That day my family went for a day of curling, while on our vacation, was very educational. It is very very hard! My son (aged 32) is a professional dancer and he did the best out of all of us. His strength and balance helped significantly.
It was very fun, too.
I have a few go-to channels from people who play the types of games that interest me, and they have interesting and/or entertaining (or just not obnoxious) commentary as they play.
Example: I like stealth games. There is a YouTuber called Centerstrain01 who also really likes stealth games. Like most full-time YouTube gamers he plays through whatever the latest AAA games are (and gets advance free copies from publishers before the games are released to the hoi-polloi as part of their marketing), but he “specializes” in the stealth genre. I enjoy the Assassin’s Creed games, but I don’t have the money or time to invest in all of them; there are 21 AC games, and they’ve released at least one new one, usually several, every year since 2007. I just can’t keep up with that. So I buy and play what I deem the best ones, and I watch that guy play the rest of them on YouTube.
Because modern games are very much like interactive movies. The story matters, arguably just as much as the actual gameplay. When I watch a movie I periodically ask myself whether I care about what happens to these people. If the answer is ever “no,” I turn it off. Not quite exactly the same thing with modern cinematic games, but it’s close.
An old-school game like Galaga, that is very different and no I would not watch someone else play that, unless I was waiting my turn to play. There may or may not be a story attached to Galaga, but even if there is, who cares?
Some day I wish to see televised the genteel sport of Ape Croquet.
Worse. I’ve seen electronic darts on something like Eurosport back in the day. Why the hell is there an electronic subcategory to begin with? (I’ll confess, though, I do somewhat find regular darts mesmerizing to watch. That folks have the fine motor skills to nail triple-20s one after another is beyond me. I’m happy if I hit a single of the number I’m aiming for. Heck, who am I kidding, I’m happy if I get the dart in the section of the board I’m aiming for.)
I swear to God, I saw Electric Belt Sander Racing on the TV once. Apparently, its what keeps Canadians occupied during the long, cold and dark winter.
And the other 10% is even worse.
YOU TAKE THAT BACK!! :mad:
This is an attitude I can appreciate. 
I used to be one of those folks. Haven’t played much lately. Should get out there…
I’ll meet you at a bar for that. I’m not very good, but after having tried it a few times I can appreciate the accuracy of a good dart thrower (not even sure if that’s the right lingo).
Besides, there’s always a good beer nearby. What’s not to like?
how about filling an arena to watch people play video games?
which- If I try to think about it completely objectively- isn’t that much different than filling an arena or theater to watch football or a movie. But it still provokes a “get off my lawn!” response with me.
Yeah this is what I suspected. I have been out of the video-game universe for a couple decades now and the advances in all things technological would, I assume make for some pretty awesome “video games”. I use scare quotes because I doubt they even have much similarity to what I understand video games to be (does anyone remember NeoGeo? That was the shit of the future way back in the past lol).
Wow. Excuse me, I have some mushy oatmeal to chew on followed by some light lawn maintenance. Then it’ll be approaching 4.p.m.! Bed time!
Rock, paper, scissors.
We’re done.
But I was kind of hoping for 43 man Squamish.
I remember watching minigolf - actually, the official name was Putt Putt - back in my college days (late 70s-early 80s). Putt Putt was a discrete beast - no statues and windmills. While the event was goofy, these guys sure could stroke the felt! The were AMAZING!
Re: darts, I remember one time it provided entertainment as a spectator sport. Our law school had a dart league at a local bar. In case you didn’t know, many/most lawyers tend not to be awesome at math. I remember the locals would sit in the back of the room room and openly mock us as we tried to count down from 301, or multiply 16…
The watching of others playing video games is lost on me as well - but I’m shocked when I hear of the HUGE $$$ involved.
One thing I caught in the TV 1x in the gym locker room was competitive drone racing. While I wouldn’t watch it for any prolonged period, it was pretty amazing.
My vote? Assuming Quidditch has never been shown on TV (if it has, that’s my choice), I would say, cutting - that’s where someone on a horse has to separate a calf from a pack and keep it from rejoining the pack; on top of that, it’s a “judged” sport (i.e. it’s based on “how well” the horse did, and not necessarily how long the horse kept the calf cut from the pack).
But…but…they’ve improved it! Now with a “sin bin”! (IIRC, once you get your third penalty for not having at least one foot on the ground, instead of being disqualified, you have to stand in a designated “penalty area” for a period of time, similar to the one used in triathlons for getting on the bike too early).
Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling.
And yet, a place of intellectual prowess such as Oxford University has an intramural Quidditch league.
Personally, I think Quidditch as described wouldn’t be too bad of a sport - but running around on brooms with a human as the Snitch is not a sport.
Depends on which teams are playing. De La Salle vs. Mater Dei was a decent game.
Actually, NCAA beach volleyball requires that the top reach all the way down to the shorts; bikini tops are not allowed.
What’s wrong with barrel jumping? Next, you’ll be telling me that jumping over cars (or buses, or fountains, or rivers) on a motorcycle isn’t a sport.
I’ve looked up other people playing video games when I’ve got stuck (all the time). I’d watch people playing a game if I had nothing better to do. It’s like anything else you watch, the people you watch have skills that you don’t and you can appreciate those skills. When you can’t get past a spot because you keep getting killed and you give up, watching somebody blitz it can be quite impressive and, as mentioned, you would also get to find out how the story turned out. I wouldn’t call it a sport, though.
They have boat races in the desert. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley-on-Todd_Regatta They also have camel racing up there. When you live in the “middle of nowhere” you invent stuff to do.
That they featured Evel Knievel’s jumps live was part of how he became so famous, and were big ratings draws.
ESPN has aired the National Spelling Bee for about 20 years; it made it to network TV for a few years but now it’s back to ESPN only. (And yes, I do watch it!)
I was just being silly when I mentioned curling. It’s the sport everyone likes to joke about, I guess.
During ESPN’s “Ocho” event, they had a short documentary on barrel jumping–apparently there is only one person left who does it, obviously as a demonstration/stunt since you can’t have competitions.
Really kind of strange to think of being someone who, when he dies, his sport literally dies with him.
I personally love it, as long as it’s the groups of 8 or thereabouts. Smaller groups are not that interesting to watch.
Ever heard of synchronized ice skating? I had wondered how they did that, until I saw some. I find it far more interesting than single or pairs skating.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=synchronized+ice+skating
One of my Facebook friends recently caught her 4-year-old son watching a You Tube video of someone watching You Tube. :smack: I suppose there are worse things he could have been doing! Anyway, she steered him over to the educational video she really wanted him to look at.
p.s. I guess it’s nothing new. One of the early “American’s Funniest Home Videos” winner, or at least a finalist, was a family who had videotaped themselves watching TV. What got it on the show was that their cat was walking on a shelf that had a lighted candle on it; the candle lit the tip of the cat’s tail on fire, and the cat didn’t seem to realize this and put it out with the next wag of its tail.
When I was a kid I played World Games on the NES.
It included barrel jumping. I think I always assumed that was a normal winter sport and not uncommon at The Olympics, Winter Games, etc.
It’s funny now to think about how insanely dangerous it is, like being a daredevil on ice skates, and practically nobody actually does it. But in the back of my mind it was filed away along with speed skating and figure skating as just another thing people do competitively on ice.
Stupid video games warping my view of the world. :mad: