Tangent: Team Sports
In my last post, I expressed my passion for Ice Hockey, making my claim that hockey players are the greatest athletes in team sport. I'd like to make a slight correction -- hockey players are the greatest athletes, only slightly edging soccer and lacrosse players. However, hands down, hockey remains to be the fastest team sport there is.I'd like to clarify that my opinion is not founded in some academic theoretical point of view, but in my first-hand experience. I was fortunate enough to play American football, baseball, lacrosse, ice hockey, basketball, and soccer on my junior high and high school teams. In my experience, I would rank the sports in five different aspects (on a scale of 1-5, five being the highest) in the following way:
Speed/Quickness; Toughness; Intelligence; Endurance; and Skill/coordination
2; 4; 1; 2; 1 :: American Football (Total: 10)
3; 1; 5; 2; 4 :: Baseball (Total: 15)
4; 2; 3; 3; 4 :: Basketball (Total: 16)
4; 3; 4; 5; 5 :: Soccer (Total: 21)
4; 4; 4; 5; 4 :: Lacrosse (Total: 21)
5; 5; 3; 5; 5 :: Ice Hockey (Total: 23)
The sad point is that the greatest team sports are the least followed in the U.S. Although I played football, I will say it is a joke of a sport. I played both on defense (Corner Back) and offense (Wide Receiver), and even then I often felt like I could go for a run after a full game...in all fairness, it is a highly specialized sport, with each team member contributing in different ways. But unlike baseball, the other highly specialized sport, you can play football even if you never touch the ball -- in other words, even if you can't throw or catch a football for the life of you, you can still play the sport. Sadly, fact is that most players (aside the quarterback, the backs, the receivers, and the kicker -- MAYBE the tight end, and MAYBE the defensive backs in an interception) don't even touch the ball, nevermind a game, for an entire season!
To make matters worse, football is the only professional team sport in the U.S. where the championship is determined in a single game. One could argue this is what contributes to the drama of the Super Bowl, but in my opinion, it is by no means a way to determine the best team. In all other professional team sports -- Hockey, Baseball, and Basketball -- the championship is determined by a best of seven series, thereby minimizing luck and bettering the chances that the greater team wins, the team indeed deserving of the Championship. Even in many individual sports, champions are not determined by a single game -- can you imagine a tennis match of just one set (or even worse, a game)? Or a golf Tournament consisting of only one round of 18? Or how about a single race Formula 1? All the berating aside, I will say that two of the greatest athletes of all time that played football are Joe Montana & Jerry Rice, both of the 49ers. Two great athletes and class acts.
Anyhow, another similarity between baseball and football aside from specialization of the players is the fact that you don't necessarily have to be in your best shape -- in football, you only play at most 30 seconds at a time, and similarly in baseball, you're going to sprint around the bases at most, and that is a rare occasion. Now, unlike football, baseball is one of my favorite sports to watch -- there is a tremendous amount of psychology and drama that unfolds during a baseball game, and there isn't much to compare to a lazy Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, taking in a game, nevermind when they pummel that borderline minor-league farm team from Boston called Red Shoes or Socks or something or the other. All I gotta say to you all Red Sox fans is "1918!" You know, the last time you won a World Series is before there was even television...you couldn't even watch the last time you guys won...how quaint -- not many MLB teams need to maintain an oratory tradition to recount the "Last Great Win." You should be thankful to the Yanks for showing you time and time again what it must have looked like, you know, kind of like Babe Ruth did back in the day, or more recently, like Roger Clemens.
In all seriousness, I very much appreciate baseball as an integral part of American history and culture -- of the three most popular team sports in America, I would hands down have to pick baseball as my sport of choice, since it is, after all, the Great American Pastime. Not only is it rich in history, but is the only team sport brimmed with real sportsmen who love their sport, the concentration of which is only second to ice hockey.
