The reason why I like the NBA much more than the MLB

[Rocko]

Is there’s more improvisation and creativity in the NBA. In MLB a lot of these commentators will say over and over again “the beautiful thing about baseball is you get to see something new every time you watch a game”. Totally bullshit. You see same shit over and over again. Baseball is has the most repetitiveness in it out of all the major sports.

That's weird, I score it the exact opposite.

Basketball is boring. Run the ball down to the other end, defend. Over and over and over and over and over. It's baseball that allows a gazillion different ways to score and a WAY bigger field to do it on.

Rare plays in baseball are very rare. In basketball unique plays involving creativity every game. There’s no creativity in baseball

Sounds like you just ain't watchin'.
Every pitch is different (well theoretically --- when every pitch isn't different you get hit around and removed);
Every play with runners on base requires decisions, some risky, some which work out, some which don't;
Every time there's activity on the basepaths there's multiple possibilities.
Not to mention the temporary individual focus that brings about failure and redemption -- the drama.

Basketball you're either taking a shot at the basket or passing to somebody else. Or defending against your opponent doing that. There's only really one way to do that.

And then there's this:
Your basketball game is done when the clock runs out. So is your football game, your hockey game, your soccer game etc ad infinitum. Baseball can bring you to the last thread of a glimmer of a hint of hope and then turn the whole thing around. It's summed up in the profound wisdom of one of my favorite philosophers, Joaquin Andujar, who put it this way:

Baseball can be summed up in one word, and that one word is: "You never know"

Yeah maybe I don’t appreciate or understand fully the nuances of baseball, but you know nothing about basketball from your description of it. There ‘s creativity involved in the ball handing we see, footwork, passing, shot creation, etc.Not to mention basketball players are most unique physical specimen in sports and fr more athletic than baseball players. Also I like the aspect of having a game clock in my sport. If they wanted to the could have eliminated the game clock in the NBA and made the rules first to 100 and win by at least four, but they didn’t because the game clock is more exciting. Baseball fan say dumb shit like because there’s no game clock it’s a pure game. What in the world does that even mean?!

It means ---- once AGAIN ---- that anything can happen, and you can never ass-ume.

Your basketball game where one team leads 103 to 77 isn't gonna give you that.
Why?
Because you're tied to a clock, that's why.

Anything can happen but it doesn’t. A team can be up by 10 runs in the ninth inning and lose the game but that never happens. There’s no game clock in tennis does that make it a great sport as well?! No it doesn’t. I prefer a clock because it adds an element of excitement to the game.

 

[rightwinger]

Observations from watching sports the last 50 years

NFL kickers are MUCH better. A 50 yard FG used to be rare with a few a year. Now, 50 yarders are routine with several a game. 60 yarders are now considered makeable

Baseball Pitchers are MUCH better. A pitcher throwing 100mph used to be rare. Now, every team has them and pitchers are no longer Fastball/Curveball but have four or five pitches they can throw for strikes. But Complete Games are rare.

A three point shot in Basketball used to be at the fringe of their range. Now, with many players it’s almost like a free throw

Pitches are faster but I'm not sure about "better" when it's pure speed. That blows arms out.

Used to be not at all unusual for a starting pitcher to still be in the game in the 11th inning. That's a more interesting storyline than "here comes the ninth pitcher, he's in to face Trout".

In what is claimed the greatest game ever pitched, 25 year old Juan Marichal went up against 42 year old Warren Spahn.
After 16 innings, the game was 0-0 with both starters still in the game. Marichal eventually got the 1-0 win

Hall of Fame Matchup | Baseball Hall of Fame

baseballhall.org

 

[Pogo]

Is there’s more improvisation and creativity in the NBA. In MLB a lot of these commentators will say over and over again “the beautiful thing about baseball is you get to see something new every time you watch a game”. Totally bullshit. You see same shit over and over again. Baseball is has the most repetitiveness in it out of all the major sports.

That's weird, I score it the exact opposite.

Basketball is boring. Run the ball down to the other end, defend. Over and over and over and over and over. It's baseball that allows a gazillion different ways to score and a WAY bigger field to do it on.

Rare plays in baseball are very rare. In basketball unique plays involving creativity every game. There’s no creativity in baseball

Sounds like you just ain't watchin'.
Every pitch is different (well theoretically --- when every pitch isn't different you get hit around and removed);
Every play with runners on base requires decisions, some risky, some which work out, some which don't;
Every time there's activity on the basepaths there's multiple possibilities.
Not to mention the temporary individual focus that brings about failure and redemption -- the drama.

