Four hours of TV. Nine minutes of action.

[snoopy369]

Nascar? Can you say, finish under caution?

[Cort Haus]

Hockey is basically real football with sticks. It's about control of the little round thing, passing, movement and getting the ball in the net. The main 'downtime' in *soccer is when the ball goes out of play. 5-a-side doesn't have this, which makes it even more similar to (ice) hockey. Another difference is that in hockey it is presumably harder to commit a foul, so in a sense I suppose it is the most non-stop flowing game - unless time stopped for fighting is taken into consideration. That's still good entertainment for the punters though I expect. Also, for stoppages for set-pieces (free kicks and corners) in soccer there is a kind of drumroll of expectation which partly fills the gap. I still think the two sports are fairly similar, conceptually.

*It pains me to call it that, but needs must. :shrug:

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Actually, NASCAR fans probably get the best deal. No halftimes or out of bounds .

There's an out of bounds; it's just that there's no need for a review.

[Tuberski]

That is why I watch hockey, because of the pace. However after the last World Cup, I'll watch soccer- if it's the World Cup.

ACK!

[Asher]

The speed is what makes hockey great. Soccer seems like a slow motion granny sport in comparison. Which is why it's not big over here, I'd imagine.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Asher

I prefer hockey because there's always some genuine action going on when the play is on. Football (of both types) have too much downtime.

Like any sport soccer requires a deeper understanding of the game to appreciate the subtleties, in this case the slow periods. Although I would take slow periods of actual play to commercials any day.

I don't like watching hockey because it's too fast to tell what the hell is going on and seems repetitive in such a small area. That and I never had an interest in playing the sport either.

[Max Webster]

That macleans website is not viewing properly on my firefox browser. All those weird little symbols.

Yeah I think the quality of a particular game has alot to do with it. Being there live is very special too just for the spectacle and atmosphere.

I was at a NASCAR event in Michigan a fews year ago. I find NASCAR boring and this race was. But it was just one huge friggin spectacle. All the people, the pits, the jets going over and making me crap my pants. It was something to see.

I thought this Superbowl was pretty fun watching. Almost makes me want to follow NFL on a regular basis. Nah..

[Asher]

Originally posted by Maquiladora


Obviously "action" in that sense is subjective to each sport, but ball (or whatever) in play is not, and thats where soccer fans get the best deal. Unless you really enjoy watching 300 replays or expensive commercials, then good for you too.

I am not a football (American or otheriwse) fan.

I prefer hockey because there's always some genuine action going on when the play is on. Football (of both types) have too much downtime.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Actually, NASCAR fans probably get the best deal. No halftimes or out of bounds .

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Asher
The problem with that is soccer's "action" is frequently anything but. In fact, there's far more action in a 2.5 hour/60 minute hockey game than a 90 minute soccer game.

Using that stat, relay marathons are the best.

Obviously "action" in that sense is subjective to each sport, but ball (or whatever) in play is not, and thats where soccer fans get the best deal. Unless you really enjoy watching 300 replays or expensive commercials, then good for you too.

[Ming]

Yep... on field activity doesn't neccessarily equate to "ACTION"... One might say that Baseball is non stop action (no clock) because a bunch of guys are always on the field... but I wouldn't

[Asher]

The problem with that is soccer's "action" is frequently anything but. In fact, there's far more action in a 2.5 hour/60 minute hockey game than a 90 minute soccer game.

Using that stat, relay marathons are the best.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Max Webster

But even hockey pales to the runaway A-to-I winner, soccer, which to the undoubted dismay of a lot of North American fans is the only major sport where the action provided (90 minutes) exceeds the inaction inflicted (25 minutes), for an index of one to 0.3.

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Asher
Y'all can't do that! Y'all are keepin' the man down, NASCAR RULES!

[MOBIUS]

It was an awesome game!