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The Big Three Plus One => General Chat => Topic started by: octoinky on May 04, 2009, 02:13:00 am

Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 04, 2009, 02:13:00 am: FINAL RESULTS:

Soccer - 9
Hockey - 8
Basketball - 7
Baseball - 6
American Football - 4
Tennis - 2
Rugby - 0

Other - 5
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 04, 2009, 02:17:00 am: I went with basketball. Growing up considerably taller than everybody else, I got pretty good at it young so I've had the most experience with this game. I think it is one of the most enjoyable sports to watch on TV because it has constant action, and plenty of scoring. The high scoring leads to the possibility for huge comebacks that quite frankly aren't very possible in other sports. One thing that bothers me about basketball is that the end of the games take FOREVER. Too many timeouts and commercials.

Also basketball is really easy to pick up and play. Don't need a big field like baseball, pads for any respectable football (first time I tried playing contact football, somebody broke a wrist...), don't need a freaking ice rink, etc. I guess soccer is easier to pick up, but it's really hard to be any good at it without a lot more effort than basketball. Any fool can play a pickup basketball game which makes it accessible which I like!
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on May 04, 2009, 02:27:00 am: in high school, it was easily baseball

now-it's easily jogging/cardio/strength training
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Maygs on May 04, 2009, 03:30:00 am: Do you actually enjoy jogging/cardio/strength training or is it just because that's what you do the most and it benefits your health. Would you still do it and enjoy it if it didn't improve the quality of your body?
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: alexaxxem on May 04, 2009, 05:05:00 am: well lately I have really been into UFC, no matter how hard they go at it, they keep it at a sport and have great sportsmanship. I like watching football but over the years its bored me, Rugby is fun to watch, and only I have a lil bit of knowledge behind it, baseball just flat out blows, I love basketball when its down to 4 teams, hockey has its skill. but yeah, atm, since my taste changes every 2 years, Im gonna say UFC MMA fighting atm
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: PerfectTaste on May 04, 2009, 05:12:00 am: I have to say Athletics and Badminton.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Maygs on May 04, 2009, 05:20:00 am: Awesome post count Alex (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fhappy.gif&hash=7b9cd982f9a41f9aefcd7ea74682d5f1e4caf4c6)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Fal2002 on May 04, 2009, 05:36:00 am: Football (proper football that is, Soccer to the rest of you) (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Red Bull on May 04, 2009, 06:10:00 am: Tennis.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Maygs on May 04, 2009, 06:18:00 am: MMORPGs, spending countless hours on Xbox360 getting achievements and fast food, mainly MacDonalds. Don't mind a hit of table tennis either.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: rshepherd1000 on May 04, 2009, 07:38:00 am: American Football
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Worlds-One on May 04, 2009, 08:06:00 am: Golf.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Carathorn on May 04, 2009, 08:49:00 am: tennis.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: PerfectTaste on May 04, 2009, 10:20:00 am: MARIO TENNIS. 2ND SERVE .... LET!
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Carathorn on May 04, 2009, 11:07:00 am: lololol....I still have 3 video's on my HD of mario tennis matches between you and me patrik!
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: wishiwasfamous on May 04, 2009, 12:28:00 pm: Can play basketball, hate watching NBA
Love football, but can't play it
Enjoy Baseball, and can actually play a bit of softball. So I go with the one that I can both watch and play (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fwink.gif&hash=4979046fbfc7ed25a03644bf608e503c4aa73f0f)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Thiradell on May 04, 2009, 01:14:00 pm: Basketball!
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: flukey lukey on May 04, 2009, 02:08:00 pm: its not a sport, but skateboarding

if i had to say though, probably tennis
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Matis on May 04, 2009, 03:34:00 pm: Cleveland Cavs
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: AZ on May 04, 2009, 04:17:00 pm: I kind of like most of the sports and I've practised them all (not the most extremely ones, though)

The sport that I most enjoy to watch at: Soccer (mainly big tournaments such as World Cup & Euro Championship) and the Olympics

The sport that I most enjoy to practise: Soccer, Floorball, Badminton, Athletics. Skiing can be pretty fun too, during winter
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on May 04, 2009, 05:31:00 pm: Quote from: Maygs
Do you actually enjoy jogging/cardio/strength training or is it just because that's what you do the most and it benefits your health. Would you still do it and enjoy it if it didn't improve the quality of your body?
not sure... the main reason i'm very into it is because of the health benefits and for my health later on in life. hard to say if i'd still do it if it werent beneficial

LOOOL @ Matis! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Flaugh.gif&hash=657f1346088ce2081c398c7379c3a47e4cf5861b)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Carathorn on May 04, 2009, 08:24:00 pm: it's a typical matis-move to answer the question with a team and not a sport.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 04, 2009, 08:42:00 pm: Morelike Cleveland CHAVS mirite?