Basketball you're either taking a shot at the basket or passing to somebody else. Or defending against your opponent doing that. There's only really one way to do that.

And then there's this:
Your basketball game is done when the clock runs out. So is your football game, your hockey game, your soccer game etc ad infinitum. Baseball can bring you to the last thread of a glimmer of a hint of hope and then turn the whole thing around. It's summed up in the profound wisdom of one of my favorite philosophers, Joaquin Andujar, who put it this way:

Baseball can be summed up in one word, and that one word is: "You never know"

Yeah maybe I don’t appreciate or understand fully the nuances of baseball, but you know nothing about basketball from your description of it. There ‘s creativity involved in the ball handing we see, footwork, passing, shot creation, etc.Not to mention basketball players are most unique physical specimen in sports and fr more athletic than baseball players. Also I like the aspect of having a game clock in my sport. If they wanted to the could have eliminated the game clock in the NBA and made the rules first to 100 and win by at least four, but they didn’t because the game clock is more exciting. Baseball fan say dumb shit like because there’s no game clock it’s a pure game. What in the world does that even mean?!

It means ---- once AGAIN ---- that anything can happen, and you can never ass-ume.

Your basketball game where one team leads 103 to 77 isn't gonna give you that.
Why?
Because you're tied to a clock, that's why.

Anything can happen but it doesn’t. A team can be up by 10 runs in the ninth inning and lose the game but that never happens. There’s no game clock in tennis does that make it a great sport as well?! No it doesn’t. I prefer a clock because it adds an element of excitement to the game.

That's exactly the point -- it DOES happen. And at any time it CAN happen, the knowledge of which by both teams can dramatically change the momentum from a ho-hum "how-long-before-it's-over" to "hold on, we suddenly have a shot here"/"oh shit we thought we had this now we're in trouble".

OTOH if you're behind 31 points and you have 52 seconds left on your clock, you just ain't doing it so what's the point of continuing.

 

[Pogo]

Observations from watching sports the last 50 years

NFL kickers are MUCH better. A 50 yard FG used to be rare with a few a year. Now, 50 yarders are routine with several a game. 60 yarders are now considered makeable

Baseball Pitchers are MUCH better. A pitcher throwing 100mph used to be rare. Now, every team has them and pitchers are no longer Fastball/Curveball but have four or five pitches they can throw for strikes. But Complete Games are rare.

A three point shot in Basketball used to be at the fringe of their range. Now, with many players it’s almost like a free throw

Pitches are faster but I'm not sure about "better" when it's pure speed. That blows arms out.

Used to be not at all unusual for a starting pitcher to still be in the game in the 11th inning. That's a more interesting storyline than "here comes the ninth pitcher, he's in to face Trout".

In what is claimed the greatest game ever pitched, 25 year old Juan Marichal went up against 42 year old Warren Spahn.
After 16 innings, the game was 0-0 with both starters still in the game. Marichal eventually got the 1-0 win

Hall of Fame Matchup | Baseball Hall of Fame

baseballhall.org

And THAT's why it's about so much more than "what's the score". Rather than "what's the score" it's "what's the story".

 

[rightwinger]

Is there’s more improvisation and creativity in the NBA. In MLB a lot of these commentators will say over and over again “the beautiful thing about baseball is you get to see something new every time you watch a game”. Totally bullshit. You see same shit over and over again. Baseball is has the most repetitiveness in it out of all the major sports.

That's weird, I score it the exact opposite.

Basketball is boring. Run the ball down to the other end, defend. Over and over and over and over and over. It's baseball that allows a gazillion different ways to score and a WAY bigger field to do it on.

Rare plays in baseball are very rare. In basketball unique plays involving creativity every game. There’s no creativity in baseball

Sounds like you just ain't watchin'.
Every pitch is different (well theoretically --- when every pitch isn't different you get hit around and removed);
Every play with runners on base requires decisions, some risky, some which work out, some which don't;
Every time there's activity on the basepaths there's multiple possibilities.
Not to mention the temporary individual focus that brings about failure and redemption -- the drama.

Basketball you're either taking a shot at the basket or passing to somebody else. Or defending against your opponent doing that. There's only really one way to do that.

