In America, our major sports are seasonal. NFL is in the fall, NBA and NHL in the winter, MLB in the summer. Most of these leagues have a regular season of about 6 months and then a playoff; with NFL having the shortest regular season of about 4 months. But in England (and most countries) soccer is played nearly year-round. 10 months typically from August to May. And then often international summer play during the "break". So really, no break at all to be accurate. If your perfect world, during which months would pro soccer in the US be played? Would it more closely align with how our other pro sports are scheduled (ie seasonal and they try to work around each other) or would it more closely align with international scheduling? *Currently MLS is considering moving from a summer-based schedule to a non-summer-based (ie Europe based) and longer/drawn out schedule.
There really isn't a way to shorten the MLS season while still playing a comparable number of games to other leagues. Despite what you're describing as "short" NBA, NHL, and MLB schedules, clubs in those leagues play more games than any club outside the US. No European domestic basketball league plays more than 36 regular-season games, and clubs in the Euroleague have another 34 regular-season games for a maximum of 70. (They also have fewer possible playoff games, even counting both domestic and international competitions.) Outside of the NHL, the KHL plays 68 regular-season games and no other league plays more than 52. Outside of MLB, South Korea plays 144 regular-season games, and otherwise only Japan, Taiwan, and Mexico play more than 100.
I think you're completely missing the point and trying to skirt around the question. In the USA we have traditionally played a different sport based on the season. Did you grow up in USA? Which sports did you watch or play growing up? idk what European basketball has to do with this
I'm saying we've been able to get away with those sports being seasonal because 1) we still have longer seasons than other countries at professional level, and 2) at youth level, in most US sports, we weren't competing with a large international pool of athletes until recently. I'm from Texas. Was in Dubai for elementary school and part of middle school but went to an American school, so I played soccer, basketball, and baseball and also swam competitively while there. Competed in soccer and swimming in high school after moving back to Texas.
What I'm trying to find out is... do you like having a sport each season or do you like watching one sport year round? Can you answer the question There is a big difference. A sport each season - you get to mentally turn off a sport and take a break from it. You get to shift your attention to the next sport, or something entirely different. Some people enjoy the anticipation of the upcoming season as the pre-season months come. There is a rhythm to the sports cycle in American which is different than the rhythm of England et al. Which rhythm do you prefer?
One sport year round for me. I followed multiple sports when I was in high school, but during college I stopped closely following sports other than soccer because I just didn't have the time or brain space for multiple sports. Currently I do watch sports other than soccer if they're in season, but I don't follow any of them closely. I only watch American football if someone else puts it on TV; the only time of year I go out of my way to watch the NBA, MLB, and NHL is during the playoffs, and only if a team from a city I've lived in is still in contention.
A culture that emphasizes more sports is much more fun. Hockey and soccer are my two favorites so scheduling wise MLS in the summer for a large portion of the season and hockey when MLS was winding down worked great for me. I’ve often thought so many cups and competitions in Euro soccer was something difficult to translate to the American sporting culture.
Follow on question - does it matter if you are in a city with a "major league" (mlb, nfl, nhl, nba, mls, sec fb, big10 fb) team whether you follow the sport year round, or just ramp up when the season begins/wind down when the season ends?
I feel like sports being seasonal is a big reason why we have the crazed youth sports complex. Sports being seasonal works for football because you can not play tackle football year around. And while there is 7 on 7, camps, players having personal trainers, etc even now most high level American football players are multi sport athletes. In sports like soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, baseball, hockey, etc the school season is nowhere near enough. These travel teams, club teams, AAU teams, etc exist to make money but they fill a whole we have in youth sports. Anyone from Europe can correct me if I am wrong but, I think whether you play for an academy or grassroots you are playing an August-May season. And even sports like basketball, volleyball and handball I believe it is a similar season structure whether it is academy or grassroots. We see European basketball players and European hockey players doing keepy uppies and such but, I doubt many of them were playing organized soccer after the age of like 12. There is a reason that sports like soccer, hockey and tennis where we are not the dominant force have almost divorced itself from the school sports season.
I don't follow your question. Are you asking essentially if the people in major league cities are more passionate and therefore are glued to all the off season happenings? (ie follow it year round)
Good points. I think also, if you look back at the history of sports in America, it makes sense to have sport for each season. Because it gets super cold in winter and super hot in summer. Even if soccer had taken off in the 1800s, you just couldn't play it in the north east year round. But you could in England and in Brazil. Yes England gets kind of cold but not as cold as Massachussetts even though MA is on a lower latitude. Has to do with ocean currents. Anywho... kids in the late 1800s, early 1900s had to find something else to do in winter time. Baseball was invented first. And those early business people really filled the mind space of America with the sport. Hence why we have 162 game season which would never fly if they were starting today. But back then it was the only pro sport. Football/basketball/baseball also work well together. They are all hand-eye coordination sports. So playing all 3 in high school will only make you better at the other. They reinforce each other. That's why so many damn studs (like Aaron Judge or Tom Brady) did those 3. They all work on legs/quick feet, reacting, running, aiming/throwing, receiving/catching.
Yes, does a fan in Jackson Mississippi follow the Cowboys/Falcons/Saints the same way someone in Dallas/Atlanta/New Orleans does.
Baseball came from the UK, in the UK today its referred to as 'rounders', the earliest reference was in 1744 in a childrens book where it was called Base-Ball. Contrary to belief we don't just play football (soccer) all year round, sports invented in the UK include football (soccer), cricket, rugby, tennis, golf to name but a few and when it comes to 'season's there is a football / rugby season and a cricket season.............it is true however that the football season seems to get ever longer and with Summer tournaments (Euro's, World Cup) every two years it does appear to be almost year round now.
Tackle Football is a modified form of Rugby Union from England. The argument could also be made that it's a cousin of Rugby Union's younger cousin Rugby League, but I digress. On the subject of Rugby Union, it also has a World Cup every 4 years for which the USMNT in that sport just recently qualified. Their group opponents will be France, Japan, and Samoa (the independent country, not American Samoa). Apparenty, the US has a pro league: https://www.majorleague.rugby/ MLR, instead of MLS.
Do you have evidence to back that up? Everything I read says Naismith, who was Canadian, invented basketball while an instructor at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.
No, actually--I read that he thought up the game while still in Canada but didn't write the rules up until moving the US. The first time he organized a game was the game you mention in Springfield--and he found he needed to tweak the rules more at that point. But I can't actually find a source which verifies that. At any rate, it doesn't matter--whether or not he had the idea while still in Canada or not, he actually drew up the rules and taught others how to play it in the US. So I guess my point is kinda moot whether or not I'm remembering correctly.
Naismith himself said while trying to come up with the game in Springfield he remembered playing "duck on a rock" as a kid in Ontario which involved throwing small rocks at a bigger rock sitting on a stump. But I don't find anything saying that he stared developing basketball until he was given the task of creating an indoor winter game. This is typical of what I can find:
And even though American Football is the biggest sport in terms of audience in this country. Basketball, Soccer, and Baseball are probably ahead in terms of participation. A lot of the guys in the NFL's first love was basketball or baseball. Many played multiple sports throughout high school. America does not really have a default sport, and if any sport is the default sport, it is basketball. And if you are a basketball player who has more long-term potential in football, you can transfer it over to football. But, if you are a basketball player who is maybe not tall enough to play at a high level in basketball, you can only transfer it over to soccer if you were already a high-level soccer player.