# Do you like sports?



## Fugue Meister

Am curious to see how many TC members enjoy sports:

Yes 
No


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## mirepoix

I enjoy boxing. And I keep an eye on football (soccer) and cricket and track/field. But mostly boxing.


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## Manxfeeder

Nope. The team I pick always gets my hopes up, then does something stupid and leaves me frustrated for the rest of the year.


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## SixFootScowl

I voted no because I really don't like any competitive sports other than baseball. So I really don't like sports, just a sport.


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## Bulldog

I enjoy most of them, especially American football.


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## Fugue Meister

My answer: What's sports?


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## opus55

Used to enjoy watching major league sports but I'd rather take a bicycle ride these days. Better use of my life, I think.


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## hpowders

Yes, I love sports. Used to have a NFL Season Ticket.

I like American football, soccer, baseball and golf.


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## brotagonist

I haven't voted yet. Do you mean: do I like to watch sports on television or go to sporting events, or do I like to participate in athletic activities?

I am not much into watching sports. However, I do like NFL/CFL, but I wouldn't stay home to watch a game, but I do watch when it's on and I'm home (happens pretty regularly in the fall when the weather is cooler).

I like participating in sports and athletic exercise. I walk and hike regularly, I practice karate (slight hiatus lately, due to financial constraints, but I do practice at home), I bicycle, I jog, I lift weights. Is that enough sports?


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## senza sordino

Not much. I watched two games of the World Cup, a semi final and the final. I have watched every World Cup final for 32 years. I watched on TV some of the Olympics when they were here in Vancouver. I didn't watch any of the ice hockey when Vancouver went to the finals of the Stanley Cup. They lost. I tuned in to watch the riots that ensued immediately after Vancouver lost. I watched some of the London Olympics.


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## sabrina

I love sport. My favourites are figure skating, tennis, gymnastics (preferably from the 90s), athletics, and I also love ballet dancing. I know that's not a sport, but it is quite physical. I also watch Olympics (most of the sports). I watch a little football, mainly during world cup, or European championships, but I am not a fan of this sport, though was playing it when very young. Being the only girl in the team they always asked me to play as a goalie, for less possibility of fault against me. I was quite good:lol:
I did a lot of sport myself, nothing professional, though


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## sospiro

I like watching all sports except boxing (sorry mirepoix!). Well that and synchronised swimming. :lol:

I used to go to Grands Prix but it got too expensive. The last time I went was 2010 to the Spanish GP and Italian GP and a numbered grandstand seat was £500. When you add flights, hotel, food etc you can understand why, to me, opera seems cheap.


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## Dustin

I love love love sports. I am a huge San Antonio Spurs fan and we just celebrated our 5th championship by destroying the Heat and breaking up the regime. Besides basketball I enjoy watching football, tennis and golf majors as well.

As far as playing, the only thing I was ever decent at was basketball but I haven't played in a few years.


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## mmsbls

I suppose most people would say I love sports. I played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track in high school, and I played volleyball in college. I have coached basketball, soccer, and baseball. I love watching football and basketball.


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## violadude

I don't really have any interest in sports. I don't see the point really. But then again, I probably have my own dumb pointless things I like to watch too.


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## Headphone Hermit

Yup - a great pastime (at times). 

Will deliberately watch football, cycling, cricket, rugby league, snooker .... and if nothing much else on, will also look for American Football, Aussie Rules Football, Gaelic Football, rugby union, boxing, K1, athletics. Also enjoyed watching backgammon and chess (bit of a moot point whether these are sports or not, but they were on the sports channels irregularly in the past). 

Cannot be bothered with motor sport, darts, tennis, racquet sports, equestrian, swimming, diving etc etc etc


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## Tristan

I played lacrosse throughout high school and I like going to football and baseball games sometimes. I've never been a huge fan, though. Most of my friends for example, get really into fantasy football and for various sports know all the teams and their players and their stats...that's nothing that's ever interested me.


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## PetrB

_No competitive team sport has ever caught my imagination,_ either to play it or to watch it. I find them all innately pointless, boring to play, deathly boring to watch. What I lack, playing or watching, _is not giving a rat's [email protected]@ about which team makes a point or wins!_ If you are without that gear, I think there is absolutely nothing to draw you in.

