Stanley Cup Playoffs

[JenaS62]

Wow! That was possibly the most stressful sporting event I have ever watched in my life. Flyers overcame a called back goal to win in overtime in game 3 of the 7 game series. I'm exhausted.

Way to go Flyers! :humpin:

[Cartesiantheater]

Huh. I didn't realize anyone outside of Canada actually cared. I sure don't. I've been watching the NBA playoffs. ;)

[Mezurashi]

given that Canada Sucks as far as Hockey goes we'd better start cracking on getting our team ready for the FIFA World Cup of Football.

then again - it's ironic that there are rabid American fans of Hockey (which is So Canadian that everyone in the world thinks of Canada when you say Hockey) who Hate Everything About Canada except Hockey ...

and they still cross the border to get cheap meds, roflmao ...

[Cartesiantheater]

I've never had any problems with Canada. You guys tend to have a lot more fun, based on the few Canadians I've known.

[Mezurashi]

I've never had any problems with Canada. You guys tend to have a lot more fun, based on the few Canadians I've known.

for this I have to say, Opinions Vary ...

but I'm hoping Philly wins - I'm not big on the Blackhawks.

then again, who knows what might happen given the whole controversy around the Ref's in the NHL ...

[JenaS62]

Huh. I didn't realize anyone outside of Canada actually cared. I sure don't. I've been watching the NBA playoffs. ;)



Football and hockey are two of my favorite sports. Plus - the Flyers are my home team. I am, however, starting to feel like i am the ONLY person watching. LOL

[Cartesiantheater]

Football and hockey are two of my favorite sports. Plus - the Flyers are my home team. I am, however, starting to feel like i am the ONLY person watching. LOL

I've been to a couple NHL games, and GOING there is far more fun than watching on TV.


Also, hockey is WAY more entertaining than baseball. Watching baseball = watching grass grow.


For me it goes Football, basketball, rugby,.... ... ... ... .. ... ... then way over here hockey, soccer, golf, tennis, etc.

[JenaS62]

I've been to a couple NHL games, and GOING there is far more fun than watching on TV.


Also, hockey is WAY more entertaining than baseball. Watching baseball = watching grass grow.


For me it goes Football, basketball, rugby,.... ... ... ... .. ... ... then way over here hockey, soccer, golf, tennis, etc.



for me it goes in this order:

Football
hockey
Lacrosse
soccer
baseball
golf
tennis
watching paint dry
watchin grass grow
basketball

I've never seen rugby so I cannot rank it.

[Mezurashi]

ahem ... Baseball is the sport of the Gods - a sublime gathering of worship on the green grass of spring and summer where tactics and strategy involve more than who can hit whom the hardest, where speed is less important than skill, where the True Spirit of Gamesmanship can be seen in the steady, monotonous progression of players on the field.

Football (what North Americans call Soccer) is the next best thing (I don't count Cricket since it is incomprehensible to all but the dedicated).

American Football is brutality dressed up in fancy logo's, Rugby is just the 'tougher' version of it (no pads or armour) - Tennis is monomaniacal ego stroking - Hockey is brutality on ice, Lacrosse is more of the same on grass - Golf is to sports what spasmodic diarrhea is to chocolate mousse ...

must be Sunday Morning, roflmao ...

[Cartesiantheater]

None of these sports are more like Chess (the greatest game of all time) than North American Football.

[Mezurashi]

None of these sports are more like Chess (the greatest game of all time) than North American Football.

I'm sure there are players of Go that would beg to differ;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)

*having said that I must admit I play way more Chess than Go*

[JenaS62]

The agony of defeat.....

I have a headache and a sore throat.

[Cartesiantheater]

I'm sure there are players of Go that would beg to differ;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)

*having said that I must admit I play way more Chess than Go*

I didn't see "Go" listed above, lol. (just wtf if Go?). Out of baseball, hockey, basketball, soccer, tennis or golf, american football is the most like chess.

EDIT- oh, you butchered your link. The end parenthesis is supposed to be included in the url. I might have liked Go if it had coolly shaped parts like Chess does. How can you beat this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDD_PICo7nQ



As far as American football, there are "moves" made the "breaks" in between, and with the massive amount of playbook strategy (no other sport to my knowledge has such in depth playbooks on a regular basis, on all levels but particularly the pro level), individual players have specific rule-defined rolls that result in much more obvious specialization than any of these sports (the skills required to play WR are VASTLY different from the skills required to play offensive line, for example). You want to prevent the QB from getting sacked, similar to protecting the King in chess, etc.

Pawns = offensive linemen
Knights = tight ends
Bishops = wide receivers
King/Queen = quarterback
Rooks = running backs

The above is actually a plausible relation because in American football the specialization among positions is as diversified as the specialization in the pieces on a chess board.


