup fashion while in school.
You'd think curling would be boring, but I've watched it a few times and there's a lot going on.
And never mind golf, which I love to watch. It's been compared to watching grass grow. I can't argue.
At least in the college game, there's the issue of "tempo", which has a tactical as well as (I'm sure) a desire to reduce that time between plays. "Tactical" because it puts pressure on the defense to assemble more quickly.
It gets even worse - I like college ball, but the pros look to me like they just run their pattern and stop, where you might find a college quarterback that will improve most of a game.
I don't watch normally but I left the seahawks playoff games on in the background while I did other stuff. It's okay.
Watching with other people is pretty good. You chat while the commentators are going on about whatever or they are playing yet another incessant commercial then you watch the play and go back to talking.
Football is what usually happens between the three sets of the marching band concert. It keeps the crowd occupied, even if it is an inferior form of entertainment.~
I also never understood the appeal of professional football games, with no band playing there at all. It feels like the "spectacle" type of gladiatorial games--the re-enactments of the Battle of Wherever, with condemned criminals portraying the Foovians on one side, and slaves portraying the Barrites on the other. But instead of getting killed outright, the participants just get a very mild case of severe brain damage. And instead of non-stop action, they stand around planning their next stratagem, as though it were not essentially "push the other guy away, so our guy can run past him".
Marching bands are by far the worst aspect of college & hs football in my opinion, almost more annoying then the music/fake forced chants they play during NBA games.
Some people just enjoy the sport without all the ridiculous fanfare!