And then there's this:
Your basketball game is done when the clock runs out. So is your football game, your hockey game, your soccer game etc ad infinitum. Baseball can bring you to the last thread of a glimmer of a hint of hope and then turn the whole thing around. It's summed up in the profound wisdom of one of my favorite philosophers, Joaquin Andujar, who put it this way:

Baseball can be summed up in one word, and that one word is: "You never know"

Yeah maybe I don’t appreciate or understand fully the nuances of baseball, but you know nothing about basketball from your description of it. There ‘s creativity involved in the ball handing we see, footwork, passing, shot creation, etc.Not to mention basketball players are most unique physical specimen in sports and fr more athletic than baseball players. Also I like the aspect of having a game clock in my sport. If they wanted to the could have eliminated the game clock in the NBA and made the rules first to 100 and win by at least four, but they didn’t because the game clock is more exciting. Baseball fan say dumb shit like because there’s no game clock it’s a pure game. What in the world does that even mean?!

It means ---- once AGAIN ---- that anything can happen, and you can never ass-ume.

Your basketball game where one team leads 103 to 77 isn't gonna give you that.
Why?
Because you're tied to a clock, that's why.

Anything can happen but it doesn’t. A team can be up by 10 runs in the ninth inning and lose the game but that never happens. There’s no game clock in tennis does that make it a great sport as well?! No it doesn’t. I prefer a clock because it adds an element of excitement to the game.

Like to see Baseball adopt the 10 run Mercy Rule they use in Little League. Up 10 runs at the end of an inning....Game called

 

[Pogo]

Is there’s more improvisation and creativity in the NBA. In MLB a lot of these commentators will say over and over again “the beautiful thing about baseball is you get to see something new every time you watch a game”. Totally bullshit. You see same shit over and over again. Baseball is has the most repetitiveness in it out of all the major sports.

That's weird, I score it the exact opposite.

Basketball is boring. Run the ball down to the other end, defend. Over and over and over and over and over. It's baseball that allows a gazillion different ways to score and a WAY bigger field to do it on.

Rare plays in baseball are very rare. In basketball unique plays involving creativity every game. There’s no creativity in baseball

Sounds like you just ain't watchin'.
Every pitch is different (well theoretically --- when every pitch isn't different you get hit around and removed);
Every play with runners on base requires decisions, some risky, some which work out, some which don't;
Every time there's activity on the basepaths there's multiple possibilities.
Not to mention the temporary individual focus that brings about failure and redemption -- the drama.

Basketball you're either taking a shot at the basket or passing to somebody else. Or defending against your opponent doing that. There's only really one way to do that.

And then there's this:
Your basketball game is done when the clock runs out. So is your football game, your hockey game, your soccer game etc ad infinitum. Baseball can bring you to the last thread of a glimmer of a hint of hope and then turn the whole thing around. It's summed up in the profound wisdom of one of my favorite philosophers, Joaquin Andujar, who put it this way:

Baseball can be summed up in one word, and that one word is: "You never know"

Yeah maybe I don’t appreciate or understand fully the nuances of baseball, but you know nothing about basketball from your description of it. There ‘s creativity involved in the ball handing we see, footwork, passing, shot creation, etc.Not to mention basketball players are most unique physical specimen in sports and fr more athletic than baseball players. Also I like the aspect of having a game clock in my sport. If they wanted to the could have eliminated the game clock in the NBA and made the rules first to 100 and win by at least four, but they didn’t because the game clock is more exciting. Baseball fan say dumb shit like because there’s no game clock it’s a pure game. What in the world does that even mean?!

It means ---- once AGAIN ---- that anything can happen, and you can never ass-ume.

Your basketball game where one team leads 103 to 77 isn't gonna give you that.
Why?
Because you're tied to a clock, that's why.

Anything can happen but it doesn’t. A team can be up by 10 runs in the ninth inning and lose the game but that never happens. There’s no game clock in tennis does that make it a great sport as well?! No it doesn’t. I prefer a clock because it adds an element of excitement to the game.

And the other point, yeah I love tennis. Not because clock or no clock but because it requires outstanding athleticism. Matter of fact watching a tennis player move laterally to chase a ball is a lot like watching a third baseman do the same thing.

 

[Pogo]

Is there’s more improvisation and creativity in the NBA. In MLB a lot of these commentators will say over and over again “the beautiful thing about baseball is you get to see something new every time you watch a game”. Totally bullshit. You see same shit over and over again. Baseball is has the most repetitiveness in it out of all the major sports.

That's weird, I score it the exact opposite.

Basketball is boring. Run the ball down to the other end, defend. Over and over and over and over and over. It's baseball that allows a gazillion different ways to score and a WAY bigger field to do it on.

Rare plays in baseball are very rare. In basketball unique plays involving creativity every game. There’s no creativity in baseball

Sounds like you just ain't watchin'.
Every pitch is different (well theoretically --- when every pitch isn't different you get hit around and removed);
Every play with runners on base requires decisions, some risky, some which work out, some which don't;
Every time there's activity on the basepaths there's multiple possibilities.
Not to mention the temporary individual focus that brings about failure and redemption -- the drama.