Every enthused argument I've ever heard about the thrill of the strategies and tactics of "the game" (whatever one) strikes me as if kindergartners were trying to make out that element of sport is if it was as sophisticated as world-class chess, or such, lol.

Since I had no 'bad experiences' with it as a child, inside or outside of school -- did all the gym class team games schtick, according to the season -- didn't dislike it but all the time thought it was beyond inane and with no point to it whatsoever, and could never get enthused, excited, or ever plug in, and since all my life I've had the same view / opinion of board games, cards, etc. (I can at least recognize that Chess _is intriguing_)-- I'm a dull boy and no fun, at least that way -- I can only conclude I was born lacking that particular neuro-chip.


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## Couchie

PetrB said:


> _No competitive team sport has ever caught my imagination,_ either to play it or to watch it. I find them all innately pointless, boring to play, deathly boring to watch. What I lack, playing or watching, _is not giving a rat's [email protected]@ about which team makes a point or wins!_ If you are without that gear, I think there is absolutely nothing to draw you in.
> 
> Every enthused argument I've ever heard about the thrill of the strategies and tactics of "the game" (whatever one) strikes me as if kindergartners were trying to make out that element of sport is if it was as sophisticated as world-class chess, or such, lol.
> 
> Since I had no 'bad experiences' with it as a child, inside or outside of school -- did all the gym class team games schtick, according to the season -- didn't dislike it but all the time thought it was beyond inane and with no point to it whatsoever, and could never get enthused, excited, or ever plug in, and since all my life I've had the same view / opinion of board games, cards, etc. (I can at least recognize that Chess _is intriguing_)-- I'm a dull boy and no fun, at least that way -- I can only conclude I was born lacking that particular neuro-chip.


We finally agree on something!

The worst thing about sports are the conversations that follow them. They are either complete non-conversations merely recalling events of the game (Did you see the game last night? Yes! Did you see the goal in the second period? Yes!), ****-waving contests to determine who knows the most pointless trivia about teams in the league, and then my favorite, pointless conjecture and bets about the outcomes of future games mostly consisting of heaping bullsh*t upon each other.

These are the demons of the unsophisticated.


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## PetrB

Couchie said:


> We finally agree on something!
> 
> The worst thing about sports are the conversations that follow them. They are either complete non-conversations merely recalling events of the game (Did you see the game last night? Yes! Did you see the goal in the second period? Yes!), ****-waving contests to determine who knows the most pointless trivia about teams in the league, and then my favorite, pointless conjecture and bets about the outcomes of future games mostly consisting of heaping bullsh*t upon each other.
> 
> These are the demons of the unsophisticated.


I now think I should have added in my OP, I think part of why it is a yes or no is innate pyschology / personality types. Animal types -- the solitary, or the herd / pack type. I'm a solitary, so don't go in for those herd /pack type situations, period.

One exception = music ensembles: even then, that is often a group of loners who somewhat uneasily get together because the force of their love and involvement with music overrides their discomfort of being in larger groups. (As some rocker pointed out to a friend, there is still a huge difference between that and sport: everyone's playing on the same side. lol.)


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## Tristan

I went to a lot of high school football games, not because I cared about the game, but because I wanted to be with my friends (and it was fun) and I wanted to watch the dance team


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## Bulldog

I'm surprised at all the negativity concerning sports. I loved playing sports when younger (66 now). The competitive element really turned me on, and winning/losing was definitive. Also, smashing and crunching folks was a blast.


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## musicrom

Yep. My favorite sports are basketball, soccer, and tennis.


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## Winterreisender

I enjoy playing certain sports. Don't get much pleasure out of watching other people playing, however.


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## shangoyal

Is walking a sport?


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## SixFootScowl

Is singing in opera a sport? It is a very athletic activity.


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## Antiquarian

This is a tough one for me. I eventually had to vote no because I don't like what "sports" have become. I enjoy amateur sports: football (that is - soccer), rugby, cricket (limited overs matches), and horse racing (horses are athletes). I don't like the hyper-marketing of professional sports: the product placements, the grossly inflated incomes, the outrageous behaviour of athletes with said incomes, and the over preoccupation of fans for their "sports heroes". I enjoyed watching the World Cup as an exhibition of team cooperation and athleticism, but I could care less about the statistics, the minutia of which rather bores me.


