You’ve got to be kidding. Two problems with this statement:
College football players aren’t as good as NFL players. This probably seems like a bonehead observation, but it makes a world of difference when you watch a game. An NFL game, even between mediocre teams, is an amazing thing to watch… if you’re actually watching. The high scoring, fast-paced games that people like in college football often are the result of sloppy play. To me, watching a sloppy game isn’t fun, it’s frustrating. I can go down the street and watch the neighbors’ kids play a sloppy game, or I can run up to Baltimore and play in my own. The NFL has it all over the NCAA.
College basketball blows the NCAA away. You could probably make the above argument about basketball too, but I don’t know basketball the way I do football. I don’t even like basketball much. I can go an entire NBA season without watching a game (or even knowing it’s being played), but I’ll park myself in fron of the TV come March Madness.
And I love to watch lacrosse. The only thing I know about the sport is that I can’t play it, but my brother always did, and I used to love going to his games.
Enginerd: I meant that college football is much more watchable than pro ball. And March Madness is infinitely more exciting than the NBA playoffs, but I just happen to dislike basketball all together.
I’d like to amend my previous post. Baseball is my favorite sport, in every aspect. But, sometimes, the WS can be a little boring, especially if the two teams are ones I couldn’t care less about. Soccer’s World Cup is always exciting though, no matter who’s playing (IMO).
Ok, one question: What is “pro beach hockey?” I’m trying to picture Yzerman passing to Shanahan on the sand, with palm trees as the goal posts…and I tell ya it just ain’t happening.
[ul]
[li]Hockey. The one sport I’ll watch anytime, regardless of what level or who is playing.[/li]
[li]Football. Not as good as hockey, but I’ll watch almost any NFL game. I watch important college games. I’ll watch indoor football if there’s nothing else on.[/li]
[li]Indoor Soccer. I probably like it because it closely resembles hockey.[/li]
[li]Baseball. I no longer watch much Major League Baseball–only the postseason. But I’ve attended pro baseball games from the World Series down to Double-A (including last night), and I’ve observed that the lower the level the more fun it is.[/li]
[li]Basketball. I ignore the WNBA completely, and I only watch the NBA during the Finals. I’ll watch March Madness for the NCAA, both men’s and women’s.[/li]
[li]I’ll also take a look in on Rugby and Australian Rules Football if I come across them.[/li]
[li]I’ll occasionally watch Boxing (free TV only), if I’m in the mood two watch two people pound the snot out of each other. (See also Rugby and Australian Rules Football.)[/li][/ul]
Sports I don’t watch
[ul]
[li]Golf. I find it about as exciting as watching paint dry, and the drying paint isn’t interrupted by commercials.[/li]
[li]Auto Racing. It’s only entertaining if something bad happens to somebody.[/li]
[li]Tennis. Back…and forth…and back…and forth…and who…cares…[/li]
[li]Soccer (traditional). Same as with tennis–they run up the field, they run down the field–but less scoring.[/li][/ul]
All other sports I ignore. Poker, fishing, shooting, chess–these are things that I myself will participate in, but I’m not gonna watch other people do it.
I will gladly agree that bowling is generally unwatchable (I can only watch people I know bowl),but to say that bowling doesn’t require enough physical strength to be a sport tells me that your only exposure has been to recreational bowling
and the slow paced TV finals.Before they get to those TV finals,they bowl 48 games over 3 days ( plus practice) at a much faster pace than you see on TV. I bowled 40 games over 4 days in a tournament ( not professional)last month. By the third day,physically, I was a mess (bleeding thumb, friction burns on my fingers,sore arm,back,and legs}. Bowling requires at least as much physical strength as golf.
Soccer is quite enjoyable to watch. The World Cup Final is always watched by far more people than watch the Super Bowl. The trouble with most people in this country watching soccer is 1) they don’t know a good play from a bad play (no tactical or technical understanding) and 2) they don’t have anyone to root for. Go stand in the Kop (ok, you have to sit these days after the Heysel disaster, but it’s the same idea) and tell me that Liverpool supporters aren’t really having fun watching their team beat Everton. I always have more fun watching the Packers than the Jets for the same reason.
From a Televised standpoint, however, American football has a couple of advantages. First, its plays are discreet packages, with dead time in between to allow for numerous replays and endless analysis. You don’t have to keep your eyes glued to the set lest you miss the crucial score. Soccer (and to a lesser extent hockey) suffer the opposite difficulty; continuous play with little time for attention wavering. (Soccer joke: wanna make your team score? Go to the bathroom). Second, a ‘good’ play is easily measured, because there are short term goals other than just scoring, and where you are on the field is very important.
But you’ll notice the European version of the NFL isn’t exactly setting the place on fire.
PowerpuffKue, I cast thee out! May your sacriligious tongue be burned with scalding hot nacho cheese and your heathen body be cut by a thousand empty Budweiser cans!
Well, actually, I agree with most else of what you said… but NO! I will not let your glib forked tongue confuse me. You must burn with all the others who dare insult football, the most glorious of all televised sports.
Well, either I’m way too easily entertained, or I like sports too much…
Actually, I used to dislike a lot of sports, but found them infinately more entertaining the more I understood them. This was ESPECIALLY true of hockey, soccer, and NASCAR. (Lack of ignorance is a wonderful thing, and isn’t that what we’re all about here?)
