[CowboyIndian]

[b]Not really.  What do you call it when a country follows only sports that no one else plays?[/b]

You mean, like basketball? or hockey? or horse racing?
What do you call it when a country only has interest in one sport?

[CowboyIndian]

[b]Not really.  What do you call it when a country follows only sports that no one else plays?[/b]

You mean, like basketball? or hockey? or horse racing?
What do you call it when a country only has interest in one sport?

[terry]

What do you call it when a country follows only sports that no one else plays?

Not really true. Basketball, golf, auto racing, etc. are all over the world. Baseball is in Canada, Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, the Caribbean, and Japan. Hockey is in Canada and Europe. Football is the only major spectator sport in this country that\'s a U.S.-only sport, and even then, Canadian football is closely related to the U.S. game.

[terry]

What do you call it when a country follows only sports that no one else plays?

Not really true. Basketball, golf, auto racing, etc. are all over the world. Baseball is in Canada, Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, the Caribbean, and Japan. Hockey is in Canada and Europe. Football is the only major spectator sport in this country that\'s a U.S.-only sport, and even then, Canadian football is closely related to the U.S. game.

[Robbie]

In Seattle soccer has definitely arrived. Every Sounders game is a sellout. (Marked contrast with Mariners games.) Children are likely to be wearing Barcelona or Chelsea (or Sounders) jerseys. (Adults also.) Talk radio will have extended discussion about whether it is time for Keller to retire.

It hasn\'t arrived with a boom, and I sincerely doubt it will bust.

I can\'t speak to the rest of the country - but soccer is a major league sport here.

[Robbie]

In Seattle soccer has definitely arrived. Every Sounders game is a sellout. (Marked contrast with Mariners games.) Children are likely to be wearing Barcelona or Chelsea (or Sounders) jerseys. (Adults also.) Talk radio will have extended discussion about whether it is time for Keller to retire.

It hasn\'t arrived with a boom, and I sincerely doubt it will bust.

I can\'t speak to the rest of the country - but soccer is a major league sport here.

[terry]

The Seattle soccer team has the best attendance in the league, by far -- more than twice the league average.

[terry]

The Seattle soccer team has the best attendance in the league, by far -- more than twice the league average.

[fullmetal]

What do you call it when a country only has interest in one sport?

India; cricket.

[fullmetal]

What do you call it when a country only has interest in one sport?

India; cricket.

[dabigv13]

Soccer is definitely more popular than it has been in the past. The quality and depth of the broadcasts has measurably improved from 06, which measurably improved from 02. Still not as good as Univision, but better.

Same goes for the European championship, which in 2000 was barely covered at all, and in 2008 was very well covered. There\'s more and more specialized channels like Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Soccer Plus, and GolTV, and there\'s more and more awareness.

True, a lot of World Cup fever is still transient, judging by the amount of ignorant people I\'ve encountered in bars. And I don\'t think soccer will ever threaten the big three of sports here. But I personally know many many more people who regularly follow European league soccer than I know who follow the NHL, and I think interest will continue to increase.

[dabigv13]

Soccer is definitely more popular than it has been in the past. The quality and depth of the broadcasts has measurably improved from 06, which measurably improved from 02. Still not as good as Univision, but better.

Same goes for the European championship, which in 2000 was barely covered at all, and in 2008 was very well covered. There\'s more and more specialized channels like Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Soccer Plus, and GolTV, and there\'s more and more awareness.

True, a lot of World Cup fever is still transient, judging by the amount of ignorant people I\'ve encountered in bars. And I don\'t think soccer will ever threaten the big three of sports here. But I personally know many many more people who regularly follow European league soccer than I know who follow the NHL, and I think interest will continue to increase.

[yvonne]

The only thing I\'d like to add is that demographic changes may throw any previous projections out the window.  With population growth such that no group will have a majority by the end of the decade, and with Latinos expected to become the largest ethnic group, I would not be surprised to see interest in football growing, possibly at the expense of baseball.

Yes, I know that Latin American countries play baseball, but when I talk to my students, they don\'t seem to have picked up the passion for baseball that they\'ve adopted for basketball and football.