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## Huilunsoittaja

I enjoy watching American football, hockey and baseball. The Olympics are great too for other sports like swimming, track and field, and gymnastics/figure skating.

I consider myself an athlete of the small muscles.


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## Weston

The most inefficient way to move a ball ever conceived.


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## Varick

PetrB said:


> I now think I should have added in my OP, *I think part of why it is a yes or no is innate pyschology / personality types.* Animal types -- the solitary, or the herd / pack type. I'm a solitary, so don't go in for those herd /pack type situations, period.


I think this has a lot to do with it (bolded). It's either in you or not.

I think sports in society are very important and for young children to play. It teaches a lot about life. Team sports teaches one how to work together for a common goal. Individual sports teaches one how to focus. They both teach one that in order to excel in something, one must work hard at it. It also teaches one of the most important lessons in life: Losing. And if you have a good coach or mentor, then they will teach you how to win AND lose with grace and class.

A bit in the middle myself. I enjoy American Football, although the NFL is starting to lose me with the antics of the players (ex: down by 10 points, a defender sacks the quaterback and then dances & celebrates as if he's just single handedly won the Super Bowl. Get back behind the line and get ready for the next damn play! Vince Lombardi said it best to a player who did a bunch of celebrating after scoring a touchdown; when the player came back to the sidelines Vince said, _"Next time you get into the endzone, act like you've been there before."_).

Baseball: I don't even start watching until about 2/3rds into the season. It's so long.

Hockey: I watch the playoffs.

I love the Olympics.

I don't watch basketball.

The only sport I really get into is MMA (although I've lost track in the past year or so). I was trained in martial arts since I was a kid, and to me it's the purest (legal) combat sport around, and these fighters are just tremendous athletes. People have no idea the training that goes on with most of these guys.

We all spend time on entertainment that others would consider a waste of time. It's just what you enjoy. Nothing wrong with that.

V


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## OldFashionedGirl

The only sports I like are skateboarding, artistic gymnastics and badminton. Nothing more. I was in the badminton group of my high school, and I practiced skateboarding when I was younger, but sometimes I skate.


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## aleazk

Answering the OP:


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## PetrB

Bulldog said:


> I'm surprised at all the negativity concerning sports. I loved playing sports when younger (66 now). The competitive element really turned me on, and winning/losing was definitive. Also, smashing and crunching folks was a blast.


They're not even negatives: they're a "I can not get into this _at all_," and truly wonder why anyone would ... there is a 'just not getting it; like, "What is the point, where's the interest, where's the fun?" -- where the only regard of it is complete disinterest


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## Dustin

PetrB said:


> _No competitive team sport has ever caught my imagination,_ either to play it or to watch it. I find them all innately pointless, boring to play, deathly boring to watch. What I lack, playing or watching, _is not giving a rat's [email protected]@ about which team makes a point or wins!_ If you are without that gear, I think there is absolutely nothing to draw you in.
> 
> Every enthused argument I've ever heard about the thrill of the strategies and tactics of "the game" (whatever one) strikes me as if kindergartners were trying to make out that element of sport is if it was as sophisticated as world-class chess, or such, lol.
> 
> Since I had no 'bad experiences' with it as a child, inside or outside of school -- did all the gym class team games schtick, according to the season -- didn't dislike it but all the time thought it was beyond inane and with no point to it whatsoever, and could never get enthused, excited, or ever plug in, and since all my life I've had the same view / opinion of board games, cards, etc. (I can at least recognize that Chess _is intriguing_)-- I'm a dull boy and no fun, at least that way -- I can only conclude I was born lacking that particular neuro-chip.


I respect that and have no problem with you not liking sports, but the part about sports lacking in high-level strategy is not correct. It is at least as strategy and detail-oriented as chess, if not much more so. There are a million little variables that go into making a player or a team great. Formations, plays, movement with and without the ball, intelligence, will, strength, speed... The variables go on and on. For people who DO enjoy sports, watching an all-time master of his craft like Michael Jordan is the near-equivalent of experiencing the works of the greatest creators in the arts. To keep on the topic of Jordan, it has been said by many very, very intelligent people that Jordan is "a genius, without question".