I also enjoy how hockey is currently sitting at #2 with 6 votes, yet none of those voters have posted in here saying they did yet.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: TheFlash on May 04, 2009, 08:53:00 pm: Baseball, bye.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Jimbo on May 04, 2009, 08:58:00 pm: Why did you leave out NASCAR? I'm appalled! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on May 04, 2009, 10:01:00 pm: haha-yeah Octo, why did you not include my morning commute to work? (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148)

Jimbo-sitting down spitting out angry redneck "words" at other people sitting down is NOT a sport, it's a hobby! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Time was untied when set. on May 04, 2009, 11:38:00 pm: Working out is as much of a sport as masturbation...
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 04, 2009, 11:40:00 pm: I left out nascar, badminton, volleyball, athletics, etc., because I didn't anticipate more than one each for those, and didn't want a HUGE list of sports (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)

I'm actually shocked at the diversity here, pretty cool
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Matis on May 05, 2009, 07:17:00 am: typical cara reply to instigate something...

like if you can't honestly put together Cleveland Cavaliers and Basketball you're pretty moronic... I dont know if you should try to guess what i put down because I wouldn't you to hurt yourself
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Red Bull on May 05, 2009, 07:28:00 am: Then I must be moronic, because I didn't know! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Soft-Hedwig on May 05, 2009, 07:41:00 am: Unless you're speaking to someone who takes a particular interest in American sport, there is absolutely no way you can presume that people outside the US will know that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a basketball team.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 08:01:00 am: Working out is not a sport.

Sport requires competition with other people. Strong-Man contests are sport. Working out is not.

Racing cars is a sport. Driving is not.

Tennis is a sport. Returning balls shot out of a machine are not.

Oh yeah, I'm betting Matis doesn't know what sport the Kansas City Scouts played...
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: vitor on May 05, 2009, 09:42:00 am: Soccer!

Funny to see hockey ahead of football.. it's such a dumb sport (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ffrown.gif&hash=9bb8520656650a7c2457ae0ae2ee8996e4109fd6)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 09:49:00 am: Why is it a dumb sport Vitor? Can you elaborate?
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 05, 2009, 10:16:00 am: Hockey has its flaws in America, namely that everybody is too dumb to understand what is going on YET the announcers and league are too stuck up to explain the game while it is being played.

Basketball they treat you like morons and explain the plays really in depth, the defensive shifts, double teams, how to react, fast break strategy, etc., but hockey is like :-X all they do is say who has the puck and yell goal, or "what a play" or "wow what a big hit" and just assume you know everything. Heck, it took me years to even figure out what the positions were, how line changes were made, any sort of offensive strategy, power play kill strategy, what the power play rules were, etc., etc., and I watched hockey all the time they just never explain ANYTHING.

I think that is one *HUGE* reason why hockey isn't popular in America. While it may be our own fault we don't understand it or try to understand it, the league and announcers don't help us at all.

--

Once you understand it a bit, it's not a dumb sport (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e) Pretty cool actually, lol. Probably one of the hardest sports to play. You want a dumb sport, I'll go with soccer!! While I think soccer may be the most skilled sport to be able to score a goal in, they get 1.5X as much time as most sports, still can hardly score, and the rest of the action rarely seems to lead anywhere to a casual observer like myself. I'm sure stuff is actually going on to set up a future goal, but so often it is just boom the ball down, head it a few times, boom the ball back, etc., and nobody even tries to take possession and make an attack. Like they're fighting for corner kicks or something, and even then it's like 10% to score lol. I think the biggest problem with soccer is flopping though. Those Argentinians need to get that flopping shit out of basketball, a few of them brought it over and it's really pissing me off.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 10:44:00 am: I don't think any sport is "dumb." All sports have their pluses and minuses. (Hockey's minus is not fighting.)

Of the major world sports with huge professional leagues (Soccer/Basketball/Tennis/Golf/Hockey/Football/Baseball/Auto Racing) I think basketball is the "worst."

The reason being, basketball is a game of misses. You can only win if the other team messes up. It takes away "going out there and doing something great" or making a game changing play.

