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Post by GEO on Jun 7, 2007 13:44:01 GMT -5
Growing up, it was the same for everyone on this site.
The four major sports were football, baseball, basketball, and hockey - in that order. NASCAR was a distant fifth.
But now, the pecking order has changed. Football, baseball, and basketball are still in place, but it seems as if hockey and NASCAR have flip-flopped. Ratings will tell you that the Daytona 500 is watched more than the NBA Finals and MUCH more than the Stanley Cup.
Recently, a WNBA game on ESPN was only .1 behind the NHL Stanley Cup in ratings. In fact, the numbers for the Finals this year were historically bad, despite a team from California participating.
The question is...do we still have four major sports? If so, is NASCAR or hockey the fourth one?
Debate.
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Post by FootballFreak03 on Jun 7, 2007 20:04:35 GMT -5
We have 5 major sports. Football, B- Ball, Hockey, Baseball, NASCAR. Nascar is the 2nd most popular sport in America and its a huge thing down South. People love to watch racing these days. Its like an American thing. I would still consider hockey a top sport despite its ratings. Alot of people still play it and think its fun. Nascar is escalating up their. Alot of people are starting to watch it.
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Post by blindlywewander on Jun 7, 2007 23:44:54 GMT -5
It's definitely Nascar. Hockey is not an American sport anymore. Not to me anyway. It's fine as an olympic sport and when it's against other countries, Go USA. I might even watch a period or two. But the NHL is just not as exciting to me. Scoring a goal is about the only exciting thing in Nascar (and occasional 'big hits'). In every other sport, there's more excitement. In football, there's hard tackles, jukes, interceptions, bobbled balls, etc. The list goes on and on. In baseball there are strike-outs, diving catches, sliding catches, catching at the wall, and of course the home run. It's everywhere. The reason these two sports (I don't considering driving a sport, but that's just me) are last in America. Hockey is just not as exciting to watch on TV. Nascar is. Yeah, they're just turning left, but they're doing it at 200mph. That's insane. I think the main reason people watch Nascar is 'cause of the crashes. Well, northerners do. In the South, kids are raised loving Earnhardt and hating Gordon. That's just how it is. But for those of us without nascar in our blood, we watch for the crashes. That's the exciting part. While 10000 laps of passing is nice, crashes make it onto sportscenter.
I don't watch either sport. That's why I'm saying we only have 3 major sports today. In the South we have 4. Nascar is the 4th. In the North we have 4. Hockey is the 4th. But as a whole, neither hockey nor nascar makes the cut.
FF03- You said we have 5, but you put hockey in front of baseball. Are you kidding me? Seriously. Was that a mistake? It had to have been.
PS- I didn't even know the Stanley Cup was on until I looked at ESPN.com the other day and saw this huge picture of some old man holding up the cup. And I watch ESPN religiously. That should tell you something.
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Post by FootballFreak03 on Jun 8, 2007 17:53:38 GMT -5
FF03- You said we have 5, but you put hockey in front of baseball. Are you kidding me? Seriously. Was that a mistake? It had to have been. those were not in order. I was just naming them. I mean just because the ratings are not good doesn't mean hockey is not in the big sports category. I know alot of people that play it and where hockey clothing. Also, we got all those hockey fans on this site also. And i still see kids at my local park playing hockey at the rink we have. Not ice, but roller. Its still a top sport.
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Post by philliesphan on Jun 8, 2007 18:35:51 GMT -5
Man, these are my two favorite sports, but I'll have to go with hockey. As much as I personally think that NASCAR is a sport, there are still many people who don't. Pretty much, If you like it you think it is a sport. If you don't, you don't consider it a sport. For hockey, weather you like it or not, you still have to admit that it is a sport.
Although much to my suprise, ironically I got my yearbook for school today, and we had a vote for a couple different topics and NASCAR was voted the third best sport to watch on TV. I don't know how that happened, considering there's only one other NASCAR fan in the whole grade, and I don't see to many NASCAR fans in other grades. I still believe hockey is in the big 4 sports.
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Post by GEO on Jun 10, 2007 12:02:12 GMT -5
So what makes a sport a major one?
Participation by younger generations as FF03 states? Or ratings of the pro game?