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## mmsbls

PetrB said:


> I find them all innately pointless, boring to play, deathly boring to watch. What I lack, playing or watching, _is not giving a rat's [email protected]@ about which team makes a point or wins!_ If you are without that gear, I think there is absolutely nothing to draw you in.


I do love watching certain sports, but I generally do not care which team wins or which team scores. The people I know who love sports generally don't watch them for those reasons. We watch to see remarkable athleticism. We watch to see highly trained people with phenomenal physical ability make truly amazing physical plays. We marvel at the things that we know so few people could possibly do.

One of the greatest plays I ever saw Michael Jordan do had nothing to do with scoring, making a steal, blocking a shot, or making an assist. In fact most people watching probably didn't think there was anything special happening. I saw a lightening quick rotation to cover a perimeter player, planting and anticipating the offensive player's cutting back against the grain, and a perfectly balanced slide to cut off the offensive player's attempt to dribble past him. Extremely few people could make such an incredibly athletic move and watching it was sublime.

Just as many people don't appreciate modern music finding it pointless, boring, or unpleasant because they don't understand the "language", I think many don't appreciate sports because they do not see the beauty or understand the how remarkable the performances are. In some general sense, they don't understand the "language" of that sport. I do think it's much easier if one has played a particular sport to understand the subtleties and quickly recognize the remarkable nature of specific moments.


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## Richannes Wrahms

Found them completely pointless and unrewarding since the very first time I encountered them. The fanatic devotion of many is completely alien to me.


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## Dustin

mmsbls said:


> I do love watching certain sports, but I generally do not care which team wins or which team scores. The people I know who love sports generally don't watch them for those reasons. We watch to see remarkable athleticism. We watch to see highly trained people with phenomenal physical ability make truly amazing physical plays. We marvel at the things that we know so few people could possibly do.
> 
> One of the greatest plays I ever saw Michael Jordan do had nothing to do with scoring, making a steal, blocking a shot, or making an assist. In fact most people watching probably didn't think there was anything special happening. I saw a lightening quick rotation to cover a perimeter player, planting and anticipating the offensive player's cutting back against the grain, and a perfectly balanced slide to cut off the offensive player's attempt to dribble past him. Extremely few people could make such an incredibly athletic move and watching it was sublime.
> 
> Just as many people don't appreciate modern music finding it pointless, boring, or unpleasant because they don't understand the "language", I think many don't appreciate sports because they do not see the beauty or understand the how remarkable the performances are. In some general sense, they don't understand the "language" of that sport. I do think it's much easier if one has played a particular sport to understand the subtleties and quickly recognize the remarkable nature of specific moments.


Well said. And I completely forgot passing earlier. This could be an art unto itself. Magic Johnson, Manu Ginobili...etc show world-class creativity with their passing skills.


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## SiegendesLicht

I sometimes watch football (especially when it ends like the last World Cup!) and some Winter Olympics events: figure skating, ski jumping etc.


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## PetrB

Varick said:


> I think this has a lot to do with it (bolded). It's either in you or not.
> 
> I think sports in society are very important and for young children to play. It teaches a lot about life. Team sports teaches one how to work together for a common goal. Individual sports teaches one how to focus. They both teach one that in order to excel in something, one must work hard at it. It also teaches one of the most important lessons in life: Losing. And if you have a good coach or mentor, then they will teach you how to win AND lose with grace and class.


Here's the rub with all of the above: _if_ you are one of those who, even as a small child, thinks _any of the games_ through which these lessons are given _are about the most senseless thing anyone has yet presented you with,_ all the talk of teamwork, lessons learned, etc. _falls right in alongside with "about the most senseless thing anyone has yet presented you with,_ lol.

The fact I -- and many others -- learned all those 'lessons' which some seem to think can only be learned through participation in team sport by some other means proves that team sport is not the only way to teach those lessons to young children.

If you think the games are the most senseless things anyone has yet come up with, in the kid's estimation, the coach is then one of the most serious losers the child has yet encountered, and so too, the argument of what you learn by playing team sport -- which about every coach says to those kids who think team sport is ludicrous -- and that is a strong and early impression


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## Varick

PetrB said:


> The fact I -- and many others -- learned all those 'lessons' *which some seem to think can only be learned through participation in team sport* by some other means proves that team sport is not the only way to teach those lessons to young children.


