The Institute (協会)

Three words... ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP. :)

Confession: when I was in my twenties we would rent the banned sport of UFC and watch the matches on these things called VCRs... watching Royce Gracie slowly separate a man's shoulder was a thing to behold.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=fighter.detail&pid=24

To you list:

The NFL is the easiest sport to propagate. It's pretty much universally accepted and you can switch allegiances with little guilt. Plus they wear armor and look like superheroes.

Baseball is inherited like eye color. I've been a fan for life but I completely understand why half the nation couldn't name a single player.

The NBA still misses Michael

Soccer and Hockey are attendance sports. You just can't get into them on TV unless you played.

College football is like religion. Either you attended church as a kid or you didn't. Seeing others in the devotion is kind of weird and the thought of switching "faiths" would make the holidays too weird.

Oddly missing from the list: NASCAR, Golf and perhaps Grand Slam Tennis

I used to love NFL football. I am a life long Lions fan so you know I loved it. But over the years I have moved into a position of hardly being able to stand it. It is more boring than golf. It is also too complicated and the players' bodies and skill have outgrown the parameters of the game (like the NBA). College football is better because it is a simpler game (due to practice restrictions) and the players "fit" it better (same with college basketball).

Anthony, I think you're bang on about the NFL being the best sport for American television.

However, I'm not sure that there's something wrong with the other sports, it may just be that their particularities don't appeal to Americans the same way the NFL does. High-scoring, short games appear to be what Americans love, as you have pointed out, and so the NFL is very, very popular.

However, it's all about the viewers and what they've come to expect from televised sports. In Canada, televised hockey is HUGE. Much higher viewership than any other televised sport - NFL included. However, Americans grow up on football and baseball. Canadians grow up on hockey. They learn the game, they know the teams and players. Just like Americans with football. And again, whether or not a sport is good for TV is all about what the people know. Americans know football, so it's good TV. Canadians know hockey, so it's good for TV.

I think you're right about soccer and hockey never being mainstreamed in the US, outside of a few select markets. It seems to me that football and baseball pretty much have the TV market cornered in the US.

I disagree, but it's a matter of taste. I prefer watching other sports to football. But I do have a small bone to pick. Colin states that baseball, soccer and hockey games take too long, yet the average football game is 30 to 45 minutes longer than the average baseball or hockey game, and twice as long as the average soccer game. Apparently, length is all in the eye of the viewer. I prefer watching baseball, myself. And occasionally basketball. I find that there's too much transition in football in between plays and that transition takes too long.

Ya know what? My main area of contention here is with futbol, football, or, soccer, as it's known here in the states. I grew up in the States; born and raised in Ohio, and then lived in Arizona, Cali, and Colorado. But I grew up playing soccer and have loved watching it on tv ever since I can remember. And guess what! I'm American! Wow! So this guy's generalization is wrong if he includees me, but I suppose in a sense he's right because most of my friends don't enjoy soccer on tv like I do. I must note, though, that I enjoy the game a little more with a beer in my hand. And another point that I must admit; I do have more fun at a live soccer game. The 45 minute halves go way too fast (believe it or not, all you NFL fans). The atmosphere of a live futbol game is unmatched in any other american sport. NFL SUCKS live, so does beisbol. Baseball is only fun if you go with friends and eat peanuts and drink a few brews and chat about anything and everything under the sun. I would agree with this guy that NFL is best on tv and that it is horrible to watch live.

I don't follow sports at all but I will sometimes watch NFL just to watch. Basketball is too fast to feel epic and baseball is too slow to notice. Football is a back and forth struggle with the possibility of huge plays at regular intervals. However having grown up in Nebraska where the highest level of competition is Husker football (no professional sports teams at all) I sometimes appreciate the relative "honesty" of college football that is not AS polluted by money. The NFL is starting to ruin that as well though.

(side note: Anyone on here go to CTS and into UFC? We need to hook up and go to a bar or someone's place who isn't too poor to have satellite or cable!!!)

I think Cowherd has actually made this argument more than once. He makes a strong case, although I think he overlooks some things.

Baseball has had record attendance for something like 9 years in a row. Yes, its TV numbers are shrinking, but the TV numbers for almost all things with a long track record are shrinking because of the flood of competition. TONS of kids still go to baseball games because tickets are still relatively affordable.

Eventually the NFL will start to see diminishing returns it its TV numbers as fewer people are able to actually go to games because of the cost of tickets. The NFL's fatal flaw is that 90% of the players are cartoon-caricatures of what actual human beings are supposed to look like. As people become less able to connect to the what's going on on the field, some may lose interest.

