# What, for you personally, is the dullest televised sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687 "2006-02-15T21:18:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/41 "2006-02-16T04:20:46Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > Despite what ESPN says, I cannot bring myself to call poker a sport. I agree. Who the hell enjoys watching other people play cards? Poker is a game that people should be playing and not watching. OTOH, baseball on TV is like a sleeping pill for me. Of course, baseball in person is like a sleeping pill for me. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/42 "2006-02-16T04:23:47Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Most sports become more interesting if you understand/appreciate what goes in to it. Not necessarily. I understand a lot of sports that I find boring to watch. For me the worst ones for tv viewing are golf, car racing, bowling and the winter Olympics except for hockey. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/43 "2006-02-16T08:08:02Z")
Golf(It might be the commentating, I’ve nothing against _participating_ in a good walk, ruined.), American Football (it’s so stop-start!Even worse than rugby, for god’s sake.And yes, I understand the rules.)And Test Cricket. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/44 "2006-02-16T08:33:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > American Football (it’s so stop-start!Even worse than rugby, for god’s sake.And yes, I understand the rules.) This confuses me a bit. Football is so telegenic in the modern, instant slo-mo replay era. The gap between plays is pretty small and usually pretty deftly filled up with replays and commentary. I can understand finding it annoying, but borings not a word I’d expect. For my money, I think watching a reverse angle replay of the previous catch is more exciting than watching a guy clear a puck or a mid-fielder dribbling a soccer ball. To each his own of course. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/45 "2006-02-16T10:43:26Z")
Snooker Darts Lawn bowls Golf Curling Basically all the sports where getting objects into targets is the soul point. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/46 "2006-02-16T11:34:46Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > This confuses me a bit. Football is so telegenic in the modern, instant slo-mo replay era. The gap between plays is pretty small and usually pretty deftly filled up with replays and commentary. I can understand finding it annoying, but borings not a word I’d expect. For my money, I think watching a reverse angle replay of the previous catch is more exciting than watching a guy clear a puck or a mid-fielder dribbling a soccer ball. To each his own of course. I consider constant-replay sports such as this to be the opposite of telegenic. Free-flowing soccer, with occassional replays, makes much more sense to me as use of the medium. Perhaps part of my thinking is that sports where the majority of the commentary can take place _during_ play, rather than during pauses, makes more sense on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/47 "2006-02-16T11:58:02Z")
Darts - all the thrills of adding up. Baseball - I’m sure it’s fun to play, but nothing happens most the time. Cricket - See baseball. Snooker - I like playing the occasional game, but a spectator sport it is not. NASCAR - Car drives in a circle very fast. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/48 "2006-02-16T12:17:19Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I consider constant-replay sports such as this to be the opposite of telegenic. Free-flowing soccer, with occassional replays, makes much more sense to me as use of the medium. Perhaps part of my thinking is that sports where the majority of the commentary can take place _during_ play, rather than during pauses, makes more sense on TV. I can understand your argument, and rationale for not liking it, but _boring_ was the specific term that baffled me. I flip the other way, if a sport is paced in a way which easily allows commentary during the action and doesn’t require replays it’s boring, i.e. too slow. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/49 "2006-02-16T12:29:25Z")
Can I hold out hope for it’s reemergence that no one has said BOXING? Or is that just because no one watches it. Anyway, I’ve tried watching a little marathon/triathalon. There’s very little strategy and very little head-to-head aspect of those sports. Yeah, I know there’s SOME strategy to marathoning, but it seems to amount to a minute of accelleration over a 2 hour race. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/50 "2006-02-16T14:09:54Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > Soccer, followed closely by hockey. > > Basically, any sport where a final score of 1-0 isn’t an uncommon finish. I understand soccer being boring (it is) but _hockey_? Just because the winning team often ahs less than three goals, doesn’t mean it is a boring sport. Go watch it some time. I have never seen a sport that has as much action as ice hockey. No out of bounds, players shoving each other into walls, the clock is stopped infrequently and for less time than in other sports, all in all, one of the fastest pased sports there is. That being said, any car racing event (NASCAR, F1, Indy 500) is boring as all fuck. Explain to me how watching a car drive in an oval is exciting? Golf is boring too, and I enjoy playing it. But my God is it ever boring on tv. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/51 "2006-02-16T15:03:55Z")
