COLUMN: Futbol vs. Baseball
With soccer and baseball seasons just beginning, it becomes natural to compare the two. I grew up on baseball, so I will admit that I am somewhat biased, but as more time goes on, I am convinced that baseball is not only more tolerable to watch, but inherently a better sport. Soccer and its obnoxious fans grow more numerous every day, but baseball will never lose its clout, and will remain the greatest American pastime. I have compiled a few, among a plethora, of reasons why baseball is better than soccer.
1. Consistency over single-game performances. There are 162 games in a baseball season, compared to 16 in NFL football, and 82 in basketball, and 46 in regular soccer seasons. Everyone likes the underdog story. I do as well, but, ultimately, the team that works the hardest should get to the playoffs. Baseball offers best of five and best of seven, instead of single elimination. You have to have stamina and skill to make it to the top. In phase two of the soccer playoffs, also called the “knockout” phase, teams are eliminated after one game, exemplifying that a few single-game performances can win you the whole package.
2. Officiating in baseball is certainly less obtrusive than any other sport, especially soccer. The umpires are least likely to interfere with the progression of a game, as comparable to soccer, where the refs often determine the outcome of a game. Umpires make hundreds of calls, and they even call themselves out. There are no fouls or offside rules on a game-winning home run.
3. The game itself is the only true team sport. Every player, pitcher, shortstop, catcher, has to pull their weight and do their part to win. In soccer, one star player can make the difference, but in baseball, everyone takes a turn. You can stay pretty much unnoticed in play by passing or avoiding the ball in soccer. In baseball, if you go 0-for-4, it is impossible to keep it a secret.
4. Anyone can play baseball, physically and mentally. There is no specific personality for baseball, or a physical stance . A huge, fat guy can pitch or play first. In soccer, where do the slow runners go? From the player’s point of view, baseball is easier on your body. You can play, and play well, for years with minimal to no damage to your body.
5. Once you gain the lead, you can’t “ice” over the rest of the game. There is no way to just dribble the ball around the field for the last half. The winning team has to continue to pitch and play defense, risking the lead.
6. The game is never determined until the last inning is over. If you are down by three goals with three minutes to go in soccer, the game is basically over. Sure it happens, but not very often. Comebacks are possible and recur in baseball. Teams can still win a baseball game, even after trailing in the last inning.
7. 0-0 ties. I don’t think there is anything else to say.
8. Baseball is a series of small battles, rather than one large game. There is a tremendous amount of strategy that goes into each play. Runner vs. base stealer, pitcher vs. hitter and hitter vs. defense. Every battle has a winner, and that winner brings the team closer to stealing a base, to getting a run, to winning the game. Soccer is consisted of unclear actions. Wait, they just scored? How did I miss that? I didn’t even look away? Team A can set up play after play of well-positioned attack, only to have the ball float aimlessly past the goal every time. To Team A’s demise, Team B can get one lucky kick that bounces off the defender’s butt, another defender’s elbow, hits the post, bounces off the goalie’s head and goes in. They win, 1-0.
9. Baseball fans are the truest fans. You can find fans of teams that have not won in decades. Look at the Red Sox. They found new ways of disappointing their fans for years, but the fans stuck with them, and now the odds are they make it to the World Series every year. Soccer fans may be the rowdiest, but baseball fans are the truest. Soccer fans have a long-standing history of violence and riots after games – yet another reason why you want to be at a baseball field instead of a soccer field. I suppose, however, that if I was watching a sport where the only way to surely score is to run into the penalty area in hopes of drawing a foul and free kick – a sport where I pay $100 for a ticket – and my team loses on a fluke shot, I might riot too.
Kayla Clark is a freshman from Fort Collins Colorado majoring in broadcast journalism. Kayla is the only female on the sports staff and therefore has complete control. She can be reached at kayla.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu.