Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Surprise secret to soccer appeal



American football, basketball and baseball have millions of followers, but they can't match soccer for sheer excitement, says a team of scientists.
The reason is its element of surprise, claim researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, US.

Click the title for the full story.

2 comments:

  1. The G-town... soccer champion is back! How was your holiday? What did you do for New Years? When you gonna upload new pics to flickr?

    I understand what this article is saying... a random team has a better chance of beating a really good team since it only takes a random goal or mistake here or there to decide a game (this is probably why football has surpassed baseball in popularity here in the states).

    I think the biggest thing that turns people off about football is the pacing... i.e. the clock never stops, yet it takes time to set up for a shot on goal. People get bored watching passes get knocked away (we don't have the premiership where chances are hard fought).

    American football has breaks in between plays... but each play could end in a touchdown... basketball is more like soccer, in that the action never really stops... but they often score on every possession... I really think there's an attention span issue or something. For me, watching a sweet goal develop is just as rewarding as watching a sweet touchdown.

    Another big difference is the way the leagues are financed... during a soccer game there are few if any on screen tickers, but the teams uniforms will have a primary sponsor on them... however during an NFL game you'll see a good hour of tv commercials while a soccer game you'll get a few minutes. Anyway... just random thoughts. oh yea, I love soccer highlight shows... when they give you the best 20 minutes from a game... perfect for my attention span!

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  2. Rich and Compelling! I agree with that. I loved NFL once i (kinda) figured out the tactics and could see what was coming, or was suprised by the next play. I liked that.
    It's the same for soccer, except not as choreographed. Being an expert player I KNOW what SHOULD or COULD happen - what does happen is sometimes boring, but when it plays out in the right way it really is "the beautiful game" as Pele once described it.
    I have wondered if NFL is structured too much around breaks for advertising.

    My new year was great. I was at the biggest street party in the world - Hogmaney at Edinburgh. It's so good because the party only starts at midnight, not ends. There was the obligatory midnight fireworks, but as you know, the backdrop of the imposing castle up on Arthurs seat makes it look spectacular. After that a live stage show featuring Texas and KT Tunstall (music tip there kids) kicked off until about 2am...then into a bar until about 5am. Then back to some random middens house to begin the new year with a bang.

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