You can get the ball, go down court and make a 3 pointer every time. But if the other team does the same thing, you can't stop them... you have to wait until they miss. In hockey, you can always make a defensive play... in baseball you can always strike the guy out, in football you can get a great blitz and sack... in basketball you can block shots, but in the end it's a game of offense, and the team with the better offense will win.

And personally there is nothing more exciting than games where there has been no offense... it makes that winning goal or run or point *that* much more amazing to see.

Kind of the same theory that works for watching an entire Marathon, Triathlon or NASCAR race... the hours before the ending makes the ending that much more important.

And in a game like basketball, where points essentially mean nothing, how can I get excited over a sunk basket late in the game? I mean hell yeah, watching the NCAA you get excited over seeing late points, but thinking about it rationally, basketball seems like the "worst."

Just my three cents.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: vitor on May 05, 2009, 12:14:00 pm: Well, it's just my impression of hockey. I don't think I understand it then (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 12:23:00 pm: Okay, then explain why your impression tells you that hockey is dumb rather than throwing accusations everywhere?
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Thiradell on May 05, 2009, 12:42:00 pm: Goose defense is a huge part of basketball. A team won't be able to make a 3 point shot every time, especially if good defense is played. This forces teams to move the ball around, try to work it inside and draw fouls, etc. How the defense reacts (speed of shifts, double team traps, staying between their man and the basket, denying the baseline, etc.) then creates a huge factor. Just because there's lots of scoring in basketball doesn't mean that defense isn't hugely important. I've seen games won and lost on defense. What makes basketball games so much fun to watch is seeing which team can consistently execute well down the stretch, showing the endurance to keep scoring again and again. The fact that points can be accumulated quickly allows for comebacks as well, whereas games like hockey, football and soccer become less entertaining in the later stages if one team is well ahead of the other, since goals/points are tough to score and comebacks can't really be made late. In basketball, the team that is ahead has to stay with the game all four quarters, and though there are blowouts where the outcome is not in doubt, the underdog usually has a chance or at least a hope of coming back.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Fal2002 on May 05, 2009, 01:12:00 pm: Quote from: octoinky
Hockey has its flaws in America, namely that everybody is too dumb to understand what is going on YET the announcers and league are too stuck up to explain the game while it is being played.

Basketball they treat you like morons and explain the plays really in depth, the defensive shifts, double teams, how to react, fast break strategy, etc., but hockey is like :-X all they do is say who has the puck and yell goal, or "what a play" or "wow what a big hit" and just assume you know everything. Heck, it took me years to even figure out what the positions were, how line changes were made, any sort of offensive strategy, power play kill strategy, what the power play rules were, etc., etc., and I watched hockey all the time they just never explain ANYTHING.

I think that is one *HUGE* reason why hockey isn't popular in America. While it may be our own fault we don't understand it or try to understand it, the league and announcers don't help us at all.

--

Once you understand it a bit, it's not a dumb sport (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e) Pretty cool actually, lol. Probably one of the hardest sports to play. You want a dumb sport, I'll go with soccer!! While I think soccer may be the most skilled sport to be able to score a goal in, they get 1.5X as much time as most sports, still can hardly score, and the rest of the action rarely seems to lead anywhere to a casual observer like myself. I'm sure stuff is actually going on to set up a future goal, but so often it is just boom the ball down, head it a few times, boom the ball back, etc., and nobody even tries to take possession and make an attack. Like they're fighting for corner kicks or something, and even then it's like 10% to score lol. I think the biggest problem with soccer is flopping though. Those Argentinians need to get that flopping shit out of basketball, a few of them brought it over and it's really pissing me off.
You really have to live in a country where Football (soccer) is the #1 sport as you will find all across most of europe to understand why football is so good. Everywhere you go in england there is a football stadium in near enough every village, whether the team are known nationally is debatable however.

There are promotions/relegations etc that make football appealing, i will give you an example with my team Doncaster Rovers.

Premiership (Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal etc)
Championship
League One
League Two
Blue Square Premier

In 2003 we were in the Blue Square Premier, then known as the Conference. We got promoted to League Two after winning the play-offs, in 2004 we won League Two and got promoted to League One where we spent 4 seasons in mid-table. Eventually last season we won the play-offs and now currently reside midtable in the Championship. If we ever get promoted again we will be in the premierleague playing the big boys, for a fan like me the euphoria of it all these promotions etc and trophys that we have won have made it enjoyable. You will often find a 0-0 draw very entertaining as it usually end to end, to be fair you really need to go to a match in europe to appreciate football for what it is as the MLS isn't really a big league compared to the rest
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 01:51:00 pm: I agree that Soccer is set up very will regarding the promotions and demotions, but the fact there are major pro leagues in every country takes a bit away from it.

