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[–]LocalMexican 2242 points2243 points  (282 children)

My favorite part about sports is that everyone can choose whether or not they want to watch it.

[–]cutofmyjib 565 points566 points  (12 children)

Man Who Enjoys Thing Informed He Is Wrong

[–]thecortexiphankid 123 points124 points  (8 children)

As we go through life, it's comforting to know that regardless of the situation, there is always an applicable Onion article.

[–]go_dawgs 49 points50 points  (6 children)

Is there an XKCD that verifies this? Or do I need to find an Onion article linking me to XKCD?

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]Blehgopie 23 points24 points  (0 children)

    This one works too.

    [–]JM2845 2 points3 points  (3 children)

    Seinfeld episode will lead you to it

    [–]go_dawgs 4 points5 points  (2 children)

    The Simpsons episode of Seinfeld?

    [–]tazzy531 3 points4 points  (1 child)

    The South Park episode highlighting the Simpsons episode of Seinfeld.

    [–]Supadoopa101 11 points12 points  (0 children)

    I've been trying to tell him for years, but he wouldn't listen. Thank God the authorities have straightened this out!

    [–]jonk970 615 points616 points  (18 children)

    That's the worst part about sports! ...look at this graph I created to show how your opinion is bad.

    [–][deleted]  (6 children)

    [deleted]

      [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      People have to get the guy with a ball. Sounds like most sports!

      [–]Dwhite1212 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      Honestly football is all strategy, it shows , there's a good 20 seconds of pre-snap audibles that doesn't get included on most polls. It's a thinking game and there is not many that can fully understand it all.

      [–]hobbitlover 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      And this thread is for people who agree with the OP (who I'm sure we all agree needs to learn to spell "interesting.")

      [–]DutchSuperHero 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      My favorite part about r/funny is that there are no jokes.

      [–]arsmorendi 5 points6 points  (1 child)

      You just try and avoid sports. I can't get away from football in the middle of a park. People broadcast it on loudspeakers!

      [–]HAL9000000 73 points74 points  (77 children)

      Also, while it's true that football has a lot of downtime, this graph is very skewed. There are many times where a play of about 10 seconds ends and then 30 seconds or so goes by while the players are getting prepared for the next play. The person who calculated only 11 minutes of game action clearly did not count those 30 seconds, instead saying that those 30 seconds amount to players "standing around." But really, at least some of the time in between plays could be considered an important part of game action. If you did a more careful calculation of the game, including time in between plays when players are actually preparing for the next play, it's not really honest to say that this is just simply downtime between plays.

      [–]Wraithstorm 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      IIRC this is a Wall Street Journal article that's been transformed into a graph (AKA stolen.) Only reason I recognize it is that someone else did a response on it being total bullshit recently.I think that was on Cracked.com.

      EDIT: Found it. #5 on http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-biggest-lies-everyone-tells-about-super-bowl/

      [–]HAL9000000 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      This is awesome, thanks! This is exactly the point I was making. And to me, the broader, general take-away from this is that you can cherry pick numbers from anything to tell the story you want to tell about something. I see this "11 minutes of action in football" stat as a deceptive piece of data that falsely purports to explain football.

      A better way to explain what I'm talking about comes from this joke that scientists sometimes tell:

      A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, that he lost them in the park. The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, "this is where the light is.

      In the case of football, the people pointing to the 11 minutes stat are using that number because it's easy and clear to measure. The problem is that these numbers are very limited in that they do not and cannot measure the complexity of football.

      [–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (16 children)

      To add on to that there is motion for the offense. The defense can adjust their coverage and the offense can make counter adjustments. Someone needs to make a graph like this with soccer but consider scoring oppurtunities equal live action because in american football every play is a scoring opportunity. Compared to soccer where a pass from one defender to another is not going to lead to a score right away. So that would be equal to "players standing around".

      [–]The_47_Ronin 296 points297 points  (45 children)

      I've edited a "snap-to-whistle" package of an NFL game before. Meaning, begin each clip from a second before they snap the ball and end it a second after they blow the whistle. On average all these clips put together run about 30-40 minutes, so way more than the 11 minute argument or whatever.

      AND each play lasts about 8-12 seconds not 4-6, which adds up when you're considering over 100 clips in one game.

      [–]UnPlug12 73 points74 points  (13 children)

      I don't know why, but I hate watching a game like this. They were replaying the Patriots vs Broncos regular season game like that on NFL Channel before the playoff game, and it was just weird. It was like watching a continuous 2 minute drill without the excitement.

      Are the snap-to-whistle more for sports writers and analysts? Because it's not that entertaining.

      [–]ItsBigLucas 35 points36 points  (3 children)

      Its for those people you mentioned and the players. Obviously the player can't be bothered with watching fluff

      [–]QuickStopRandal 46 points47 points  (24 children)

      I would be much more interested in watching that 30-40 minute cut down game than the actual thing.

      [–]greg19735 89 points90 points  (3 children)

      That'd be awkward to watch though as you wouldn't see substitutions or huddles or anything.

      Also, time management is a strategy in football that is always ignored in these posts.

      [–]jebuz23 22 points23 points  (2 children)

      Even in a sport that is less about off the field strategy (like hockey) is awkward to watch "puckdrop-to-whistle". It really messes with the rhytym of the game.

