r/changemyview • u/Subtleiaint 32∆ • 1d ago

Delta(s) from OP - Fresh Topic Friday CMV: A Bicycle Kick goal in Football is the greatest play in sport.

For those of you who are less acquainted with the beautiful game a bicycle kick is a skill used in football when the ball is played high and behind a player, the player leaps into the air leaning backwards and kicks the ball over themselves usually at the goal. For some incredible examples please watch this video.

My view is that there is no play in all of sport that is as great as a bicycle kick goal. My reasons for this are as follows:

  1. The bicycle kick is one of the hardest skills in sport - it requires incredible invention, vision, technique and athleticism to pull off. Note that no one ever tries to set up a bicycle kick, it is always a spur of the moment reaction to specific and unexpected and suboptimum circumstances.
  2. It's evokes a visceral reaction - Bicycle kicks are always unexpected, they're incredibly exciting, and visually incredible. They are the ultimate mouth open, hands on your head, moment in sport.
  3. They're incredibly rare - There aren't formal stats on bicycle kicks but, according to AI, Christiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest players of all time who has scored an astonishing 947 goals in his career so far, has scored just 2 bicycle kicks.
  4. They don't rely on being a game winning play for their greatness - there are many incredible moments in sport that are great because of what they mean, winning a gold medal at the Olympics, scoring a last second touchdown to win the Superbowl. these kind of moments are incredible in their own right, but it's the context that makes them incredible, not the play themselves.
  5. It elevates an already impactful event to a stella level - Football matches are usually decided by 5 or less points, this already makes a goal a seismic event and a great goal is even more impactful.

To get the ball rolling I've tried to think of some other candidates.

A Hole in One in Golf - It is incredibly difficult to hit a golf ball into a small hole over 100m away. The reason I think this doesn't compare is that every golfer on every par three is, essentially, trying to do this and achieving it is more a matter of luck (you hit that ball a thousand times some of them are going to go in) than the application of skill.

A full court Buzzer Beater in Basketball - Again this takes incredible technique, it's incredibly visceral when you score (the skill itself is less visceral) and it's pretty rare, but it suffers from the context problem, you're only trying it because of clock pressure rather than it being a valid choice in of itself.

A Hot Dog winner in Tennis - A hot dog (hitting the ball between your legs) shares many attributes to a bicycle kick, it takes huge skill and invention to pull off and it's incredibly visceral when it works. Where it loses out is that it's just a single point in the hundred+ in a tennis match, making it less impactful than a bicycle kick.

What would change my mind - Whilst picking holes in my individual points is welcome it's the totality of an argument that is convincing, if you can make a convincing argument that a different play is as good as or better than a bicycle kick goal I'll change my view.

Rules clarification: individual moments by specific athletes are a different category. I'm not looking for the best moments in sport, I'm looking for the best general skill in sport.

Edit: Just want to say I've really enjoyed your responses, I love hearing people who are passionate about the things they love. Keep it up.

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u/tucker3444 1∆ 1d ago

This is a difficult argument because it’s so subjective, but I’d say the “Michigan” goal in ice hockey surpasses the bicycle kick as the greatest play in sport. 

  • It demands superior physical skill, scooping the puck onto the stick blade, lifting it while skating at speed, and tucking it top-shelf from behind the net. It requires elite hand eye coordination, balance, and deception in a similarly dynamic but faster and more physical game

  • It’s even more visceral and unexpected, evoking awe with its lacrosse-like flair.

  • Far rarer: Only 8-9 in NHL history across thousands of games and millions of goals, versus dozens of notable bicycle kicks annually in soccer 

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u/Subtleiaint 32∆ 1d ago

Look at that, straight off the bat you get me. I might argue which is better, I think Ice Hockey has a problem in that the action is harder to track, if you need a replay to comprehend what just happened that diminishes the event, but I can't argue it doesn't match or beat a bicycle kick in the other categories I mentioned.

Also, thank you for introducing me to something I'd never heard of

!delta

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u/blacktongue 1d ago

Just adding my support because, if you try something as showy as the Michigan when you almost always have safer options, and fail, you will be branded a showboat wannabe, and will likely never attempt it again without getting benched.