Imagine the lower leagues were all like they are currently, in every country, but if your team gets promoted they get promoted to a hypothetical International European Football League. There would be one team in London, one team in Paris, one team in Madrid, one team in Berlin, etc etc, until you get to 30 teams and have a set up like the NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL.... think about how amazing that would be and how much bigger professional football would be if that were the case.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lark on May 05, 2009, 01:52:00 pm: Another interesting, yet controversial topic would be, which one is the biggest pussy sport?

Baseball takes the cake imo.

Hockey, soccer, football, are all physically demanding sports.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: vitor on May 05, 2009, 02:31:00 pm: Isn't hockey about a bunch of guys with a stick trying to throw the disc into the goal? And then there's this small goal with a huge guy in front of it, and everybody smashing themselves trying to catch the disc. I don't see any beauty in it, neither strategies involved. That's why I told you to prove me wrong by telling me more deep information about the game.

The idea of soccer is preety simple too, and there's isn't that much of strategy involved if you think of it, but what makes it such a popular sport is it's nice moves and plays. And also the fact that if you have a better team your chances of winning aren't that big. Throughout history we've seen many cases of this happenning (Brasil's team in both 82 and 2006 World Cups, Liverpool and Barcelona recently in that FIFA, Toyota, whatever tourney). And I like playing it a lot too (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148) It's hard to find a brazilian who doesn't play soccer hah.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 03:15:00 pm: Basic hockey by Ryan White.

(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yeshivahockey.com%2FRinkDiagram-2.jpg&hash=6753fe8a55fa97aed2e7957601440081fe892728)

There is your standard hockey rink. There are 5 guys + a goalie on the ice, for both teams, so 12 men total. 3 forwards on each team, 2 defensemen on each team, and 1 goalie who is the big guy in front of the net. Let me draw out an example for you.

Here is how the men set up for the opening face off. The three forwards are beside the red line, and the two defensemen are near the red dots.

(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.yuku.com%2Fimage%2Fpng%2F4031681154ce93cf7df3055bc1f54fc9e53c0e6d.png&hash=944d0f342b2728148f9b40a3474bb2e3da053f55)

The winner of the faceoff will try to draw the puck back to his defenseman, who will then skate with the puck, or shoot it into the other team's zone.

(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.yuku.com%2Fimage%2Fpng%2F865367bc142f5bb5c5109086c9ba73a2ecdec592.png&hash=67ceae06c4b290e6bc976256b9f14bac9e25cd96)
So what's happened here, is the Yellow centre won the puck back to his Defenseman. The Dman then either can pass the puck (using the boards is nice) to his winger, or he can try to skate it in himself.

Okay, so let's look at what happens once they get in the zone.

(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.yuku.com%2Fimage%2Fpng%2Ffac36dbf15d45200ccb69d13c67b7bd4597846b4.png&hash=0f03122b065169cb5096c42a3ceb20a402d064ba)

This is how you set up when you are in the other team's zone. The defensive team, green in this case, tries to keep the puck to "the outside." It is harder to get a good shot on goal from further away. They keep the yellow guys in the corners of their zone and try to make sure that the yellow guys cannot pass into the middle... since shots from there have a good shot of going on. They do this by forming a "box" and this forces the yellow guys to pass around a circle. At any point in time, the green guys can skate towards the yellow guys and try to check the puck off them... but anyways. Eventually the yellow guys will try to get a shot away, and it will either be saved, blocked, miss the net, or go in for a goal. If they miss or it's a save, they sometimes can regain the posession of the puck. When the puck is loose, the guys have to battle for posession by using their speed, bodies and strength. Posession is important, beacuse the other team usually can't score if you have posession.

Let's see what happens if the green guys get the puck... they're going to want to get it down to the other end.

(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.yuku.com%2Fimage%2Fpng%2Fbe116e1a5fca91c97e020a398de68acb69a10841.png&hash=680bd563eefc172ff2c561f92cdfa1a7131f8fc0)
The process of getting the puck out of your zone is called a "breakout." Usually, four of the yellow guys will retreat, while one tries to attack the green guy carrying the puck. The green guy can skate up the boards, or pass it to another man. It is EXTREMELY important he gets out of his zone and doesn't lose a battle when being attacked by a yellow forward, because then the yellow guy will have the posession in his own defensive end...

