AMERICAN football and baseball will bore Filipinos to death because of their lack of understanding and familiarity with the game and the lack of continuous non-stop action which is seen in basketball and boxing. Both sports can be exciting if properly understood and familiarized with. I chose to write about these two sports because of the ongoing National Football League (NFL) playoffs and watching You tube videos of baseball’s greatest walk off homeruns, the greatest play in baseball.
Walk off homeruns in baseball are what touchdowns are in American football. The Hail Mary passes by the quarterback (QB) to his wide receiver that makes a spectacular catch with one hand. The outstanding footwork by the running back avoiding tackles by the opposing team’s defensive line. The bone crushing sacks on the quarterback by the defensive line to demoralize the opposing team’s offense. Back in the day, quarterbacks used to be skinny and slow. Now you see QB’s who are tall, athletic and can run like a running back and a wide receiver. The quarterbacks of today have size, so what used to be easy tackles to bring down QB’s now takes 2-3 players to get it done.
Baseball pitchers have ice water in their veins to stop “fires” by striking out the opposing team’s best hitter. Pitchers use a variety of pitches to keep the hitter off balanced. You have the different change ups like the slider and other types of pitches to bewilder not just hitters but opposing baseball managers as well. These days you got baseball players who are quick at stealing bases. I used to think that baseball players don’t need to stay in shape because all they do is throw the ball and hit the ball and run after the ball to pick it up.
The fitness industry has American football and baseball specific workouts to improve performance. If you’re a wide receiver in football, in which position you’ll need lots of speed and athleticism. For running backs they need both size and speed to plow through the defensive line then speed to avoid getting tackled. In baseball, you need speed to steal bases and strength to hit a baseball out of the ballpark. Baseball pitchers need to look after their arms specifically the rotator cuff of their pitching arm because it can get injured due to wear and tear.
The objective in football is to keep getting first downs and to stop your opponent from scoring touchdowns. The saying “Defense wins championships,” applies not just to basketball but to all sports. In the history of the NFL, most teams that have won the Vince Lombardi trophy have led the league in defense. In baseball it’s the same thing, solid pitching and field defense have won World Series championships. In football, all NFL teams have a defensive coordinator and an offensive coordinator. You need to put points on the board but defense makes the great teams immortal.
The objective in football is always to keep getting first downs while in baseball it is to get three outs to get a chance at bat. In football your point guard is your quarterback. Your quarterback is the second coach and your offensive coordinator out in the field. The taller the quarterback, the more he sees the field. In baseball, the taller the pitcher the more advantage he gains in striking out hitters due to the downward plane of the ball and a taller pitcher releases the ball closer to home plate.
To me, both sports are exciting because they are inherently so I, fortunately, understand them both. They’re not boring at all; you just have to be patient. Read and study about both sports and its greatest players. Both sports wouldn’t have gone global if they didn’t have any appeal.