Soccer would be more interesting if the field was half the size and there weren’t goalies. Some don’t like American Football, but it lends itself to TV. You know when the action is going to happen, and when you’re “safe” to get some chips or whatever, networks can go to commercial and not interrupt play. The only other thing I watch on TV is the occasional last 5 minutes of playoff basketball and the Olympics. And there’s a reason why Olympic sports rarely get on TV more than two weeks every four years. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/52 "2006-02-16T15:23:33Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Soccer would be more interesting if the field was half the size and there weren’t goalies. That would make it boring. The excitement comes from the long build-ups, the sudden chances, the constant presence of the potential for a surprise. And goals are what they are _because_ they don’t happen every thirty seconds. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/53 "2006-02-16T16:11:04Z")
Baseball is boring on TV. It’s definitely a live or a radio sport. If you guys think poker is bad, ever watch televised blackjack? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/54 "2006-02-16T16:19:22Z")
Golf, followed in a dead heat by football and fishing. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/55 "2006-02-16T17:16:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I tried watching a World Cup once. Maradonna was on a break away with only the goal keeper to stop him. As he is running someone nudges him from behind. He drops like he was hit by a sledgehammer. He should have been in a diving competition. He’d have won gold. As far as I was concerned any sport that didn’t have a rule where such a blatant dive was penalized in some way wasn’t something I wanted to spend time on. Sadly, this sort of cheating is endemic in football. It should be stamped out, along with the abuse that the match officials suffer from the players. Continental football is especially bad for it, so much so that the games are essentially unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/56 "2006-02-16T17:20:16Z")
Oh, American football, easily. All that padding and headgear, and it’s such a trudge. I get bored just thinking about it. I respect it, but it’s not for me. ---
**Author:** ![VenusProbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e495f1/32.png) [@VenusProbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusProbe)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/57 "2006-02-16T17:40:59Z")
For me it’s poker, but that could change. I didn’t start enjoying football (american) till this year. ---
**Author:** ![supersonic77uk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@supersonic77uk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supersonic77uk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/58 "2006-02-16T17:49:50Z")
It seems apparent that the main criterion for somebody’s opinion whether a sport is boring is whether they understand the rules. That is elementary, If you don’t unnderstand what’s going on and it is clear that everybody in the arena does then it must be difficult. I couldn’t imagine turning to a RAIDERS fan and asking “what’s the red flag for?” probably because all I would get as a reply would be RAIDERRRRS GNNNNNNNNNNNN. The secret to a really boring sport where everybody understands the sport but couldn’t care less. In baseballs defense there are no “throw away plays” every pitch in every inning is critical. For me, soccer is boring because there are plenty of these “throw away plays” if the ball goes out for a goal kick it doesn’t matter, to the point where players choose not to play the ball and allow it to run out of play. Can you imagine in Baseball where a player chooses not to play the ball (intentional walks excluded; They should be banned) ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/59 "2006-02-16T18:16:13Z")
> [@supersonic77uk](#): > > It seems apparent that the main criterion for somebody’s opinion whether a sport is boring is whether they understand the rules. That is elementary, If you don’t unnderstand what’s going on and it is clear that everybody in the arena does then it must be difficult. I understand American football. It bores me so bad I’d rather watch fishing or golf. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687/60 "2006-02-16T18:54:26Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I consider constant-replay sports such as this to be the opposite of telegenic. Free-flowing soccer, with occassional replays, makes much more sense to me as use of the medium. Perhaps part of my thinking is that sports where the majority of the commentary can take place _during_ play, rather than during pauses, makes more sense on TV. Soccer does not translate well to TV. You really need a pretty wide view of the field to get a god feel for the play, but doing so takes you too far away and the picture isn’t as clear as it should be. It can get hard to even recognize the players, sometimes even reading the numbers on the uniforms is difficult. Soccer is much better live (well, everything is much bedtter live, but this is much more true of soccer than most other sports). HD will be a great help to televised soccer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-for-you-personally-is-the-dullest-televised-sport/344687.md?page=4)