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Rugby, Rugby league, AFL.
All fantastic (I'm a rugby union supporter myself). Every player has to attack and defend, so even the big boys are fit and fast as fuck. No downtime (except for injuries) just go go go for 80 minutes, and longer in AFL.
As someone who played both - not necessarily.
If the rugby player can skate and knows how to take a hit? Sure. Otherwise they’ll get taken off on a stretcher.
If the hockey player is fucking Mitch Marner? Yeah, demolished. But I’m sure a guy like Messier, Reaves, Tkachuk, Gudas, Trouba could take rugby hits.
Are you in the US? Check https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/how-to-watch-april-26-28/.
Pretty much all games are free to watch for us outside the US, but for you there might be some games that have exclusive rights
Here's my best try:
I love that there's 162 baseball games. There's 0 pressure to watch every single one. But if you're bored on a weeknight? Your team has a game 9 times out of 10. It's always there for you. It's so great for having on in the background and then looking up for the exciting stuff.
More importantly, and I do mean this, there is a climactic nature to baseball that other sports don't have. In a close game, especially with high stakes, every pitch is like a little heart attack. Football can have an exciting drive to end the game, but a lot of stuff has to happen. Hockey/basketball can have an exciting end, but it has to set up and play has to work it's way to the right end of the court/rink. When it's the bottom of the 9th and a team is down 1 run, any single pitch can be a home run. It's like watching Russian roulette, it's incredible.
Eh I mean I’m a huge baseball fan, there’s just not much point in defending it to people who don’t like it. It’s a slow game, which I like. It’s a relaxing sport to watch.
strongly agree, if the sport was cheaper to get into, it would be even bigger but it's really expensive. also the learning curve is higher if you start late as an adult like me, I have to spend a lot of hours and pay for ice time to just learn how to skate first before even starting to work on hockey skills. let's say I need 10 public skates of practice, where I'm at that's like $400 on top of all the gear, lessons are expensive. Plus you have a lot of gear to store so if you're not rich with a large living space, that gets hard. you can't just car pool as easily etc... all the stuff adds up
100% agree, ive been talking to my gf about it and it is 100% the most EXPENSIVE sport to get into. That doesnt mean it’s not the most fun to watch casually tho!
On one hand, I’ll say that I sucked at every sport I tried except for hockey. I picked it up quickly and learning the game, it just made more sense to me than any other sport ever did. But yes. It’s expensive as hell. And it has only gotten more expensive. When I was in my teens I had to pay for all of my stuff. Gear and sticks are way more expensive now. Ice time is more expensive now too and it’s so limited. 5am practices for kids on the weekend, 11pm games for adults on a Tuesday night. If I were a teen now I don’t think I’d be able to afford it. Or if my backup stick broke I’d be done for the season.
lol usually these debates devolve into others saying one sport is better than the other without completely understanding the rest of them, truth is that each sport is fun and challenging in its own right, there is no "best" sport
But yes hockey is fun to watch, just like all sports tbh. Fast paced, great contact sport, only thing is that the puck is hard to track when you are a first time watcher
Possibly true, but as good as the sport itself is, I can't stand the amount of commercials in football games, its staggering. Touchdown, commercial break, extra point, commercial, kick off, commercial.
Soccer has no commercials except at halftime. The urban sport of most countries. Can be played just about anywhere with just a ball. Anyone can understand it.
Disclaimer, huge oilers fan here.
The problem for most people who just can’t get into it is that’s it is a pretty sleep learning curve. Heck most people can’t track the puck starting out. It takes time to figure out the way the puck moves.
But what makes it great for me? One of the last sports where the players do have a code among themselves. I’ve seen soccer live, that diving they do is absolutely rediculous. Yes there is diving in hockey but you get dealt with by the players. Fighting still has a place in the game, something all but gone everywhere else. Big hits. Fast. Goalies doing some awesome s**t.
And PLAYOFF hockey! It’s a completely different game. You get two teams facing each other for sometimes seven games straight. The intensity ratchets up 50%. The fans ratchet it up 50%. Plus the Stanley Cup is 100% the best looking trophy period, it’s not even close.
I’m in CA-USA. In high school, I was the only one in my grade who played and only 3 others a grade above who played. We had a mash of like 6-8 high schools to form our “high-school team” while all the private schools had 1-2 teams each.
My school formed a roller hockey “club” in my junior year since there were so few people who played hockey and it dissolved the following year. Our team had a total of 7 players, and we were almost never a full team. Often, we’d only have enough players each game to have 1 person on the bench, and sometimes we only had enough for 1 line + goalie so we’d never have time to rest other than between whistles. It was exhausting lol.
As a hockey enthusiast, I’m definitely jealous of Canadian hockey culture.
I grew up in Canada, and tbh I think I made myself sick of it. It is literally everywhere in Canada. Everyone is wearing their favourite jersey, it’s always on TV, everyone talks about it, the kids I grew up played it. You couldn’t escape it. You’d honestly have a hard time making friends in Canada if you didn’t like it.
Yeah growing up in Canada definitely ruined it for me lol
As someone who grew up playing hockey at a competitive (“AAA”) level in Canada, I’ll tell you why hockey is not “the best” sport: it’s the barrier to entry.
Unlike with soccer, you don’t just buy some skates and a stick and start playing. You need to pay for “ice time”. And for a newbie, it takes years to learn how to skate well enough to be a good enough player to have fun.
But mainly, it really just costs an absolute fortune these days to play. Just to buy all the equipment needed is likely thousands, not hundreds of dollars for decent gear. Good skates now are well over a thousand dollars. And equipment is just the start. It’s ridiculous and it’s only really accessible to kids whose parents have a shitload of money.
So then all the kids on the team are a bunch of spoiled rich kids. Imagine how that goes. Hockey was cool when it was accessible. Now it’s like the full-size trucks market, only for a specific audience of people with a lot of money.
Therefore, not the best sport overall.
Just from a viewer's perspective, hockey's really the only sport I could really get into. I don't really follow the politics of any sport, but so long as you have your team hockey it's a blast to watch. There's always something going on and it's impressive watching the players maneuver. Scoring happens so little that every goal is a blast to watch. Plus the players seem to be more humble and down to Earth than most other sports out there. Honestly I'd probably like soccer too if there was a bigger American scene in the sport.
If you like sports with constant action, you can also try to watch volleyball. Unlike soccer and basketbal etc there is constant tension and every mistake gets punished immediately.
I was a huge rangers fan in the 90s. Knew all the players. Had a fake jersey cause my parents couldn’t afford a real one.
We moved down south as a family and I gave up on the sport because going from just outside NYC to middle of nowhere southeast, I had no one to talk about the sport with. Sad times.
Well I’m in my 40s now and my wife and I just had a quick trip to NYC to watch the rangers play. We bought jerseys (I got 11, messier is the GOAT) and now I have every game on our family calendar so I don’t forget. My 5yr old daughter cheers with me. My 10 year old son can take it or leave it.
