Why Baseball is Better than Soccer

 

by Brian Williams

Woah there, Mr. Horowitz.  As soon as I read your headline, “Why Soccer is Better than Baseball,” I knew something was wrong with your head.  Maybe it’s from heading the soccer ball one too many times during your glory years, but something is a little off up there.

To pose the question: “How could you sit and watch an entire baseball game?” is like asking, ‘how could someone enjoy taking a vacation to Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.’  You obviously don’t like chocolate.  Baseball is not just a sport, it’s truly a pastime.  It takes some grit, some dirt, and to quote you, some “chewing and spitting.”  Those aspects of the game are what make Americans turn off the Euro Cup and turn on a baseball game.  Americans like the fact that their sport involves getting dirty, not like those pretty-boys running around on the perfectly pristine green field.

Yet, you’re correct on a few points.  Soccer players definitely are some of the best conditioned players in the world, while Babe Ruth was a fat alcoholic.  But isn’t that a reason to love baseball even more?  The greatness of baseball lies in the fact that a common man, like any of us, could be a legend.  It doesn’t take a six-pack of muscles but a six-pack of brews.

However, even your point about The Babe, which the baseball gods will punish you for at a later time, is false when  it comes to today’s game.  Sure he was fat and an alcoholic, but look at today’s baseball players.  Do you think Jose Reyes is fat and a drunk?  Today’s baseball players must have a plethora of skills that older players didn’t need to have.  Speed, quickness, strength, and stamina are all needed to stay healthy over the long MLB season. 

And when you say Soccer is the “world’s favorite pastime,” don’t forget about the fact that 29% of MLB players are from outside of the United States.  America is a diverse country, and that’s something we want to see in our pastime.

Don’t get me wrong Horowitz, the Euro Cup is worth watching, but over baseball?  No way!  

Why Soccer is Better than Baseball

 Fat Alcoholic

by William Horowitz

            Soccer is not generally accepted in the United States. Asking an American sports fan if they’ve been following the Euro 2008 is like asking a dog to peel a banana. I was talking to a friend of mine who plays soccer if he’d been watching and his response was predictable, “How can you watch an entire soccer game? Don’t you get bored?” Well I must concede soccer can be fairly slow, but no slower than a baseball game. Wouldn’t it make just as much sense to ask, “How could you sit and watch an entire baseball game?” I mean people will sit outside in 90-degree heat and spend their summer day watching a baseball game that takes 3 hours when only about 10 minutes of actual action happens. Americans love baseball because it’s a patient game. It’s a game full of chewing and spitting: tobacco, sunflower seeds, and bubble gum. Soccer players are some of the best conditioned players in the world. They are athletes full and true. The best baseball player of all time was a fat alcoholic. The best soccer players in the world are full of creativity and flare, power and accuracy. What I love about soccer the most however is the competition, especially international competition.

            The Euro 2008 is the championship of European international soccer. It is a tournament that began in 2006 after the World Cup with every European nation given the chance to qualify for the finals. Americans love patriotism. They also love cheering for their home teams. They love their rivalries (see Red Sox/Yankees). The Euro has had all of this, but on a continental level. You have rivalries that extend far beyond sport (see Poland/Germany). You have players who have decided to play for their countries. Imagine the Yankees roster being filled with only New Yorkers and not whomever they can pay the most money. (That’s actually a scary thought. Imagine New Yorkers liking the Yankees anymore than they do. Oh god.) Do yourself a favor, watch the Euro 2008 and try to appreciate soccer. Try and appreciate the world’s favorite pastime.