Football 4 - Hockey 0

I can't exactly explain it, but I love watching football. Not the athletic equivalent of the Somme that North Americans call football, but the elegant ebbing and flowing game which we refer to as "soccer". In fact, I love watching the game so much that I have already watched more football games this season (4) than I watched hockey games (0).

Like most North Americans, I grew up thinking that soccer is a bit of silly sport because of the lack of scoring. Over the past few years, however, I have grown to appreciate the game. It has the tidal rhythm of baseball, but the players stay on the field for 90 minutes or more. There is a constant flow between the ends that basketball enjoys, but none of the profligate, almost promiscuous scoring of basketball. Best of all, there is none of the senseless violence of rugby, North American football, or hockey.

I have to confess that I am one of those Canadians who hates it when people defend fighting and violent physical contact as "part of the game". It may be the fact that I never played the game and have thus never developed a sense of blood lust, but I really don't understand why it is necessary to stop the game so that goons with the ability to throw punches whilst balancing on ice skates duke it out while the crowd goes wild.

I got to watch the first game of the Euro 2008 tournament today, an exciting and hard-fought match between Portugal and Turkey. There was plenty of physical contact without anyone finding the need to throw punches. Then again, these fellows are running up and down the field for 90 minutes, so they don't have time to waste on things like brawling.