Soccer, or European Football, is known to many enthusiasts as "the perfect game." In fact, soccer tops the list of the world's most popularly viewed sport at 3.5 billion people annually--hockey doesn't even make the list.
Why is that? I will give you a very simple yet profound answer:
Soccer has the greatest complexity of movement and drama with the greatest simplicity of rules and equipment.
The rules are simple: kick round object through goal posts, using only your feet, head, and chest. The equipment even simpler: round object, and anything representing posts--that's it. Do you need special field markers or lines? Nope--the offensive player's position relative to the defender's dictates off-side. How do other sports compare? They don't.
1. Hockey: Yes, it's Canada's game; and yes it can be thrilling to watch--but it doesn't stand up to my criteria above. Rules--too many of them. Equipment: stick, skates, ice. . . Can it be played in Sumatra or Brazil or Bali? How about the favelas of Brazil? Nope. As well, it's a bit of a clunky sport aesthetically: all pads and helmets and sticks flying everywhere. The ice is really the slickest thing about it.
2. Baseball: This is one of the most complicated sports both in terms of equipment and rules: 3 strikes, 4 balls, walks, RBIs, batting averages. . . Equipment: bases, leather (or synthetic leather) glove, bat, ball, bases (or something designated as such). And it's a nice game to fall asleep to on a Sunday afternoon, but has nothing on the excitement and drama of soccer. How many times can you watch guys lounging around dug-outs spitting sunflower seeds and adjusting their equipment?
3. Basketball: Might be a little closer in simplicity of equipment, but you still need hoops set up somewhere, which makes it too complicated for people to play all over the world to the extent soccer is. There can be some finesse to it and some elegance (one only needs to see old reels of Michael Jordan to get the picture), but not compared to soccer. Basketball is in fact the 9th most popularly watched sport worldwide--tied with American football--at 400 million viewers.
4. Tennis: Pretty simple equipment requirements, but let's face it, even cheap tennis rackets are expensive, and you need a ball and something to hit it over. Then there's the whole scoring thing with love this love that, etc. And tennis clubs are expensive also. Again, soccer can be played with a rag ball or a head of lettuce--it's that simple.
5. Golf: It is watched by 450 million viewers--more than football and basketball--but it's way too complicated: you need clubs, balls, bags, caddies, and special holes out in back fields somewhere--not to mention a solid lawn mower. Then there's all the etiquette (I was told once to take off my Toronto Maple Leafs hat on a golf course), and the myriad rules--certainly not a sport that can be embraced by billions of people worldwide. Besides, it's pretty boring to watch, and even playing it is something a good book or stroll can rival.
There are other sports as well that just don't compare: cricket (that has a billion less viewers than soccer), field hockey, table tennis, and many others. If you don't agree with me, take a look again at my criteria: simplicity of rules and equipment with the most complexity and elegance of movement and drama, and you've got the perfect game in soccer. It's the reason why it holds the attention of almost 4 billion people worldwide, and is the passion of children and adults around the globe. If you don't watch soccer, give it a try. If you play it and watch it, you'll most likely agree with me.
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