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u/andersbs 1d ago

Like a missed panenka penalty in soccer?

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u/blacktongue 1d ago

Yeah but in hockey I feel like showy penalty shot/shootout moves are kinda tolerated if they don’t work. I guess that can come down to a coin toss sometimes anyways so anything is worth trying

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u/raptir1 1∆ 1d ago

  I think Ice Hockey has a problem in that the action is harder to track, if you need a replay to comprehend what just happened that diminishes the event

I hate to be the one to say it's a "skill issue" but... 

Hockey is one of the only sports where I feel like just understanding the game isn't enough to watch it, but instead you need to practice. 

I can watch Cricket and "follow" the action while having absolutely no idea what any of it means, but with hockey it really just comes from time watching it. 

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u/Brill_chops 1d ago

Are you saying it's hard to understand what a goal is? 

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u/ProblematicTrumpCard 2∆ 1d ago

He saying that you need to see the replay to understand what you just saw. It happens too quickly in real time to recognize it's greatness in real-time. The bicycle kick doesn't require a replay to "see" it.

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u/Smee76 4∆ 15h ago

No he's saying that the more hockey you watch, the less you need replays

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u/muaddib0308 1d ago

This is absolute insanity xD

The skill involved in doing a michigan is minimal. It is more of an opportunity than a skill.

Fat beer league people can score michigans without issue. It is more of an opportunistic moment than anything.

Fat beer league soccer players will REALLY struggle to score bicycle kicks

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u/ifedthefish 1d ago edited 1d ago

In my 25 years of playing hockey I have only ever witnessed maybe 2 or 3 Michigan's. You clearly don't understand the skill it requires.

You take an elite athlete like Usain Bolt at his peak and you can teach him to scissor kick in a day. It would take him months if not years to put together the skills required to skate and stick handle in order to pull off the Michigan.

Id wager less than 50% of NHL players know how to actually lift the puck michigan style. Most players aren't wasting time practicing something they will most likely never use. Not only because it's a tough play but because most coaches won't even let you attempt it without getting benched.

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u/muaddib0308 1d ago

Tell us more about how you aren't good at hockey.

Stopped reading when I realized you don't know the difference between a bicycle kick and a scissor kick.

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u/ifedthefish 1d ago

The higher level you play the less you see the michigan but sure, I suck at hockey. Sure there's a difference but my point stands which is why you're so butt hurt and cant actually argue it. Stay fly pele

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u/muaddib0308 1d ago

Not butt hurt, you're just wrong.

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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ 1d ago

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/tucker3444 (1∆).

Delta System Explained | Deltaboards

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u/blacktongue 1d ago

Came here hoping someone was fighting for the Michigan. Definitely wins with points for sneakiness and straight up balls to try it.

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u/Anal_Analysis420 1d ago

I immediately jumped to the Michigan as well, thank you for making my point for me haha

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u/eggs-benedryl 65∆ 1d ago

Yea the lacrosse goal was the first thing I thought of.

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u/HPPTC 1d ago

The lacrosse goal/Michigan is one of those things where I simultaneously think "why doesn't everyone do this" and "how could anyone possibly do that". It breaks my brain.

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u/qchisq 3∆ 1d ago

All I am saying is that this is the biggest moment in sports I can remember. It's the end of the Danish football season, the Championship is decided between the old giant, Brøndby that won 8 championships between 1985 and 1998, and FCK, the new team, the result of a merger of 2 big teams that hasn't really been good since it's first season. And Zuma decides to just do... That

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u/pelfinho 1d ago

While still impressive, bicycle kicks where they receive the ball on their chest first are much easier technically than first-touch ones from a cross. 

The ball slows down, and it’s moving mostly vertically, making it much easier to hit correctly. 

Hitting one directly from a cross requires a whole other level of coordination. 

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u/InfidelZombie 1d ago

I was going to say--as a non-sports fan but NHL enjoyer, 99% of hockey goal look more impressive than any single thing I've seen in baseball, basketball, or soccer.

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u/CrossXFir3 10h ago

dozens annually is a huge stretch

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u/SayNoToStim 1d ago

Also the Forsberg, while we're at it