Why I like Baseball Not Football

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Sep 21, 2011 by Yvonne DiVita

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First of all, I’m not a sports gal at all. I like the Olympics but I’m pretty selective in what I watch. I do watch gymnastics, skiing, snowboarding, some of the races (winter or summer), and I love figure skating. I used to follow diving because a neighbor’s son was a diver – he missed being on the Olympic team by just a tenth of a point, or something. It was very tense and…ultimately, disappointing.

Also, I have to admit that among my enormous family (about 80 and still counting, when we have family get togethers) I am an outsider because I don’t like football. I haven’t found anyone else in the family who finds football a waste of time, as I do. <sigh> This, of course, makes for difficult Thanksgivings. I mean, everyone watches football at Thanksgiving, don’t they? While the entire family is crowded around the TV in someone’s family room (or the church hall we sometimes rent)… I’m off in a corner reading a book. I don’t pay much attention to the cheers, jeers and laughter because I just don’t get it.

Baseball, on the other hand, which some of my family is fond of, but not all, is my sport. I ‘get’ baseball. I get that you have four bases, you hit a ball and run the bases, and the one with the most runs wins. Maybe I’m able to ‘get’ baseball better because my honey, Tom, is a BIG fan. He is a big Yankees fan. And has made me a Yankees fan. Sure, he watches football, too. But, in a pinch, he’d choose a Yankees game over any football game.

So, why do I like baseball better than football… here you go:

Football is stupid. Grown men chasing a little funny shaped ball around a wet, soggy, muddy field…while other grown men chase them, tackle them, and generally try to kill them. Then acted surprised when they get hurt!
Baseball is sophisticated. There is real expertise and talent in baseball. It looks easy – standing at home plate waiting for the pitcher to pitch that little white ball at you – and allow you to hit it out of the ball park. Or not. That’s the key – the batter really has to have a good eye, and be patient. And, the pitcher has to have a really good eye and a really good arm. Technique. Not something you see in football.
Football is really stupid. There are more rules than at a Catholic school, yet no one seems to uphold the rules. It’s a total free-for-all. You know, grown men chasing each other around in the snow and rain, just to get from one end of the football field to the other. Why don’t they form a row and run?
Baseball is serious. The guys who play baseball don’t chase each other or a ball. The team support is apparent from both teams, the batters and the players. No one in baseball goes out of his way to barrel into another player, just to knock that player down and fall on top of him. In baseball, the goal is to hit the ball out of reach of the other team, and get as many runs as possible.
Football is phenomenally stupid. I’m not sure I can convey how stupid it is. More football players suffer concussions than any other sport. Ok, maybe it’s not the most. But, maybe it is. Studies are out on that. The key is that football is sure to cause injury, somehow, someday, to every player that participates. And, it could be serious injury. (maybe the ‘injury’ isn’t noticeable… maybe it’s just terminal boredom on behalf of the Mom stuck watching all those games!)
Baseball is safe-r, than football. Yes, some players get hit by the ball. But they shake it off and get to take first base, if that happens. Ok, some get hit by the ball and… break something. But, it’s easily fixed. And, once in a great while players will run into each other and knock each other down. Not on purpose, like in stupid football. But, accidently. When they get up, they hardly ever scream expletives at each other – the way football players do. (that’s reserved for the managers…who do it off mic, but on camera; there is drama in baseball, after all)
Football is dumb. See, I can use other words to describe football. Football must be dangerous – just look at all the extra padding and stuff the players have to wear. Honestly, why would any intelligent person not take one look at all the stuff you have to put over your uniform and not say, “How the heck am I gonna run with all that gear on?” The key word in that sentence is ‘intelligent.’ I rest my case. (and run they do, but never as fast as baseball players)
Baseball is fun. Sometimes a fan gets to catch a ball that’s hit into the stands. Whoa… talk about excitement! Sometimes your team wins by a landslide…because your team’s fastest player stole second and third base! OMG! The excitement, I can’t stand it! Sometimes the manager and the catcher and a bunch of other players, on both teams, have it out with the referee and you sit in your seat holding your breath, waiting…waiting…waiting, until you finally hear it, “You’re outta here!” screamed by the referee, accompanied by hand signals… And you get to watch the manager storm off the playing field. I’m pretty sure these episodes are planned well in advance, to get the fans all riled up. And, to help both teams move the game along so the kids who are there can go home to bed before midnight.
Football… did I say it yet, is stupid? The teams are forever switching sides – down one side of the football field, then around to the other. How is anyone supposed to know who’s in charge, who’s got the ball, and where the ball is supposed to be at this moment? The ball is that oval shaped pigskin (is it really made out of pigskin – really?), the color of mud… making it invisible less than halfway through the game because the football players are so intent on maiming each other, even on a sunny day, they end up playing in mud.
Baseball is the All American Game. It started, so About.com says, in the 19^th century, where folks called it “townball”. It was not started by Abner Doubleday, as many used to believe. Rather, the rules of the game were first published in 1845, by Alexander Joy Cartwright, now known as “the father of baseball.” Over at About.com, Mary Bellis, says football began in 1823, when someone in a Rugby game grabbed the ball … and started a whole new game. This site gives a bit of an overview of both games and how they compare to each other. But pay no attention to it – it purports to show that football might be more popular. But, baseball players are paid more. So, I ask you… if money talks – then baseball wins.

And that’s why I like baseball but not football. And, I didn’t even get into the peanuts and popcorn! Whoohooo!!!

Graphic credit: Girls Play Baseball For Jen’s Sake

About the Author

Yvonne DiVita Has Written 12 Articles For Us!

Yvonne DiVita is the author of Dick*less Marketing: Smart Marketing to Women Online, the premier book on marketing to women online. As President of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC specializing in Publishing 3.0 using print-on-demand, as well as business blog building and social media strategy, Yvonne is an active blogger starting with her women’s blog Lip-Sticking. Her latest book, A Little Book of Big Thoughts, is offered on her blog as an e-book and a print book. In the summer of 2009, she co-founded BlogPaws, an online pet community to support pet bloggers and pet lovers. BlogPaws has successfully held two social media conferences in 2010 and is diligently working on conference #3 for August of 2011.

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