What is the true "game of inches"?

[PoppyHart]

Premise:
Every sport/game appears to employ the cliche "it's a game of inches"

So, which sport really is most affected by 1-2 inches (certainly not any greater distance like 10-11 inches). In other words, which sport's outcome changes the most by such razor thin margins?

The Contenders:
Let's limit the discussion to these endeavors
Baseball
Basketball
Football
Soccer
Hockey
Golf
Tennis

I think you can make a legitimate claim that every sport is greatly impacted, and thus the cliche has merit. But I think 2-3 are more prominent in their dependence on such minor variations.

 

[donniesyracuse]

It's a tough one, but I'll vote for baseball. The distance and trajectory of a batted ball can change dramatically with just a fraction of an inch difference in where on the bat the ball hits. I guess this is true for golf as well, but I think it's even more amazing in baseball because pitches are often traveling at speeds higher than 90 mph.

 

[Toga]

Al Pacino

 

[OrangeXtreme]

For a few more inches, we could all be porn stars.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

The one you and the missus play?

 

[Noexcuse]

Al Pacino

 

[longislandcuse]

Ive watched this about 500 times and it never gets old.

 

[PoppyHart]

Fascinating feedback.

I voted for golf and baseball. The former because scores would significantly fall if the cup was enlarged. Baseball b/c balls and strikes are often coinflips. Tennis, similarly has a lot of reviewable lines calls.

I think an argument could be made for soccer and hockey b/c scoring is no rare (esp. in soccer) that balls no longer hitting the posts would significantly alter the outcome.

Football, I think, is the least affected, but close calls certainly occur with frequency.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I know you said to limit the discussion to the ones you listed, but no bowling? It's one of those quasi-sports (truly is more of a skill than a sport) but to say that isn't a true "game of inches" is missing the point of the discussion.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I know you said to limit the discussion to the ones you listed, but no bowling? It's one of those quasi-sports (truly is more of a skill than a sport) but to say that isn't a true "game of inches" is missing the point of the discussion.

If we are including bowling, than I think you could include billiards and darts. Both are games of fragments of an inch.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

If we are including bowling, than I think you could include billiards and darts. Both are games of fragments of an inch.

I considered both of those as well. But bowling, at least when I was growing up, had a pretty big following on TV and most of the kids I knew played it regularly. That's why I went with it over the others.

But to my earlier point, I see those others as skill sports as well.

 

[BlazeOrange]

I started to use the "multiple votes allowed" feature, but soon realized my poll answer would be meaningless as I picked everything except basketball and soccer, then decided hoops should count too. So I broke it into a top three in a couple categories:

Scoring - based approximate % of scores that are affected by a very small margin:
1) Golf; 2) Hockey; 3) Football
The others each have some scores that are very close, but many more that the small variation doesn't matter (e.g., upper deck home runs, spiking a lob). Golf wins by a longshot here, followed by hockey (small area to get by a moving goalie). Picked football (goal line situations and close field goals) over basketball due to degree of difficulty, even though a couple inches off could clang off the rim. Could easily go the other way.

Boundaries - based on how often the game changes due to out of bounds/offsides/etc.:
1) Tennis; 2) Football; 3) Baseball
Another runaway #1, tennis has hi-tech replays that are often used. Football has players barely stepping out of bounds, plus the yardage markers. Baseball has HRs barely clearing the fence, but more importantly, fair/foul balls. Also considered hockey due to the blue line. For the other sports, when the ball goes out of bounds, it is generally way out.

Wins/losses - this is the root of the poll and all sports have had close games where one key play could've changed things. So I just thought of historic game-deciding clips:
1)Football (field goals, diving catches, powering into endzone or being stuffed); 2) Golf (eagles, amazing putts, ball barely trickling off green into hazard); 3) Basketball (buzzer beaters)
It's not on the list, but most Olympic-type sports would take this category - races, jumping events, etc.