So far, I've gone over that baseball is better than football because of its fan-friendly spring training, the great game atmosphere, and the superior broadcasts. There are still a million other reasons, but I have to stop sometime, so I'll wrap up by talking about the actual playing of the game.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I don't play football or baseball; if you've ever seen me run, you'd know why. I think I played mud football once in college, and I've stepped into a batter's box maybe five times in my life (one of those times, I was playing a parents vs. kids game, my kid was pitching ... he plunked me in the wrist). So, bear with me here.
One of the beautiful things about baseball is that anyone can play it. To succeed in football, players have to be ginormous. A kid can have a great high-school football career and win a number of awards, but if he's not a big guy, he won't get letters from colleges. And there aren't many opportunities for adults to play organized amateur football. Sure, a bunch of buddies can get together and play flag football, which is the equivalent to sand-lot baseball, but that's about it.
Like I mentioned the other day, baseball offers fans many more opportunities to watch at various levels. Opportunities to watch means opportunities to play. Obviously, it's very hard to make it to the pros -- at any professional level. But players with even a little talent can still play town ball. And players who have no talent can still play beer league softball.
Additionally, baseball and softball offers gender equity that football simply can't. From the youth ball through college, girls are playing in fields right next to the boys -- sometimes playing on the same field with them. Professional women's softball is increasing in popularity every year. Oh, and those beer leagues? Many of them are co-ed, and always need more women to sign up. Heck, they'll even let me play.
So there you have it. There's no doubt that baseball is better than football.
Happy Pitchers and Catchers!
1 comment:
Good work. Just got done reading the whole series, and I have to tell ya, I agree 100%.
I don't usually hate on high school and college football, because those are fine games, but the NFL doesn't appeal to me whatsoever. It's so big, tough, corporate, extreme, drunk and stupid.
At a baseball game, you sit back and relax. At an NFL game, you stand up and scream, chug a light beer, then complain the stadium isn't of high enough quality for you and your peers.
Post a Comment