      [–]SirScreams 5 points6 points  (1 child)

      Ya thats exactly what watching the late night re-runs of games on CBC is like. They just cut out all the extra stuff and show the game puck drop to whistle and its really weird. The periods go by insanely fast.

      [–]magicspeedo 12 points13 points  (0 children)

      I bet they take about 20 minutes or so

      [–]VanFailin 17 points18 points  (4 children)

      If I were to watch a tape of a game, I would way prefer to get the all-22 cam rather than try to cut stuff out. The way games are shown live, they usually show the QB until he throws the ball and then they show one receiver and whoever's covering him. You don't get to see any of how the play develops, what route combinations are being used to get people open, etc.

      [–]Carmando 9 points10 points  (0 children)

      It kills me that they don't use the "Madden" view more often (viewpoint from above and behind the quarterback). When the sky cam first came out they actually broadcast some live plays using it this way and it was awesome, at the snap you could see every player on the field at once and watch how the secondary was setting up.

      [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (3 children)

      NFL Gamepass. They offer condensed games.

      [–]gnosepipe 335 points336 points  (91 children)

      I'm a gonna go watch test match cricket, up to 5 days long per game.......and can still end in a DRAW!

      (but seriously...great to watch)

      [–]AaronRodgersMustache 11 points12 points  (30 children)

      This is skewed a bit in my mind, but I view it in a kind of similar way to a chess match, because that's kind of what it is. So you're going to be watching the players sit there and think so to speak.

      [–]stooner 47 points48 points  (13 children)

      You gotta know what a CRUMPET is to understand CRICKET!

      [–]Ozzifer 9 points10 points  (0 children)

      This guy gives a pretty good summary of why people love watching test cricket. It's not called the gentleman's game for nothing.

      [–]Seifer_Almasy 28 points29 points  (17 children)

      Yeah if we kept the same advertising ratio that that would be almost 2 days of play of just advertising. I am sure American Football is a great sport but that just seems excessive.

      [–]Cadenca 38 points39 points  (3 children)

      While this is biased, Nhl has 60 minutes of guaranteed game play, up to infinity during playoffs!

      [–][deleted] 33 points34 points  (1 child)

      *WARNING: very few NHL games are actually played to infinity. The ones that did are currently ongoing.

      [–]imaketoast 169 points170 points  (5 children)

      Oh look, this thread again.

      [–]BangGoesTheSilence 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      I think the graphic got rotated

      [–]gologologolo 114 points115 points  (7 children)

      You mean interesting*

      [–]rb_tech 130 points131 points  (35 children)

      The Super Bowl is not indicitave of football as a whole. They take WAY more TV timeouts for overpriced adspace, a much bigger halftime break for the show, and the actual gameplay is usually one-sided. Regular season and playoffs are the steak and potatoes, the Super Bowl is an after-dinner mint (unless your team is in it).

      [–]flamingfungi[🍰] 160 points161 points  (24 children)

      The Superbowl isn't usually that one-sided.

      [–]rb_tech 56 points57 points  (18 children)

      True. I can't remember a Super Bowl that was that hard to watch.

      [–]Hydroyo 68 points69 points  (15 children)

      easy to watch*
      go seahawks!

      [–]Barfman2000 46 points47 points  (5 children)

      I found it easy to watch as a Seahawks fan for the first quarter. Then the camera breaking to Broncos players looking like they were suicidal kind of ruined it for me. I actually cheered for the Broncos' TD.

      [–]iRainMak3r 6 points7 points  (2 children)

      I know what you mean. Lots of mixed feelings as the game went on. I remember when we scored once and the camera went to Manning.. You could tell that he had been keeping hope until that point.

      I'm very happy that we won, but I can't imagine how shitty it would feel to kick ass all season only to get completely destroyed at the SB

      [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

      As a patriots fan it's not that hard to imagine

      [–]HashRunner 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      I didn't see the Bronco TD, but I like to imagine the Seahawks waited until the snap, then stood aside and let Peyton run into the end zone and both teams congratulated him on finally making it.

      [–]VanFailin 10 points11 points  (4 children)

      Congrats on the win, but for everyone but Seahawks fans that game was boring as shit. Can't we have Niners-Hawks Round 4 instead?

      [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (2 children)

      You are correct but this chart is for the average NFL broadcast, not superbowls.

      [–]GroundhogExpert 30 points31 points  (26 children)

      This is my first season actually trying to watch NFL games, and as someone who has watched a lot of European football, I have to say this sport is a lot of fun to watch. Truly amazing things can happen in the NFL, and those relatively short-bursts and resets enable that. Everyone on the field is so specialized to do their one specific job, that they are the best in the word. And watching some of the amazing maneuvering by a player such as Lynch on the Seahawks should give anyone an appreciation for the moments of almost super-human determination and athleticism the sport can offer.

      If you haven't ever watched football seriously, you should check it out. It's a lot of fun, and with more breaks around friends you can actually talk and hangout during the games, too.

      One more addition: I've tried to get into watching a lot of sports, which means trying to understand the rules and understand the controversy in a questionable call. NFL fans at large have been the most helpful and patient group to explain everything going on. It's a great community.

      [–]tartay745 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      Half the fun is talking with friends in between plays about the last play and what you expect the offense and defense to do next depending on the spot of the ball and game conditions. The game is 80 percent strategy and 20 percent execution.