Darn it, BigV!  I was having fun taking the mick out of everybody else.  Why did you have to ruin it! ::)

[yvonne]

The only thing I\'d like to add is that demographic changes may throw any previous projections out the window.  With population growth such that no group will have a majority by the end of the decade, and with Latinos expected to become the largest ethnic group, I would not be surprised to see interest in football growing, possibly at the expense of baseball.

Yes, I know that Latin American countries play baseball, but when I talk to my students, they don\'t seem to have picked up the passion for baseball that they\'ve adopted for basketball and football.

Darn it, BigV!  I was having fun taking the mick out of everybody else.  Why did you have to ruin it! ::)

[washingtonismoney]

garvin, not sure those numbers are the best measure. For one, they\'re just the ABC numbers: Univision also broadcast the game, and (presumably) some people watched it. For two, it ignores the fact that large numbers of people congregated to watch it. There were at least four house parties (as far as I could tell walking to get a pre-game slice of pizza) in my neighborhood for the game, and 15,000 people gathered at AT&T park to watch the game. So I think those numbers are both impressive (it beat some NBA Finals games) and underestimated.

[washingtonismoney]

garvin, not sure those numbers are the best measure. For one, they\'re just the ABC numbers: Univision also broadcast the game, and (presumably) some people watched it. For two, it ignores the fact that large numbers of people congregated to watch it. There were at least four house parties (as far as I could tell walking to get a pre-game slice of pizza) in my neighborhood for the game, and 15,000 people gathered at AT&T park to watch the game. So I think those numbers are both impressive (it beat some NBA Finals games) and underestimated.

[Leftcoast]

Granted, I work for Bay Area company with a high number of transplanted Euros but the hallway conversation for the last two weeks has been all World Cup - and there\'s a Celtic/Laker NBA championship going on.

Do you think any of us could have said THAT in the 80\'s?

[Leftcoast]

Granted, I work for Bay Area company with a high number of transplanted Euros but the hallway conversation for the last two weeks has been all World Cup - and there\'s a Celtic/Laker NBA championship going on.

Do you think any of us could have said THAT in the 80\'s?

[Redrum]

I just wanted the baseball supporters to come up with an explanation of why baseball was considered such an exciting sport.   I\'ve been pretty clear that soccer is fun to play,  good kids\' game.  Harder on spectators attuned to football, basketball and Ultimate Fighting in the Octagon of Death.   So far I consider them on the clock and as yet, no explanation.  

[Redrum]

I just wanted the baseball supporters to come up with an explanation of why baseball was considered such an exciting sport.   I\'ve been pretty clear that soccer is fun to play,  good kids\' game.  Harder on spectators attuned to football, basketball and Ultimate Fighting in the Octagon of Death.   So far I consider them on the clock and as yet, no explanation.  

[slide]

because baseball offers more opportunities to quaff and gnosh liberally without missing much of the action whereas soccer offers fewer opportunities to quaff and gnosh and still not miss any action?

oh wait, I\'ve got to get back to the WC.  New Zealand just established a new record -- they did not allow a first half goal in the WC for the first time ever.  and I missed Slovakia\'s one shot on goal typing this post.  45 minutes wasted.  0-0 versus Slovakia.   :)

[slide]

because baseball offers more opportunities to quaff and gnosh liberally without missing much of the action whereas soccer offers fewer opportunities to quaff and gnosh and still not miss any action?

oh wait, I\'ve got to get back to the WC.  New Zealand just established a new record -- they did not allow a first half goal in the WC for the first time ever.  and I missed Slovakia\'s one shot on goal typing this post.  45 minutes wasted.  0-0 versus Slovakia.   :)

[washingtonismoney]

Fun fact: New Zealand\'s best player--Ryan Nelson--is a Stanford grad. Granted, being New Zealand\'s best player is like being the most sober fraternity brother, but still.

[washingtonismoney]

Fun fact: New Zealand\'s best player--Ryan Nelson--is a Stanford grad. Granted, being New Zealand\'s best player is like being the most sober fraternity brother, but still.

[Mick]

How manly can a sport be if the object is to run home?

