Sports in United States Since I started to follow sports in United States, I'm impressed on how everything is done to achieve a big spectacle. The rules, format, broadcasting and even stadiums are intended to get the maximum emotion. One element that I love about all sports are the revisions, it make the game more fair and clear. As a fan of soccer, it's frustrating that one of the most popular sports still has to deal with bad calls and an unnecessary uncertainty. The first sport that I watched was basketball. Fortunately, the announcers know that the latin american audience is not a recurrent viewer, so they are used to spend an important time of the transmision explaining the game and the rules. I was astonished when I found out that NBA has economic penalties for what is called "flopping". If this rule were(was?) applied to soccer, a lot of players would need loans to pay for their "acting shows". Another feature that I love is the challenge, because you should have the right to review an important play. I've heard some old-fashion "lovers" of soccer saying that "challenges would take out the escense of soccer". It's sad, they want soccer to stay in the shadows of evitable mistakes. The challenge oportunity that I like the most is the NFL's, the head coach has a red flag and he throws it, it's very graphic: you can see that an statement is made. In addition to the previous characteristics, the way the timer is handled is an important element for a transparent sport. It gives to the game an important quality: suspense. There is nothing as exciting as a "buzzer beater" in the NBA, it's the best of example of the common saying: "Time is gold".