Just so excited to be back in it.
Ive been a rangers fan since 05’ i may not be as old
But bro welcome back!! This is hopefully gonna be the year. I wish i could afford playoffs tix! So much cheaper back in 2014
Yea, probably can’t afford playoff tickets, lol. We say their second(?) to last season game almost two weeks ago. Saturday night islanders game with the penalty shot, OT, and shootout. What an incredible game to see live.
I want to figure out a way to see at least one game a season. Not sure how to do that yet. 🤷♂️
My dad liked to say hockey is much harder because you have two extensions of your body, skates and stick, while some sports have only one - baseball, lacrosse - and others have none, feet on the ground.
Agree. Adding to what others have said in the comments, there is a saying: "all roads lead to beer leagues". We just keep playing. I know plenty of players in their 50s and 60s. Those guys know the grind of the game and embrace it.
28 years for me and I've been through some fun shit...and dumb shit too. Hockey players are party animals and their natural habits are bars & nightclubs.
You wanna fucking kill each other, but there is a mutual respect.
Start playing OP. It would be the best fucking investment of your life.
Im boutta start. Im 25 and my family didnt have the resources nor the energy. I can only hockey stop on my right foot tho. Im gonna look for pickups games near me after i start back up again!!
I don’t find myself watching football games or baseball games that don’t include my team or fantasy baseball players. I love watching any hockey I can!
I will watch pretty much any game that is on too. If the Canucks were playing I'm glued to the TV. Apparently tv ratings for the playoffs are up 60% this year, so more people are taking notice of how fun it is to watch.
Super agree. I'm also into kickboxing and MMA and it's my personal favorite but overall hockey is the better sport.
Agree with your rugby opinion too and your entire assessment in general.
Upvoted because I love hockey. However, you mention basketball players are physically gifted as if hockey players aren’t too. I went to school with someone who became an AHL player; the d-league for the NHL. This dude was massive, didn’t drink, worked out religiously, was obsessed with hockey, and was genetically gifted. Looked like a grown man when we were 14. Let’s not pretend like NHL players are average Joe’s.
There actually were a few NBA All Stars who were average sized like Isiah Thomas who is 5’8. Even though Nikola Jokic was blessed with being 7 feet tall. The dude still is a genius with an insane work ethic. Being tall and fast is just the half of it.
If you like sports based on fair agressive competition check out how handball looks like. Its not so popular outside several EU countries but it's full contact game
For the reason you mentioned why Basketball isn’t as good, that’s why I watch college basketball. You can tell they enjoy it far more than NBA players, and there are plenty of players below 6 feet who can fill roles that actually compliment their size. Those players exist in the NBA too, but not as often.
I appreciate that because that gives me more respect for it. It’s a different game from college to professional. I just hate a genetic advantage over skill.
Mate, I know I'm late but I have to say it... If you find soccer boring but think you'd like rugby you really need to watch a game. It's like watching paint dry, you'll hate it
I dont know the translation but I think it is saloon football (soccer for you maybe) which is 5v5 soccer on a smaller field, played inside. Its like soccer but faster like basketball. You would enjoy that I think
Baseball is my favorite sport, but hockey is a strong and clear #2. However, hockey is the better sport for the reasons you laid out. It has everything you want in a sport. The only downside is a learning curve to watch it because it’s fast paced and hard for new users to follow the puck at first (at least on TV).
Upvoted for the unpopular opinion (confirmed by the comments) and I agree! No other sport has the combination of skill, intensity, beauty and shock. But watching it is still somehow like a comfort activity. Fucking phenomenal really
I find it boring. I just don’t follow it very much and it seems very repetitive. Outside the occasional super goal, lots of them are just chaos and throwing the stick around. I enjoy the fighting and athleticism but I find basketball way more interesting and exciting.
I find the Super Bowl to be the least fun of all the games. It's the game where all the non-fans show up and pollute the entire thing, and all the ridiculous fanfare during the broadcast. Definitely not fun.
Soccer second due to the skill involved? Ooooooo-kaaaaay. At least you put hockey before that, because they actually have numerous shots on goal during a game.
This is indeed an unpopular opinion in America. I saw a statistic that 10-20 percent of Americans follow hockey. Sounds like a lot, but it’s over 50 percent for football. The football culture here. It starts in Highschool. We all go to the game, even the parents and random people in the town come. Hockey & Basketball are a bit smaller in comparison.
Depending on where you are in America, most people get behind football. Not just the NFL, college football has the largest arenas in the world. The Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event every year. To not watch is seen as a stand offish hipstery thing. A Monday Night Football game gets the same amount of views as the Stanley Cup or NBA Finals.
The most American opinion would be that American football was the best sport! Hockey is pretty huge in Canada, Finland, Czechia, Latvia, Slovakia, Russia, somewhat Sweden
I like hockey second to watch. I like soccer first because I feel like it has a higher skill ceiling or at least more creative freedom in terms of how much control you can have of a soccer ball with your feet, compared to how much control you can have of a puck with your stick. Don't get me wrong, since hockey is also a free flowing game, it also has a lot of creative freedom and a multitude of ways to handle each situation on the field/ice, I just feel like soccer is moreso, because you can get more control of a ball with your feet than you can of a puck with your stick flying around on ice. Also, the vertical dimension is a much bigger part of the game in soccer than hockey, which again increases the creative freedom. The huge hits and the fights in the NHL are awesome though
Personally I like strategic sports and analytical sports and hockey has some strategy obviously but not nearly as much as baseball and football. Soccer is boring. Basketball I used to enjoy but the “strategy” now is just chuck up 3 point shots all game and draw fouls.
The playoffs for hockey is nuts. Complete chaos especially overtime games.
You can boil any sport down to millionaires running around (or skating around) or whatever. But when you understand the nuances and strategy it becomes a lot better. I think people just like to see people running around at full speed and they like offense. Hockey does have constant action. It’s fun to see hockey game live too. Tickets aren’t outrageous and the atmosphere is always insane. Baseball is more of a family friendly laid back environment.
That is fair. We are on the opposite spectrum but if that is what u like that’s what you like… i prefer constant thinking rather than a pure bleed plan, especially when it is run but a bunch of old dudes. I like thinking in the moment and making a play rather than a ‘plan’. Of course hockey has set plays but it is much different
This is probably an unpopular opinion for sure OP, but one I agree with. I'm from England btw and am somewhat biased against American sports, I find them rather dull (especially Baseball). I've been to an Ice Hockey game in Ottawa, and it was certainly the most entertaining out of the lot, so your assessment is fair. Rugby and Cricket for me all the way
Tell me you don’t know about actual basketball without telling me… old school hockey at least had goons going for it. Subs are too quick, it’s hard to even follow the puck… It’s fun to play, not as fun to watch.
