As much as I wanted our first Beachdammit Day of the summer, it never came to be. What was supposed to be just a quick scootering around the park led to a birthday party full of kids who liked to build stuff in the woods and brandish sticks as firearms. Four hours later, the boys were sweaty and spent, and half the day was gone.
During our siesta, we flicked on the TV and surfed between the World Cup and a baseball game. And this seemed like a great opportunity to research the debate I've been having with a few friends who think baseball is more boring than soccer.
I love baseball. I love the strategies. I love the stats. I love that the difference between a mammoth home run and a harmless pop fly is a quarter inch on the barrel of the bat. You can have a lucky day, but you can't have a lucky career. It's relaxing, it's invigorating, it's heartbreaking. And I can watch it for hours.
In my view, soccer has two big strikes against it. (Strikes!) One, it has ties. There's something very unsatisfying about watching 90 minutes of nothing and coming away with nothing decided. Two, comebacks are a lot harder to come by. A baseball game can turn around in a flash with a three-run homer, but if a soccer team is up two goals in the second half, you know it's over. The leading team can pack the defense and stifle the other team to death.
And in further defense, I humbly offer the data I harvested from this afternoon. While we watched college baseball, the kids were transfixed. Then we switched over to the USA/England soccer match, and Robert wandered off to sketch his 5G phone prototype, and TwoBert face-planted on the couch.
Strike three.