I would say that anyone who thinks that these lessons can *ONLY* be learned through sports is rather foolish and unwise.



PetrB said:


> If you think the games are the most senseless things anyone has yet come up with, in the kid's estimation, the coach is then one of the most serious losers the child has yet encountered, and so too, the argument of what you learn by playing team sport -- which about every coach says to those kids who think team sport is ludicrous -- and that is a strong and early impression


Well, this opens up to a myriad of variable of what specifically people remember from their childhood. Quite often what we learn in childhood isn't something that consciously clicks. However, often the seeds are planted, and then years later can grow into wisdom. I believe that what we figure out in adulthood is often based on something we unconsciously learned in childhood.

Anything that is good, can be abused. Charity is abused, automobiles are abused, medicine is abused, belief in God is abused, etc, etc. My take is that there are far more good lessons that come from participating in, and to a certain extent watching, sports than there are negatives.

If you happen to have played two sports in your life and both times had horrible coaches (in temperament and attitude), then yes, of course there is a good chance to grow up with a negative association with sports.

V


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## Guest

Fugue Meister said:


> Am curious to see how many TC members enjoy sports:
> 
> Yes
> No


To play, not really.
To watch, yes. Football, cricket, Wimbledon, The Open, Six Nations rugby...


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## elgar's ghost

I was lucky to have a couple of excellent young sportsmasters at school - under their tutelage which included extra coaching sessions I managed to be selected for the county U17 rugby squad. To their credit they also had the patience to encourage those who had little or no aptitude or interest in sports rather than bully them or make them feel left out. It may not have made them any better, but at least their self-confidence wasn't shattered as it probably would have been by the drill sergeant type of sportsmaster which was more the norm back then.


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## JACE

I'm not much of an athlete. I played a bit of basketball and baseball through high school. But I very much enjoy watching sports -- especially "American football," both college and pro. 

It's less than six weeks until my team, the Georgia Bulldogs, plays its opener against Clemson. I'm counting down the days like a kid waiting for Christmas.


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## Bulldog

Although there are certainly lessons to be learned from playing sports, that's not why I loved playing and now love watching. It's the "blood and guts" feature that most attracts me. If you crunch someone on the sidewalk, you go to jail. Do it on the playing field, and you're congratulated for a fierce (although fair) hit.


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## clara s

specific moments in sports... playing or watching

it's what makes me more alive

playing: tennis, gymnastics, bicycle, swimming

watching: formula 1, basketball, ice skating


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## Giordano

I don't get excited by competitive team sports, but I don't dislike them either.
I have done individual sports and enjoyed them greatly - horse-back riding, bicycling, swimming, martial arts (which is much more than just a sport).
I really admire great athletes - if they are great persons, all the more so.
The sport I most like to watch, but don't do, is figure skating.
We have been lucky to have lived in the age of Yuna Kim & Mao Asada.


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## hpowders

Tomorrow, FINALLY, the American football season starts.

We yanks live for American football!!!


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## Ingélou

I voted no. 
I didn't mind sports at school - netball & rounders - and I enjoy watching Wimbledon & swimming at the Olympics. Theoretically I enjoy cycling and swimming, but I haven't got round to them in years - it just seems too much palaver, having to pump the tyres up or take off one lot of clothes, put on a costume, get wet, get dried, and put the clothes on again.

So I voted no. Despite the occasional wobble, I'm obviously not really a sporty type.


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## hpowders

^^^^NO??? Wasn't that you with 73 posts, updating minute by minute, what happened at Wimbledon?:tiphat:


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## Ingélou

No, that was my doppelgänger.


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## hpowders

Ingélou said:


> No, that was my doppelgänger.


I traded mine in for a VW.


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## Giordano

hpowders said:


> We yanks live for American football!!!


Yikes! My least liked sport.


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## violadude

These guys like sports:


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## Cosmos

Only baseball or hockey live. I can't stand watching a game on TV


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## elgar's ghost

Cosmos said:


> Only baseball or hockey live. I can't stand watching a game on TV


Presumably you follow the Cubs or the White Sox?


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## hpowders

They are both equally bad. However Wrigley Field is a beautiful old ballpark, one of the last ones remaining of its kind.
The majority of newer ballparks all look the same.