With that said, I'm not much a basketball fan, but I will give credit to basketball players as being good athletes, likely better-rounded athletes than baseball or football players on average. However, in my opinion, if there's no one tending the goal, what's the point? The average basketball game sees on average 75-100+ "goals" -- in other words, who wins the game is really a matter of how many misses have been made. Furthermore, the only thing that really pressures a player in basketball to shoot is the 24-second shot clock. I mean, come on. In contrast, in ice hockey, there are rules that have been put in place whose purpose are mainly to help slow down the sport (e.g., two-line passes, icing, & offsides).
Rantings aside, among basketball players, I obviously will always admire Michael Jordan, not just for his tremendous athletic ability, but also because he is one of very few gentlemen sportsmen, otherwise utterly lacking in the NBA, especially today. Not only is Michael Jordan another one of the greatest athletes of all time, he also took sports marketing to a whole different level, taking what Arnold Palmer started to an entirely new, broader, and higher dimension, in part helped by the explosion of cable television and the birth of the Internet.
It's a bit of a double-edged sword, however -- Michael Jordan's marketing prowess is also probably the reason, at least in part, why basketball has become the circus that it is. There was that marketing slogan, "I want to be like Mike," and this is pretty much what's happened -- a lot of athletes are now driven by getting the merchandising and endorsement money. It's like one of the core messages in that movie Jerry McGuire -- playing sports for the love of it vs. "Show Me the Money."
Basketball is definitely the biggest victim of this mentality, football a close second, and baseball a distant third -- all of the other sports have yet to be as badly corrupted, and I hope the day never comes. Although, I will say that the Anna Kournikova syndrome in professional tennis is kind of sickening -- first of all, I don't think she's THAT attractive to begin with, but what's sickening is that the last time she was ranked, she was ranked 70th in the world, which is no laughing matter in of itself, but it means that there are at least more than 60 women tennis players that are far better than her as a tennis player (and many who are far far more attractive). In other words, her fame is more from the marketing, and not from her sheer athletic ability (or looks!)!
Anyhow, now, we finally get to the sports I enjoy tremendously, both as a spectator and as a participant: Soccer, Lacrosse, and Ice Hockey -- these sports really tested just how fit I was, time and time again. In all three sports, you are always one man down when in offensive territory -- meaning, you really have to WORK to get a goal. In addition, unlike the other pansy-ass sports, you get nothing for free, no matter how bad the foul -- in basketball, you get free throws; in football, you get free yardage, sometimes up to 15 yards (or 15% into the entire field, or 30% into enemy territory!!!); in baseball, you get walks and automatic doubles.
Also, in basketball/football, just because the opponent scores a goal, you're given the ball to take offense. What is THAT? In ice hockey, even in the case of a foul, you still have to earn the offense through face-off's. The only thing you "get" in ice hockey, soccer, or lacrosse is a man advantage -- which really means that the number of offensive and defensive players in the offensive zone are finally equal. It's only when there is a two-man advantage that the number of offensive players outnumber the defensive, and that is extremely rare. In other words, even with a penalty, you still have to work for the points. In ice hockey, even in the best case scenario, the penalty shot, it's mono y mono -- you against the goaltender. It would be the equivalent of a free throw in basketball with defender in your face. It ain't easy -- and in the pros, the goaltender almost always triumphs.
I hear basketball fans whining about this year's NBA finals for the lack of points per game, but even then, there are still a minimum of 70 "goals" per game, which only goes to demonstrate my case in point -- basketball is about showmanship, whose winners are determined by how many goals you don't miss, even taking account of Detroit's "formidable defense" -- again, if the defense is that formidable, how is it that the opponent still manages to score 30+ "goals" (or a minimum so far of 68 points) per game?
Nevertheless, aside the fact that most Americans are more into entertainment rather than enjoying great athletes compete, I assume the main reason why ice hockey is likely not as popular as other team sports, despite being the oldest league among the top professional team sports (NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL), is because of its cost of entry (the equipment is necessary and expensive) along with the lack of availability (skating rinks aren't readily available in all parts of the country). However, because of the recent popularity of in-line skating, a whole new realm has opened in the league, which was already the most internationally and culturally diverse league in all of professional team sports.