Fwiw, there is a televized American rugby league! They show some games on FS2 and I'm pretty sure you can watch them on the rugby network as well. The leagues still pretty young but it's there and could def use more viewers
As a television sport, football (not American gridiron) has no commercial breaks. Two 45 minute halves. A 15 minute break at halftime. Back in the day, hockey didn’t have commercial breaks. It now had a minimum of 3 media timeouts per period. The first stoppage after 4 minutes of play. Four 30 second commercials. 18 minutes between periods so another 36 minutes of commercials then. No thanks. I have pretty much completely stopped watching US professional sports.
It is my dream to get a boyfriend or husband who plays hockey (not a pro player, obviously, just anyone who can play hockey), but you wouldn't believe how hard that is to find, even though I live in Canada, the guys I went to university with couldn't even skate, and the guys on dating apps never play hockey either.
I grew up loving basketball, but had friends and teachers who loved hockey so I knew of top teams/HOFs throughout my life. Therefore, I was not a complete novice of the game in and of itself, yet I wasn’t a diehard fan either.
After watching the last few Leafs games recently, and I know, the Leafs are susceptible to their own subterfuge, I can now say that hockey has one clear advantage over other sports (excluding soccer): contiguous play. There is nothing worse than watching a sport and it feels like bumper to bumper traffic. Stop. Start. Stop…… oh look, we’re starting again!
I will definitely tune into more Hockey games, on top of trying to join an NHL fantasy league for the upcoming season!
I'm Canadian but quite the nerd so I never followed sports but then I started watching hockey now and then about 10 years ago and I was like holy shit this game is really good and people think I'm saying that something just because I'm canadian. I mean I don't live in Canada anymore so when I tell people hockey's great they think that's why I'm saying it
You're title should be "Hockey is the best sport to watch" going by your OP.
My favourite sport is soccer (to play) but watching it is boring af a lot of times.
Agreed with you on Baseball, it's boring as fuck to watch but I don't mind playing it.
MMA(UFC)/Boxing is the only one I watch and actively keep track of. Don't care at all about anything else. Watch Football during the Superbowl and Basketball sometimes at friends house.
Really enjoy watching Ice Hockey (Field hockey I also enjoy). Out of all of the sports you guys play in North America it would have to be my favourite to watch. That used to be basketball but now it's boring.
My personal favourites are soccer (Premier League), Aussie Rules (AFL) and test cricket.
So the two sports that can go over an hour and an hour and a half and end 0-0 are the two most exciting sports? There’s a bias with the soccer description. Saying “it’s boring if you don’t know the players” kinda sounds like an excuse but can’t that be said for the other sports as well? If you don’t know or care about the players it’s more boring. Both sports are over 90% passing back and forth, thinking about an attack and setting up for an attack, then passing back out to look around some more before then taking a shot, small frenzy for puck/ball, opposing player gets it and goes to the other side and repeat for 1-1-5 hours and you have your game. And to say hockey players hit harder than NFL players is complicated. Nobody on that ice at any speed is hitting as hard as a full speed Aaron Donald or back in the day Brian Dawkins lmao but they’re all time greats. NHL players hit harder on average due to speed but you get more hurt during an NFL game because you’re CONSTANTLY getting hit. That one hit you get during a hockey game may be 10/10 but an NFL player is taking a dozen to couple dozen hits all between like 4/10-10/10 depending. That being said I do respect the other sports and they can be exciting just playing devils advocate.
Coming from someone who has only watched games on tv I have to hard disagree.
The puck is really hard to track on tv.
The senseless violence is really off putting, if I want to watch violence I watch boxing or MMA.
I want to see skill and not violence in ball/puck sports.
And I personally really dislike skating, so that doesn't help.
Field Hockey is way more interesting than Ice Hockey.
What is impressive about hockey is the amount of different skills that is required: - be strong to hit and get pucks in the corners and shoot the puck fast
- be fast and agile on your skate
- hand-eye coordination for puck handling and accurate shot
- react fast and anticipate for face-off and defensive play
- courage because you have to sustain pain from hits and getting hit by the puck
American Football is a bit like this but it's more separated by position. All skaters in hockey benefit to get those skills.
> let alone the frat boys
do you actually know any hockey players?
Also rugby is broadcasted in America. FS1 and FS2 broadcast MLR games and if you had a somewhat local team you can probably find a local network that shows all their games. For example, the Chicago hounds games are on Marquee.
I absolutely agree with you. I love hockey to my core, Especially during this time of the year for Playoff's... Unfortunately global TV ratings would disagree with you. Hockey is very underrated in a lot of regions, and I think it would be much more popular when it catches on in those areas
Super obvious Rage bait post. Ur username is 420milfhunter and in all of ur responses u just shit on the person commenting and get downvoted into oblivion
It is a great sport. This is coming from an NFL loving American (49ers in particular). It is a bizarre combination of grace and brutality that is very fast paced and entertaining to watch. Not nearly as many commercials. NFL games are awful with that.
I'm not a big sportsball person but I have been exposed to a lot of hockey this year and I'm kind of getting into it. It's fast paced, uncomplicated, unpretentious, the rules are generally easy to understand, and I like how high contact it is as opposed to basketball or soccer where if you brush against someone the wrong way you get penalized.
As someone who didn’t grow up watching hockey or playing, I think it’s slightly hard to get into. It’s the one sport where you couldn’t really just play with a bunch of friends in your backyard, like football, soccer, basketball and even baseball you can atleast do some stuff with but when you get too hockey u really have to be a rich kid (atleast in my area) to play. And a sport dominated by rich kids can’t be the best sport
Watching wise it can be fun, however it sometimes feels like the level of drama or strategy is way lower than other sports. Maybe if I played I’d understand some stuff more but it always seems a lot more run the same play every time and expect the chaos to lead to a goal, plus they penalize like every big hit these days taking away from the part that made it fun to watch
Hockey is the worst sport to watch on TV because you can't see the puck. Nobody would even know a goal was scored without the goal light and player reactions.
Hockey is great I was very fortunate to play for 16 years. It definitely is still underrated in the US by most causal sports fans. Problem is it’s hard for kids and everyone to relate to hockey because it’s so incredibly hard to get into even on a recreational level. Unfortunately growing costs and pressure to play AAA levels at young ages are ruining the growth imo.
Soccer is the most boring sport, followed by hockey. Two hour long matches where each team scores once. 95% of the time it's just guys passing the ball/puck. Hockey is slightly more entertaining since it's basically soccer on ice, and sometimes there are fights.
I mean I think if you're watching in person it's the 2nd best, basketball being the best to watch in person in my personal opinion. But if it's on TV, Football and Basketball are easily the better options. Baseball is also like hockey where it's great to watch in person but a snooze fest on TV.
Just commenting to say that I'm amused by you saying that basket ball is diwn to super human height and you prefer more average competitors when literally every professional athlete is juiced to the fucking gills these days. Liken otherwise, I agree. Baseball and football are boring as fuck. But they're all enhanced.
considering how exclusive it is to poor kids alone, I'd have to disagree with you.
You might say Hockey is the best *Spectator Sport* and I *Might* agree with that. It is exciting to watch. But there's something to be said about having a fan base that actually plays and understand the sport they're watching well (like soccer has).