Great line.  It\'s often said that my own favorite sport -- men\'s volleyball -- is not particularly manly, so I had to clip and keep the following post that was written in response to someone who thought that volleyball wasn\'t manly enough:


"You asked \'Why would guys want to play a girly sport like volleyball?\'  Hey, a serious question deserves a serious answer. So here goes:

1. Volleyball is an American sport, invented by Americans. Baseball was created from rounders, a game played primarily by English schoolgirls. Basketball was invented by a Canadian, Dr. James Naismith, using a soccer ball. Football is a bastardized version of another english game, rugby. Feel free to play a foreigner\'s game. I eat apple pie, I wave the flag, I drive a Ford and I play volleyball.

2. Volleyball is the second most popular men\'s sport around the world after soccer. Baseball and American football are distant in comparative popularity.

3. Volleyball players are great, great athletes. It\'s commonly stated that the best athletes are high-leaping basketball players. Well, the average vertical jump of the U.S. Olympic men\'s volleyball team is greater than that of the U. S. Olympic men\'s basketball team. Of course, if you\'re a regular, dumpy guy who is nonathletic and likes watching other guys stand around scratching themselves, by all means, go for baseball.

4. SpeedDE97 says that "volleyball is a spectator sport made for guys watchin hot girls in tight spandex spank a ball 2 each other across a net." Speak for yourself, dude. You could either watch from wannabe distance, or you could play with them and be their close, personal friends as I did. But I understand, man...you\'re a watcher and not a player. That\'s all right. Someone\'s gotta be.

5. Volleyball is constant action. It\'s not (yawwwwwwwwwnnn) baseball. It\'s not the ten minutes of action TOTAL that you get in a football game.  It\'s all action, all the time, with coordination, dexterity, athleticism, quickness, speed and power.

So in sum...it\'s an athletic, fun, American game that is popular around the world and played by athletic, attractive people. You\'re right, dude...it\'s not for you. "

[Mick]

How manly can a sport be if the object is to run home?

Great line.  It\'s often said that my own favorite sport -- men\'s volleyball -- is not particularly manly, so I had to clip and keep the following post that was written in response to someone who thought that volleyball wasn\'t manly enough:


"You asked \'Why would guys want to play a girly sport like volleyball?\'  Hey, a serious question deserves a serious answer. So here goes:

1. Volleyball is an American sport, invented by Americans. Baseball was created from rounders, a game played primarily by English schoolgirls. Basketball was invented by a Canadian, Dr. James Naismith, using a soccer ball. Football is a bastardized version of another english game, rugby. Feel free to play a foreigner\'s game. I eat apple pie, I wave the flag, I drive a Ford and I play volleyball.

2. Volleyball is the second most popular men\'s sport around the world after soccer. Baseball and American football are distant in comparative popularity.

3. Volleyball players are great, great athletes. It\'s commonly stated that the best athletes are high-leaping basketball players. Well, the average vertical jump of the U.S. Olympic men\'s volleyball team is greater than that of the U. S. Olympic men\'s basketball team. Of course, if you\'re a regular, dumpy guy who is nonathletic and likes watching other guys stand around scratching themselves, by all means, go for baseball.

4. SpeedDE97 says that "volleyball is a spectator sport made for guys watchin hot girls in tight spandex spank a ball 2 each other across a net." Speak for yourself, dude. You could either watch from wannabe distance, or you could play with them and be their close, personal friends as I did. But I understand, man...you\'re a watcher and not a player. That\'s all right. Someone\'s gotta be.

5. Volleyball is constant action. It\'s not (yawwwwwwwwwnnn) baseball. It\'s not the ten minutes of action TOTAL that you get in a football game.  It\'s all action, all the time, with coordination, dexterity, athleticism, quickness, speed and power.

So in sum...it\'s an athletic, fun, American game that is popular around the world and played by athletic, attractive people. You\'re right, dude...it\'s not for you. "

[Farm93]

Mick,

Volleyball is great, but second in popularity?  Huh?

You may not have noticed but at the Olympics it is athletics (as in Track & Field) that runs the show and pays for the bills.  It is athletics that is held in the biggest venue.  It is athletics that dominates the news stories not just in the USA, but across the world.  It is athletics that has participants from 6 continents. Without athletics the IOC would likely fall apart.  (Not that this would be a bad thing).  And goes without saying that those that participate in athletics are good athletes.

