It's natural instinct to always follow the ball, but lately I've been trying to watch great NBA players like LeBron and Wade off the ball to see how they play defense, run around screens, etc..

It's easy to do in basketball, especially when you're at a game, but even on TV because all 10 players are usually on camera.

Football, I've tried to watch lineplay but its gets old fast unless there is a flat out rape taking place like when Osi Umenyora on Winston Justice a few years back.

Baseball, you can't since there's only a few people on the screen at once...If you were at the game, I guess you could watch the left fielder scratch his nuts every two minutes if you wanted to.

Hockey, I can't even find the fucking puck half the time (Bring back the glowing puck FOX) so what little hockey I watch is usually off the puck.

So I think basketball is the only sport where you can really do this consistently...maybe football if you're obsessed with play in the trenches.

5/1/2009 11:33:09 AM

I find that the NBA is almost too quick to not follow the ball since scoring is so rapid, but yeah I do try to look around and see screens developing. It's cool to see how the ball gets rotated to open up a shot.

5/1/2009 11:40:25 AM

Quote :

"Baseball, you can't since there's only a few people on the screen at once...If you were at the game, I guess you could watch the left fielder scratch his nuts every two minutes if you wanted to."

This is the reason baseball on TV sucks.

Over-the-shoulder cam sucks, super-zoom sucks, crowd reactions suck.

Give me the zoomed-out view, I want to see the damn defense, who gives a shit about the Red Sox fan eating a hot dog and holding a stupid sign.

5/1/2009 11:41:19 AM

^ true, but at the same time watching a good breaking ball pitcher on tv is one of my favorite things to watch.

[Edited on May 1, 2009 at 11:46 AM. Reason : oh also, the redsox fan throwing a pizza was fucking awesome.]

5/1/2009 11:44:45 AM

Quote :

"I find that the NBA is almost too quick to not follow the ball since scoring is so rapid"

I agree...although I did find myself watching Ray Allen try to get open last night in the game against Chicago. Dude was all over the place.

5/1/2009 12:10:57 PM

Quote :

"true, but at the same time watching a good breaking ball pitcher on tv is one of my favorite things to watch."

Yeah, I didn't mean one static zoomed-out shot the entire game. Just a quick look at the other 7 guys on the field before every pitch.

And the pizza dude was talked about coming back from a commercial, I think.

My beef is with FOX, which, between pitches, instead of showing the defense or something relevant to the action of the games, shows fucking losers in the crowd.

SHOW THE GAME JOE BUCK

5/1/2009 12:20:55 PM

Quote :

"(Bring back the glowing puck FOX)"

No no no no no no no no no. That goddamn dot was so big you couldn't tell what the hell was happening in scrambles or on tips or half of the time anything interesting was happening.

You should mostly be watching off the puck in a hockey game anyway.

5/1/2009 12:22:10 PM

I think the more you watch hockey the easier it becomes to follow. I guess that could be said for any sport but hockey stands out to me in that way. But when talking about listening on the radio hockey is probably the most difficult to follow because the play calling is so rapid. Once again, I think this becomes easier the longer you listen to hockey on the radio. /2cents

5/1/2009 1:05:29 PM

I would like to see more Behind the Net angles in Hockey. Zoomed out so that you can really see the umbrella and passing develop. It would really be nice during power plays since much of the 2 minutes is spent in the attacking zone.

5/1/2009 1:47:18 PM

hockey was hard for me to watch until i went to a few games. i watch it on tv all the time now. i think HD makes it much easier to watch the puck than before too.

5/1/2009 1:50:47 PM

if you ever go to a Canes game and sit n the 300s, its awesome to watch players off-puck. Always moving and weaving, like bees swarming

5/1/2009 2:00:42 PM

Quote :

"true, but at the same time watching a good breaking ball pitcher on tv is one of my favorite things to watch"

My favorite part of baseball on TV is the catcher. Catchers are the on-field coaches and have to be the smartest player on the team, because they have to know every opposing batter's tendencies enough to call the right pitches. Teams that win a lot of games usually have better catchers. Best example is Jason Varitek, who has caught 4 no hitters (MLB record).

5/2/2009 12:20:49 AM

When I watch soccer, yes.

5/2/2009 7:41:43 AM

with hockey, i learned to watch the sticks instead of the puck...makes it a lot easier

5/2/2009 10:34:01 AM

^^ Wait, you know what. I answered the wrong question, and just realized it.


What I meant to say was:


When watching soccer, I watch the people who are playing off the ball. It's how I actually got really good at soccer and understanding it, as well as playing videogames. There's an absolute beauty in off the ball play in most sports.

5/2/2009 12:14:04 PM

^^

5/2/2009 2:01:55 PM

also the hd TVs help you see the puck

5/2/2009 6:07:31 PM

I like watching the LB's and corners in football. Football is an easy game to do that with I'd say, since the ball movement is relatively short lived

5/2/2009 6:19:08 PM

unless its thrown by jake delhomme

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 6:22 PM. Reason : .]

5/2/2009 6:21:51 PM