# Your favorite spectator sport **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 8, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661 "2011-02-08T16:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/1 "2011-02-08T16:41:41Z")
You are allowed to **watch** one sport and _only_ that one sport for the remainder of your days. All other sports, as a spectator, cease to exist for you. Which is it? Listing only major categories in the poll, so certain distinctions will or will not be made, e.g. “Combat sports” is the combination of boxing and MMA, “Cue sports” encompasses billiards, pool, etc., “(American) Football” also includes the Canadian and indoor varieties (though the Australian variety is different enough to warrant it’s own entry), “Auto Racing” includes ALL types of automotive racing be it Indy, NASCAR, etc., and so on. You know what these things mean. Poll on the way… ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/2 "2011-02-08T16:53:05Z")
Baseball, in a landslide. If I lost that, it would be tennis, followed very closely by bowling. Then American football, followed by hockey, and then basketball, and, finally, cue sports. There isn’t anything else on the list that I really care about. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/3 "2011-02-08T17:54:00Z")
You guys get one guess. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/4 "2011-02-08T17:59:21Z")
Only cricket voter here so far! My ranking would vary depending on whether we are talking live or on TV. Trying to combine the two… 1. Cricket 2. Association Football 3. Baseball 4. American Football 5. Boxing (but despise other ‘combat sports’) 6. Ice Hockey 7. Basketball ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/5 "2011-02-08T18:03:14Z")
Baseball. There are no other sports. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/6 "2011-02-08T18:18:27Z")
Badminton and tennis. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/7 "2011-02-08T19:15:32Z")
Since Criterium Level Mornington Crescent is not in the poll, I have cast my vote on the only international game that approaches MC in variety of format, length, history, and statistics, cricket. ---
**Author:** ![SubcomandanteMarcos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SubcomandanteMarcos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SubcomandanteMarcos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/8 "2011-02-08T19:19:28Z")
American College Football, hands down. ---
**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 8, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/9 "2011-02-08T19:24:20Z")
Rugby, with Association Football a close second. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/10 "2011-02-08T19:43:29Z")
I could watch soccer (_ahem_: football) every day, and be a happy happy girl. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/11 "2011-02-08T19:48:32Z")
Other: **College lacrosse**. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/12 "2011-02-08T19:57:24Z")
Tennis Followed by WRC, the world rally championship. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/13 "2011-02-08T20:11:18Z")
Rugby and especially Rugby Sevens and specifically the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. one of the greatest spectator weekends around. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/14 "2011-02-08T21:21:49Z")
I would have voted for cycling anyway, just because I watch every minute of the the Tour each year. Throw in running and swimming and I didn’t even need to look at the other choices. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/15 "2011-02-08T22:11:02Z")
Hockey. American Football is neat, but I can only get into watching my team or the playoffs. I like to watch the four Major Slams in Tennis, but otherwise go long periods without even thinking about it. The rest… meh. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/16 "2011-02-08T22:31:51Z")
Cricket, because it was a great game when there was nothing but first class matches to watch, then it got better with the addition of limited overs and now we have Twenty20. The only other spectator sport I can think of with any variety of formats is Rugby with 7s. And while 7s is good fun Rugby Union is a dreadful spectator sport above club level. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/17 "2011-02-08T23:32:31Z")
Voted ice hockey, almost solely as a consequence of how the question was phrased. If it said, “name your favorite sport”, I would have chosen baseball, but that’s because of all the stats, all the fun and blather on the baseball blogs, the HoF arguments, the books, etc. etc. But given the choice between actually watching a baseball game, or watching hockey, I’d go unhesitatingly for the latter, because it is much more interesting to actually spectate the actual games than baseball is, at least in the playoffs. It’s the other stuff surrounding baseball, things I do when not watching it, which adds needed meat to the bare bones of the actual event. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/18 "2011-02-09T04:44:25Z")
A very tough decision between baseball and hockey. I went with baseball since I enjoy the atmosphere of the games so much. I’d miss spring training baseball in Arizona as well as the fun of visiting minor league parks in smaller US cities. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/19 "2011-02-09T05:24:11Z")
Baseball, with American Football a distant second. I can be induced to watch basketball, hockey, or soccer only when a home town (or national) team is competing for a championship (which has happened very rarely in my adult life.) ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661/20 "2011-02-09T06:29:56Z")
League and union aren’t the same thing, and there is quite of lot of (pedant disclaimer: but not universal) animosity between them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-spectator-sport/570661.md?page=2)