Why Does Ice Hockey Tolerate Fighting?

[PrivateTim]

But those were exceptions to the norm. Playing basketball, guys are constantly throwing elbows down in the paint and there is a lot of pushing and shoving all the time. Nothing near the amount of physical contact that happens in basketball happens in soccer. I played soccer up until fourth grade (then I switched to football), and I also played basketball until 7th grade. Even at the fourth grade level, it was still pretty physical, and none of that ever happened in soccer except for the occasional accident.

 

Not sure that 4th grade soccer is the same as Division 1 in Germany, England, Spain, etc.

 

Basketball is pushing, like girls do. An elbow swung and connected is usually an ejection or a fight starter, you don't see them very often. Soccer has much more severe physical contact because it usually happens at top speeds with lots of room to run. Every corner kick. even at lower levels like a top high school or college game, is closer to a wrestling match than 'futbol'.

 

A clean violent collision in soccer is just that, a clean violent collision. Every clean violent collision in basketball is a foul, usually flagrant or intentional, drawing a stiffer penalty. You can compare the low post in basketball to soccer, it isn't even a close call.

[TetRefine]

Not sure that 4th grade soccer is the same as Division 1 in Germany, England, Spain, etc.

 

Basketball is pushing, like girls do. An elbow swung and connected is usually an ejection or a fight starter, you don't see them very often. Soccer has much more severe physical contact because it usually happens at top speeds with lots of room to run. Every corner kick. even at lower levels like a top high school or college game, is closer to a wrestling match than 'futbol'.

 

A clean violent collision in soccer is just that, a clean violent collision. Every clean violent collision in basketball is a foul, usually flagrant or intentional, drawing a stiffer penalty. You can compare the low post in basketball to soccer, it isn't even a close call.

 

We will agree to disagree then.

[BlueSoxSWJ]

I wondered whether this was happening. If it's part of the 'rules', teams will try to use it to gain an advantage. We have a situation in Aussie Rules football where a team will sometimes deliberately score a point for the other team... because it gives them controlled possession, and reduces the risk of a goal (worth six points) from being scored by the opposing team. It's a case of using the rules to maximise the benefit to the team.

 

I don't know where you get your 128 timeouts per game of basketball from, though, unless you're counting every time where a player doesn't have to be actively involved in the game. If you count it that way, then I suspect hockey has more than one timeout per game

 

128 was indeed sarcasm. In actuality in the NBA, each team gets 7 timeouts 8 timeouts for regulation, one of which can carry into overtime, where teams each get 3 more per overtime. That means, in an NBA overtime, 5 minutes of play can be interrupted by 8 timeouts. In hockey playoffs, not only do teams usually not have any timeouts for overtime (since, by definition, the game was close in the third and both coaches probably already used them), but they also eliminate the TV timeouts, so you get 20 minutes of action, usually with no breaks (unless, of course, someone scores).

 

In the regular season, when overtime happens after a 60 second break after the third and is limited to 5 minutes, after which the game goes to a shootout, it's very, very rare for a game to approach the 3 hour mark. Of course, in the playoffs, failing to grab dinner before the game automatically guarantees at least a double overtime game, and the concession stands will obviously run out of food by the time you cave and decide you can't wait any longer for something to eat.

 

edit: in the nba, each team gets 2 20-second timeouts, 1 per half, so they get 8, not 7, timeouts for regulation.

Edited June 9, 2011 by BlueSoxSWJ