Basketball you're either taking a shot at the basket or passing to somebody else. Or defending against your opponent doing that. There's only really one way to do that.

And then there's this:
Your basketball game is done when the clock runs out. So is your football game, your hockey game, your soccer game etc ad infinitum. Baseball can bring you to the last thread of a glimmer of a hint of hope and then turn the whole thing around. It's summed up in the profound wisdom of one of my favorite philosophers, Joaquin Andujar, who put it this way:

Baseball can be summed up in one word, and that one word is: "You never know"

Yeah maybe I don’t appreciate or understand fully the nuances of baseball, but you know nothing about basketball from your description of it. There ‘s creativity involved in the ball handing we see, footwork, passing, shot creation, etc.Not to mention basketball players are most unique physical specimen in sports and fr more athletic than baseball players. Also I like the aspect of having a game clock in my sport. If they wanted to the could have eliminated the game clock in the NBA and made the rules first to 100 and win by at least four, but they didn’t because the game clock is more exciting. Baseball fan say dumb shit like because there’s no game clock it’s a pure game. What in the world does that even mean?!

It means ---- once AGAIN ---- that anything can happen, and you can never ass-ume.

Your basketball game where one team leads 103 to 77 isn't gonna give you that.
Why?
Because you're tied to a clock, that's why.

Anything can happen but it doesn’t. A team can be up by 10 runs in the ninth inning and lose the game but that never happens. There’s no game clock in tennis does that make it a great sport as well?! No it doesn’t. I prefer a clock because it adds an element of excitement to the game.

Like to see Baseball adopt the 10 run Mercy Rule they use in Little League. Up 10 runs at the end of an inning....Game called

Can't agree there. That's ass-uming and giving up. It's a forfeit.

Feels too much like the slavish managerial move of placing or removing a hitter because he bats from the same hand the pitcher throws with. That disrespects the whole Andujarian point of "you never know". Holding out the fact that it's still possible to come back regardless what the score is, is rendering hope. Seems to me the whole point is, if the odds are against you ---- you find a way to beat 'em. Just like bunting against the shift, you find a way.

 

[Rocko]

Is there’s more improvisation and creativity in the NBA. In MLB a lot of these commentators will say over and over again “the beautiful thing about baseball is you get to see something new every time you watch a game”. Totally bullshit. You see same shit over and over again. Baseball is has the most repetitiveness in it out of all the major sports.

That's weird, I score it the exact opposite.

Basketball is boring. Run the ball down to the other end, defend. Over and over and over and over and over. It's baseball that allows a gazillion different ways to score and a WAY bigger field to do it on.

Rare plays in baseball are very rare. In basketball unique plays involving creativity every game. There’s no creativity in baseball

Sounds like you just ain't watchin'.
Every pitch is different (well theoretically --- when every pitch isn't different you get hit around and removed);
Every play with runners on base requires decisions, some risky, some which work out, some which don't;
Every time there's activity on the basepaths there's multiple possibilities.
Not to mention the temporary individual focus that brings about failure and redemption -- the drama.

Basketball you're either taking a shot at the basket or passing to somebody else. Or defending against your opponent doing that. There's only really one way to do that.

And then there's this:
Your basketball game is done when the clock runs out. So is your football game, your hockey game, your soccer game etc ad infinitum. Baseball can bring you to the last thread of a glimmer of a hint of hope and then turn the whole thing around. It's summed up in the profound wisdom of one of my favorite philosophers, Joaquin Andujar, who put it this way:

Baseball can be summed up in one word, and that one word is: "You never know"

Yeah maybe I don’t appreciate or understand fully the nuances of baseball, but you know nothing about basketball from your description of it. There ‘s creativity involved in the ball handing we see, footwork, passing, shot creation, etc.Not to mention basketball players are most unique physical specimen in sports and fr more athletic than baseball players. Also I like the aspect of having a game clock in my sport. If they wanted to the could have eliminated the game clock in the NBA and made the rules first to 100 and win by at least four, but they didn’t because the game clock is more exciting. Baseball fan say dumb shit like because there’s no game clock it’s a pure game. What in the world does that even mean?!

It means ---- once AGAIN ---- that anything can happen, and you can never ass-ume.

Your basketball game where one team leads 103 to 77 isn't gonna give you that.
Why?
Because you're tied to a clock, that's why.

