What is the sport of sports?

[Smokey]

Self-explanatory. Vote, discuss, and bash. GO!

[JValone]

I voted basketball. While the NBA is not my favorite sports league (that would be the NFL) the game itself is my favorite. It's also the only sport that has any business being in the same discussion with soccer from a global popularity standpoint. Before you futbol fans throw that back at me consider that basketball is now the most-played and followed sport in China. That population, along with the USA, give it the sheer fan numbers necessary to rival soccer. Soccer still has the edge, but I could see that changing given four or five more decades.

The 2008 Olympics proved that basketball has globalized. The US sent their best squad and still only barely edged out Spain. The continued improvement and competitiveness of the game at the international level will do wonders for its popularity. In the past the biggest thing holding it back was the fact the US would stomp everyone out with ease, basically the same obstacle American football faces today. Basketball has made incredible inroads worldwide since the 1992 Olympics. Europe is now filled with professional leagues, some of which are now actually signing players away from the NBA (Josh Childress) and China has made it clear that they have a national initiative aimed at wrestling supremacy in the sport away from the United States. They actually passed a bill awhile back that intends to build a court in every city and village throughout the country, pretty ambitious stuff.

[MR EPIC]

Baseball - Because hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in sports. Because seeing a homerun launched off the sweet spot of the bat soaring deep into the night is a thing of beauty. Because watching a 95 MPH fastball or a high arcing curveball completely miss the swing of the batter for strike 3 is a sight from heaven.

[Z.E.I.D.A.N]

Football (as in SOCCER) is the true international sport because, duh, everybody plays it. Americans hate it because scoring goals consumes time beyond their usual attention span, but it's still the sport of sports. Plus, the framework of football isn't ridiculous like some other sports (*cough* baseball, American football, etc. *cough*)

[Lizzaroni]

Best sport as in what I find most pleasing or what I think is objectively the best? I would find the latter hard to pick, especially without some given criteria that has to be met in order to qualify as "best."

Personal favorites come down to rugby, baseball, and basketball. I'll vote baseball because of my experience playing the game coupled with simply watching it (I also played basketball, but more casually once in HS.)

EDIT: No, really, ZEIDAN. Offer something beyond "Americans have no attention span" and "everybody plays it" as reason why it's the best. One of the greatest things about soccer is that it's very accessible (and that's one of the reasons why most people play it) but I can't think of any reason why it's fundamentally better because it's a low scoring game that supposedly requires a bigger attention span (a spurious claim at best; I am no big soccer fan but I find it easier to watch knowing nothing about it than I ever did about baseball prior to playing it (and softball) myself.) I'm going to have to dig up that Chuck Klosterman piece; he absolutely lambasts soccer in one of the funniest ways I've read.

EDIT II: It's not the full essay, but these little snippets are classic. I highly recommend the book, especially to sports and pop culture fans and even if you disagree with him on soccer.

[MR EPIC]

My family is originally from Mexico and my brother happens to be a great local soccer player who practices with some professionals. That being said, watching a soccer game is the equivalent to masturbating with a cheese grater IMO.

[Z.E.I.D.A.N]

Originally Posted by Lizzaroni

EDIT: No, really, ZEIDAN. Offer something beyond "Americans have no attention span" and "everybody plays it" as reason why it's the best. One of the greatest things about soccer is that it's very accessible (and that's one of the reasons why most people play it) but I can't think of any reason why it's fundamentally better because it's a low scoring game that supposedly requires a bigger attention spam (a spurious claim at best, since I am no big soccer fan but I find it easier to watch knowing nothing about it than I ever did about baseball prior to playing it (and softball) myself.) I'm going to have to dig up that Chuck Klosterman piece; he absolutely lambasts soccer in one of the funniest ways I've read.

We all have our own definition of best, and to me, it's what most people recognize and practice on an international level. Other than here and Japan, nobody cares for baseball, and basketball is still nowhere as popular as soccer is. That much is fact though, so anything beyond that is just subjective stuff. But yeah, Americans would much rather watch 500 pound giants tackle each other or balls being hit by sticks. So meh.

[virion]

football has the most strategy, depth and skill needed to play on a professional level. baseball players are also very skilled but that sport is just plain boring. hockey is just basketball on ice with the same formations and strategy's on offense and defense. same thing with soccer. when football added the forward pass it brought so many more complexities not found in the other sports. not to mention the numerous sets and formations.

[Luis Sera]

I pick Hockey.

[Coral]

Tennis

[MR EPIC]

Originally Posted by Z.E.I.D.A.N

Other than here and Japan, nobody cares for baseball,

Are you kidding me? Baseball is the only sport that some Latin and Central American countries have. Young kids create their own baseball gloves from native materials in the Dominican Republic but the sport is also very popular in Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico to name a few others.

Virion - If you look at baseball as a game of action then yes I can see where you're coming from. However, it's a game of anticipation and if you really understand what it is you're looking at you may think differently about it.

[virion]

Originally Posted by MR EPIC

Are you kidding me? Baseball is the only sport that some Latin and Central American countries have. Young kids create their own baseball gloves from native materials in the Dominican Republic but the sport is also very popular in Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico to name a few others.

Virion - If you look at baseball as a game of action then yes I can see where you're coming from. However, it's a game of anticipation and if you really understand what it is you're looking at you may think differently about it.

oh i agree with you epic about the anticipation and i know what to look for.. i just wish the pitcher wouldn't check off 20 times before throwing a single pitch. 9 innings could be played in about 50 minutes instead of being dragged out for 3 hours.

[Lizzaroni]

What's really funny is that a lot of what is considered "boring" today about baseball was deliberately implemented at the time of its inception to make it more "manly" (that is, scientific.)

[MAX]

Rugby

[Lizzaroni]

I think Rugby is awesome, but Gaelic Football is waaay more badass.

In fact, you know what? I take back my pick; I'm voting for Gaelic Football.