But let's say he does get out of his zone. Then he can try to put it in the other team's zone so that his team can now have possession in the attacking end...

(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg259.imageshack.us%2Fimg259%2F5003%2Fdumpin.png&hash=00280c683ea1793605937e668047f7ea5eaebd70)

Okay. It is important he got it in over the centre line. If you shoot it from beyond centre into the other teams end, it is ICING and the play is stopped. The faceoff goes back into his OWN end so you don't want this to happen. Okay, he shoots it in from there, and then everyone chases for the puck. If the green team wins the battle for the puck, then they will try to set up the cycle like I described above, and if the yellow team gets the puck, then they will try to breakout like I described above. So on and so forth until a shot goes in the net.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Infil on May 05, 2009, 03:38:00 pm: Hockey has incredible strategy and depth, and there are many elements of hockey which (to my knowledge) are not present in other sports, such as switching lines on the fly to get your best defenseman out against the best forward for the other team, which is usually done on the fly while the play is happening. Strategy like this occurs in sports like baseball, but you have 10 minutes to make up your mind, and you stop the play while you make a pitching change or bring in a pinch runner/batter. In hockey, if you can't coordinate your team to make the change within 10 seconds, you can get scored on.

I also think hockey, apart from soccer, has the fewest whistles/down time of any sport (but, to an uneducated North American like me, it seems like soccer, despite its lack of whistles, still has the most down time!). Football and baseball are both sports that go in spurts, so you know you can look away for 30-40 seconds here and there and it's impossible for you to miss anything. Basketball doesn't have as much down time as these two, but late-game timeout fests and the sheer amount of time it takes to take free throws (especially if your name is Tim Duncan) really slows the pace of the game down.

Hockey is also a sport that requires a ton of different physical abilities, such as cardio, both upper and lower body strength, and a pain threshold unlike any other sport (apart from American football). And, while you're doing all that, you have to have soft hands to control the puck. Also, I think you have to be much more diverse to play hockey. In almost every other sport, your role on the field/court is 100% specified and you never deviate from it (you won't see a center acting like a point guard, or a offensive lineman catching a pass). In hockey, it's frequently the case that defensemen act offensively, or forwards have to come back and play defense when things get hectic. Sometimes, on power plays, the situations will get 100% reversed! (A big defenseman will stand in front of the net, and a forward will play defense) This type of diversity and strategy, when you understand it, makes hockey a fun sport to play and watch.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 04:27:00 pm: And even goalies can come out to make bodychecks and make breakout passes. And sometimes if the goalie got hit behind the net, a skater will rush in the net to try to make a save for his team!
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: DavidK5 on May 05, 2009, 04:55:00 pm: Seems like Goose went through a great deal of trouble explaining what is already explained perfectly here: http://sportsargumentwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Trap (http://sportsargumentwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Trap)

Also, I agree with octo that announcers are a problem in hockey, but I don't agree with the why. It's not necessarily the fact that announcers for American broadcasts (particularly those employed by Versus and NBC) don't explain things, but it's more the fact that they are just absolutely horrible at calling the game. I don't think I've seen any other sport broadcast in America in which the announcers regularly spend more time chatting with each other about irrelevant nonsense than calling the game as the plays are actually happening. Often they'll let their "rink side" reporter jabber on about something or do an interview with someone WHILE the plays are happening (often a goal will be scored while they're talking about some unrelated nonsense). As many chatters know, the quality of the coverage by the American broadcasters can be so horrible at times that I will refuse to watch, even if it's a great game (sometimes I'll just mute it, though). From what I've seen, the Canadian networks and announcers do a much better job of keeping the bullshit chit-chat to a minimum, although there are always exceptions (see: Pierre McGuire, which is probably why NBC regularly employs him).

I also agree with Lark about baseball, which is also the only sport in the world in which someone as fat and unathletic as say... CC Sabathia can earn like $20 million a year lol.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: wheatrich on May 05, 2009, 06:00:00 pm: Basketball will die for me in 5 years when college becomes the exact same thing as the NBA. No traveling calls ever and everyone just stands around and watches the guy with the ball as he drives to the hoop in a 1 v 3 situation where nobody on his team can pick up an offensive rebound. Yeah you can say that irritates the hell out of me.

