# Your favorite obscure olympic sports **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 28, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698 "2012-07-28T18:47:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/1 "2012-07-28T18:47:28Z")
With the wonders of a live feed of all events, it means you can choose to watch sports that NBC doesn’t deem popular enough to use in their main coverage (or even in the secondary cable networks). I’ve been watching handball. It’s unknown in the US, but probably would be popular if it had ever gained a foothold. It’s a cross between basketball and soccer, played indoors with a soccer goal (though smaller) and goalkeeper. There’s a good deal of scoring and some nice athleticism in the shots. It’s also a very physical game. I assume it’s popular outside the US, and it’s unlikely to gain a foothold here, but I’m enjoying it. Any other favorites that most people don’t get a chance to see? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/2 "2012-07-28T19:56:37Z")
That’s EXACTLY the “obscure” sport I like! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/3 "2012-07-28T20:10:56Z")
I like the rifle & pistol shooting. It’s hard finding tv coverage. We got a pretty good pistol team this year. > **[Nation's Elite Shooters Ready for 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Shooting Trials](https://www.ammoland.com/2012/05/nations-elite-shooters-ready-for-the-2012-u-s-olympic-team-trials-for-shooting/)** > > Nearly 240 athletes will attend in hopes of realizing their Olympic dreams at the historic ranges of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/4 "2012-07-28T20:13:33Z")
Whats the link for a live feed? > [@](#): > > With the wonders of a live feed of all events, it means you can choose to watch sports that NBC doesn’t deem popular enough to use in their main coverage (or even in the secondary cable networks). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/5 "2012-07-28T20:18:31Z")
Think I found it. The NBC live feed? Have to enter your cable or satellite subscription info? > **[2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony Live Stream: How To Watch London Games...](https://www.ibtimes.com/2012-olympics-opening-ceremony-live-stream-how-watch-london-games-kick-online-731982)** > > Here's how to watch the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony via free online live stream on your computer, Apple iPhone or iPad or other devices. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/6 "2012-07-28T20:29:16Z")
Handball, followed by field hockey. Although the men’s team archery was pretty exciting today. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/7 "2012-07-28T21:00:00Z")
Judo isn’t exactly obscure, but you never see it on TV. You can watch it online, of course, but the tournaments begin at 4:30 AM. I am currently on very little sleep. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/8 "2012-07-28T23:30:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Think I found it. The NBC live feed? Have to enter your cable or satellite subscription info? > [2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony Live Stream: How To Watch London Games Kick-Off Online | IBTimes](http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/367343/20120726/olympics-opening-ceremony-watch-livestream-online-schedule.htm) Yes. The URL is [http://www.nbcolympics.com/liveextra/](http://www.nbcolympics.com/liveextra/) I watched some of the archery, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/9 "2012-07-29T00:36:27Z")
I always like the sports that are essentially un-televisable. I was just watching the women’s foil event in the sport of fencing, and I see that they’ve sexed it up with LED indicators in the face masks and so forth. But to the untrained eye it is still basically impossible to tell the difference between a successful lunge and an unsuccessful one. Even on the slow motion replays, I just see the fencers poking bendy bits of metal at each other, and apparently one of them lands a hit while the other doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/10 "2012-07-29T22:34:14Z")
(thought I posted this earlier) I don’t have cable so don’t have much opportunity to see non mainstream sports. But NBC must have been desperate because today they aired rowing and water polo (granted the US was in most of that, but still). Also they showed most if not all of the road cycling events (though there were some US contenders in there as well) Brian ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/11 "2012-07-29T22:42:09Z")