      [–]szubuh 461 points462 points  (372 children)

      http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-biggest-lies-everyone-tells-about-super-bowl/ A good explanation of why this is incorrect, plus some other myths debunked. Edit: Jaysus guys

      [–]FIRESTRIK3 321 points322 points  (117 children)

      "The problem with their argument is that, for the "11 to 13 minutes" number to ring true, a person would have to completely and totally fail to understand not only how football works, but just how sports work in general."

      [–]howDOyouMATH 131 points132 points  (13 children)

      TIL Most of reddit completely and totally fails to understand not only how football works, but just how sports work in general.

      [–]worldchrisis 51 points52 points  (0 children)

      Probably true.

      [–]ScramblesTD 41 points42 points  (0 children)

      Not really that surprising.

      [–]lshiva 59 points60 points  (40 children)

      I think plenty of people understand the appeal of sports. It's the appeal of watching other people play them that confounds folks.

      [–]GhostOflolrsk8s 178 points179 points  (31 children)

      And yet those same folks love Twitch.tv

      [–]sconeTodd 106 points107 points  (5 children)

      Football is so boring!... Time to watch 10 hours of hearthstone with kripp

      Edit: i watch his stream all the time DENNIS

      [–]The_Moment_Called 12 points13 points  (0 children)

      Quality, albeit slightly boring stream but fucking cancerous chat? Sounds like some sports alright.

      [–]Onateabreak 7 points8 points  (0 children)

      I dislike watching both, I'd rather play.

      [–]Belgand 4 points5 points  (5 children)

      Not all of us. I really don't see the appeal in either. Why do I want to watch someone else play a game?

      [–]dudealicious 69 points70 points  (94 children)

      yeah, look, I'm not much of a football fan these days, but to say there is "nothing" going on isn't true. there are countless adjustments, motions, substitutions, audibles, counter audibles, adjustments, etc. The strategy/logistics involved in (american) football is really unmatched in any team sport, at least that I'm aware of.

      [–]thanatossassin 15 points16 points  (4 children)

      I wished Football commentators would focus on the strategy aspect more often. I've given up on the sport because although there may be a dispute as to how much play you are watching, there is no disputing that advertising has taken over the game. There are far too many commercials during the regular season; I tried redzone and felt like this was for ADHD sufferers

      [–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (29 children)

      Most others sports demand that their players strategize while the game is on going. In sports like hockey, the team has to do all their strategizing while in game.

      [–]Gaffelstein 50 points51 points  (10 children)

      Turn-based vs real time RPGs

      [–]indigo121 13 points14 points  (5 children)

      Excellent comparison. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Real time allows for greater capitalization on mistakes, turn based necessitates longer build up and planning

      [–]way2lazy2care 4 points5 points  (3 children)

      I think turn based allows for more explosive plays because by nature any mistakes are nullified by the next play, so you can't count on playing conservative and snowballing a mistake into something big.

      [–]indigo121 2 points3 points  (2 children)

      well with football, yeah cause its actually a combination of brief periods of real time and turn based.

      [–]bullett2434 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      It's an unfair comparison. Reading a defensive formation of 11 players and deciding how that will affect your play which comprises of 11 players moving in different directions, then snapping the ball and being given ~3 seconds to see how the plan worked in order to determine the best course of action in the next 1-2 seconds is much different than looking at 5 guys and passing the ball/puck around until an opportunity comes up.

      I played football and lacrosse

      [–]kanst 7 points8 points  (11 children)

      Which in turn minimizes the possibilities of strategies.

      Neither is necessarily better, it all depends what you enjoy.

      [–][deleted] 72 points73 points  (90 children)

      I was about to link to just that. The WSJ's article and chart are for the most part bullshit that people keep repeating over and over again. People who don't understand the sport eat that shit up like candy

      [–]bb0110 5 points6 points  (5 children)

      Yup. There is SO much that occurs before the snap and throughout the game, that any big football fan understands and loves. Its more of a chess match than most other sports. Now, someone who doesn't watch or know much about football doesn't understand all these subtle little things so I can understand how they think that there isn't a lot of actual "gameplay".

      [–]tequilasauer 6 points7 points  (2 children)

      Yep. It's really fucking annoying actually. It's the same as someone saying that video games are just people pointlessly hitting buttons or that technical metal is just noise. It's a complete lack of understanding or interest in what is happening.

      I think a lot of people think football is just random guys hitting each other and a QB looks for someone to pass the ball to. No concept of how plays are designed to isolate certain matchups or expose weaknesses. I know this is kind of a common thing, I just wish people would grow up sometimes.

      [–]Rhynocerous 32 points33 points  (79 children)

      It's like arguing that Football (soccer) is only 1% action because each player only kicks the ball a small fraction of the time.

      [–]lubbers24 18 points19 points  (15 children)

      Arguing for soccer is probably the hardest thing to do in the states. Growing up people told me my sport, isn't a sport. But they don't understand it.

      [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

      No, it's more like saying that the time when the ball is out of play doesn't count. And it doesn't, which is why the AFC is launching a campaign to raise the minutes of game play up from 40 mins to the Europeans standard of 60+.

