Rather then dumb down Idaho Sports Talk, I will dumb down this blog. At least you only have to consider one persons opinion on the obvious. And it will only take a minute not an hour. The debate is: which sport offers the toughest playing surface?
Basketball and hockey have consistent surfaces arena to arena. Both are indoors and the dimensions are standard. I rarely hear of complaints about the courts or ice and the only variable is the atmosphere of the place.
Football has standard dimensions that do not change but can either be grass or turf and play day or night. The weather plays a part as well in football with sun, rain, snow,wind and humidity all playing factors in outcomes. Football rarely cancels a game due to weather and can be treacherous. The Ice Bowl between Green Bay and Dallas in 1967 was -48 wind chill. We have all seen 100 degree games with 80% humidity in the south.
Baseball leaves the dimensions of stadiums up to the locals. Very tough. Higher fences, further fences, and closer fences all make baseball very unique. As long as the distance from home base to the nearest fence is 250 feet they are OK unless it is the foul lines and that has to be 320 feet or more. 400 feet to center is about average as well.
I declare baseball the winner of the four major sports. But, other sports offer variety as well.
Tennis has common dimensions but very different surfaces in clay, grass and hard court. At the first spit of rain though, tennis is cancelled. Soccer has standard dimensions like football but I don't recall much soccer in the snow. Horse tracks all vary in length with the Preakness being the shortest followed by the Derby and the longest and most difficult the Belmont. While the horses will run in mud they don't in any cold weather but the surfaces do vary from grass, dirt and artificial.
Golf may be craziest of all. yes its played on grass and the bunkers have sand but that's about it. Length of holes, fairway width and greens slope ratings make it a roller coaster ride for golfers around the PGA tour. if that were not enough, the rules allow for the movement of the holes from day to day during tournament play. Length of grass in rough areas, tee box placement and watering all make the course more difficult.
Golf is the winner here and overall. It is usually the Golfers vs the Course. Where else does that happen?
