I understand this all comes down to personal preferences. I enjoy making and listening to bluegrass music, which I imagine many of you would consider torture. But last night, for whatever reason, my wife decided she wanted to watch the Bears-Packers game. We lasted maybe 35 minutes (which was maybe 7-8 minutes of playing time) before turning it off. We saw from a couple of minutes left in the 1st qtr to halfway through the second.
Our main problem was the tremendous amount of dead time, with lots of ads (many of which seemed different than ads we see in different shows.) The nattering of the commentators and the spewing of stats did not engage these casual viewers. Then there was just a lot of just standing around in between bursts of action.
Also off-putting was the “posturing” by the players. Our personal tastes are not attracted to that sort of celebration and posing. The appearance and demeanor of many of the players was not something these 2 old fogeys were inclined to appreciate.
Final observation - for whatever reason, the fidelity on Prime was worse than broadcast Fox. Any idea why that was?
If I were to watch more football, I would have to do it on time delay, so I could FF past the deadtime. I understand the end was exciting. I just couldn’t imagine sitting through 2+ hrs to get there. And, at the point we turned it off, it looked like a boring movie I would have walked out of. I note that up until the year after the Bears’ Superbowl win, I was a pro (and previously college) fan. And somewhat later I was a pro and college hoops fan. But not for the past couple of decades.
Not trying to yuck anyone’s yum, or saying my entertainment preferences are better than anyone else’s. Just curious about the appeal.
I gave up on football back in the '70s. I was a Vikings fan for some reason, but the game was so tediously long (even worse than now) that boredom finally became my overriding response to it. My oldest son is a rabid Packers fan and goes on about it until I want to choke him.
It may be possible to age out of tolerance for watching sports on TV.
I can’t remember the last time I sat through an entire contest (not just football) rather than watching much shorter segments or just catching up on scores/highlights later. My tolerance for announcers has also declined to the point where I mute annoying/raspy voices and over-excited types that try to make something out of nothing or are more interested in players’ SOs or Wonderful Community Service than what’s happening on the field.
Might well be the crabbiness of encroaching age. “Encroachment: Penalty: 5 yards and loss of interest.”
There is a school at the end of the block where the local HS girls’ softball team plays. Neither of us is at all a fan of baseball, but we periodically walk down with the dog and watch a few innings. The game MOVES ALONG, without the constant stop and start we saw last night.
I can actually recall when I stopped watching the Bears on TV. IIRC, it was the year after the SB win. IIRC they were playing the Giants. It was a beautiful fall day, and for whatever reason my attention shifted that, instead of the action, I focussed on all of the standing around. And then I started thinking, “Why am I sitting inside, watching TV, instead of doing ANYTHING outside on this beautiful Sunday afternoon?” Arriving at that perception seemingly switched a switch in me.
I used to be a huge Bulls fan - and college hoops. Bought the pre-season mags. COmplained that the pre-season games were not televised. Likely having kids made me more aware of how I spend my time/attention.
The limited sport I watch on TV - pro golf and the Chicago marathon, the participants display none of the posturing I perceived som much of in football. Nor do the bluegrass/oldtime/classical musicians I see beat their chests or stroke poses. Does that practice by football players appeal to most fans?
Another thing that keeps me from cheering for a team is not wanting to pin my emotions on someone else’s performance. Maybe I’m insecure or something, but I don’t enjoy the stress of really caring whether one team wins or loses. And however good I might feel should “my” team win, I don’t want to put myself into situations where I will feel bad should they lose.
The commercials appear of greater focus than the sport. But both are all about the money - commercials, the gambling . . . Seldom are teams allowed to develop & build anymore. If there isn’t instant success, players & coaches are gone.
It isn’t only sports. It always confounds me that when I happen to hear the entertainment portion of evening news and they speak of the top films, it’s always which film made the most money, not which film is rated for best performances, story line etc. It’s the world we live in, driven first by greed.
One is real things happening to pretend people; the other is pretend things happening to real people. In both cases, your strong emotions as a spectator come from pretending it matters what happens.
I don’t know what to say. You either like it or you don’t. Two very enjoyable games yesterday. If you didn’t enjoy them then you don’t like watching football and that’s ok.
I was trying to craft a detailed response to the OP, but this states it much more elegantly than I could have.
However, I’m in agreement with some of the points in the OP. I also hate the posturing by the players, like when a receiver makes a catch for a first down or a defensive back breaks up a pass. That’s your job, dammit!
There are far too many commercials these days, but that’s never going to change. I’ve also found that if I don’t like the set of announcers for a particular game, the mute button works wonders.
I am not a team sports person, I am not a football fan AT ALL. I don’t understand it. It’s boring, not much happens, and I can’t see the ball. However. I am a Chicagoan. I am a fair weather Bears fan. But I will watch a game if it’s a great rivalry like the Packers. I watched the first half of last night’s game but fell asleep. It’s not the game itself I’m interested in. It’s the excitement, part of being something bigger than myself, part of being a crowd.
I love watching football, but I need something else to do during commercial breaks and the many other dead times. Sometimes that’s cooking, sometimes reading, sometimes a computer game, etc.
For someone rooting for the Bears the first half was not good watching.
The Bears were losing 21-3 at the half. The Bears were losing 21-6 after 2 quarters. The Bears won 31-27. It was about as exciting a football game as you could have.
That’s why sports bars do such good business during games. Food, drink, and good company account for 80% of the enjoyment which not coincidentally is the same portion of the broadcast that isn’t actual play time.
I’m not much of a fan of football. If the Packers are not involved it is VERY unlikely to watch.
I didn’t watch most of last night. I parodically checked the twitch stream and if the Packers were on offense of the Bears were on 3rd down I’d watch a bit (until the Packer’s scored/punted/kicked a FG or the Bears got a 1st down)
When I do watch on TV, I usually have my iPad, and will be surfing the net during ads or slow sections. Sometimes I do chores.