Buffdog
Registered User
- Feb 13, 2019
- 9,456
- 23,476
I love watching soccer, but I fully admit that i don't have the same understanding of what I'm watching as someone who has played or coached at a high level. Same with American football, etc.No, apparently I did not know what you meant. I took it as written. Sorry if I misunderstood.
I can't agree with your last paragraph either. I agree that there is a range of skill among observers here. I certainly don't include myself among the best. But I understand what I am watching. And the tables and spreadsheets have helped me be a better observer. But I still understand my eye-test better than I understand many of the spreadsheets. I grasp some of them but I don't have the background in math to be able to get deeply into the subject. There are a few that I suspect are just not very good, not reliably predictive. But that is my opinion and I am not equipped to defend it so I just ignore those.
I don't think there is a substantial number of posters here who would fit those in that last paragraph of yours. There might be a few. There might be none. And I don't accept that you need to have played the game in order to watch it intelligently.
I like to strum my guitar but I don't understand music like a professional musician
I'm curious why I'd be OK admitting that but people get defensive when I bring it up about hockey. There's no shame it it... I played moderately high level, I hold advanced coaching and officiating certs... but I still admit that I'm not always fully aware of the entirety of what's happening in an NHL game