Perhaps your popularity was restricted to team sports, but then you need to take off your USA centric glasses.  The number 2 team sport in the world is....Cricket!  Amazing?  Unbelievable?  Not really, you see it is all about India and Pakistan.

Volleyball has about a billion "fans", but there are 1.1 billion people in India alone and it is their passion.  Cricket sports a cool 2-3 billion fans.  The total number of cricket "fans" is actually rather close to that of futbol.  And since the populations of India & Pakistan are growing faster than EU populations it is not out of the question that cricket will be the world\'s most popular sport in 10-20 years.

But I would tend to agree that volleyball is a nice sport.  No shame in being good at volleyball or enjoying the sport.  And I would agree that volleyball players are usually better athletes than your average baseball or cricket player.

[Farm93]

Mick,

Volleyball is great, but second in popularity?  Huh?

You may not have noticed but at the Olympics it is athletics (as in Track & Field) that runs the show and pays for the bills.  It is athletics that is held in the biggest venue.  It is athletics that dominates the news stories not just in the USA, but across the world.  It is athletics that has participants from 6 continents. Without athletics the IOC would likely fall apart.  (Not that this would be a bad thing).  And goes without saying that those that participate in athletics are good athletes.

Perhaps your popularity was restricted to team sports, but then you need to take off your USA centric glasses.  The number 2 team sport in the world is....Cricket!  Amazing?  Unbelievable?  Not really, you see it is all about India and Pakistan.

Volleyball has about a billion "fans", but there are 1.1 billion people in India alone and it is their passion.  Cricket sports a cool 2-3 billion fans.  The total number of cricket "fans" is actually rather close to that of futbol.  And since the populations of India & Pakistan are growing faster than EU populations it is not out of the question that cricket will be the world\'s most popular sport in 10-20 years.

But I would tend to agree that volleyball is a nice sport.  No shame in being good at volleyball or enjoying the sport.  And I would agree that volleyball players are usually better athletes than your average baseball or cricket player.

[Redrum]

cricket.  

I tried several times to watch cricket when I lived in England and simply couldn\'t stay engaged.    I think the reason Indians and Pakastanis are so ga-ga over cricket is that they are currently not actually trying to kill each other with tanks, missiles, planes and guns.   Cricket will have to do until a nice real war can be arranged.

[Redrum]

cricket.  

I tried several times to watch cricket when I lived in England and simply couldn\'t stay engaged.    I think the reason Indians and Pakastanis are so ga-ga over cricket is that they are currently not actually trying to kill each other with tanks, missiles, planes and guns.   Cricket will have to do until a nice real war can be arranged.

[washingtonismoney]

Cricket is certainly up there, but I\'d wager basketball is up there too. China loves basketball, the Philippines love basketball, the Balkans love basketball, and there are a lot of Western European countries that enjoy basketball (though, admittedly, not as much as soccer.)

[washingtonismoney]

Cricket is certainly up there, but I\'d wager basketball is up there too. China loves basketball, the Philippines love basketball, the Balkans love basketball, and there are a lot of Western European countries that enjoy basketball (though, admittedly, not as much as soccer.)

[Nan3cy]

My spouse is not much of a spectator sports guy, but we love going to Stanford volleyball matches -- especially the men\'s matches. He identifies with the men\'s game more (having played some while growing up in Hawaii) -- and I just like watching the guys... 8-)

[Nan3cy]

My spouse is not much of a spectator sports guy, but we love going to Stanford volleyball matches -- especially the men\'s matches. He identifies with the men\'s game more (having played some while growing up in Hawaii) -- and I just like watching the guys... 8-)

[Junior]

Say it ain\'t so!!

[Junior]

Say it ain\'t so!!

[Mick]

Mick,

Volleyball is great, but second in popularity?  Huh?

You may not have noticed but at the Olympics it is athletics (as in Track & Field) that runs the show and pays for the bills.  It is athletics that is held in the biggest venue.  It is athletics that dominates the news stories not just in the USA, but across the world.  It is athletics that has participants from 6 continents. Without athletics the IOC would likely fall apart.  (Not that this would be a bad thing).  And goes without saying that those that participate in athletics are good athletes.