DK is perfectly right about the versus hockey announcers. I don't know how anyone can listen to that shit.

Oh well one less sport to keep track of really. If madden didn't retire I might have been stuck with just baseball as the only watchable sport (though fox sucks).
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Thiradell on May 05, 2009, 06:25:00 pm: Wheat if the college shot clock stays at 35 I don't think that will ever happen.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 05, 2009, 09:44:00 pm: Yeah, maybe it is just poor announcers, then. I understand and respect hockey and love to watch it, but to be honest I know very little about it still despite reaching out for help. Ricky taught me a lot about it in Canada. Maybe it is one of those sports you need to play to really get. I appreciate the action, how hard it is to play the game, the intelligence, but lets be honest I have no clue what is going on strategically during a possession.

And yeah, baseball takes the most pussy sport award. What a worthless game IMO.

And Goose, basketball isn't all offense, it is about how your team is built. Some teams are defensive teams, others offensive. The team who gets to play their style of basketball will usually win the game.

I do agree with you that teams can lose it themselves rather than the other team win it. If an offensive team goes cold, they'll probably lose, even if the other team has nothing to do with it. See: Lakers last night. They beat themselves. It is much easier to beat yourself in basketball than in other sports, I think. The ducks beat the sharks in round 1 because they WON it, not because the sharks lost. But losing in basketball is very often about losing the game, not the other team beating you.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: RWG on May 05, 2009, 10:38:00 pm: Yes, that is exactly my point regarding basketball. If the better team loses, they lost, rather than the worse team winning, which seems to happen in hockey and American football. There are no underdog stories... only chokes, which is a lot less cool and inspiring.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: the Blueline Goddess on May 05, 2009, 10:46:00 pm: Love the MS Paint diagrams, Ryan!

Not that it's a surprise to anyone, but I voted hockey here. It's like my board name is a hockey reference or something, I don't know.

Skating is hard enough to master, then you throw a sport on top of it, so you're really doing two sports at once. Or that's the way I try to describe it. Then you've got to factor in the money aspect - you can't play hockey without shelling out some serious cash. I think the fact you have to spend so much on gear makes you a little more dedicated to the sport. Hell, I need to buy new skates and can't seem to find a pair under $250 that I want, but since my time is limited and I can't join a league for at least another year, it's hard to justify the expense.

Horse racing is awesome too, but I'd be here all day explaining that. (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fwink.gif&hash=4979046fbfc7ed25a03644bf608e503c4aa73f0f)

As far as team sports, baseball ranks second to hockey. I love going to baseball games, Steve and I have been to three Rockies games this year already, we have tickets for this Sunday's game and since I have just a week left of school we'll probably start going to a lot of afternoon games during the week soon.

My whole family consists of major football fans, but I'm just not too much into football. I can watch the Broncos, but I don't like watching other teams.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Soft-Hedwig on May 06, 2009, 06:01:00 am: My favourite sport is poker.

In 2nd place is preds.

3rd mybrute.

D:
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Carathorn on May 06, 2009, 10:13:00 am: why does everyone always call it hockey and not icehockey or something? It's pretty remarkable how no one has talked about the original hockey yet (the no-ice version :-P), because this sport is really popular in many european countries. Not to forget that there probably isn't a single place where you can actually play ice hockey in the netherlands. Unless the water freezes during wintertime :-D
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 06, 2009, 10:18:00 am: I think Ice Hockey drastically improved on Field Hockey, that is why.

Also, it seems like Field Hockey has sort of been replaced by Lacrosse as the "field sport with sticks" at least in America (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on May 06, 2009, 01:39:00 pm: ROFL @ DK's avatar! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Froll.gif&hash=196327eb634134e9253b02da1d2119d329c46332)

i also agree with DK about fat-head CC Sabathia or, say... Cecil Fielder, Mo Vaughn, John Kruk, etc... making too much money!!! i guess IF there were any defense as to why baseball players make way more money than other sports players, it's because they play 162 (regular season) games per season. now most people might say that they (baseball players) don't really do much during a game, but i've heard it said many times and from many people that trying to hit a ball coming at you at 90 mph in under .25 seconds is easily the hardest thing to do in any sport!! and when playing defense, it's mostly about your mental abilities (knowing what exactly to do with the ball if it is hit to you, knowing all your options for different scenarios, etc... ) and since i played baseball for 9 years, i would say that i agree with all of that. i also agree that baseball CAN be the most boring sport to watch if the elements are right...