I would say a comparison between soccer or basketball wouldn't be nearly as intuitive, and neither would baseball for several reasons, not limited to the fact that often times you will see 10 players on the field, 9 of which is from one team. You have specialization, but not to the degree with American football.

[JenaS62]

I don't play Chess, but have to agree with CT on the comparison to Football. Football is never random. It's calculated and then executed (or attempted execution).

[Mezurashi]

first - I repaired the link - not me butchering it but rather bad cut and paste thingy - I have no idea what html comprises for the most part ...

second - I have heard the comparisons between American Football and many sports to try and 'upsell' the whole clash of the steroid enhanced meat bludgeons ... my favourite comparison (which bears as much relevance as Chess) is Homosexual Ballet ...

very little about team sports is random - you'd know if you'd ever played baseball, lacrosse or Futbol. perhaps American Football puts more into the playbook but if you think Rubgy/Aussie Ball or any of the rest are 'random' then you have a bias which I cannot hope to surmount and thusly ends the back and forth succinctly (did I sound enough like Eq/Jamesbowels there?)

as for specialization ... like in Life, the Less specialization there is the More Adaptable the players and you get a More Variable and Interesting Game.

comparisons to Go abound on that metaphor - anyone can generate strategy with set pieces, not everyone can do the same without the set pieces since they tend to get confused by the available options.

I have watched American Football enough to know that it bores me even more than watching televised Golf - this is a subjective and biased assessment of course. I could spout off about the days when I watched, Dave Krieg, Brian Bosworth, Rufus Porter, Jim Zorn, etc. but rather than fake enthusiasm for a pro sport which holds as much interest for me as watching American Idol I figured I'd stay true to the now.

this isn't to say I think fans of American Football are 'wrong' in any way - let people like what they want. but when these same fans keep on trying to rationalize and upsell their obsession with comparisons to sports like Chess I begin to wonder WHY the need to prop? seems like a huge issue with inadequacy and the need to overcompensate to me ...

maybe those steroids have shrunken certain parts beyond hope of recovery ...

[Cartesiantheater]

first - I repaired the link - not me butchering it but rather bad cut and paste thingy - I have no idea what html comprises for the most part ...

second - I have heard the comparisons between American Football and many sports to try and 'upsell' the whole clash of the steroid enhanced meat bludgeons ... my favourite comparison (which bears as much relevance as Chess) is Homosexual Ballet ...

very little about team sports is random - you'd know if you'd ever played baseball, lacrosse or Futbol. perhaps American Football puts more into the playbook but if you think Rubgy/Aussie Ball or any of the rest are 'random' then you have a bias which I cannot hope to surmount and thusly ends the back and forth succinctly (did I sound enough like Eq/Jamesbowels there?)

as for specialization ... like in Life, the Less specialization there is the More Adaptable the players and you get a More Variable and Interesting Game.

comparisons to Go abound on that metaphor - anyone can generate strategy with set pieces, not everyone can do the same without the set pieces since they tend to get confused by the available options.

I have watched American Football enough to know that it bores me even more than watching televised Golf - this is a subjective and biased assessment of course. I could spout off about the days when I watched, Dave Krieg, Brian Bosworth, Rufus Porter, Jim Zorn, etc. but rather than fake enthusiasm for a pro sport which holds as much interest for me as watching American Idol I figured I'd stay true to the now.

this isn't to say I think fans of American Football are 'wrong' in any way - let people like what they want. but when these same fans keep on trying to rationalize and upsell their obsession with comparisons to sports like Chess I begin to wonder WHY the need to prop? seems like a huge issue with inadequacy and the need to overcompensate to me ...

maybe those steroids have shrunken certain parts beyond hope of recovery ...

lol your response is oozing with opinion and bias.

But I was only comparing it to chess because THAT is the reason that I began to like the sport as a kid (it reminded me of chess), during the end of the Bill Walsh era (when his teams were called "finesse" because they beat people with smarts rather than brutality).

[Mezurashi]

lol your response is oozing with opinion and bias.

damn you, I resemble that remark ...


But I was only comparing it to chess because THAT is the reason that I began to like the sport as a kid (it reminded me of chess), during the end of the Bill Walsh era (when his teams were called "finesse" because they beat people with smarts rather than brutality).

cool, but also unusual. the average American Football fan I know got into it for other reasons - and right here I will state that if love of the tailgate party was the reason then I am all for it, lol.

I was just reacting per previously 'grooved' reflexes arguing the merits of sport with my buds in years past (now we argue about computer systems and TV's) - dusting off some old opinions to air out because ... why not ... since the OP is about the Stanley Cup ...

looks like Chicago might just take it ... too bad.

[JenaS62]

Congratulations to the Blackhawks. Maybe now my heart rate can return to normal and my self inflicted injuries can heal.