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The Beauty of the Game

Dan

I am a baseball fan at the core. I love sports in general, and it is NOT that I hate football. I LOVE football. I got to watch the Gophers beat Iowa yesterday and it was glorious!

But I truly love the game of baseball. This World Series really restored a lot of that fun. I will not disagree that baseball has its problems. That’s a given. But all pro sports do.

Ben Witherington outlines some great thoughts on the beauty of baseball over and against pro football.

As much as I do love football, I still contend it is only a matter of time before someone is killed on the field. We are not coaching to tackle anymore. We are coaching to maim. Hopefully we learn to teach and coach better. But as long we have a bloodsport mentality, I doubt it.

Anyway, let the raging debate begin. I know I’m in the minority and know I’ll get lots of comments on steroids, etc. Baseball has issues. Football does as well. And we all like our sports.

 

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8 responses to “The Beauty of the Game”

  1. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    The one thing baseball has over other sports is no time limit. A team can not run out the clock. Twice in game six of the World Series the Cards were down to their last strike only to pull through. The fat lady can’t sing until the last out is made. In other sports the fat lady can sing and go home early.

    Reply
  2. Gary Zimmerli Avatar
    Gary Zimmerli

    Well, I’m with you, Dan, except I think I’m probably even more pro-baseball because I’m almost anti-football. I never watch football any more, since many years ago I realized that the attitude of football players and coaches was turning to such a negative violent one.

    Plus, I think the great number of baseball games in a season is a big positive. Few games mean that much in the course of the season. Football is different, because each game means so much, and so many of us fans tend to make the NFL an extension of our own masculinity. If the Vikings won, I’d have a great week. If they lost, I’d have a lousy week. I realized that was no way to live through the football season.

    On the other hand, this wasn’t an easy baseball season to live through for a Twins fan, either. 😉

    Reply
  3. Rex King Avatar
    Rex King

    I’m neither hot nor cold on either game. As a younger man I loved playing them both…they were each there own game requiring different skills and attitudes. I can still play them both but at a totally different level…you know what I mean…51 is not 19… Today, I love watching the games. I enjoy the tactics and strategy of football. Being there is the best. In football, (college and high school) the bands and the fans make the experience even better and there is nothing quite like the smell of hot dogs and sausages wafting through the stands. Baseball is more difficult for me to enjoy sitting in front of the t.v. I almost have to be in the stadium…don’t know why but that’s the way it is for me. When we moved to the mid-atlantic my son started playing lacrosse…speed, agility, physical strength with finesse…the tactics and strategy of football…ice hockey on a football field with cleats. That is another game I would have enjoyed as a kid…I enjoy watching it now.

    Reply
    1. Dan Avatar
      Dan

      I love watching baseball AT the game much more than TV.

      Reply
  4. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    I disagree with your point about maiming instead of tackling. I’ve been watching films from the ’60, ’70s and ’80s and see the players legally hitting defenseless receivers, picking up qb’s and throwing them to the turf, horse collar tackles were legal as was clubbing an opponent on the ear hole (including the qb) and face mask penalties were 5 and 15 depending on the serverity.

    The players are bigger, stronger and faster making for greater violence. But the rules on how and when a player can be hit is much tighter even from 2-3 years ago.

    Reply
    1. Dan Avatar
      Dan

      I knew that would get a comment. LOL. My contention stands. Not because I think baseball is “superior. ” I watch college players in paralysis and think it’s only a matter of time.

      Reply
      1. Jeff Avatar
        Jeff

        There is definitely more risk for injury in football and hockey. I see the NFL being pro active. Baseball on the other hand stone walled on the steroid issue for years to make a buck. I love baseball but the MLB is sleazy.

        Pro hockey, now we are talking. Most teams have one or two goons called enforcers whose job it is to commit assault and battery.

  5. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    Yeah, good thing the NFL isn’t in it for the money… 😉

    Reply

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