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## Cosmos

elgars ghost said:


> Presumably you follow the Cubs or the White Sox?


Cubs. It's funny because all my extended family roots for the Sox


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## hpowders

How could I not like sports. The USA looks like they will win the World Cup of Basketball. USA!! USA!!


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## Blake

I'll be keeping up with the Saints.


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## elgar's ghost

hpowders said:


> They are both equally bad. However Wrigley Field is a beautiful old ballpark, one of the last ones remaining of its kind.
> The majority of newer ballparks all look the same.


Presumably, the only other is Fenway Park? From what I've seen, Camden Yards seems to have an appealing retro look to it.


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## omega

I'll just quote a famous englishman:


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## Vaneyes

Can I vote again?


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## Vaneyes

Cosmos said:


> Only baseball or hockey live. *I can't stand watching a game on TV*


Really? I didn't care for the old cathode ray tube sets, but with HDTV I'm in heaven. I never leave the house. Just kidding. Sometimes, I venture into the wild.


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## Bulldog

Seems like the NFL has a big target on its back these days. The most recent problem involves Adrian Petersen who has been indicted for hitting his kid; Petersen has already been deactivated for Sunday's game against the Patriots.

When it rains, it pours.


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## Vaneyes

Bulldog said:


> Seems like the NFL has a big target on its back these days. The most recent problem involves Adrian Petersen who has been indicted for hitting his kid; Petersen has already been deactivated for Sunday's game against the Patriots.
> 
> When it rains, it pours.


I think the underlying cause of this extensive media criticism (which the public are generally in favor of) is the big bucks the pros make. The resentments, the media firestorms, seem far greater than they should be. The media is simply feeding the need for backlash.

A love/hate relationship. The "common folk" still buy the tickets and watch the games on TV. And fawn over their idiols when they see them up close. "Autograph, please, sir."


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## Badinerie

Does anyone like... Gladiator Movies?


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## hpowders

These guys are given a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a ton of money and then they go ruin it all.


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## hpowders

Tomorrow USA vs Serbia for the FIBA World Cup of Basketball Championship. Go USA!!!


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## Krummhorn

Major league baseball, Soccer, Golf are my interests.


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## Vaneyes

hpowders said:


> Tomorrow USA vs Serbia for the FIBA World Cup of Basketball Championship. Go USA!!!


That one slipped through the cracks.


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## hpowders

Vaneyes said:


> That one slipped through the cracks.


Check out ESPN. USA vs Serbia. Should be an excellent game.


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## hpowders

Congrats to Team USA for trouncing Serbia to win the FIBA championship game, 129-92. World basketball supremacy!!

USA! USA! USA!


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## TxllxT

http://www.sportinglife.com/darts/news/article/10310/10697150/world-darts-championship-final-michael-van-gerwen-v-gary-anderson-predictions-statistics-odds-tv-time

Holland! Holland! Holland!


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## Bettina

I am not interested in sports. However, I do love watching piano competitions...does that count?


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## hpowders

Bettina said:


> I am not interested in sports. However, I do love watching piano competitions...does that count?


 Not even close.


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## hpowders

I grew up watching professional baseball and it remains my favorite sport.

I know the US is American Football mad, but for me, it is a distant second after baseball.


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## znapschatz

Bettina said:


> I am not interested in sports. However, I do love watching piano competitions...does that count?





hpowders said:


> Not even close.


I take it you have never played Ravel's *Gaspard de la Nuit* on the piano, have you?


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## Judith

I am not interested in sports at all. When husband watches football or cricket, headphones go in cd player or computer and I listen to my CDs.


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## ldiat

Penguins pirates steelers pitt go!


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## znapschatz

hpowders said:


> I grew up watching professional baseball and it remains my favorite sport.
> 
> I know the US is American Football mad, but for me, it is a distant second after baseball.


Common ground here. I love baseball, a big fan all my life, and also played it whenever I had the chance until the age of 39 (softball by then, but hey.) My last season was on a Columbus Recreational League team, *The Photogenesis* Imogen Cunningham/Minor White Memorial Art Through Photography Softball Club* (*actual name, sponsored by a photo shop/art gallery) and in spite of the artsy "homage," we won our league championship that summer, only lost 2 games all season. "Go Go, Photo!" (that was my wife, cheering in the bleachers.) For me, that was retiring in class, my best season, ever. But I am a conditional football fan, at best, because in Columbus, if you are not a crazed Buckeye, you are one of THEM. So during the season, my heart bleeds Scarlet and Grey, kind of. But I watch a lot of sports anyway, mostly because of my wife, who is the true fan-adict in the house. She'll watch anything, including cricket when we were in England.