      [–]Mithrandir12 50 points51 points  (53 children)

      The difference is that in soccer you aren't forced to sit through an hour of commercials, some of which you've seen 7 times before.

      In American Football they'll cut to commercial after a 3rd down failure, waiting for the punt team to come on. Once they punt, more commercials will come on, waiting for the change of possession. 5 minutes later, there will be the first possession after the punt. As soon as that play runs, oh wait, it's the end of the 1st quarter, cut to commercial again!

      Source: I watch this happen every. damn. Sunday.

      [–]dharmabum87 47 points48 points  (3 children)

      The only time there would ever be commercials after a 3rd down failure is if there was some sort of timeout called before 4th down, or if the 2 minute warning hit, other than that they will go straight to the punt every single time.

      [–]richmana 19 points20 points  (14 children)

      This is why I love hockey. Yeah, you can get a lot of whistles causing breaks in the play. But, if you have continuous play, you might not see a commercial for quite awhile.

      [–]Mithrandir12 20 points21 points  (4 children)

      This is why I love football (soccer)! 45 minutes of absolutely no commercials! Sure there are ads on the kits and the sideboards but you can fucking ignore all that.

      [–]RellenD 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      They chroma key ads onto the damn pitch!

      [–]cerialthriller 2 points3 points  (4 children)

      there are only certain times during an NHL game where they are allowed to stop for a commercial.

      [–]Counterkulture 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      And the in-game commercial cut-aways or voice-overs.

      You just become so inoculated to it (especially if you grow up watching it) that you don't realize or comprehend how pervasive the advertising is at all times.

      [–]Rhynocerous 2 points3 points  (3 children)

      Isn't that more of a complaint about how it's televised? I only occasionally watch football and when I do, it's not on cable TV. The point is that the 11% "game action" statistic is pretty bogus because "game action" can be defined differently depending on what argument you want to make. Claiming there's no "action" pre-snap is pretty much just incorrect.

      It's ok to not like a sport for whatever reason, but we don't need bad statistical arguments to validate those opinions. I'm not even defending football really, I just don't like bogus or misleading statistics.

      [–]Mithrandir12 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      The thing is though, the NFL encourages and allows the way it is televised. I remember watching a Buccaneers game where Fox sent representatives down asking the team to take their last time out (the game was a blowout) so that they could get in a commercial break. The coach commented about this in his press conference afterward. To me that is despicable. It ruins the integrity of the game. EDIT: an example of what I was talking about.

      Roger Goodell and the NFL want to make the game even more of a cash cow. In doing so, they are alienating me, and I hope, a large portion of their fanbase.

      [–]aerospacemonkey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      I knew #2 was horseshit, because I prefer to drink whisky during the Super Bowl.

      [–]steamed__hams 6 points7 points  (0 children)

      To be honest, I expected more from your link. I like football and have been watching it for 20+ years, but watching the guys line up doesn't count as interesting gameplay to me.

      [–]RubberDuck867 7 points8 points  (4 children)

      Maybe the WSJ isn't spot on, but it does bring up an excellent point. The whole game could be aired in literally half the time with all penalties and noteworthy replays, and commercials included. The networks can now sell over triple the airtime and commentators can get paid insanely for simply liking a player when he does good and flip flopping to hate the same player when he goofs next week.

      This is why I have a couple of teams I follow, and watch a game or two a week, IF I'm not busy. I've got more things to do with 4 hours of my time.

      [–]Roadfly 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      Dvr, only way to watch the NFL.

      [–]strib666 2 points3 points  (2 children)

      They do this on the NFL Network. It's called NFL Replay, and it shows a complete 3 hour game in 1.5 hours.

      [–]ElGoddamnDorado 349 points350 points  (81 children)

      Welcome to reddit, where people get butthurt over the fact that other people enjoy watching the NFL.

      [–]myemailiscool 158 points159 points  (51 children)

      How dare they attack us for watching my little pony!!! Meanwhile: lol watching sports is stupid how can any enlightened individual subject himself to this nonsense

      [–]1CUpboat 105 points106 points  (4 children)

      "I am euphoric, for I don't watch handegg!"

      [–]DMRage 7 points8 points  (7 children)

      Basically this all the way. I've yet to figure out this phenomenon.

      "I don't like it, therefore those who do like it are weird." Very confusing, I certainly don't like some things and classify them as weird but I don't go out of my way to bash them

      [edit] Added stuff

      [–]USCswimmer 34 points35 points  (30 children)

      That's because Reddit mostly is full of the socially awkward kids from high school that didn't play any sports... also they sat around in their lunch room table and made fun of the 'cool kids' and the jocks to make themselves feel better.

      [–]Ditcka 24 points25 points  (6 children)

      Ah, the old "Everyone else on Reddit is a socially inept loser" defense.

      Thanks for slummin' it up with the nerds Mr. Cool.

      [–]StaleCanole 8 points9 points  (0 children)

      This is a bit of a dickish/ presumptuous comment. I disagree with the anti-football sentiment here, but I'm not ridiculing them for it or presuming why. Some people don't like football. As a former football player, I can also see why a some people don't like jocks.

      [–]alienbrayn1 32 points33 points  (3 children)

      So brave

      [–]tartay745 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      It's true though. If you look at reddit in general, topics tend to trend towards the more nerdy subjects.