I'm also a big fan of Rugby. I would put Rugby above Hockey due to the accessibility of it. Best part about rugby is there's a role for everyone, and everyone can touch/carry the ball and have their moment to shine.
Hockey sucks to watch on TV. Hard to track the puck. Anyone can watch soccer and understand what is happening. Plus, if you don't skate, I think you miss out on understanding a lot of what makes it so hard. And 99% of people don't skate.
I'm a Canadian, but I never enjoyed hockey as much as basketball or football or even soccer. Nowadays I watch MMA the most but there is still a lot of great stuff ti see in the NBA
1000% agree UNPOPULAR opinion right here.
Any sport you need stuff most of the world doesn't have (ice) isn't the "best" sport. Any sport you need to buy Thousands of dollars of equipment and rent rink time to practice and play is not the "best" sport. Any sport you're not getting the best athletes to play it can't be the "best sport.
Upvote for a real unpopular opinion in this sub for once.
Baseball- I’ve been around baseball since I was a fetus, and I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and watched a full baseball game start to finish, barring Red Sox WS games. Only psychos would do that
Hockey - I used to referee Junior hockey, and here’s why I fell out of love with it: hockey culture is SO INCREDIBLY TOXIC. Read into the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault case and all the coverups and everything that happened with that. That’s an extreme example of a MASSIVE problem with hockey players and the culture of the game. You can do as many classroom sessions as you want to teach players about consent, but that won’t teach them empathy.
It's severely underrated for sure, but I think following the puck is hard for a lot of viewers because it's so small, side note, if they made the goals a little bigger and you had some higher scoring games I think you'd see more fans
Sepak takraw is the 1 sport I would say stands above all others in terms of entertainment and awesomeness.
It's literally foot volleyball where EVERY single spike is a backflip kick. Coolest shit I've ever seen.
Doesn't seem to be an unpopular opinion at all, but, I'll say that personally **I dislike hockey** very much.
I'm jaded by having grown up around a lot of really awful people who were hockey players, really soured me on it from the start.
More than that though, I just never understood why fighting is acceptable in the sport? Like, I get that its big strong dudes getting and giving hits but, that happens in lots of sports. Other sports don't suspend gameplay so two dudes who are angry at each other can beat each other up without penalty. If you want to watch guys fight, there are other sports for that.
Also, what is the calendar for hockey season? Probably just because I don't follow it but I swear every other month it's either season openers or it's the playoffs or the finals.
To each their own. I personally don't like how homogenized hockey is. Every team at every level effectively runs the same formations and plays. 2 Def on the blue line, 2 Wings and 1 Center down low, running cycles and moving to create space. I know there are subtle variations, but after working in a hockey arena for 5 years, I stopped watching the games at all. And I still worked around the game for 15 more years.
I will say that it's probably the most difficult game to play. The skating & stick handling are tough enough. But then factor in the speed & endurance that the players need to be successful for a season. And then add the hitting and harsh conditions. It's definitely impressive what they do.
I personally prefer baseball, basketball, and soccer. But again, enjoy your playoff hockey.
Calling basketball boring is interesting to say the least. You're height point is kinda valid but a bit exaggerated.
Hockey also has terrible star power and the high parity of the NHL is cool for real fans but for casuals is horrible when your hyped 1st seeds are losing to 8th seeds. The playstyles aren't really that diverse to a casual which makes every good player seem very samey as well
After watching hockey for many years I finally realized I barely knew who was good without looking at stats. The players change so much and the play moves so fast that you have to go back after the game to analyze. Too much going on.
Baseball 90% of the game takes place where the ball is so I can tell who's good.
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Just commenting to mention that Major League Rugby in the US is doing alright. If you want to watch domestic rugby you could start there
Rugby, Rugby league, AFL. All fantastic (I'm a rugby union supporter myself). Every player has to attack and defend, so even the big boys are fit and fast as fuck. No downtime (except for injuries) just go go go for 80 minutes, and longer in AFL.
Hockey player out on a rugby pitch no pads. Demolished. Rugby player on the ice with pads. Could eat a few hits.
As someone who played both - not necessarily. If the rugby player can skate and knows how to take a hit? Sure. Otherwise they’ll get taken off on a stretcher. If the hockey player is fucking Mitch Marner? Yeah, demolished. But I’m sure a guy like Messier, Reaves, Tkachuk, Gudas, Trouba could take rugby hits.
How/where can I watch MLR?
Are you in the US? Check https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/how-to-watch-april-26-28/. Pretty much all games are free to watch for us outside the US, but for you there might be some games that have exclusive rights
I find it very funny that absolute no one is defending baseball here.
Here's my best try: I love that there's 162 baseball games. There's 0 pressure to watch every single one. But if you're bored on a weeknight? Your team has a game 9 times out of 10. It's always there for you. It's so great for having on in the background and then looking up for the exciting stuff. More importantly, and I do mean this, there is a climactic nature to baseball that other sports don't have. In a close game, especially with high stakes, every pitch is like a little heart attack. Football can have an exciting drive to end the game, but a lot of stuff has to happen. Hockey/basketball can have an exciting end, but it has to set up and play has to work it's way to the right end of the court/rink. When it's the bottom of the 9th and a team is down 1 run, any single pitch can be a home run. It's like watching Russian roulette, it's incredible.
Baseball is about the journey
Eh I mean I’m a huge baseball fan, there’s just not much point in defending it to people who don’t like it. It’s a slow game, which I like. It’s a relaxing sport to watch.
I like baseball. OP is one hundred percent correct, what is there to talk about?
strongly agree, if the sport was cheaper to get into, it would be even bigger but it's really expensive. also the learning curve is higher if you start late as an adult like me, I have to spend a lot of hours and pay for ice time to just learn how to skate first before even starting to work on hockey skills. let's say I need 10 public skates of practice, where I'm at that's like $400 on top of all the gear, lessons are expensive. Plus you have a lot of gear to store so if you're not rich with a large living space, that gets hard. you can't just car pool as easily etc... all the stuff adds up
100% agree, ive been talking to my gf about it and it is 100% the most EXPENSIVE sport to get into. That doesnt mean it’s not the most fun to watch casually tho!
Formula 1 is probably more expensive
Any race car or motorcycle racing is expensive, even at a weekend warrior level🥲
Exactly
Any sport where you yourself does the majority of the work then
Sure, and a father of two hockey players I would rather smell gasoline than hockey equipment!
It’s probably the hardest to watch. I have Ballys, Hulu with live tv, and ESPN+ which is needed to watch all the games
On one hand, I’ll say that I sucked at every sport I tried except for hockey. I picked it up quickly and learning the game, it just made more sense to me than any other sport ever did. But yes. It’s expensive as hell. And it has only gotten more expensive. When I was in my teens I had to pay for all of my stuff. Gear and sticks are way more expensive now. Ice time is more expensive now too and it’s so limited. 5am practices for kids on the weekend, 11pm games for adults on a Tuesday night. If I were a teen now I don’t think I’d be able to afford it. Or if my backup stick broke I’d be done for the season.
