bball again

[vsp]

Not only am I not a fan of basketball, I've never understood its popularity. (Street ball, maybe; it's a sport that any even number of people can play with simple equipment (a ball and a hoop), unlike football, baseball, soccer or hockey.)

But basketball has a number of very bizarre quirks:

* It's the only major sport where the main goal -- scoring points -- is accomplished forty or fifty times by BOTH teams in EVERY game. A goal in soccer, a goal in hockey, a run in baseball, a field goal or touchdown in football... those are EVENTS! Those are noteworthy. Basketball is like the top of a typewriter swinging back and forth: dribbledribbledribbledribbledribbledribbleDING! Score. dribbledribbledribbledribbledribbledribbleDING! Score.

* Because of the rapid scoring, no lead is ever safe until the last five minutes... but those last five minutes take about three days to complete. (Five days if Dean Smith is coaching either team.) It's like watching a marathon; does anyone really care who's ahead at Mile 13, or do they tune in to the end to see who wins?

(Auto racing shares this curious trend, but at least in NASCAR there's always the possibility of a hideous crash to keep things lively.)

* Is there another sport where BREAKING THE RULES is considered to be a regular and strategic part of the game? I refer, of course, to deliberate fouling. Baseball has the intentional walk, but that's not only within the rules, it's used sparingly.

"Johnson! It's third-and-twelve. We're down by four. There's 3:37 on the clock. Go out and clip somebody, so we'll get the ball back." The HELL?

* Baseball takes flak on a VERY regular basis for being the home of "overpaid millionaires." Well, why doesn't the NBA get this backlash? Its salaries have consistently been far and above baseball's for decades, its marquee players' salary demands have torn apart as many teams as baseball's, yet they get a comparative free pass.

I'd watch bowling on TV before I'd watch basketball. At least it's over quicker.