PS-Jimbo, i was j/k about making fun of Nascar. it PROBABLY is a sport, but it is easily the most boring thing to watch in the world!! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ffrown.gif&hash=9bb8520656650a7c2457ae0ae2ee8996e4109fd6)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lovins on May 06, 2009, 03:06:00 pm: Basketball. Played since I was 4, played in middle school, high school freshman/JV/Varsity, and still play in an annual 3 on 3 tournament every May/June. And of course, I love watching too. I also used to read basketball almanacs and keep stats for fun. Supposedly Alec is the sports trivia champ around here? I guarantee he's not in basketball (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fwink.gif&hash=4979046fbfc7ed25a03644bf608e503c4aa73f0f) I hope we can play basketball in Virginia this year, if my brother comes with me, we'll wreck any 2vs2 game.

Football is an easy 2nd, can be as enjoyable to watch as basketball. While I love watching the NBA, it can still be annoying sometimes, such as how Wheat mentioned they don't call traveling anymore, and also how petty fouls get called once every few minutes.

Lol at Goose's "you have to wait for your opponent to miss" theory about basketball.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: rshepherd1000 on May 06, 2009, 03:11:00 pm: Ive tried to get into ice hockey before but always fail

a) I cant see the puck most of the time
b) so it just seems to be a game of hit and hope
c) with too many turnovers in a confined space
d) and low scoring relative to number of possessions
e) goalies take up too much room
f) a +b + c + d +e means it comes across as a no skill no strategy luckbox game
g) organs
h) announcers

Now I realise that my points b) and f) are probably wrong but this is how it comes across to me.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Carathorn on May 06, 2009, 06:07:00 pm: point G) did the job already, haha!
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 06, 2009, 08:27:00 pm: I agree a lot of it is hit and hope. So often it is a "lucky bounce" and the hockey fan says it was skill that put you in the position for a lucky bounce. But even the best players aren't aiming to go between a guys leg, under a swinging stick, bounce off a skate, go over the shoulder of the goalie who takes up 80% of the goal, hit the post, and go in.

A lot of it is skill getting into the position to make those shots, screen the goalie, be in a good deflection area, pick up the rebounds on those shots, and take advantage of the few opportunities you get when you actually get a clear look at the goal.

At least, that is my take on scoring on hockey. There is a reason the best players score more goals, but at the same time I think a lot of it can be luck and with so low scoring I think you can literally win or lose a hockey game from luck, which is just obnoxious
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: flukey lukey on May 07, 2009, 02:36:00 am: whats up with the font eddie
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lovins on May 07, 2009, 09:01:00 am: Quote from: homeonice
whats up with the font eddie

When I'm at work and I know I'm going to make a semi-long post, I'll just type it in Outlook (looks like I'm just sending an email), then cut/paste into here...less probability of getting noticed.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Wabs on May 07, 2009, 12:48:00 pm: I can't decide between Tennis and Football.
I love them both equally. Badminton would come close after.
Anyway there's a difference between liking a sport because you like to practice it or liking a sport because you like to watch it or keep updated about the results: I can watch basketball, that's cool, but I hate playing it. ^^
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: flukey lukey on May 07, 2009, 04:46:00 pm: oh haha, l33t stealth post skills (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fhappy.gif&hash=7b9cd982f9a41f9aefcd7ea74682d5f1e4caf4c6)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lovins on May 07, 2009, 05:06:00 pm: Hell yeah!
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: the Blueline Goddess on May 07, 2009, 09:48:00 pm: To say that hockey is a game of "hope and luck" sort of implies all sports are - look at soccer! You have a net roughly the size of Utah with some little dude standing in front and most games end 1-0 or some shit. Basketball is full of misses, baseball can be low on home runs, and so forth. You need skill to play all the sports, and all sports can be won on a "lucky bounce". The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and all that.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lovins on May 08, 2009, 09:16:00 am: No sport is just "hope and luck", or else every team would have an equal probability of winning of every year...clearly not the case.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 08, 2009, 10:53:00 am: Right, but it is hard to deny that a lot of the low scoring sports are hope and luck, but the skill either puts you in positions not to rely on luck, or to shift the odds in your favor.