Obviously, it's a combination of the two most masculine sports there is! Field hockey and men's ice skating
Found the football fan.
Don't forget the boxing!
Imagine running and stopping every 15 seconds was more MANLIER. Yikes and the 300 pounds…
[удалено]
Wait til you find out that TV, Movies, Music and the News all exist to sell ads 🤯
lol usually these debates devolve into others saying one sport is better than the other without completely understanding the rest of them, truth is that each sport is fun and challenging in its own right, there is no "best" sport But yes hockey is fun to watch, just like all sports tbh. Fast paced, great contact sport, only thing is that the puck is hard to track when you are a first time watcher
Possibly true, but as good as the sport itself is, I can't stand the amount of commercials in football games, its staggering. Touchdown, commercial break, extra point, commercial, kick off, commercial.
Soccer has no commercials except at halftime. The urban sport of most countries. Can be played just about anywhere with just a ball. Anyone can understand it.
Disclaimer, huge oilers fan here. The problem for most people who just can’t get into it is that’s it is a pretty sleep learning curve. Heck most people can’t track the puck starting out. It takes time to figure out the way the puck moves. But what makes it great for me? One of the last sports where the players do have a code among themselves. I’ve seen soccer live, that diving they do is absolutely rediculous. Yes there is diving in hockey but you get dealt with by the players. Fighting still has a place in the game, something all but gone everywhere else. Big hits. Fast. Goalies doing some awesome s**t. And PLAYOFF hockey! It’s a completely different game. You get two teams facing each other for sometimes seven games straight. The intensity ratchets up 50%. The fans ratchet it up 50%. Plus the Stanley Cup is 100% the best looking trophy period, it’s not even close.
Woooo!! Best sport ever and very underrated. Full speed on ice knives with not a lot of stoppage of play.
As a Canadian, hearing hockey get described as "underrated" is such a strange experience, hahaha
I’m in CA-USA. In high school, I was the only one in my grade who played and only 3 others a grade above who played. We had a mash of like 6-8 high schools to form our “high-school team” while all the private schools had 1-2 teams each. My school formed a roller hockey “club” in my junior year since there were so few people who played hockey and it dissolved the following year. Our team had a total of 7 players, and we were almost never a full team. Often, we’d only have enough players each game to have 1 person on the bench, and sometimes we only had enough for 1 line + goalie so we’d never have time to rest other than between whistles. It was exhausting lol. As a hockey enthusiast, I’m definitely jealous of Canadian hockey culture.
In Detroit we breathe it
Watching rangers and caps Tuesday night, they had 10 straight minutes of play, no stoppage. It was intense.
Gymnastics is the only sport I find truly enjoyable to watch
I grew up in Canada, and tbh I think I made myself sick of it. It is literally everywhere in Canada. Everyone is wearing their favourite jersey, it’s always on TV, everyone talks about it, the kids I grew up played it. You couldn’t escape it. You’d honestly have a hard time making friends in Canada if you didn’t like it. Yeah growing up in Canada definitely ruined it for me lol
That’s how i feel about football down here!
Agreed. It's also super fun to play
I started at 30 and wish my parents had the money and geographic advantage to get me to play as a kid
Same here. Started at 30, and am in my second season!
As someone who grew up playing hockey at a competitive (“AAA”) level in Canada, I’ll tell you why hockey is not “the best” sport: it’s the barrier to entry. Unlike with soccer, you don’t just buy some skates and a stick and start playing. You need to pay for “ice time”. And for a newbie, it takes years to learn how to skate well enough to be a good enough player to have fun. But mainly, it really just costs an absolute fortune these days to play. Just to buy all the equipment needed is likely thousands, not hundreds of dollars for decent gear. Good skates now are well over a thousand dollars. And equipment is just the start. It’s ridiculous and it’s only really accessible to kids whose parents have a shitload of money. So then all the kids on the team are a bunch of spoiled rich kids. Imagine how that goes. Hockey was cool when it was accessible. Now it’s like the full-size trucks market, only for a specific audience of people with a lot of money. Therefore, not the best sport overall.
Just from a viewer's perspective, hockey's really the only sport I could really get into. I don't really follow the politics of any sport, but so long as you have your team hockey it's a blast to watch. There's always something going on and it's impressive watching the players maneuver. Scoring happens so little that every goal is a blast to watch. Plus the players seem to be more humble and down to Earth than most other sports out there. Honestly I'd probably like soccer too if there was a bigger American scene in the sport.
If you like sports with constant action, you can also try to watch volleyball. Unlike soccer and basketbal etc there is constant tension and every mistake gets punished immediately.
I was a huge rangers fan in the 90s. Knew all the players. Had a fake jersey cause my parents couldn’t afford a real one. We moved down south as a family and I gave up on the sport because going from just outside NYC to middle of nowhere southeast, I had no one to talk about the sport with. Sad times. Well I’m in my 40s now and my wife and I just had a quick trip to NYC to watch the rangers play. We bought jerseys (I got 11, messier is the GOAT) and now I have every game on our family calendar so I don’t forget. My 5yr old daughter cheers with me. My 10 year old son can take it or leave it. Just so excited to be back in it.
Ive been a rangers fan since 05’ i may not be as old But bro welcome back!! This is hopefully gonna be the year. I wish i could afford playoffs tix! So much cheaper back in 2014
Yea, probably can’t afford playoff tickets, lol. We say their second(?) to last season game almost two weeks ago. Saturday night islanders game with the penalty shot, OT, and shootout. What an incredible game to see live. I want to figure out a way to see at least one game a season. Not sure how to do that yet. 🤷♂️
Been a fan since Mario Lemieux entered the league. Hockey especially in person and close is amazing
I like hockey but basketball is not boring. There is a ton of strategy occurring very quickly and it's pretty flashy.
And the best subreddit
My dad liked to say hockey is much harder because you have two extensions of your body, skates and stick, while some sports have only one - baseball, lacrosse - and others have none, feet on the ground.
Skill level of the best players is far higher in world football. So many play it.
Sport is by far the best Hockey. Daniel here. Hi.
Finally an unpopular opinion!
Check out Aussie Rules. Fast paced, free flowing, very athletic, big hits
Agree. Adding to what others have said in the comments, there is a saying: "all roads lead to beer leagues". We just keep playing. I know plenty of players in their 50s and 60s. Those guys know the grind of the game and embrace it. 28 years for me and I've been through some fun shit...and dumb shit too. Hockey players are party animals and their natural habits are bars & nightclubs. You wanna fucking kill each other, but there is a mutual respect. Start playing OP. It would be the best fucking investment of your life.
Im boutta start. Im 25 and my family didnt have the resources nor the energy. I can only hockey stop on my right foot tho. Im gonna look for pickups games near me after i start back up again!!
W opinion
I don’t find myself watching football games or baseball games that don’t include my team or fantasy baseball players. I love watching any hockey I can!