Shooting, archery. Those at least have some US medalists so they get shown on cable on one of the NBC channels. Harder to find are sports where the US have no chance in like Badminton and Table Tennis. I would have to watch a few hours of of those but they’re relegated to NBC’s sports channel which I don’t get ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/12 "2012-07-29T22:43:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > With the wonders of a live feed of all events, it means you can choose to watch sports that NBC doesn’t deem popular enough to use in their main coverage (or even in the secondary cable networks). > > I’ve been watching handball. It’s unknown in the US, but probably would be popular if it had ever gained a foothold. It’s a cross between basketball and soccer, played indoors with a soccer goal (though smaller) and goalkeeper. There’s a good deal of scoring and some nice athleticism in the shots. It’s also a very physical game. > > I assume it’s popular outside the US, and it’s unlikely to gain a foothold here, but I’m enjoying it. > > Any other favorites that most people don’t get a chance to see? Wow, I have never heard of this sport, very interesting. All the more so because here in Ireland the sport of Handball is a very different game altogether, played similar to squash or racquetball. For example: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pOJUOwu93Yg/hqdefault.jpg "Introduction to Handball") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOJUOwu93Yg) I wonder how common it is for two different sports to have the same name? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/13 "2012-07-30T02:20:27Z")
well, there IS football… I found this team handball video [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6RcTHNlxto) “Fastest growing sport” 😕 Percentagewise maybe - though I can see the appeal. Disadvantages are too much contact for kids, and with no breaks hard to televise. Brian ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/14 "2012-07-30T03:51:30Z")
I love badminton, in part because a lot of the olympians Canada’s produced have come from my club. I don’t know if counts as obscure, but it’s pretty much never on TV, being tennis’s nerdy younger sister that likes to stay indoors. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/15 "2012-07-30T04:27:12Z")
Maybe not obscure enough, but I like the bad-ass nature of the modern pentathlon. It’s the one event that prepares you in case there’s some kind of mutant apocalypse. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/16 "2012-07-30T04:32:03Z")
Speed walking. Seriously fun to watch. But they NEVER air it. Curling! Winter sport, but once you understand the basics, it’s very engaging. Equestrian events, especially dressage - they seem really reluctant to showcase that one. I find it fascinating. Rhythmic Gymnastics - it seems like they used to air footage of it back in the 80s and just gave up, for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/17 "2012-07-30T04:36:56Z")
I don’t know if I would say it is always my favorite, but the team archery tournament yesterday was riveting all the way up until the final arrow. In fact that final arrow might just be the most intense sporting event moment I have experienced in a long while, but if you didn’t watch the USA knock out Korea in dramatic fashion and then know about Italy’s long bought of futility with the team tournament and then see them almost certainly blow the gold only to catch half the 10 point line on that final arrow it might not have been nearly as exciting. I also really enjoyed watching the women’s foil fencing. ---
**Author:** ![realnetm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@realnetm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realnetm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/18 "2012-07-30T04:46:56Z")
I enjoy watching the gymnastics game. It was something that a lot of practice and it is same for all other games. No special reason but just love to watch. * * * [Increase Web Traffic](http://realnetmarketing.biz) [Ebooks Sites](http://ebookssites.info) ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/19 "2012-07-30T05:43:47Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Speed walking. Seriously fun to watch. But they NEVER air it. > > Curling! Winter sport, but once you understand the basics, it’s very engaging. > > Equestrian events, especially dressage - they seem really reluctant to showcase that one. I find it fascinating. > > Rhythmic Gymnastics - it seems like they used to air footage of it back in the 80s and just gave up, for whatever reason. Let’s see, in the US, at least, back in 2008 NBC broadcast the entire walking event, start to finish, live. Since it was live, it was in the middle of the night, but the whole thing was broadcast. I’ve seen dressage broadcast both days of competition thus far, I think it was on NBC’s afternoon coverage Sunday, and probably NBC Sports on Saturday. I’ve seen plenty of rhythmic gymnastics in the past couple of games, I see no real reason to expect less this time around. Yes, if you limit yourself to just what NBC puts in it’s primetime broadcast, you’re going to get swimming and gymnastics right now, but really, between NBC, NBC Sports and MSNBC alone they put out somewhere around 40 hours of coverage per day, and it’s not going down that much over the week–chances are if you’re not seeing the events you want, either you’re not looking hard enough, or you don’t have the right cable package. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698/20 "2012-07-30T09:03:01Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Maybe not obscure enough, but I like the bad-ass nature of the modern pentathlon. It’s the one event that prepares you in case there’s some kind of mutant apocalypse. I like how they are assigned horses at random in the show jumping part, which correct me if I’m wrong doesn’t happen in other equestrian events. Makes for some interesting rounds as riders wrestle with uncooperative mounts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-obscure-olympic-sports/629698.md?page=2)