For most sports fans, it is quite easy to switch to a different sport and still enjoy it, because so many the core fundamentals are the same. The thrills, the spills, the passion and the desire are all there, the only differential is the event and the action. When it comes to US sports, there is a big issue which many in the soccer community have with them. I remember reading a fantastic piece from sports writer Ayden Hector about why this is and how the stop-start nature of US sports is hard to digest for the average soccer fan.
If you are a big fan and you have never been able to really get US sports, here is where you should be starting.
Ice Hockey
With the expiation that it is played on ice, uses a puck and not a ball, and sticks instead of feet, this sport is surprisingly akin to football. This is the best place to start because it is far less stop and start than most other US sports and it has that end to end action of soccer which we all love. The best bit about ice hockey is that the schedule is packed and each week there are games on everyday, perfect for those who love to watch sports.
Basketball
The NBA is a seriously competitive league and this is a fantastic sport to watch which is packed with action. There are so many battles which take place on the court and many different ways to score points too. Much like other US sports there is no team that is always dominant which means that teams can easily drop points from week to week, unless they have Lebron James in their team that is, that’ll pretty much cement a win.
Toss Up Between MLB and NFL
Now most soccer fans are not big fans of baseball, mainly because of the slow nature of the game, and to be honest the simplicity of it with regards to the range of action which could take place. If you fall into that category then you are going to be far better off enjoying the likes of the NFL, which may stop and start a lot but at the very least is eventful and packed with action. This is really going to be a toss up between football and baseball and it will eventually come down to personal preference and how patient you.
The best bet for any fan who doesn’t want to watch a million commercials when they are trying to enjoy their new found sport, is to record the game and then start watching it around half time. This should give you enough advance to fast forward through all of the stoppages and to instead focus on the action, and you should be able to finish the game at more or less the same time so that you can avoid someone ruining the score and the result for you.
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