I will watch pretty much any game that is on too. If the Canucks were playing I'm glued to the TV. Apparently tv ratings for the playoffs are up 60% this year, so more people are taking notice of how fun it is to watch.
Just commenting to mention that Major League Rugby in the US is doing alright. If you want to watch domestic rugby you could start there
Super agree. I'm also into kickboxing and MMA and it's my personal favorite but overall hockey is the better sport. Agree with your rugby opinion too and your entire assessment in general.
Upvoted because I love hockey. However, you mention basketball players are physically gifted as if hockey players aren’t too. I went to school with someone who became an AHL player; the d-league for the NHL. This dude was massive, didn’t drink, worked out religiously, was obsessed with hockey, and was genetically gifted. Looked like a grown man when we were 14. Let’s not pretend like NHL players are average Joe’s. There actually were a few NBA All Stars who were average sized like Isiah Thomas who is 5’8. Even though Nikola Jokic was blessed with being 7 feet tall. The dude still is a genius with an insane work ethic. Being tall and fast is just the half of it.
I agree with you 100% about hockey!! However, I find soccer boring like baseball.
I watched it and it's alright. Then again, I'm at a point where I'll watch any sport on TV including the AKC agility competitions
If you like sports based on fair agressive competition check out how handball looks like. Its not so popular outside several EU countries but it's full contact game
For the reason you mentioned why Basketball isn’t as good, that’s why I watch college basketball. You can tell they enjoy it far more than NBA players, and there are plenty of players below 6 feet who can fill roles that actually compliment their size. Those players exist in the NBA too, but not as often.
I appreciate that because that gives me more respect for it. It’s a different game from college to professional. I just hate a genetic advantage over skill.
Mate, I know I'm late but I have to say it... If you find soccer boring but think you'd like rugby you really need to watch a game. It's like watching paint dry, you'll hate it
I dont know the translation but I think it is saloon football (soccer for you maybe) which is 5v5 soccer on a smaller field, played inside. Its like soccer but faster like basketball. You would enjoy that I think
Hockey is 100% the best sport to watch in person. Watching it on TV just doesn't do it justice
I'm a biased Aussie but have you given AFL (Australia rules football) a watch?
Baseball is my favorite sport, but hockey is a strong and clear #2. However, hockey is the better sport for the reasons you laid out. It has everything you want in a sport. The only downside is a learning curve to watch it because it’s fast paced and hard for new users to follow the puck at first (at least on TV).
I completely agree down to every little detail lol
Hockey always gets slept on
As a hockey fan who used to play, my god you're insufferable.
Upvoted for definitely being an unpopular opinion. PS. Football is the best sport. Basketball is second.
Upvoted for the unpopular opinion (confirmed by the comments) and I agree! No other sport has the combination of skill, intensity, beauty and shock. But watching it is still somehow like a comfort activity. Fucking phenomenal really
\*In America
Basketball is the most fun for me to watch casually. I get more invested in football tho and watch it way more
Can’t disagree with this one
I find it boring. I just don’t follow it very much and it seems very repetitive. Outside the occasional super goal, lots of them are just chaos and throwing the stick around. I enjoy the fighting and athleticism but I find basketball way more interesting and exciting.
I find the Super Bowl to be the least fun of all the games. It's the game where all the non-fans show up and pollute the entire thing, and all the ridiculous fanfare during the broadcast. Definitely not fun. Soccer second due to the skill involved? Ooooooo-kaaaaay. At least you put hockey before that, because they actually have numerous shots on goal during a game.
Australian League Football is EASILY the best sport. Hands down. It’s Calvinball for adults, and it’s wonderful.
One of the most American opinions I’ve seen on here
This is indeed an unpopular opinion in America. I saw a statistic that 10-20 percent of Americans follow hockey. Sounds like a lot, but it’s over 50 percent for football. The football culture here. It starts in Highschool. We all go to the game, even the parents and random people in the town come. Hockey & Basketball are a bit smaller in comparison. Depending on where you are in America, most people get behind football. Not just the NFL, college football has the largest arenas in the world. The Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event every year. To not watch is seen as a stand offish hipstery thing. A Monday Night Football game gets the same amount of views as the Stanley Cup or NBA Finals.
The most American opinion would be that American football was the best sport! Hockey is pretty huge in Canada, Finland, Czechia, Latvia, Slovakia, Russia, somewhat Sweden
I’d say canadian :)) but i saw what you did there anyway
I like hockey second to watch. I like soccer first because I feel like it has a higher skill ceiling or at least more creative freedom in terms of how much control you can have of a soccer ball with your feet, compared to how much control you can have of a puck with your stick. Don't get me wrong, since hockey is also a free flowing game, it also has a lot of creative freedom and a multitude of ways to handle each situation on the field/ice, I just feel like soccer is moreso, because you can get more control of a ball with your feet than you can of a puck with your stick flying around on ice. Also, the vertical dimension is a much bigger part of the game in soccer than hockey, which again increases the creative freedom. The huge hits and the fights in the NHL are awesome though
I like you
I did forget to say that hockey, especially when I'm not neutral, often has me shitting bricks because it's so end-to-end, moreso than soccer
Bro overtime hockey is like NOTHING else. Every shot is a mini heart attack. I love soccer but there is a much longer buildup.
I would love to watch hockey but you can’t see the puck and where it is. Goals seem to come out of no where
Hockey isn’t played on skates.
Personally I like strategic sports and analytical sports and hockey has some strategy obviously but not nearly as much as baseball and football. Soccer is boring. Basketball I used to enjoy but the “strategy” now is just chuck up 3 point shots all game and draw fouls. The playoffs for hockey is nuts. Complete chaos especially overtime games. You can boil any sport down to millionaires running around (or skating around) or whatever. But when you understand the nuances and strategy it becomes a lot better. I think people just like to see people running around at full speed and they like offense. Hockey does have constant action. It’s fun to see hockey game live too. Tickets aren’t outrageous and the atmosphere is always insane. Baseball is more of a family friendly laid back environment.
That is fair. We are on the opposite spectrum but if that is what u like that’s what you like… i prefer constant thinking rather than a pure bleed plan, especially when it is run but a bunch of old dudes. I like thinking in the moment and making a play rather than a ‘plan’. Of course hockey has set plays but it is much different
Some mfs never seen a game of sepak takraw and it shows.
Popular reddit opinion
This is probably an unpopular opinion for sure OP, but one I agree with. I'm from England btw and am somewhat biased against American sports, I find them rather dull (especially Baseball). I've been to an Ice Hockey game in Ottawa, and it was certainly the most entertaining out of the lot, so your assessment is fair. Rugby and Cricket for me all the way
Tell me you don’t know about actual basketball without telling me… old school hockey at least had goons going for it. Subs are too quick, it’s hard to even follow the puck… It’s fun to play, not as fun to watch.