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Post by blindlywewander on Jun 10, 2007 23:04:11 GMT -5
While participation is important, it really doesn't matter that much when we're talking about being a major sport. People participate in golf, tennis, even ping-pong and professional eating. Does that make them major sports? Of course not. Tons of people like golf. Tons like tennis. I'm sure there are those who like ping-pong or poker or whatever. But that doesn't prove anything. It's the numbers that makes the sport top. This is hard to debate because it's going to be highly opinionate depending on where you're from. I'm in VA, which is considered southern, but it's not really (at least I like to think that). I don't like either sport, but not because I was raised that way. My mom's side of the family watches NASCAR as much as possible. My uncle even watches the qualifying. My Dad's side are huge hockey fans. But I hate both sports, so I'm not biased. I said all that to say this: NASCAR and hockey will always be secondary sports. It's that simple. Football, baseball and basketball (in that order) are the top 3 sports in the US. It's that simple. People in the South love NASCAR. It's not as big in the North. It's the opposite for hockey. In the top 3 sports, they're everywhere. They just appeal to more people. NASCAR may be watched more than simply because it has more fans and a higher density of fans in the south, but that doesn't mean it is a top sport. It might be number four. Then again, hockey might. That's not my point. The point is, it will always be football, baseball and basketball, then everything else. Just like how Soccer and Tennis in Europe are top sports. Rugby or (insert some other dumb European sport here) may compete and be watched a lot, but Soccer and Tennis are the top sports and always will be.
I would address the other two argument, but they're both mainly personal stories not real arguments. FFO3 knows a hockey fans and philliesphan has a school that likes to watch NASCAR. I agree a lot of people watch both. But that's simply not enough. They kind of balance each other out and the fact that there is even a debate about the two being top sports.. pretty much makes them not top sports.
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Post by GEO on Jun 11, 2007 13:56:29 GMT -5
Can anyone explain why the NHL has a majority (a very big majority) of American teams, yet no one takes notice. There are, what, six teams from Canada in the league?
At the same time, BWW's point about where you're from is a good one. But if a sport isn't liked everywhere, can it be part of the big four?
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Post by blindlywewander on Jun 11, 2007 22:24:50 GMT -5
Ha. It's funny. There are a lot of NHL teams in the US, but it's just not as widespread as other sports. Out of 30 teams (i think), the large majority are in America. I don't get it, really. I think it's just the sport itself. I actually like watching it in person. It's fun. But it's not as fun to track. The game itself is just not as exciting on TV. That's why the NHL brought the shoot-outs. It helped at the beginning (again, I think), but it's just not enough. I don't think Hockey can ever be in the top 4 simply because of the sport itself.
BUT.. if I had to put the sports in a list to 5, Hockey would be 4 and NASCAR would be last. Why? NASCAR (to me) is not a sport. It is very difficult and takes great training and ability, but it's just not a sport. That's a completely different argument, but if I had to put them in order, hockey would place higher.
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Post by GEO on Jun 12, 2007 10:22:10 GMT -5
Wha's wrong with the sport? It has violence. It has speed. It has premier players. In my opinion, it's the same reason that most of this Country hates Bush. A lot of them have a beef, but some of them are just blindly followign the media.
The same goes for hockey. No coverage on ESPN? It's not a sport. NHL on Versus? Hockey=Fishign.
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Post by blindlywewander on Jun 13, 2007 14:16:45 GMT -5
It's just not a TV sport. In person, the sport is sweet. It's actually fun to watch. But only the people who've actually seen a game in person would be willing to watch it on TV. I don't know what it is. It's just not a TV sport.. plain and simple.
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Post by GEO on Jun 15, 2007 11:24:56 GMT -5
This is getting judged tonight....final thoughts please.
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Post by blindlywewander on Jun 15, 2007 16:48:47 GMT -5
You can re-read my posts to get the full extent of my arguments. Basically, I'm saying that there are only 3 main sports. Hockey and NASCAR will always be secondary. It simply doesn't matter whether NASCAR beats out the NHL or the other way around. Both sports are secondary compared to the Top 3: Football, Baseball and Basketball.
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Post by GEO on Jun 15, 2007 20:06:01 GMT -5
This is a tough one to judge, becuase I feel like there are flaws in all three arguments. But I'm giving it to BWW because FF03 and PP never got back to answering my questions or the question at hand. If you feel like you can't figure out a topic to debate, feel free to pass it on to FF03 or anyone else who wants to do it
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Post by blindlywewander on Jun 15, 2007 23:20:38 GMT -5
Alright. I'll try to get one up soon. Just to continue the debate and actually get some response (from a hockey fan's point of view), what were the flaws?
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