Clearly a lot of NHL goals are breakaways, powerplay, two on one, great individual moves, defenses making a bad turnover, and the ability to actually beat a goalie with an open look - this is not hope and luck!! A lot though are shoot into a crowd of people and hope a bounce goes in. While it takes getting good screens, the players standing in the right spot, maybe intentionally tipping a puck, you're still hoping, not aiming (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e) That is still set up by good defense to have the puck controlled, good offensive positioning, etc., but to a casual onlooker it certainly doesn't LOOK like much skill sometimes.

Soccer can have similar goals, somehow making it between 5 people to the goal (don't tell me they aimed for that hole, because 98% of shots from the same area end up hitting the first defender - it is clear the attacker is just shooting hard at what hopefully is a weak spot, then hoping it bounces off of somebody toward the goal), but at the same time I think there is a lot of skill involved in those attacks. Simply because it is a lot harder to score in soccer than hockey. Less probability of scoring on the 'shoot and hope' plays than in hockey, at least.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lovins on May 08, 2009, 11:06:00 am: Well sure, low scoring sports are more luck-biased. A lucky breakaway in hockey leading to a single goal is huge to the outcome of the game, whereas the same in basketball means almost nothing. Thus, the better team wins more often in higher scoring sports, which can be seen by comparing single-season win records: 72/82 games in the NBA (.878) but in hockey only 60ish/80 (?? not completely sure) and I think around 120/160 in baseball...much lower percentages. Actually if I was really bored I could probably find a normal distribution model for these numbers...only Octo would understand that. (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fwink.gif&hash=4979046fbfc7ed25a03644bf608e503c4aa73f0f)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 08, 2009, 11:30:00 am: I'd be interested in trying that, actually. Put a distribution on the points each team wins in the league to compute a straight up "probability A > B" across the distributions for the league's schedule, and see what projected winning %s come off of that. Pretty crude analysis compared to what the computers use now, but I'd be curious how that would turn out.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 08, 2009, 11:37:00 am: At the end of a season, take the average winning percentage of all teams in a given sport. Your sample is this average, taken across the last 30 years

How do you expect the variance to differ across each sport?

---

don't think too hard (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fwink.gif&hash=4979046fbfc7ed25a03644bf608e503c4aa73f0f)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Jimbo on May 09, 2009, 02:48:00 am: Well I'm certainly glad no one has to defend the NFL for being the single greatest sport in the world! I'll gladly type a huge post defending NASCAR though if anyone wants. NASCAR is sport #1b to me, it's a fantastic concept if you really know what you're watching (just like hockey!)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: rshepherd1000 on May 09, 2009, 05:21:00 am: Can anyone see the total numbers of votes for each sport or do you all only get coloured bars?

Also, whilst Im not necessarily suprised that rugby has no votes, it would have been my second choice from that list
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 09, 2009, 12:29:00 pm: No results on IE or FF. Rofl Yuku.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: vitor on May 09, 2009, 07:43:00 pm: Octo, I've just realized how gay your avatar is :/
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 09, 2009, 09:28:00 pm: Heh, that hand flick he's doing is pretty homosexual, isn't it? I should get a new one.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lovins on May 09, 2009, 11:05:00 pm: Yeah Octo I'm going to have to pass on that project for the time being, I'm taking SOA Exam MFE on Friday, enough to think about in itself! But after that, could be fun to play around with.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 09, 2009, 11:21:00 pm: heh, I said don't think too hard for a reason...

"At the end of a season, take the average winning percentage of all teams in a given sport. Your sample is this average, taken across the last 30 years "

The average winning percentage of all teams in a given sport is always .500. For every win, there is a loss =)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Lovins on May 09, 2009, 11:31:00 pm: OBVIOUSLY, I knew that much without having to think. (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148)
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Worlds-One on May 10, 2009, 08:13:00 am: hockey wow...thats all im going to say. It's fun to watch live otherwise ::shoulder shrug:: It's all in what one likes to watch play though so more power to everyone.

I'm waiting for jimbo's football diagram of plays/runs/game plan like ryan.
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: octoinky on May 10, 2009, 10:44:00 pm: FINAL RESULTS:

Soccer - 9
Hockey - 8
Basketball - 7
Baseball - 6
American Football - 4
Tennis - 2
Rugby - 0

Other - 5
Title: Octo's Poll of the Week #1
Post by: Scrambler Fanny on May 24, 2009, 04:20:00 am: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/nhl_tries_to_woo_fans_by?utm_source=nav

ROFL! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Froll.gif&hash=196327eb634134e9253b02da1d2119d329c46332)