OT: Are there any sports you hate (or refuse) to watch.

[temery]

Lol. How dare you impugn the grandeur that is dog racing. Think of the heyday of the Plainfield track. It rivaled the Kentucky derby as a destination. Men and women dressed up in their finery, the pageantry that surrounds the racing is every bit a part of the experience.

I literally dissected the losers for two years. It's a pretty damn sick sport.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Several categories:

Love it:

Basketball. All levels, both genders. I will watch a middle school game if one of my friends' kids is playing in it. I just love the sport.

Like it:

Football - pro football has gotten too homogenous in terms of style, but I still like college.

Lacrosse - it is a cool sport.

Baseball - honestly, I want to like baseball. The tradition, the ballpark experience, etc. But I can't make it through a regular season game. Just too boring and it is hard to get pumped about 1 of 162 games.

Ridiculous:

Soccer - the flopping is a problem, but the offsides rule is THE stupidest rule in sports. One team can have a 4 on 1 situation and the best strategy for the 1 is to run away from his own goal to create an offsides.

Also, any sport where a 0-0 tie is a sign of a good game is ridiculous.


Not for me:

Hockey
MMA/Boxing

I get why people like these sports, but they are just not for me.

 

[eebmg]

I enjoy rugby, but i think most Americans struggle with the possession rules in scrums, etc. Otherwise it's pretty fun, especially in person.

Forget the scrums. How many times can they get tackled, put the ball through their legs after being tackled and run again and again???

Not exactly 4 downs to go 10 yards concept.

 

[Waquoit]

the offsides rule is THE stupidest rule in sports.

Bad miss here. It makes the game. Nothing is stupider than the NBA advancing the ball to half-court on a timeout.

 

[superjohn]

NFL is getting close to it for me and at one time it was competing with NBA and College hoops as my favorite to watch.

 

[CL82]

I literally dissected the losers for two years. It's a pretty damn sick sport.

My god! Did they owe money to bookies or something?


(My new mental image of Tom)

 

[UCDaveD]

Not a big quidditch guy.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The defender in a 4 on 1 running away from his own goal would not be a particularly effective strategy.

 

[87Xfer]

Easy...golf. Don't like playing, can't stand watching.

 

[superjohn]

The defender in a 4 on 1 running away from his own goal would not be a particularly effective strategy.

I played sweeper in high school, can't believe my coach never told me this. Lol.

 

[mussels]

I think the thread is really more a reflection of how well various sports televise. For instance, absent a local rooting interest in the playoffs, I don't watch baseball or hockey - they're both boring. But there is something almost magical about sitting in an urban baseball park on a warm evening with some friends and enjoying a few cold ones. On hockey the speed of game and skill of these guys just doesn't come through on TV so its boring but in person its exciting and fun.

Same thing with golf and tennis - would never watch on TV, but have been to the US Open in both sports and was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching in person.

My guess is this probably would apply to soccer as well.

 

[Dogdeacon]

That doesn’t make it better. You just park one idiot behind the net and you get undeservedly get the ball back

Quirky hill to die on, so if they change that ONE rule are you in?

My youngest son plays and its a fun sport to watch b/c I don't know the rules or strategy so learning makes watching more interesting. Also enjoyable to watch young kids develop skills, the progression is interesting (amazingly faster than basketball) and the contact makes it fun too. Definitely prefer lacrosse vs if he played football (actually he does play in a flag league which gets less fun the older he gets, currently 4th grade).

 

[RedDog]

There are certain sports that are fun to watch in person. Hockey games, simply because the crowd can be fanatic. Otherwise, I would never watch.

I like baseball, but I couldn't watch an entire game on tv. Just innings here and there.

I like college football, but the game is simply too long. The clock stops too much!


I don't understand whom watches the "pseudo" sports like axe throwing and corn hole toss. How bored do I have to be to watch someone playing a boring game?

One exception, I love the trick billiard shots!

 

[Husky25]

Ridiculous:

Soccer - the flopping is a problem, but the offsides rule is THE stupidest rule in sports. One team can have a 4 on 1 situation and the best strategy for the 1 is to run away from his own goal to create an offsides.

Also, any sport where a 0-0 tie is a sign of a good game is ridiculous.

When the ball is beyond the defender, the ball demarks offsides.

Also I don't think a 0-0 score in soccer indicates a good game any more than a 1-0 hockey game that goes to penalty shots, or a 0-0 game in the 11th inning or a 3-0 game in football. The drama that develops during the game determine whether the game is good.

I like soccer but I don't have a rooting interest, unless it's an international championship. I tried to do a BPL fantasy league to spark an interest, but missed a week and lost interest once I fell into the teens in the standings.

 

[Tommyboy]

I stopped after I found out that the team who throws the ball out of bounds can get the ball back.

That’s an all time top 5 awful rule in all of sports

Same thing happens in football. The ball gets thrown away and fumbled out of bounds all the time and the team retains possession. Except for when they fumble it through the end zone and people hate that rule. It’s just part of the games. If every game had same rules that would be boring imo.

 

[dannyHAM]

I absolutely disregarded all things auto racing for my entire life; never cared about NASCAR, Indy Car, all the other weird American sectors.

But I'm a full-on F1 addict now after watching Drive to Survive. The racing itself is definitely more interesting than America (where in my provincial opinion everything's on an oval), but what really grabbed me was everything around the sport; the worldwide pageantry, the high stakes for drivers, constructors, and sponsors, the drama and rivalries, etc.

I think it helped that me and my couple of other friends who also became big fans after DTS were all also into soccer, so we were already conditioned to appreciate the international flavor of F1.

Literally same. I've played and loved soccer my whole life so I've been accustomed to that international flavor for a while. Everyone has got to give that show a chance. It's great.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Bowling. I remember it used to be big on tv when I was a kid in CT. Horse racing is boring in the USA. It's wildly fun when I watched in Ireland, the carnage! Have never gotten into rugby. Looks interesting but doesn't make sense. Golf for me, only when it's a major and tight with lead changes late.

 

[pepband99]

...aaaaaaaaaaaaaand here come the soccerheads. Moths to a flame.

 

[the Q]

I am surprised baseball is that low counting every pitch.

Football has so many less plays

 

[the Q]

Same thing happens in football. The ball gets thrown away and fumbled out of bounds all the time and the team retains possession. Except for when they fumble it through the end zone and people hate that rule. It’s just part of the games. If every game had same rules that would be boring imo.

I hate that offense keeps the ball in football too

 

[superjohn]

I hate that offense keeps the ball in football too

And it didn't stop you from watching the sport?

 

[Tommyboy]

I hate that offense keeps the ball in football too

At least you are consistent!

 

[the Q]

And it didn't stop you from watching the sport?

I don’t watch the nfl.

i watch college football but even that I watch less and less.

but having 4 downs means it can make more sense than a sport like basketball or lacrosse.
At least hockey gives the defense a chance