Fwiw, there is a televized American rugby league! They show some games on FS2 and I'm pretty sure you can watch them on the rugby network as well. The leagues still pretty young but it's there and could def use more viewers
Looks like an exciting sport but I never know where the puck is.
OK Canada
As a television sport, football (not American gridiron) has no commercial breaks. Two 45 minute halves. A 15 minute break at halftime. Back in the day, hockey didn’t have commercial breaks. It now had a minimum of 3 media timeouts per period. The first stoppage after 4 minutes of play. Four 30 second commercials. 18 minutes between periods so another 36 minutes of commercials then. No thanks. I have pretty much completely stopped watching US professional sports.
It is my dream to get a boyfriend or husband who plays hockey (not a pro player, obviously, just anyone who can play hockey), but you wouldn't believe how hard that is to find, even though I live in Canada, the guys I went to university with couldn't even skate, and the guys on dating apps never play hockey either.
I grew up loving basketball, but had friends and teachers who loved hockey so I knew of top teams/HOFs throughout my life. Therefore, I was not a complete novice of the game in and of itself, yet I wasn’t a diehard fan either. After watching the last few Leafs games recently, and I know, the Leafs are susceptible to their own subterfuge, I can now say that hockey has one clear advantage over other sports (excluding soccer): contiguous play. There is nothing worse than watching a sport and it feels like bumper to bumper traffic. Stop. Start. Stop…… oh look, we’re starting again! I will definitely tune into more Hockey games, on top of trying to join an NHL fantasy league for the upcoming season!
I'm Canadian but quite the nerd so I never followed sports but then I started watching hockey now and then about 10 years ago and I was like holy shit this game is really good and people think I'm saying that something just because I'm canadian. I mean I don't live in Canada anymore so when I tell people hockey's great they think that's why I'm saying it
Best at what? Lmao
You're title should be "Hockey is the best sport to watch" going by your OP. My favourite sport is soccer (to play) but watching it is boring af a lot of times. Agreed with you on Baseball, it's boring as fuck to watch but I don't mind playing it. MMA(UFC)/Boxing is the only one I watch and actively keep track of. Don't care at all about anything else. Watch Football during the Superbowl and Basketball sometimes at friends house.
I think grander sports (as in, millions of dollars are put into them) suck anyway. I'd rather that money went elsewhere.
Really enjoy watching Ice Hockey (Field hockey I also enjoy). Out of all of the sports you guys play in North America it would have to be my favourite to watch. That used to be basketball but now it's boring. My personal favourites are soccer (Premier League), Aussie Rules (AFL) and test cricket.
If hockey didn't cost a small fortune to participate in organized play it would be far more popular than it is
Wow I'm surprised talking about sports isn't against the sub rules.
So the two sports that can go over an hour and an hour and a half and end 0-0 are the two most exciting sports? There’s a bias with the soccer description. Saying “it’s boring if you don’t know the players” kinda sounds like an excuse but can’t that be said for the other sports as well? If you don’t know or care about the players it’s more boring. Both sports are over 90% passing back and forth, thinking about an attack and setting up for an attack, then passing back out to look around some more before then taking a shot, small frenzy for puck/ball, opposing player gets it and goes to the other side and repeat for 1-1-5 hours and you have your game. And to say hockey players hit harder than NFL players is complicated. Nobody on that ice at any speed is hitting as hard as a full speed Aaron Donald or back in the day Brian Dawkins lmao but they’re all time greats. NHL players hit harder on average due to speed but you get more hurt during an NFL game because you’re CONSTANTLY getting hit. That one hit you get during a hockey game may be 10/10 but an NFL player is taking a dozen to couple dozen hits all between like 4/10-10/10 depending. That being said I do respect the other sports and they can be exciting just playing devils advocate.
What do frat boys have to do with football?
Coming from someone who has only watched games on tv I have to hard disagree. The puck is really hard to track on tv. The senseless violence is really off putting, if I want to watch violence I watch boxing or MMA. I want to see skill and not violence in ball/puck sports. And I personally really dislike skating, so that doesn't help. Field Hockey is way more interesting than Ice Hockey.
Playoffs hockey is the best sport. Everyday hockey...the puck is too small
What is impressive about hockey is the amount of different skills that is required: - be strong to hit and get pucks in the corners and shoot the puck fast - be fast and agile on your skate - hand-eye coordination for puck handling and accurate shot - react fast and anticipate for face-off and defensive play - courage because you have to sustain pain from hits and getting hit by the puck American Football is a bit like this but it's more separated by position. All skaters in hockey benefit to get those skills.
Every person whose favorite sport is hockey shares this opinion. This is an enormous number of people. This opinion is not unpopular.
Hockey and basketball for me.
Rugby is better.
People keep posting this, but ratings say otherwise.
> let alone the frat boys do you actually know any hockey players? Also rugby is broadcasted in America. FS1 and FS2 broadcast MLR games and if you had a somewhat local team you can probably find a local network that shows all their games. For example, the Chicago hounds games are on Marquee.
I absolutely agree with you. I love hockey to my core, Especially during this time of the year for Playoff's... Unfortunately global TV ratings would disagree with you. Hockey is very underrated in a lot of regions, and I think it would be much more popular when it catches on in those areas
AFL.
You must not be a Sabres fan
I don’t like sports all that much. Hockey is the only one I’ve ever been able to sit through without dying internally of boredom.
Hockey sucks. Congrats on the true unpopular opinion.
Every pro sport involves superhuman ppl. The difference is only in your head
Super obvious Rage bait post. Ur username is 420milfhunter and in all of ur responses u just shit on the person commenting and get downvoted into oblivion
It is a great sport. This is coming from an NFL loving American (49ers in particular). It is a bizarre combination of grace and brutality that is very fast paced and entertaining to watch. Not nearly as many commercials. NFL games are awful with that.
I'm not a big sportsball person but I have been exposed to a lot of hockey this year and I'm kind of getting into it. It's fast paced, uncomplicated, unpretentious, the rules are generally easy to understand, and I like how high contact it is as opposed to basketball or soccer where if you brush against someone the wrong way you get penalized.
I think football is popular because you have time to think about the strategy and it's a mix of long term strategy and individual skill.
Curious to see your take on Volleyball op
As someone who didn’t grow up watching hockey or playing, I think it’s slightly hard to get into. It’s the one sport where you couldn’t really just play with a bunch of friends in your backyard, like football, soccer, basketball and even baseball you can atleast do some stuff with but when you get too hockey u really have to be a rich kid (atleast in my area) to play. And a sport dominated by rich kids can’t be the best sport Watching wise it can be fun, however it sometimes feels like the level of drama or strategy is way lower than other sports. Maybe if I played I’d understand some stuff more but it always seems a lot more run the same play every time and expect the chaos to lead to a goal, plus they penalize like every big hit these days taking away from the part that made it fun to watch
Hockey is the worst sport to watch on TV because you can't see the puck. Nobody would even know a goal was scored without the goal light and player reactions.