Perhaps your popularity was restricted to team sports, but then you need to take off your USA centric glasses.  The number 2 team sport in the world is....Cricket!  Amazing?  Unbelievable?  Not really, you see it is all about India and Pakistan.

Volleyball has about a billion "fans", but there are 1.1 billion people in India alone and it is their passion.  Cricket sports a cool 2-3 billion fans.  The total number of cricket "fans" is actually rather close to that of futbol.  And since the populations of India & Pakistan are growing faster than EU populations it is not out of the question that cricket will be the world\'s most popular sport in 10-20 years.

But I would tend to agree that volleyball is a nice sport.  No shame in being good at volleyball or enjoying the sport.  And I would agree that volleyball players are usually better athletes than your average baseball or cricket player.

Easy, there.  I\'m a fan of T&F, particularly given that I was a hurdler and high jumper in high school, then transitioned to volleyball in college.  I don\'t really understand how T&F is synonymous with "athletics," but okay, whatever.  I always took athletics to refer to all sports.  And insofar as the Olympics are concerned, well, that is how they were founded...to showcase individual track and field events in a manner similar to the original Olympics, which, if memory serves was a single race about 220 meters.  So yeah, I guess that I understand the impact that track and field has on the Olympics.

To your main point, we\'re actually talking about two different things, spectator sports versus participant sports.  Volleyball is usually in the #5 to #7 range in terms of spectator sports, but per the International Association of Sports Federations global survey, volleyball is actually the #1 participant sport in the world.  Here are the numbers of a slightly dated IASF survey, taken by interviewing sports federations in all countries:

Volleyball, 998 Million
Basketball, 400 Million
Table Tennis, 300 Million
Soccer, 242 Million

Incidentally, I agree with you with respect to the IOC.  They can shrivel up and fall in the ocean for all I care.

[Mick]

Mick,

Volleyball is great, but second in popularity?  Huh?

You may not have noticed but at the Olympics it is athletics (as in Track & Field) that runs the show and pays for the bills.  It is athletics that is held in the biggest venue.  It is athletics that dominates the news stories not just in the USA, but across the world.  It is athletics that has participants from 6 continents. Without athletics the IOC would likely fall apart.  (Not that this would be a bad thing).  And goes without saying that those that participate in athletics are good athletes.

Perhaps your popularity was restricted to team sports, but then you need to take off your USA centric glasses.  The number 2 team sport in the world is....Cricket!  Amazing?  Unbelievable?  Not really, you see it is all about India and Pakistan.

Volleyball has about a billion "fans", but there are 1.1 billion people in India alone and it is their passion.  Cricket sports a cool 2-3 billion fans.  The total number of cricket "fans" is actually rather close to that of futbol.  And since the populations of India & Pakistan are growing faster than EU populations it is not out of the question that cricket will be the world\'s most popular sport in 10-20 years.

But I would tend to agree that volleyball is a nice sport.  No shame in being good at volleyball or enjoying the sport.  And I would agree that volleyball players are usually better athletes than your average baseball or cricket player.

Easy, there.  I\'m a fan of T&F, particularly given that I was a hurdler and high jumper in high school, then transitioned to volleyball in college.  I don\'t really understand how T&F is synonymous with "athletics," but okay, whatever.  I always took athletics to refer to all sports.  And insofar as the Olympics are concerned, well, that is how they were founded...to showcase individual track and field events in a manner similar to the original Olympics, which, if memory serves was a single race about 220 meters.  So yeah, I guess that I understand the impact that track and field has on the Olympics.

To your main point, we\'re actually talking about two different things, spectator sports versus participant sports.  Volleyball is usually in the #5 to #7 range in terms of spectator sports, but per the International Association of Sports Federations global survey, volleyball is actually the #1 participant sport in the world.  Here are the numbers of a slightly dated IASF survey, taken by interviewing sports federations in all countries:

Volleyball, 998 Million
Basketball, 400 Million
Table Tennis, 300 Million
Soccer, 242 Million

Incidentally, I agree with you with respect to the IOC.  They can shrivel up and fall in the ocean for all I care.

[Redrum]

depending on how many women in swimsuits are also participating?   Seems like a tough metric to get under control.

[Redrum]

depending on how many women in swimsuits are also participating?   Seems like a tough metric to get under control.