by Andrew Nishimoto

Created on: January 22, 2009

The question of what is the best sport can be argued till we all die and there will never be a conclusive answer. With that said, I will try to show why some sports are better than others. First off, swimming, poker, Badminton, horse racing, ping pong, and golf are not sports. Some may classify sports as an activity of skill that involves or can involve competition, but in the case anything can be a sport. My classification is anything that takes skill, involves competition, makes you sweat, and is actually enjoyable to watch as a spectator. I guess that rules out Nascar as well. How I rank the different sports comes from not just the sport, but how it effects culture. I also believe that one sport can be better at a certain time and worse at another. For example, in a year when a World Series game gets rain delayed and seems virtually unimportant, baseball will fall farther down the list. Or, when Michael Jordan was in his prime and no sport could compare to basketball and the greatness it bestowed. With all that said I will now list the top five sports for 2008-2009 and the reasons they are where they are:

#5- Rugby- Rugby and Cricket were both pushing for this fifth spot and that was only because I couldn't bring myself to put hockey in the top five. Both rugby and cricket are incredible games to watch, once you understand the rules and they both are rigourous and competitive. (I couldn't put hockey because it's hockey and nobody likes hockey right?)

#4- Soccer- If I lived anywhere besides the United States I am sure Soccer would not only move up, but be the number one choice. Unfortunately the soccer craze has not reached the United States and so we miss out from taking part in the soccer gangs (Green Street Hooligans) and the fanatic fans. Plus, our players just aren't as good. We are the the Europe league of basketball for soccer.

#3- Baseball- The World Series was horrible...Baseball is taking a plunge; partly due to the fact that "America's Pastime" is and always was boring and partly because of all the steroid accusations. Deep down I hope this sport can turn it around and once again dominate all sports in America, but it seems like our economy will get better before baseball.

#2- Football- This number is a bit optimistic. If the Cardinals win the Super Bowl then it is a great Cinderella story and the sports world will love it. If instead they get blown out by the Steelers, this Super Bowl will be forgotten and the fallen stars like the Cowboys and the Redskins will be blamed for a horrible Super Bowl.

#1-Basketball- With four teams dominating the field, all with their perspective super stars, this sport is rising and can't be stopped. With so many talented teams and at least one great team in both the east and the west the whole season, post season all the way up and into the finals look to be spectacular and one that we will remember for long long time.

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