Fav + least fav Sports - Better to watch or to play?

**ghjkdf** · January 16th, 2007

Inspired by one of the posts in the events section I started to think about why some sports are great to play whilst others are better to watch. In this case I went off on a tirade against basketball which is to me like watching paint dry on tv. Then I felt guilty cos I realised that at school and college I absolutely loved playing it. Of course there are some sports which are both great to watch and play, and some imho are neither. Just interested how others feel so maybe we could have a little survey, scoring each one on a scale of 1-5 (5 being great, 1 being lousy). Please add in other sports or any rationale. The intent is to keep this one clean so whilst cunnilingus or watching volleyball butts are sports we all would probably score 5 please try and refrain.........

P = play, W = watch. Havent really differentiated between watching live or on TV but if you think makes a difference feel free to add.

Basketball P-5, W-0
Shooting hoops with mates in the park or someones backyard is fun.
Watching it is just dull, dull, dull
2-0, 2-2,2-4,4-4,6-4,6-6,8-6,8-8,11-8,11-11 Timeout. .........................................zzzzz.... ............................................zzzz.. ..........72-70...............zzz............................Fa st forward to the last 30 seconds ................... 108-106, 108-108, 108-110, 110-110. Wow theyve gone into overtime. .............
Finally..................................112-110 in overtime. What an amazing tense nailbiting game. By the way come back tomorrow night when the same two teams will be here for more of the same exciting nailbiting stuff!

Football (American) P-2, W-5
(Hard to play without all the gear and the players. Love to watch it. Totally absorbing and usually only disliked by people who dont understand rules).

Baseball P-4, W-1
(Softball in park on summers day great fun, watching grown men hit and miss for two hours not much fun)

Ice Hockey P-3, W-4
(Fun but expensive + restrictive to play. Really like watching the skill of the players, the mad bravery of the goalies and of cause the legitimate use of stickviolence.)

Field Hockey P-2, W-1
(Dull either way. Another sport like basketball and netball with too much emphasis on rewarding players to draw the foul)

Football (Soccer) P-5, W-4
(Dont care what anyone says this is the only true global game that is easily accessible and understandable to anybody (you dont see poor barefoot african kids picking up a basketball do you?). Usually but not always enjoyable to watch.

Cricket P-2, W-4
(Waste of a sunny day to play especially if you are rubbish but great to watch live with some beers)

Tennis P-5, W-1
(Love to play but only against someone of similar poor standard! Watching current crop of bland hard serving, oversized power racket players is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Much more fun in the Borg, Mcenroe era.)

Squash P-1, W-1
(Dont like the idea that the harder you play the more chance you have of dying! If you arent very good like me no chance against any other player. Watching it is worse -- you cant even follow the ball and the squeaky noises are sooooo annoying!)

Golf P-4, W-2
(Watching final stages of an exciting televised major is ok i suppose, but just dont get the thrill of walking 4 miles to stand 5 rows back and watch Tiger thump another long, perfectly centred drive. Then in unison all shout 'great shot Tiger'-like you know him personally or he cares what you think!)

Rugby Union P-1, W-4
(Never played and no intention of worsening my already distorted features. Recently started to like watching. Once you get to know the rules it can be a fascinating game)

Rugby League P-1, W-1
(Apart from Antipodeans and a few english northerners who cares? stop start, stop start, stop start, mud..... Absolutely no fluidity to this game.)

Cycling P-4, W-1
(A bike ride in the country or some fast mountain biking is exhilerating. Watching is purgatory. They stay bunched together for a couple of hours then make a mad sprint in the last half mile. Same guy always wins. They are forced to stick to team orders and use more drugs than a cheap Pharmacist)

Athletics Track P-2, W-5
(Quite enjoy running. Really admire dedication and enjoy watching top class runners especially in major intl competitions. Some truly great global moments Carl Lewis v Ben Johnson, Coe vs Ovett, Cathy Freeman in Sydney....)

Athletics Field P-1, W-2
(No coordination or strength so never really tried these. Watching throwing + jumping events pretty dull, pole vault possible exception)

Snooker P-2, W- 4
(Always like the first hour of playing then once you realise that your maximum break will never be higher than 5 and your opponent wins cos of your fouls.....i've had enough! Hate to admit but quite like watching on tv. Great for falling asleep to)

Darts P-5, W-4
(Any sport where alcohol consumption is directly correlated to success or enjoyment has to be a winner!)

Now lets hear your thoughts and scores...........

**scratchy** · January 16th, 2007

football(soccer cough cough) is best game in the world to watch and play..bloody beckham the media whore.

**utter** · January 16th, 2007

I just don't 'get' team sports - to watch or to play... I find football boring as all hell to watch and find that going to the pub on a saturday afternoon is often ruined by the bigscreen being on with no music being played, only the drones of the moronic commentators. The conversation usually revolves around really nerdy armchair management scenarios too.... UGGH! fucking boooooooring!!!!

As for sports that I do like, well... I play squash and badminton regularly, but would never watch a match on tv...

I also like to play darts, pool and snooker, but again, actually watching someone else play is so effing dull to me..... I'd rather be watching the International Allstar Superleague finals of the Dulux Paint-Drying Championships (that, or my favourite sport to watch, boobies

)

**blofly** · January 17th, 2007

I agree with uttertosh 100%. All boring as Hell to me. Now take me to a 500ccGP Motorcycle road race and i'm there. I like watchin it too. (God speed Berry Sheene / long live Valintino Rossi and we all remember number 34...Kevin Schwantz...*my personal hero*)

Laguna Seca Here I come!!

I don't play squash or badminton but I eat squash now and then. LoL

I like to play my guitar and listen/watch doods jam. I love Rock-n-Roll shows and our fearless leader Ted Nugent.(another one of my heros) Give me jimi, Ted and the Rev(Billy Gibbons) and i'm goot-2-go!

GC · January 17th, 2007

utter what about female beach volleyball ? I bet you would watch that .... especially the amateur games played in thong bikinis. my wife is a sports fanatic .... I would rather watch something educational... the only time I like a sport is if I have a friend or actually know one of the players ... then I can get behind the team and be a fan ... but just picking out someone to root for ... for the hell of it nah.

**utter** · January 17th, 2007

not much beach volleyball action where I'm from, sadly GC and on the terrestrial television that I get here there's never anything THAT interesting on the sports programmes (otherwise, yeah, I'd love to 'support' my local team

)

Yawzy - I too am a fan of motorsports, but rallying is my favourite to watch. I've been to loads of Amateur events up in Scotland, where the country roads combined with the famous Scottish weather (fucking wet BTW) really does make for some seriously spectacular crashes! That, and a nice day out in the unbelievably gorgeous scenery up there, makes it all the more worthwhile compared to watching 22 dudes chase an inflated pigskin about a field....

**shadowshark** · January 17th, 2007

an understanding of the rules makes the game more enjoyable. for example football (american), the constant change in strategy and momentum make the game different from minute to minute (some games), sometimes making it very exciting. there is a constant struggle or a push to get a little piece of cow flesh 100 yards to a goal. add violence and skimpy clothed cheerleaders and i'll watch.