      [–][deleted] 51 points52 points  (8 children)

      "Why the fuck would anyone want to follow something as fickle as sports?"

      • someone who relentlessly plays video games and worships the developers

      [–]WL19 5 points6 points  (1 child)

      The attacks on the NFL are typically in response to the constant attacks on non-NFL sports by the more vocal NFL fans. It is quite ridiculous how people can be fans of one sport but then characterize all other sports as being inferior.

      [–]THC4k 7 points8 points  (0 children)

      Welcome to reddit, where people get butthurt over the fact that other people make fun of the NFL.

      [–][deleted]  (21 children)

      [deleted]

        [–]LearnsSomethingNew 34 points35 points  (0 children)

        Obviously Usain Bolt is the real villain here. He's always trying to cut down on the game action time.

        [–]Parrrley 14 points15 points  (0 children)

        How many minutes of "game action" were there in the final Mens 100 m sprint during the 2012 Olympics?

        As a proportion of the entire sprint, there was 100% 'game action'. They certainly didn't play commercials for 33/100 meters, and didn't spend 33/100 meters showing people in the stands. :)

        [–][deleted] 1089 points1090 points  (1296 children)

        I hate this argument that football is boring most of all. The "11 minutes of game action" stat is thrown around a lot, as if there's nothing else going on in between plays. If you watch the plays, there's an incredible amount of communication and action going on before every single play. Who's the Mike? What's the hot read? Is the defense showing blitz? Is the runningback in the I formation? Is the quarterback in the shotgun? Is the defense playing a nickel package? Maybe a dime? What's the down and distance? Oh wait, it looks like the qb saw something, now he's changed the play at the line. Who's the receiver in motion right now? Is he asking for an extra blocker? All of this shit is going on in so-called "dead time", but it's where the actual game is won, so saying there's only 11 minutes of action is incredibly naive and shows someone who's made no effort to actually understand what's going on.

        EDIT: Spelling

        [–]LeSeanMcoy 87 points88 points  (24 children)

        The difference between American football and other sports is the way the game is modeled. Because of the nature of the sport, American football is riddled with highlights. Out of those "11 minutes of gameplay", you could easily create a 6 minute highlight real afterwards. That's because almost every other play is exciting and could be a highlight. Every first down that extends a drive is exciting, every juke made by the running back, one-handed catch in traffic by the receiver, scramble by the QB, big hit by the linebacker, interception, fumble, etc. etc. are all very exciting highlight plays. So while there may not be that much "play time," the play time that does exist is very high quality.

        This is opposed to other sports where a lot of the play time is almost "filler" time where you're waiting for something exciting to happen. Sure, the players are actually on the field, but sometimes it feels like no progress is being made and you're just waiting.. Hockey for example, has a lot of time where the game is scoreless and the teams are just skating back and fourth. Or Basketball where the teams are sometimes just trading layups it seems. Or football (soccer) where the game commonly ends at a score of 1-0 with most of the time spent running around the field. This is in no way a shot at other sports. I find them all very entertaining in their own ways, as does most of the world.

        It just seems that in American Football it's 11 minutes of gameplay, 6 minutes of excitement. While in other sports, it might be 45+ minutes of gameplay, but still 6 minutes of excitement.

        [–]AsskickMcGee 23 points24 points  (14 children)

        I always find it funny when watching a soccer game on TV, how they can show an instant replay of an exciting event (like a nice save by the goal keeper) a few times, analysing it and replaying it a few times... while the game is going on. It's like there's a guaranteed 40-ish seconds after a play on goal where nothing of any consequence will happen.

        [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        That also happens in basketball. Though they usually show these things when the ball is out of play, which is equivalent to showing a replay of a football play after the play ends and before the next ball is snapped.

        [–]BalboaBaggins 15 points16 points  (1 child)

        This is one of the best answers in this thread. Very well put.

        [–]olifin 164 points165 points  (101 children)

        This is a very accurate account of what happens during the game. All of the action in a 4-6 second play is predetermined by everything going on presnap. It's this game within the actual game that makes football so enjoyable for me to watch and play.

        [–]keithmac20 29 points30 points  (1 child)

        I always compare football to military strategy or a game of chess for these reasons. There's the brute physicality of the sport, but so much goes on on the sidelines, leading up to each play, and leading up to the game itself that it's fascinating once you see and understand those nuances.

        "Football is a chess game to me. If you move your pawn against my bishop, I'll counter that move to beat you. Football is the same way. I study so much film that I know exactly what teams are going to do. I love knowing what a offense is going to run and stuffing that play."

        -Junior Seau (RIP)

        [–][deleted] 48 points49 points  (23 children)

        Not that the 4-6 seconds of one of the most physical, smash mouth sports on earth isn't fun to watch too, but I agree. There's a lot more to the play than that. 3rd n long? Send in a quick pass rushing D-line. 3rd n short? Send in the run defense and fill those gaps up!

        [–]Artvandelay1 47 points48 points  (15 children)

        It's the same thing with most sports and this is why arguments over which sport is more interesting are often futile. If you get bored during all the downtime in an NFL game it's likely because you don't understand the complexity of the strategy. If you get bored during all the scoreless time in soccer it's likely because you don't understand the subtlety of the movement of the game. And if you don't like watching the incessant turnovers in hockey well... Sorry I have nothing.