As for soccer and lacrosse, I'm glad to see that MLS (Major League Soccer) was established, along with the recent (2001) arrival of the MLL (Major League Lacrosse). Lacrosse, for the same reasons as ice hockey, I can understand why it is not as popular a sport as it ought to be -- it's not a cheap sport to get into, and most open fields, if available, are more often used for the deplorable football. Also, thus far, lacrosse has primarily remained to be a North East / Chesapeake sport.
However, the utter lack of popularity in soccer still amazes me (I think Mia Hamm is hot by the way). It is the most played sport globally, and it costs nothing to play -- you just need a decent soccer ball, or even just a sphere that can be kicked around! You don't have to have a backboard and a hoop -- you just need a relatively flat ground, asphalt or grass, rain or shine -- in my opinion, playing soccer in the rain is that much more fun, what with all that mud adding to a sliding tackle. It amazes me nevertheless that the name Pele never seems to ring a bell among Americans, when he is by far the most well known athlete anywhere else in the world, only matched perhaps by Ali and Michael Schumacher.
With all of that said, I will surely be crucified by my English colleagues if I didn't mention two other team sports that are played world-over, thanks to the once great British Empire: Cricket and Rugby. Cricket, I haven't much to say about, except that I got bored after the third day into watching a single match -- you guys really ought to take a page from lacrosse history...as you may know, lacrosse was originally a war game between native American tribes that often spanned days, weeks, and months at a time -- in its modern format, it's been shortened to a reasonable one hour. Rugby, however, I will say that, if anyone could eat hockey players alive for breakfast, it would be rugby players. Nuf said. Then there's Australian Rules Football...Christ almighty, I might consider a swift kick to the groin before I play a game of THAT.
Irregardless, I am guessing that the only way that this score will be settled is if we get the championship team from each league play against each other in a tournament of all sports. The New England Patriots playing soccer against the Tampa Bay Lightening. The Florida Marlins playing football against the Pistons/Lakers. Could you imagine? Some may whine that it would be unfair to put the athletes on ice because it's such a specialized skill to be able to skate -- however, to this I contest that, any person with athletic ability and good coordination can learn to skate relatively quickly, and if you know how to play golf or swing a bat, you've got a good start into stick-handling. For these crybabies, I'd be willing to compromise with street hockey, but even if we were to omit ice hockey altogether from the roster of activities, I guarantee the hockey players would fare best in all other sports...although, I probably wouldn't put my money on it...
That said, I will say that I enjoy all of the team sports I mentioned very much -- each sport has something different to offer, and I have fun participating in each. I won't delve into individual sports in this post (e.g., tennis, golf, skiing, mountain biking, rock-climbing, etc.), but I will say that, any journalist or sports historian will say that the greatest athlete of all time would have to be at least a three-way tie between Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong (for his enormous accomplishment, especially after having battled cancer), and "the Great One," WAYNE GRETZKY. I am not certain Gretzky's records will ever be broken, at least within MY lifetime...
Gretzky's last game: April 18th, 1999. One of the saddest days in sport history.
Farewell, Wayne!
But wait, what team jersey is he wearing?
THAT'S RIGHT, BABY, THE RANGERS!!!
As well, any journalist or sports historian will also say that the greatest moment in American sports history (aside from maybe Jackie Robinson) would have to be, hands down, the Miracle on Ice in 1980, in Lake Placid (where I used to go on ski trips with my high school buddies, at Whiteface "Iceface" Mountain), when Team U.S.A. won the gold medal and defeated the Soviet team in ice hockey -- what these hockey players / college kids did for the nation is truly remarkable.
Again, my point is, arguably the all-time best athlete and best moment in sports are both in which sport? That's right, because ICE HOCKEY RULES!!!!
All text © 2004
Posted @ 23:44
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