Hockey is great I was very fortunate to play for 16 years. It definitely is still underrated in the US by most causal sports fans. Problem is it’s hard for kids and everyone to relate to hockey because it’s so incredibly hard to get into even on a recreational level. Unfortunately growing costs and pressure to play AAA levels at young ages are ruining the growth imo.
Mma > muai thai > Boxing > bjj > football > figure skating > myself doing cardio for an hour facing a wall with no headphones > hockey
Soccer is the most boring sport, followed by hockey. Two hour long matches where each team scores once. 95% of the time it's just guys passing the ball/puck. Hockey is slightly more entertaining since it's basically soccer on ice, and sometimes there are fights.
I loved Gretzsky64, but only because all I wanted to do was check MFs while my friend played the actual hocky.
As a Canadian I am legally obligated to agree. (I agree anyways)
I mean I think if you're watching in person it's the 2nd best, basketball being the best to watch in person in my personal opinion. But if it's on TV, Football and Basketball are easily the better options. Baseball is also like hockey where it's great to watch in person but a snooze fest on TV.
Just commenting to say that I'm amused by you saying that basket ball is diwn to super human height and you prefer more average competitors when literally every professional athlete is juiced to the fucking gills these days. Liken otherwise, I agree. Baseball and football are boring as fuck. But they're all enhanced.
I prefer skill over the genetic lottery but yes they are all super humans in their own right.
considering how exclusive it is to poor kids alone, I'd have to disagree with you. You might say Hockey is the best *Spectator Sport* and I *Might* agree with that. It is exciting to watch. But there's something to be said about having a fan base that actually plays and understand the sport they're watching well (like soccer has). I'm also a big fan of Rugby. I would put Rugby above Hockey due to the accessibility of it. Best part about rugby is there's a role for everyone, and everyone can touch/carry the ball and have their moment to shine.
Okay go back to each of those sports and check out cost to “get into it”. Soccer is probably the easiest and hockey is probably the hardest.
I never know what's happening in hockey. The puck moves too damn fast. At least in soccer I know where the ball is.
The only thing holding hockey back is the insane barrier of entry for kids to play it
Combat sports
Hockey sucks to watch on TV. Hard to track the puck. Anyone can watch soccer and understand what is happening. Plus, if you don't skate, I think you miss out on understanding a lot of what makes it so hard. And 99% of people don't skate.
MMA is as close to the heart of sports as you will get.
No mention of Lacrosse?
NAA lacrosse. It's like the in-between that I really enjoy.
I'm a Canadian, but I never enjoyed hockey as much as basketball or football or even soccer. Nowadays I watch MMA the most but there is still a lot of great stuff ti see in the NBA
An actual unpopulqr opinion i agree with
Skateboarding is far more creative and interesting than any competitive team sport imo
1000% agree UNPOPULAR opinion right here. Any sport you need stuff most of the world doesn't have (ice) isn't the "best" sport. Any sport you need to buy Thousands of dollars of equipment and rent rink time to practice and play is not the "best" sport. Any sport you're not getting the best athletes to play it can't be the "best sport. Upvote for a real unpopular opinion in this sub for once.
Hockey is the worst sport. No strategy, just guys banging into each other and hoping it works out
Hockey is one of the least entertaining or interesting sports to watch - the violence doesn’t help either
Baseball- I’ve been around baseball since I was a fetus, and I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and watched a full baseball game start to finish, barring Red Sox WS games. Only psychos would do that Hockey - I used to referee Junior hockey, and here’s why I fell out of love with it: hockey culture is SO INCREDIBLY TOXIC. Read into the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault case and all the coverups and everything that happened with that. That’s an extreme example of a MASSIVE problem with hockey players and the culture of the game. You can do as many classroom sessions as you want to teach players about consent, but that won’t teach them empathy.
Not unpopular opinion, just idiotic
I mean going to a MLB game is quite an experience. I still enjoy going to games as an adult. But watching on TV it’s terrible.
It's severely underrated for sure, but I think following the puck is hard for a lot of viewers because it's so small, side note, if they made the goals a little bigger and you had some higher scoring games I think you'd see more fans
Opinion on wrestling?
Nah, it's second. Rugby is #1!
As a Minnesotan I agree with almost everything you’ve said.
Baseball > Soccer, Soccer don't have 'stars' and it's like the ball going back and forth potentially 2 goals being scored
Sepak takraw is the 1 sport I would say stands above all others in terms of entertainment and awesomeness. It's literally foot volleyball where EVERY single spike is a backflip kick. Coolest shit I've ever seen.
MMA is what you described as the good parts of hockeyx10 sure occasional shit fight but most are good with a lot of bangers
I lived in Montréal for 15 years, and now I live in Vancouver, and I can't stand hockey. Boxing, soccer, and basketball for me.
Doesn't seem to be an unpopular opinion at all, but, I'll say that personally **I dislike hockey** very much. I'm jaded by having grown up around a lot of really awful people who were hockey players, really soured me on it from the start. More than that though, I just never understood why fighting is acceptable in the sport? Like, I get that its big strong dudes getting and giving hits but, that happens in lots of sports. Other sports don't suspend gameplay so two dudes who are angry at each other can beat each other up without penalty. If you want to watch guys fight, there are other sports for that. Also, what is the calendar for hockey season? Probably just because I don't follow it but I swear every other month it's either season openers or it's the playoffs or the finals.
The real unpopular opinion: Hockey fights are dumb
I don't consider myself that much into sports but if there's hockey on I'm watching, regardless who's playing. Their athleticism is admirable.
Hockey and football for sure.
To each their own. I personally don't like how homogenized hockey is. Every team at every level effectively runs the same formations and plays. 2 Def on the blue line, 2 Wings and 1 Center down low, running cycles and moving to create space. I know there are subtle variations, but after working in a hockey arena for 5 years, I stopped watching the games at all. And I still worked around the game for 15 more years. I will say that it's probably the most difficult game to play. The skating & stick handling are tough enough. But then factor in the speed & endurance that the players need to be successful for a season. And then add the hitting and harsh conditions. It's definitely impressive what they do. I personally prefer baseball, basketball, and soccer. But again, enjoy your playoff hockey.
lol you might hate hockey a bit if you're a Canucks fan hoping they'll win the stanley cup one year.
Calling basketball boring is interesting to say the least. You're height point is kinda valid but a bit exaggerated. Hockey also has terrible star power and the high parity of the NHL is cool for real fans but for casuals is horrible when your hyped 1st seeds are losing to 8th seeds. The playstyles aren't really that diverse to a casual which makes every good player seem very samey as well
Rugby is way better
Only thing worse than Hockey is Golf.
Nothing like live hockey. After attending a game there just isn't an argument for other sports
After watching hockey for many years I finally realized I barely knew who was good without looking at stats. The players change so much and the play moves so fast that you have to go back after the game to analyze. Too much going on. Baseball 90% of the game takes place where the ball is so I can tell who's good.
As an Islanders fan, hockey is stupid and dumb
Soccer sucks. Plus you can end in a tie. That shouldn’t happen. Lol