Most Entertaining Sport to Watch?

twoducks

twoducks

Proud to Be Californian
Joined
Jul 10, 2020
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Watching sports, personally, is unamusing. You name it- football, soccer, or swimming, to name a few, consistently fail to rouse my interest.

Every four years, however, I put aside my biases for one special occasion. Lo' and behold, the Olympic Curling Championship. Intense as it is fascinating. Watching a rock slide across the ice while each nation's finest scrub the floor for dear life. From the carefully calculated glissade that kickstarts the event, to the stone-cold faces of professionals who dedicate years of their life to this one moment, it brings me to tears every time. Like a thunderous orchestra reaching its momentous climax, the curling stone slow-burns to a critical stopping point with the drama and flare of an exploding sun. Skillful displacement of other stones already in play smothers an opponent's chance at victory. The undisputed emotional rollercoaster of events is reinforced by cameras constantly panning to the faces of players. One feels the tugging of heartstrings as characters furrow their brows in dismay, grin with delight, or on occasion, break into tears. A competitive curling championship triumphs the work of any playwright or film producer. I enjoy a good rodeo, but curling will always have a special place in my heart.

Most entertaining sport to watch? Any thoughts?
 
twoducks said:
Watching sports, personally, is unamusing. You name it- football, soccer, or swimming, to name a few, consistently fail to rouse my interest.

Every four years, however, I put aside my biases for one special occasion. Lo' and behold, the Olympic Curling Championship. Intense as it is fascinating. Watching a rock slide across the ice while each nation's finest scrub the floor for dear life. From the carefully calculated glissade that kickstarts the event, to the stone-cold faces of professionals who dedicate years of their life to this one moment, it brings me to tears every time. Like a thunderous orchestra reaching its momentous climax, the curling stone slow-burns to a critical stopping point with the drama and flare of an exploding sun. Skillful displacement of other stones already in play smothers an opponent's chance at victory. The undisputed emotional rollercoaster of events is reinforced by cameras constantly panning to the faces of players. One feels the tugging of heartstrings as characters furrow their brows in dismay, grin with delight, or on occasion, break into tears. A competitive curling championship triumphs the work of any playwright or film producer. I enjoy a good rodeo, but curling will always have a special place in my heart.

Most entertaining sport to watch? Any thoughts?
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Its a lot like favorite food. It depends on mood, environment, quality and frequency, etc. Per your example, I love Curling every 4 years. I wouldn't enjoy it every Saturday afternoon.

Most sports are enjoyable to me as long as:
  1. I have (or can find) a rooting interest (this may be the most important)
  2. The outcome is based more on skill than arbitrary luck. (ie, watching someone play poker vs slots) and that I can appreciate the skill.
  3. The contest is fair (Nothing worse than watching 'haves' vs 'have nots' in college sports, or watching refs influence games)
  4. It is generally positive in regards to safety, health, etc (rules out most fighting)
  5. Its not over saturated. (Even football is losing my interest now that it is on from Thursday through Tuesday of every fall week.)
 
I enjoy many sports, especially college sports. Sign me up for a college football, mens or womens basketball, womens soccer (I find mens soccer boring and so much flopping), wrestling. If I know someone competing I will go cheer anyone on in any sport, rhythmic gymnastics, I will be cheering you on like no tomorrow. Olympics, I will pretty much watch anything Americans who are competing. Pro sports, football (on TV or in person), basketball (in person, I actually find the NBA on tv kind of boring) and baseball (I love to watch baseball in person, but hate it on TV).
 
I will go on record and say the least entertaining sport for me to watch is the NBA dream teams playing in the olympics.

Also, I would add to NavyHoops - UFC. I got back into it right before Covid and they provided a needed outlet of sports for me to watch when nobody else did.
 
I agree with all of the above. The NBA gives off a corporate vibe and I find myself falling asleep during the game most often. College hoops on the other hand is by far my most favorite sport to watch and attend.
 
Agree with Hoops - the enjoyment of some sports is tied to the in-person experience.

Baseball - in-person, with appropriate food, sunshine, people-watching.
Football - TV, with replays, multiple camera angles and commentary.
Basketball - live and court side. I never sweated more in a dress uniform than I did when I was a USNA BattO O’rep for Navy women’s basketball, sitting/standing/yelling at the end of the team chairs on the court, playing Army.
Ice hockey - live, surprisingly to me, so fast and explosive up close.
Navy rugby - live, men and women both, standing in the cold or wet at the side of the field.
College lacrosse - live, with a good view of the entire field.

A stand-out favorite for in-person enjoyment, though, is any kind of Highland or Scottish Games. The kilts, the pipes, the festive air, the feats of strength and skill, the wee drams!
 
Capt MJ said:
Agree with Hoops - the enjoyment of some sports is tied to the in-person experience.

Baseball - in-person, with appropriate food, sunshine, people-watching.
Football - TV, with replays, multiple camera angles and commentary.
Basketball - live and court side. I never sweated more in a dress uniform than I did when I was a USNA BattO O’rep for Navy women’s basketball, sitting/standing/yelling at the end of the team chairs on the court, playing Army.
Ice hockey - live, surprisingly to me, so fast and explosive up close.
Navy rugby - live, men and women both, standing in the cold or wet at the side of the field.
College lacrosse - live, with a good view of the entire field.

A stand-out favorite for in-person enjoyment, though, is any kind of Highland or Scottish Games. The kilts, the pipes, the festive air, the feats of strength and skill, the wee drams!
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Always up for "wee drams".
 
I like hockey. It is my all-time favorite, bar none. I am a Chicago Blackhawks fan, dating back to the 1960's. I also follow the Blackhawks feeder teams (Rockford IceHogs in the AHL and the Indy Fuel in the ECHL).
 
unkown1961 said:
I'm too old and remember the lack of TV timeouts and barrage of commercials, so sports don't really hold my attention anymore (I also miss announcers like Keith Jackson). This is an interesting analysis of the time played in football for instance:
https://qz.com/150577/an-average-nfl-game-more-than-100-commercials-and-just-11-minutes-of-play/
But my barber just told me about SEPAK TAKRAW, this is fascinating to watch:
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I have been to see the Vikings home and away and Syracuse at the dome. This was my complaint about football - especially in miserable weather. That’s why I prefer to watch it at home.
 
Oh forgot about Hockey! I live in a pretty good place for it and enjoy the games.
 
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