Like many people I have conflicted views on sport. While I love playing and using my body in ways that (as a nerd) it wouldn’t normally get used, I hate the sinking feeling that I am invading a space that doesn’t belong to me and my kind.

That being said I think that sport is a magnificent way for people to keep in shape and use their bodies. But what is the best one. To help us decide I have decided on a few key factors.

Flow

This means how often is the game interrupted. This is affected by penalties, injuries or other factors. A game like American football with its seemingly endless battle for field advantage and its swopping of teams would not score very highly on this level while ice hockey that allows play behind the opponents goal would.

External factors like weather should only be added after internal factors have been considered.

Speed

The best way to understand speed is to look at what kind of running builds health. The full on sprint may be great for track but what is its value to a rugby or baseball player that has to change direction and practice hand eye coordination.

Playing the man or the ball

This is a tough one. In certain sports like American football playing the man is integral strategy while in soccer, while it is allowed to mark a  player, the game is focused on the ball.

Economy

This is perhaps the most important factor for the success of any sport. How many pieces does it take to play the game, are substitutes available and what are the field dimensions of a game. It is useful to consider a street as the lowest common field. Can your favourite game be played there and how many items would you have to have.

I think these are some of the reasons why soccer is the world’s favourite sport. It is suited to being played in the street since diving is an extraordinary event. The game has a simple goal rule with offside laws that are discarded when needed. Also a gola can be made out of anything, shoes, bricks or just stones. Unlike hockey, or cricket, all you need for a nice little game of street ball is any size ball that can be manipulated by the feet.