Sitting in the South endzone student section in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska when the Huskers come running out of the tunnel onto Tom Osborne field is one of the most truly awesome experiences in sports.

1)college football
2)MLB
3)NFL

COlin is so great! I heard that argument live too!
He is so funny and so honest, its the most refreshing 3 hrs on radio.
BTW, Jim Rome was going off on Miss SOuth Carolina for almost 3 hrs yesterday. He talked to Rich Rod, the head coach of WV. and after he said , "that was a great interview, Rich Rod is a great U.S, American... such as... therefore... and he has a good shot at running the table... The Iraq... South Africa... where is WV?, nobody knows because u.s. american citizens dont have enough maps... therefore... such as... and the asian countries, south africa."
SImply classic!
WAR spending 50 hrs in my car w/a broken cd player
War hanging out w/cool cats in the midwest, who have sweet pads, dart-boards and style and are ACC fans

Well, shoot, if we're going to judge by popular appeal and fitness for consumers, I figure we're going to need to rank gladiatorial contests right up there with the NFL, not to mention the WWE and NASCAR.

And the rightful response to my smart aleck comment is that the WWE and NASCAR, while sometimes great strength and athletic skill are featured in both, they really aren't sports per se.

My response; exactly, and the NFL largely has the same problems as the WWE, just in smaller proportion. Certainly the NFL reigns as the leading TV sport, but...I'm not quite sure that it's what God would have us do in terms of sport. Shouldn't it have something to do with developing character in young men to prepare them for the war that is life, especially life in Christ?

Seems to me that this perspective is sadly lacking in most sports today, especially the professional leagues and NCAA Division 1. Certainly there are many individual athletes who have learned the lessons of character and Godliness, but can we really say that even a lean majority fit this?

It's not an original thought with me, but the best description I've heard of football is it brings out the worst of American society: violence interspersed with committee meetings.

Give me a baseball game any day of the week...

Amen.

Stork, haha!

No disrespect to anyone. I don't agree with Mr. Colin Cowherd.

I believe the people that play or have played particular sports make some of the fans. There's a new paragdigm of sportscasters on televeision and radio that have gained an audience by being crude in their criticisms. Jim Rome and Stephen A. Smith come to mind. I do however have respect for Stephen A. Smith and his basketball commentary from time to time.

I think one can be an analyst without having playing the game, such as Mel Kiper Jr.

Now if Mr. Cowherd isn't a fan of the other sports I don't think you should bash the other sports. A sports fan is a fan of their particular sport.

Let's get real, there have been some very boring games televised.

I actually find that each of the sports bring their own dynamic to their own unique setting.

As a youth we bad-mouthed hockey in ignorance, growing up inner city Los Angeles basin it was territorial bias. I actually have fond memories of watching the "KINGS" highlights on ESPN in my early twenties.

We actually knocked soccer in high school, but was fascinated by Pele. (I'm dating myself sure)

I used to think tennis was dry, but, friends and family loved to watch John McEnroe beyond his rants to see if he would do more than outburst.

There was even a day when me and my best friend would say no way to golf, because it was way too boring, but I have been glued to my set watching to see if Tiger would win or lose.

My point is you'd be surprised who in American tunes into what.

A christian can glorify God, in any of those avenue.

I'll add my "disagree" vote in. I would rather watch ANY of the other sports he mentioned over NFL...especially basketball, baseball, or soccer. It seems that basketball as a sport fits his mold of high scores and fast-paced action more than football. As Dramaturge mentioned, there's a lot of time between plays in football!

I knew what Australian Rules Football was before I knew the "gridiron" American style. Now Aussie football is an interesting sport (a mix of soccer and rugby).

For reference, Craig's quote of "violence interspersed by committee meetings" is from George Will, as far as I can tell.

The NFL is definitely number one though they need to do a few things to make the product more exciting.

College football is in truth a joke because unless you are part of a big school, you never have a chance of winning the championship because there is no playoff. In other words, the season has no real legitimacy making it about as relevant as professional wrestling

The NBA is boring, too long, and has nothing but thugs.

MLB lost my interest when they cancelled the World Series.

Soccer is fun enough but no one in the US really cares.

The NHL would have taken off by now if people were interested.

College basketball would be number two because of opening weekend of March madness.

I like Pro golf but if Woods isn't playing, no one cares and when his game finally declines, no one will care again.