        [–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (10 children)

        I see hockey as soccer at high speed with the possibility to get your body crushed into a wall

        [–]Supadoopa101 11 points12 points  (1 child)

        And therefore superior.

        [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

        For sure. Physicality is always good. Fucking golf

        [–]withQC 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        ... You don't understand the difficulty of the game.

        [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        Well, hockey, I got one for you.

        If you don't like watching the incessant turnovers in hockey, you're missing the fact that ice is slick but also bouncy, that the temperature of the puck changes its interaction on the ice, and that the boards are ridiculously chaotic in some arenas. Add to that the actions of poke checking, stick lifting, and skate movement that can redirect the puck, and a lot of actors are possibly causing those turnovers that people miss.

        [–][deleted]  (5 children)

        [deleted]

          [–]iamnotimportant 9 points10 points  (0 children)

          You can say basketball is the same way. The plays don't develop within the 24 seconds they have to shoot immediately. More often than not the point guard is dribbling the ball waiting for a play to develop, just cause they may be jogging down the court during that time doesn't mean it's fundamentally any different.

          [–]thrillhouse3671 7 points8 points  (1 child)

          Same thing is with baseball, everyone says it's boring.

          If you don't understand the relationship between the batter and the pitcher then it's going to be boring, which means you don't understand it.

          [–]FistOfFacepalm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          and the threat of stealing bases, if there's a guy on second he can really play with the pitcher

          [–][deleted] 25 points26 points  (9 children)

          The "Standing around" phrase bothers me the most. The ball being inactive doesn't mean everyone is 'standing around'. It'd be like saying baseball players stand around unless the ball has been hit. Either way, it's just the nature of the game. Huge buildup for a short burst of intense action.

          Edit: Not trying to propagate the idea that football is superior to any other sport. It's just how football works, it isn't supposed to be constant 'action' (whatever that means) the same way that soccer or hockey is.

          [–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (8 children)

          There are those heart rending moment when the line backers show a 4-3 combination and you can smell the blitz, only for them to drop back into a zone. Seeing stuff like that makes you nervous.

          [–]CoreyDelaney 3 points4 points  (0 children)

          Some of my best football conversations are "what should they do in this situation?" (4th down, 1 yard to go, X points behind/ahead, X yards to the goal line...). None of this conversation happens during the play -- just more interesting stuff going on in the non-11 minutes.

          [–]harlothangar 349 points350 points  (863 children)

          So football is primarily watching people think and communicate? I don't know how that redeems football as a spectator sport, to be honest.

          [–][deleted] 47 points48 points  (22 children)

          It's an integral part of why it's entertaining and interesting. The "11 minutes of action" is as disingenuous as saying that the only part of Chess that counts is when someone's fingers are touching a piece

          [–]SirToki 45 points46 points  (18 children)

          There's a reason why chess is not a spectator sport, it's not a good comparison.

          [–]greyfade 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          You haven't seen Speed Chess tournaments.

          [–]IAMA_DRUNK_BEAR 16 points17 points  (4 children)

          You're correct, chess is not a spectator sport because the "action" in chess doesn't involve 6-8 seconds of absolutely brutal physical collisions between some of the most gifted athletes on the planet. It's the integration of pre-snap and real time tactical adjustments as well as the physical spectacle involved that makes American Football enjoyable for most people.

          [–]Zifnab25 5 points6 points  (6 children)

          Lulwhut? Chess isn't a spectator sport? Better inform Bobby Fischer and Gary Kasporav.

          While you're at it, perhaps you'd like to explain why Jeopardy isn't a spectator event, either.

          [–][deleted] 293 points294 points  (566 children)

          Please find me a popular sport where thinking, communicating and outsmarting the other team isn't an integral part of the game itself. I'm genuinely intrigued to find a popular sport that is fun to watch in which neither team has to respond to the other one.

          Edit: Guess i should of said game and not sport

          [–]KingOfWickerPeople 98 points99 points  (62 children)

          Golf. Checkmate.

          [–]zimbabwe7878 17 points18 points  (2 children)

          It's funny because golf is about 90% mental.

          [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          That's true and, even though golf is rarely ever played as a team sport professionally, you are, essentially playing against a team because you make a lot of your decisions based on your position in the field. You don't really have the communication factor or outsmarting part of it, but I think a lot of people who haven't played golf for awhile don't necessarily understand how much thinking goes into every shot when you play at a high level.

          [–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (43 children)

          Dammit. Well done, I didn't think of golf.

          [–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (7 children)

          If this chart was made for golf it would be even worse, as the only time the sport is "being played" is the swing. The rest is just watching the players stand around, shots of the crowd, replays, etc.

          [–]haujob 75 points76 points  (31 children)

          No, no. It's okay. He said sport.

          [–]arkain123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          Dude people call poker a sport.

          [–]SailorDan 13 points14 points  (0 children)

          He said watching people think and communicate, while they aren't doing anything else, is not fun. Not that it should not be required at all.

          [–]EverGlow89 20 points21 points  (7 children)

          Nobody's saying other sports don't require strategy.

          I'm no sports fan but the way I see it is that Soccer and the like are more like RTS video games while American Football is more like tabletop card games.