Anything can happen but it doesn’t. A team can be up by 10 runs in the ninth inning and lose the game but that never happens. There’s no game clock in tennis does that make it a great sport as well?! No it doesn’t. I prefer a clock because it adds an element of excitement to the game.

That's exactly the point -- it DOES happen. And at any time it CAN happen, the knowledge of which by both teams can dramatically change the momentum from a ho-hum "how-long-before-it's-over" to "hold on, we suddenly have a shot here"/"oh shit we thought we had this now we're in trouble".

OTOH if you're behind 31 points and you have 52 seconds left on your clock, you just ain't doing it so what's the point of continuing.

No it doesn’t happen. When has a team ever come back from being down 10 runs in the bottom of the 9th? Theoretically anything can happen in basketball as well. You can have a game go into a million overtime’s, but it’ll never happen. Your point is weak.

 

[Pogo]

Is there’s more improvisation and creativity in the NBA. In MLB a lot of these commentators will say over and over again “the beautiful thing about baseball is you get to see something new every time you watch a game”. Totally bullshit. You see same shit over and over again. Baseball is has the most repetitiveness in it out of all the major sports.

That's weird, I score it the exact opposite.

Basketball is boring. Run the ball down to the other end, defend. Over and over and over and over and over. It's baseball that allows a gazillion different ways to score and a WAY bigger field to do it on.

Rare plays in baseball are very rare. In basketball unique plays involving creativity every game. There’s no creativity in baseball

Sounds like you just ain't watchin'.
Every pitch is different (well theoretically --- when every pitch isn't different you get hit around and removed);
Every play with runners on base requires decisions, some risky, some which work out, some which don't;
Every time there's activity on the basepaths there's multiple possibilities.
Not to mention the temporary individual focus that brings about failure and redemption -- the drama.

Basketball you're either taking a shot at the basket or passing to somebody else. Or defending against your opponent doing that. There's only really one way to do that.

And then there's this:
Your basketball game is done when the clock runs out. So is your football game, your hockey game, your soccer game etc ad infinitum. Baseball can bring you to the last thread of a glimmer of a hint of hope and then turn the whole thing around. It's summed up in the profound wisdom of one of my favorite philosophers, Joaquin Andujar, who put it this way:

Baseball can be summed up in one word, and that one word is: "You never know"

Yeah maybe I don’t appreciate or understand fully the nuances of baseball, but you know nothing about basketball from your description of it. There ‘s creativity involved in the ball handing we see, footwork, passing, shot creation, etc.Not to mention basketball players are most unique physical specimen in sports and fr more athletic than baseball players. Also I like the aspect of having a game clock in my sport. If they wanted to the could have eliminated the game clock in the NBA and made the rules first to 100 and win by at least four, but they didn’t because the game clock is more exciting. Baseball fan say dumb shit like because there’s no game clock it’s a pure game. What in the world does that even mean?!

It means ---- once AGAIN ---- that anything can happen, and you can never ass-ume.

Your basketball game where one team leads 103 to 77 isn't gonna give you that.
Why?
Because you're tied to a clock, that's why.

Anything can happen but it doesn’t. A team can be up by 10 runs in the ninth inning and lose the game but that never happens. There’s no game clock in tennis does that make it a great sport as well?! No it doesn’t. I prefer a clock because it adds an element of excitement to the game.

That's exactly the point -- it DOES happen. And at any time it CAN happen, the knowledge of which by both teams can dramatically change the momentum from a ho-hum "how-long-before-it's-over" to "hold on, we suddenly have a shot here"/"oh shit we thought we had this now we're in trouble".

OTOH if you're behind 31 points and you have 52 seconds left on your clock, you just ain't doing it so what's the point of continuing.

No it doesn’t happen. When has a team ever come back from being down 10 runs in the bottom of the 9th? Theoretically anything can happen in basketball as well. You can have a game go into a million overtime’s, but it’ll never happen. Your point is weak.

Once AGAIN you can't say "never". It CAN (and does) happen at any time because there is no time limit.

Here's one memorable moment that "never happened". This team was behind the entire game until literally the last strike (2 outs 2 strikes, top 9). Not the best video (the radio call was far better) but it's what I could find:

​

Phils went on to win that game, a game they had been losing all night. In other words they were well behind for 99.9% of the game.... and won it. The look of disbelief on the pitcher's face tells the story.

Revere is one of those players we were talking about that the HR-happy business of MLB shoves aside. Runs like the wind, hits for high average, just doesn't have HR power --- which is what made this moment all the more unlikely (this was his second ever HR).

I recall another favorite game at Wrigley Field with the wind blowing out. The game was tied 22-22 after the regulation 9...