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## SiegendesLicht

hpowders said:


> I grew up watching professional baseball and it remains my favorite sport.
> 
> I know the US is American Football mad, but for me, it is a distant second after baseball.


I went to a couple baseball games when I was in the US, really tried to like it, but gosh - was it boring!

What I really enjoy watching are events like the Ironman:






and Paris-Brest-Paris:






In the first one participants are separated into profis and amateurs, the second is a purely amateur race (formally it is not even a race at all). It is a lot of fun to watch what ordinary people do. I also volunteered at my country's biggest amateur cycling race last summer, with over a thousand participants. Standing at the finish line with an electronic cut-off device all night long, watching for riders appearing out of the dark was plenty of fun too.


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## TxllxT

Darts


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## hpowders

znapschatz said:


> Common ground here. I love baseball, a big fan all my life, and also played it whenever I had the chance until the age of 39 (softball by then, but hey.) My last season was on a Columbus Recreational League team, *The Photogenesis* Imogen Cunningham/Minor White Memorial Art Through Photography Softball Club* (*actual name, sponsored by a photo shop/art gallery) and in spite of the artsy "homage," we won our league championship that summer, only lost 2 games all season. "Go Go, Photo!" (that was my wife, cheering in the bleachers.) For me, that was retiring in class, my best season, ever. But I am a conditional football fan, at best, because in Columbus, if you are not a crazed Buckeye, you are one of THEM. So during the season, my heart bleeds Scarlet and Grey, kind of. But I watch a lot of sports anyway, mostly because of my wife, who is the true fan-adict in the house. She'll watch anything, including cricket when we were in England.


Unfortunately my home team is the TB Rays.


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## hpowders

SiegendesLicht said:


> I went to a couple baseball games when I was in the US, really tried to like it, but gosh - was it boring!
> 
> What I really enjoy watching are events like the Ironman:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and Paris-Brest-Paris:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In the first one participants are separated into profis and amateurs, the second is a purely amateur race (formally it is not even a race at all). It is a lot of fun to watch what ordinary people do. I also volunteered at my country's biggest amateur cycling race last summer, with over a thousand participants. Standing at the finish line with an electronic cut-off device all night long, watching for riders appearing out of the dark was plenty of fun too.


Plenty of sports to please everybody.


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## ldiat

*ok sports*

mario first




the immaculate reception steeler




bottom of the 9th




pitt




and lastly.....


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## Marinera

Wimbledon..ski jumping..figure skating, to watch jumps mainly, not so interested in artistic arm fluttering

forgot to add Artistic Gymnastics men's and women's, light athletics - jumps


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## znapschatz

hpowders said:


> Unfortunately my home team is the TB Rays.


I feel your pain, but things do turn around. I remember not too long ago when New Yorkers used to boast about what a great sports town it was; "We got six professional sports teams and the Mets." But this season hasn't been too bad, has it?


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## Huilunsoittaja

@ldiat you must be pretty happy the Steelers are in the play-offs again, and beat the Ravens...


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## neoshredder

Tennis, Basketball, and some football for me.


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## Pugg

Swimming, Tennis, Squash and soccer for me.


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## ldiat

Huilunsoittaja said:


> @ldiat you must be pretty happy the Steelers are in the play-offs again, and beat the Ravens...