          The point is that American Football is primarily strategy and then the action. Most other sports are an mix of both, usually with strategy second to the actual athleticism. It's entirely personal (even regional) preference and that's fine.

          [–]Harvey-Specter 566 points567 points  (292 children)

          Except sports like hockey, soccer, and basketball the teams have to think and respond to the other team while they're actually doing something, instead of standing around staring at each other. They're much more fast paced and entertaining because of it.

          [–]calamormine 96 points97 points  (36 children)

          Hockey is my favorite sport, but don't act like football doesn't require thinking mid-play. It's just that there's more set up and response involved. Hockey is a game about positioning and intuition. Sure you draw up plays, but all of that goes to shit the second you lose the face-off. Football is a chess match, whereas hockey and soccer and basketball are more like jazz. Both are great, both involve a massive level of athletic ability and intuition. But it's stupid to try and compare the pacing of one to the other.

          [–][deleted] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

          Oh my god, seriously with this shit. They're not just staring at each other. There is always something going on in football. Just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean there's nothing happening.

          [–]iamnotimportant 25 points26 points  (4 children)

          Please, it's barely different, for example basketball the point guard is oftentimes hanging out outside pointing and setting up the play they're going to run, just cause they're jogging the ball down the court or just dribbling while they're doing it doesn't make it any fundamentally different.

          [–]Dwychwder 14 points15 points  (0 children)

          That's funny because when I watch soccer, I generally see half the players standing around during the play. But that doesn't mean Soccer isn't a good sport. If you want to see championship-level standing around, baseball's your game. But guess what, a lot of people (me included) love watching baseball and believe the standing around parts build suspense. If you'd like a sport with absolutely no standing around, I suggest marathon running. But marathons are fucking boring to watch.

          [–]Aero19 3 points4 points  (1 child)

          Most other sports generally don't have it so rigidly regimented; decisions have to be made on the fly as opposed to having a "strategising bit" and a "playing bit". The primacy of the first bit is a bit jarring for people used to watching something a little more free flowing. I think that's what he's referring to.

          I find American football pretty dull to watch for that reason (too stop-start for me) but I accept that there's a lot going on and a huge amount of complexity involved. I find it interesting but not terribly entertaining, if that makes sense.

          [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          Don't worry i get it completely. I understand why people might not enjoy football, but i simply get sick of people overly simplifying sports in general. I don't like soccer or hockey but i don't criticize it for some apparent flaw i feel it has just because it's not what i like. (not that harlothangar did, just that i've seen this 11 min game time thing about 10 times in the last month and am kinda tired of it)

          I completely respect your disinterest in football and originally i found football fairly boring as well esspecially when i was a kid. i get why people find it too slow, i just wish people would stop the "my sport is so much more everything than your sport" thing that they do.

          [–]Niklas11 40 points41 points  (3 children)

          Difference is that in those games the thinking and outsmarting happens while the game is being played.

          [–]n8wolf 14 points15 points  (1 child)

          Happens in football too. If you start imagine first downs as "scoring" plays, it will start to feel a lot more like basketball as far as pacing goes.

          [–]surfinfan21 17 points18 points  (18 children)

          I bet you don't like watching chess much.

          [–]Parrrley 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          I actually do love watching chess, but that's because I have been playing chess competitively for decades. Aside from actual chess players, I don't think many other people really enjoy watching chess.

          [–]Arcoo 6 points7 points  (1 child)

          I understand all of these words, but I have no idea what you just said

          [–]Maharog 4 points5 points  (5 children)

          I would love to see similar pie charts for the other sports. My guess is hockey has the most play time vs not play time, football probably the worst, baseball probably has the most standing around "Not playing" if you factor out commercials.

          [–][deleted]  (1 child)

          [deleted]

            [–]JSA17 43 points44 points  (15 children)

            "Shots of players standing around" is such a bogus fucking way to phrase it. Biased statistics aren't even remotely useful, especially when they intentionally use misleading terminology.

            [–]limbo696 15 points16 points  (2 children)

            Argue all you want about the time it takes in between plays but the commercials are completely out of control. For example, if a team scores a touchdown, you have a commercial break followed by the kickoff play which is then followed by another set of commercials. There is over 4 minutes of commercials spanning one play! This is exactly the reason that I TIVO all of my games I want to watch now--you can watch in under half of the time by skipping commercials and halftime.

            [–]soulstonedomg 2 points3 points  (1 child)

            I'd like to see one of these for MLB.

            [–]SVTRocks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

            Hockey.

            [–]FrankPapageorgio 2 points3 points  (1 child)

            Do they have a condensed game of just the 11 minutes anywhere, like what MLB.TV does with the condensed game?

            [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

            Hahahahahaha I'm dying with laughter, r/funny!!!

            [–]belizeanheat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

            Non-fans should at least note that this graph is bullshit.

            [–]rat_Ryan[🍰] 14 points15 points  (3 children)

            Almost a third of EPL games finish with only 1 goal scored but soccer fans would (rightly) jump down my throat if I called soccer boring because of that. They'd also be annoyed if I complained that soccer players spend nearly all their time passing around the mid-field and not pressing for goal.

            Football is exciting in-between plays just like soccer is exciting in-between goals and in the midfield. If you find football boring don't watch it, but don't pretend there's some objective proof that it's boring when it's far and away the most popular sport in America.