Instead of listing sports I enjoy watching… (practically all of them)… here is Screeme’s list of sports to avoid…
*Rhythmic Gymnastics, or whatever its called… (not regular gymnastics, but the one where they prance about with big objects)
*Bowling
*Regular season NBA (Just not basketball until the playoffs start)
*Baseball on TV (I LOVE Baseball… but something happens in the translation… go to a ballpark, WONDERFUL game. See it on TV, zzzzz)
*Billiards
*Chess-- I actually saw a Chess tournament late on ESPN before with one of the funniest TV moments I’ve ever seen. The announcers were speaking in hushed golf type voices, when one of the players shifted positions in his chair. The announcers got REALLY excited all of a sudden, practically screaming, “KASPAROV SHIFTED! HE SHIFTED IN HIS SEAT! HE MUST REALLY BE IN TROUBLE NOW! I CAN’T BELIEVE HE LOST HIS COMPOSURE LIKE THAT! OH MY GOODNESS!” I was ROLLING on the floor laughing.
Just be glad that the network didn’t come up with super slo-mo footage replaying the last time that Kasparov shifted.
Or that they don’t have “ass cam”.
Seriously, I used to play Chess and still enjoy playing a game now and again. But play at the master and grandmaster level proceeds at far too slow a pace to keep anyone who isn’t a fanatic about Chess entertained. And since Chess players don’t in fact tend to be very animated, the effect is probably as exciting as watching paint dry.
I enjoy watching baseball, football, basketball and hockey, myself. Occasionally tennis. Poker is interesting, but I can’t really liken that to watching sports.
Baseball on TV??? BLLLLEEEEECHHHHHHHHHHH. IRL, however, it’s killer. Baseball cannot be experienced properly when either in one’s living room or in an inside stadium - it must be played outdoors on grass. F**k the Metrodome.
Ditto for hockey - I’ve tried, but simply can’t figure out what’s happening when I watch it on TV. Even as a neophyte in the nosebleed seats at Cap Center I could follow the action on the ice; hockey is too complex to lend itself to the boob tube.
Ditto, again, for volleyball - who the HELL produces these things? Do they really think that we know what’s going on when the camera is BEHIND the serving line?
Basketball I really couldn’t care less about, but I really get into it when I’m actually in the arena.
Football in real life stinks. It’s much better on TV.
While I appreciate it and follow the scores, soccer doesn’t thrill me either way.
Hell, I’ll watch just about any sport that’s on TV. As for bowling…pool…poker…those are games, not sports…but if I’m really bored, I’ll watch them, too.
Hockey Rocks!!
Football is next, although, when you think about it, it’s slower than baseball.
Baseball.
(BTW, bad officiating kills all of the above)
Horse Racing (the actual two minute event, not all the useless hype beforehand).
OTOH, what could possibly be more repetitious than bowling and NASCAR?
…and basketball: Take the ball down the court, make a basket. Crowd cheers. Repeat. (I am willing to watch the last “two minutes” of a playoff game if the Portland Trailblazers are involved. Otherwise, bllpphhtthh)
Rugby is truly the greatest sport, and if it had the money behind it that the NFL does it would have better TV coverage and make it a better spectator sport. It takes all the good things about football (big guys smacking the shit outta each other) and removes all the bad parts (pads, wimpy kickers, downtime, constant penalties, dumb players who can only do what the coach draws for them). I’ve been playing for 4 years and I still don’t know all the rules, but who does? (yep, some dumb players in this sport too) Rugby is strange in one aspect: its the only sport I can think of where the big fat guys actually have to run more than the skinny fast guys.
College Basketball (tho I limit myself to March Madness)
um, Robot Wars
ML Baseball
NFL Football
College Football
Billiards
Unwatchable:
Bowling
Fishing (my personal hell will be fishing on TV 24/7)
That X-game-type stuff
Soccer
NBA Basketball
Hockey
Drag Racing
Indy car racing
Formula 1
Bundle of contradictions? Perhaps. I feel NASCAR has a clear edge over other types of auto racing due to the close competition and strategy involved. And such bright, pretty colors. And excellent wrecks.
College Hoops over NBA because of the college players seem to play with so much more passion and effort than the high-priced whiners in the pros.
OTOH, the complexity of football rewards the pro players with their better-developed skills.
Finally, how could no one have yet mentioned Robot Wars? Dig them nerd Gladiators, baby!
Apart from these three I could do without sport:[ul][li]Test cricket: Yes, I do go to all six hours of each of the five days. Too much is barely enough.[/li][li]Aussie Rules. The season is over. What am I to do?Rugby Union. Welsh heritage dies hard.[/ul][/li]I don’t mind your gridiron football, soccer is okay, baseball is tolerable and basketball is dull. The appeal of ice-hockey and motor-racing escapes me.
Women’s US Soccer - mmmm, those white shorts
Women’s Tennis - um, Anna Kournikova. Need I say more.
I’m really surprised the majority here doesn’t like NASCAR. I mean don’t you people like watching car wrecks? Rubberneckers in traffic sure do.