Yes sir!! LETS GO STIILERS.....>pittsburghese..it own tounge


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## Gordontrek

You bet. I don't know a world without sports. Where Iive and grew up, college football is the name of the game. EVERY boy (and most girls for that matter!) knows how to throw a football here, and everyone has a team. You can't drive a mile without seeing some type of Alabama or Auburn paraphernalia. Like anyone, I grew up immersed in the culture. I remember when I got my first football, and I remember the pre-Nick Saban Alabama Crimson Tide. I was a big fan then, but when Saban brought the Tide back to the spotlight I became a die-hard. It's also the only sport I'm remotely good at; I've never been much of an athlete by any means, but I've been known to hold my own as a quarterback in pickup games. 
As time went on I lost interest in watching college kids giving themselves concussions, and became quite frankly disgusted at the unbridled fanaticism of the football culture around me. I hardly ever trouble myself to watch football on weekends anymore, preferring to do more useful things like practice my instrument. Soon I took a huge interest in professional baseball, and that's my preferred sport now by far. I LOVE its cerebral nature and low-key atmosphere, and for the love of Pete, the fans don't call each other "toothless gumps" or "inbred ********" like they do in football. The clubs I follow closest are the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves.
Still have a soft spot in my heart for football though..... Roll Tide.


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## Kivimees

At this time of year - biathlon.


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## Vronsky

I like basketball and football (soccer).
My teams are Inter Milan and Philadelphia 76ers. 

I started watching Inter Milan around 1998/1999 when Ronaldo-Vieri duo was at its peak. I don't watch them now, their game became very boring and inconsistent, they're losing too much. When it comes to football, I watch only big games like Champions league semi-finals or finals.

With Sixers, I started following them when they reached the finals against Lakers in 2001, the same season Iverson won his MVP award. I watch them this season, they have interesting young squad, with main players in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Sometimes I play basketball in the gym (especially wintertime).

When I was in elementary school, I watched every sport, handball, athletics, boxing, Formula 1, Dakar Rally, tennis etc.  I don't have much time for that now.


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## hpowders

OP: I only like sports who spend a lot of money on me.


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## Guest

Nope. Never have and never will.


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## hpowders

SiegendesLicht said:


> I went to a couple baseball games when I was in the US, really tried to like it, but gosh - was it boring!
> 
> What I really enjoy watching are events like the *Ironman: *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and Paris-Brest-Paris:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In the first one participants are separated into profis and amateurs, the second is a purely amateur race (formally it is not even a race at all). It is a lot of fun to watch what ordinary people do. I also volunteered at my country's biggest amateur cycling race last summer, with over a thousand participants. Standing at the finish line with an electronic cut-off device all night long, watching for riders appearing out of the dark was plenty of fun too.


Let me guess. Your favorite actor is Robert Downey Jr.


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## SiegendesLicht

^ Nope. Not that Ironman. I have for the most part boycotted Hollywood, and I never liked those superhero movies in the first place.


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## znapschatz

znapschatz said:


> Common ground here. I love baseball, a big fan all my life, and also played it whenever I had the chance until the age of 39 (softball by then, but hey.) My last season was on a Columbus Recreational League team, *The Photogenesis* Imogen Cunningham/Minor White Memorial Art Through Photography Softball Club* (*actual name, sponsored by a photo shop/art gallery) and in spite of the artsy "homage," we won our league championship that summer, only lost 2 games all season. "Go Go, Photo!" (that was my wife, cheering in the bleachers.) For me, that was retiring in class, my best season, ever. But I am a conditional football fan, at best, because in Columbus, if you are not a crazed Buckeye, you are one of THEM. So during the season, my heart bleeds Scarlet and Grey, kind of. But I watch a lot of sports anyway, mostly because of my wife, who is the true fan-adict in the house. She'll watch anything, including cricket when we were in England.


Additional: I just today rediscovered this photo from my glory days in softball, taken by my wife. There are also some pix, still in hiding, with me at bat and as catcher. In both I am grinning ear to ear.


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## georgedelorean

Yes, though not to excess.


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## Bulldog

Is it possible to od on sports?


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## georgedelorean

I've seen it more times that I can count, Bulldog. To see a fan absolutely DESTROYED over their team losing is insane.


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## Brahmsian Colors

Baseball (a Dodger fan for almost 70 years) and track and field.


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## Der Titan

I voted for Yes, although I am not that much into sports. But sometimes sports can be very exciting and relaxing at the same time, I like that. By the way many sports, especially soccer, is pay TV, and sometimes I go into a pub, where they show these events, very nice. But I must admit that my enthusiasm for sports was much bigger when I was a young man.


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## Bulldog

georgedelorean said:


> I've seen it more times that I can count, Bulldog. To see a fan absolutely DESTROYED over their team losing is insane.


We are only temporarily destroyed - about 9 months worth.


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## georgedelorean

At least it's all temporary.


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