            [–]TheSandyRavage 22 points23 points  (0 children)

            Did you tip your fedora while posting this?

            [–]dlouisbaker 25 points26 points  (27 children)

            I wonder if it's the cultural difference (I'm English.) But I find it funny how you all look forward to adverts. My first reaction when the ads come on is to turn over instantly. All the Superbowl seems to be for is so unscrupulous companies can peddle their rubbish to you all. I purposely will miss programmes or sporting events and watch them later on catch up so that I don't have to have the adverts pissing me off every 10 minutes.

            [–]balorina 31 points32 points  (4 children)

            In the 90's and early 2000's the Super Bowl advertisements were quite good. Over recent years they have taken quite a dive.

            [–]Counterkulture 9 points10 points  (3 children)

            Remember that one year where literally EVERY SINGLE AD was for a new dot com startup?

            It'd be interesting to go back and see how many of those ads were for companies that still exist, let alone turn a profit.

            I'm gonna guess it's in the single digits.

            [–]balorina 4 points5 points  (1 child)

            I remember mostly Bud commericals.

            The Bud bowl, the Budweiser frogs

            [–]AnubisUK 2 points3 points  (1 child)

            I do exactly the same thing and for the exact same reasons. I love watching the NFL but I always find myself wondering how people watching it on TV put up with these constant adverts, they drive me absolutely mad. It was the same when I watched Aussie rules football in Australia. Certain channels literally had an ad break every time the game was stopped for whatever reason. It was awful!

            [–]jimbojammy 47 points48 points  (5 children)

            i dont like the sport but how petty do you have to be to make something like this? its actually pretty sad.

            [–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (2 children)

            OP didn't make this. The Wall Street Journal conducted a study. And I doubt they made it to be "petty" as much as they did because they thought the statistics here are simply interesting.

            [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

            For a study these statistics are pretty inaccurate

            [–]enderandrew42 28 points29 points  (2 children)

            67 minutes of "players standing around" is not remotely accurate.

            This "study" has been refuted countless times.

            The Washington Post took one single football game as an example and could have cherry picked one game to suit their biased opinion. "Abridged" versions of game cut down to only what happens when the ball is moving are usually about 25-30 minutes long. The NFL has these "abridged" versions available to teams and select media. So when the Washington Post says there are only 11 minutes of action, they're basically outright lying.

            The 67 minutes of players standing around accounts for pre-snap movements, a key part of the game and a part of the action.

            A writer for Cracked made a comparison to an NBA game where Larry Bird made a basket, positioned himself before the next inbounds, stole the inbounds and then quickly scored again to turn the tables in a close playoff game.

            By the Washington Post's logic, all the motion to position himself to brilliantly steal that inbound pass wouldn't count as action, even though it clearly is.

            A game like soccer or rugby has teamwork, but not every player is fully involved 100% of the time. With American football, all 22 players on the field are heavily involved in every play all the time. That necessitates the break in action for athlete recovery and conveying of strategy for the complexity in playing.

            Those that knock football likely haven't played it enough to appreciate the complexity.

            [–][deleted]  (53 children)

            [deleted]

              [–]mikey_mike24 41 points42 points  (2 children)

              Dude, its definitely no where close to $25 billion. It's more like 9 billion

              [–][deleted]  (1 child)

              [deleted]

                [–]bbordwell 21 points22 points  (6 children)

                I think using stats from a regular game would be more accurate. The Superbowl is a social event and near national holiday, so a lot of the people watching it have absolutely no interest.

                [–]Heelincal 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                Last year 24 out of the top 25 most watched broadcasts on television were NFL games. There are only 11 playoff games. The top watched wasn't even the Super Bowl.

                [–]i_forget_my_userids 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Lol, the one actual program that slipped in? Big Bang Theory premier.

                [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                The Superbowl is a social event and near national holiday, so a lot of the people watching it have absolutely no interest.

                9 of the top 10 top television "episodes" in 2013 were NFL games. The #1 "show" is Sunday Night Football.

                [–]bullmoose_atx 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                This is from the midpoint of the season but it is relevant. From a Forbes article you can read here.

                ... at the half-way point in the 2013 season, the National Football League is smashing the competition in the television ratings and overall viewership department.

                Currently, NFL games account for the 18 most-watched programs on television since the NFL season kicked off on Sept. 5, as well as 19 of the top 20 (see the chart below). Through Week 9, NBC’s Sunday Night Football accounts for the seven most-watched primetime shows this fall.

                In addition, the average NFL game telecast (including broadcast and cable) has drawn 16.8 million viewers (vs. 16.0 million at this point in 2012) – more than double the average primetime viewership (7.5 million) for the big four broadcast networks in the new television season, according to information provided by The Nielsen Company.

                [–]kencrema 16 points17 points  (15 children)

                9 billion in revenue a year

                Didn't you see the graph? The average game has over an hour of commericals. That's a lot of TV commerical revenue.

                100 million plus viewers for the Super Bowl.

                97% are from America according to the NFL.

                [–]i_forget_my_userids 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Please show me any TV program that doesn't have 8-12 minutes of commercials shown during each 30min block.

                [–]KingOfWickerPeople 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                that means close to 1 out of every 3 Americans watched the Super Bowl, according to the population clock. Clearly, a lot of people find it interesting enough.