> The repetitive comment is funny to me because I think the same about soccer - ball gets kicked to one end, goal is missed, ball gets kicked to the other end,

> The repetitive comment is funny to me because I think the same about soccer - ball gets kicked to one end, goal is missed, ball gets kicked to the other end, repeat ad nauseam. I agree - it's just that basketball is basically the same for me. The only difference is that with basketball, they score about 25% of the time (or whatever). But the scores are all kind of the same, with a rare spectacular three pointer. Whereas in American football the teams kind of "feel each other out" and change strategies over time, have different formations, and so on, to the casual observer basketball is just a bunch of guys running towards defenders, hoping to spot a weakness, and either succeeding or failing, over and over. And when they succeed it doesn't matter that much, it's 2 points in a game where the teams will score a combined 200! I've attended two NCAA basketball games, SEC and Big 10 respectively. In both cases when our (the home) team scored, we didn't stand up and cheer, we clapped. I felt like I was watching golf! > Knowing that the players literally concussing themselves stupid took the fun out of it. You're absolutely right about this, I was praising football on the abstract level but actually haven't watched it in years. I've sort of gotten myself into watching the occasional Australian football game for exactly that reason; it has some of the same appeal to me without the physicality that creates so many injuries.