Ann Coulter Is Right to Fear the World Cup

[crazy canuck]

Besides, if you want a fast paced, continuous game with more physicality than basketball, you may want to watch handball.

Actually I was surprised at how physical the world cup games have become now that we are in the elimination rounds.  Granted there is still too much diving but a lot of the time people are going to ground for good reason now.

[Norgy]

Handball is injuries galore. I follow the womens' games because the pace of the mens' games is just too high. 

[crazy canuck]

Handball is injuries galore. I follow the womens' games because the pace of the mens' games is just too high. 

I only see it in the olympics but we dont get much coverage, mainly just highlights in a summary of what happened that day.

[alfred russel]

Ok, if you think watching people walking back to a huddle is "action" then I think you have proven the point I made earlier about people learning to accept that this slow paced game is in fact not slow at all. 

Well no. Admittedly this can be a challenge on television, but there are usually substitutions on offense, which are countered by substitutions on defense. It is something of a very time sensitive chess match--the personnel groupings to a large degree dictate what is going to happen in the next play.

If you think about it, you have a sideline of 80 players. In 40 seconds, you have to determine which 11 you want to have out on the field, what play you want to run, communicate it along with the play, along with what pre snap alignment you want to show and any motions to give clues of what the defense is doing and disguise what you want to do. The logistics of putting this together is not simple, and fast teams are doing it in ~15 seconds. Sometimes plays are changed based on reads as well. Complicating this is that most of the players are morons, and some basically illiterate.

If that gets to be too much to pay attention to, you also have cheerleaders to keep you entertained. I don't know of many of venues outside of high school and college games where you can stare for 3 hours at really young women in super short skirts doing all sorts of poses earnestly and have it still be socially acceptable.

[crazy canuck]

Ok, if you think watching people walking back to a huddle is "action" then I think you have proven the point I made earlier about people learning to accept that this slow paced game is in fact not slow at all. 

Well no. Admittedly this can be a challenge on television, but there are usually substitutions on offense, which are countered by substitutions on defense. It is something of a very time sensitive chess match--the personnel groupings to a large degree dictate what is going to happen in the next play.

If you think about it, you have a sideline of 80 players. In 40 seconds, you have to determine which 11 you want to have out on the field, what play you want to run, communicate it along with the play, along with what pre snap alignment you want to show and any motions to give clues of what the defense is doing and disguise what you want to do. The logistics of putting this together is not simple, and fast teams are doing it in ~15 seconds. Sometimes plays are changed based on reads as well. Complicating this is that most of the players are morons, and some basically illiterate.

If that gets to be too much to pay attention to, you also have cheerleaders to keep you entertained. I don't know of many of venues outside of high school and college games where you can stare for 3 hours at really young women in super short skirts doing all sorts of poses earnestly and have it still be socially acceptable.

Ok, you have explained some rationale for why there is such a long stoppage between plays.  But the fact remains there are stoppages in play.  The fan does not have to make any of the decisions to which you refer and so, for the viewer, it gets boring.  Unless, as you said, one is really into cheerleaders.

[alfred russel]

If you are at the game and you really know a team, you can follow what is happening. Go to a team's message board and they will scream that the team is too predictable because based on some pre snap aspect they know what the next play will be. Or see that the defense is late with their substitutions and guys have to sprint to their positions from the sidelines.

A lot of time the play  is won before it ever starts: a top receiver ends up being covered by a guy that really shouldn't cover someone, for instance.

[crazy canuck]

If you are at the game and you really know a team, you can follow what is happening. Go to a team's message board and they will scream that the team is too predictable because based on some pre snap aspect they know what the next play will be. Or see that the defense is late with their substitutions and guys have to sprint to their positions from the sidelines.

A lot of time the play  is won before it ever starts: a top receiver ends up being covered by a guy that really shouldn't cover someone, for instance.

I think you have made my point.  Football is a game of stoppages of play which are far more lengthy than the play itself.  So much so that fans must distract themselves by having enough time to second guess coaching decisions which occur during the stoppages in play.

[alfred russel]

I'm saying the stoppages are interesting in themselves. If for no other reason, cheerleaders. 

[Valmy]

I think you have made my point.  Football is a game of stoppages of play which are far more lengthy than the play itself.  So much so that fans must distract themselves by having enough time to second guess coaching decisions which occur during the stoppages in play.

Your point is you don't like that.  Our point is we do.  The part where it gets stupid is you trying to claim that somehow TV and leagues had to convince us it was better when we already thought that before TV or leagues came along.

[Valmy]

I'm saying the stoppages are interesting in themselves. If for no other reason, cheerleaders. 

It is probably my brain's inability to do more than one thing at a time but I never pay much attention to the cheerleaders during the games.  Unless they are actually leading cheers but in the moderns stadium environment they rarely even do that anymore.

[MadImmortalMan]

Sorry, cc, but I want some thinking in my sports. Constant motion is boring.

[Agelastus]

I'm saying the stoppages are interesting in themselves. If for no other reason, cheerleaders. 

But surely they're not always showing the correct shot for you to admire said cheerleaders?

[crazy canuck]

I think you have made my point.  Football is a game of stoppages of play which are far more lengthy than the play itself.  So much so that fans must distract themselves by having enough time to second guess coaching decisions which occur during the stoppages in play.

Your point is you don't like that.  Our point is we do. 

No, when I first brought up the issue that football was slow paced there was all kinds of disagreement.  Someone even tried to suggest it was fast paced.  Now you people seem to agree that football is slow paced but you embrace the stoppages in play.

[Admiral Yi]

I've been to exactly one NFL game. It was a preseason game, and one thing I noticed is there were dudes down in the front row corner that never took their eyes off the cheerleaders.  If there was a score they might have watched the replay on the jumbotron.

[crazy canuck]

Sorry, cc, but I want some thinking in my sports. Constant motion is boring.

You mean you need time to think?

I am beginning to see why Americans like slow paced sports 

Maybe Republicans lean that way after all.