Sports you just can't stand to watch

[jmood88]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

I guess you have a point. It's just that after all these years watching American movies showing American kids dreaming about baseball and all that...
Well, I come from a place that soccer is what baseball used to be in the US (or supposed to be). I was supposed to be a HUGE soccer fan, but I just can't stand it, I just can't. for me soccer represents everything I hate about sports and about people. Not a nice thing to say, but that's the way I feel.
But just like you said, to each his own.

Football has been the national pastime for awhile now.

[SPTO]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

Football has been the national pastime for awhile now.

More or less since 1981

[youvalss]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

At least you guys don't have to deal with hockey being the national sport

[coogrfan]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

Baseball
Golf
Hockey
Tennis
Any form of "ultimate fighting"...

[brady2moss123]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

living in England, i used to love soccer and cricket. But since i have started watching baseball, football and nascar. I just can't stand watching them anymore. Perhaps it is my pro-American and anti-English sentiment the i have adopted in the last few years. I mean, England is getting worse by the day.

[Whitesox]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

I've seen world cup matches and international games but soccer is just not entertaining. I would have more fun watching a video of different crowds in bars around the world reacting to the world cup games with their teams in it than watch the actual games.

My theory on the popularity of soccer in the US follows along these lines.

On the international level, everyone is a great player. The defense is steady, and as a result, you don't usually see many goals, just midfield play. I find the style of play in international contests to be an "acquired taste". If you've only seen international matches, then you probably haven't been exposed to much action.

It's the same for a fan that is just getting in to baseball. He isn't going to appreciate the intense battle between pitcher and batter. If you show him a pitcher's duel, he's gonna be bored to death. If he continues to watch the sport, he will eventually learn to appreciate these intense battles.

If you show someone who's never seen a soccer match in his life 90 minutes of midfield play, he's gonna think the sport is boring.

At the club level of soccer, things tend to open up more, more action. Just like baseball, eventually one learns to appreciate the finer aspects of the sport. These finer aspects tend to be far more prominent in the international game. Since club soccer doesn't get much exposure over here, people get turned off to the sport. A good example of this is the vid below.

<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.footytube.com/v/NDc4NTE="></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.footytube.com/v/NDc4NTE=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>

But, I digress. Just my theory.

[brady2moss123]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

the first half of that game was classic. I will watch soccer only if the mighty Arsenal are on. But i will watch plenty of the World Cup.

[Whitesox]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

the first half of that game was classic. I will watch soccer only if the mighty Arsenal are on. But i will watch plenty of the World Cup.

It was a great match in general, especially considering the winner would accumulate an estimated 90 million pounds.

Cardiff had many chances in the second half to draw level, but that was just a goal reel.

[jeremym480]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

Women's sports.

This.

Also. Soccer, Nascar, Hockey, Boxing and Golf. Although, if I want to take a nap on a Sunday afternoon I'll turn the channel to Golf or Nascar (baseball works as well) and I'll sleep like a baby. There just something about the tone of the announcer that is very soothing to me. Well unless theres a crash or home run and they get all excited. :o

[z Revis]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

This.

Also. Soccer, Nascar, Hockey, Boxing and Golf. Although, if I want to take a nap on a Sunday afternoon I'll turn the channel to Golf or Nascar (baseball works as well) and I'll sleep like a baby. There just something about the tone of the announcer that is very soothing to me. Well unless theres a crash or home run and they get all excited. :o

Those are on the list of my least liked sports, but I wouldn't say I can't stand them. I watch Nascar occasionally, I'm a casual fan of it I guess. Soccer is alright. I don't follow the NHL closely, but I do watch the Playoffs. Boxing, it's never on TV, but if there's a big fight I'll watch it online(such as Mayweather/Mosley which I caught online). And Golf, I watch the majors and that's it.

[chance]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

Baseball!

[z Revis]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

I'm surprised by the amount of people who don't like watching baseball.

Is this North America? Has anything changed around here? Not the US National sport anymore? Please enlighten me...

I personally enjoy watching MLB games. You can say I'm a fan of it. Only problem is, I don't have a team so I don't follow it as closely as I do other sports. Grew up in Indy, not much of a baseball state and there isn't a Major League team there, so hence why I'm team-less in that sport.

[NYJets]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

My thing with soccer is that I like it, but not enough to sit down and really watch a full game with teams that I don't care about. I can't see myself becoming a fan of a team I have no connection to overseas, and MLS sucks. So I watch team USA a lot, and I'll watch random world cup games, but that's about it.

It's also a tough sport to just have on in the background. Baseball, you can put it on, and when you hear its 2nd and 3rd with no one out pay attention. Football, on a big 3rd down you pay attention. Basketball, last couple of minutes of a close game. Soccer its harder to know when you should look up and watch, and there's so little scoring that if you miss one goal, you missed a huge part of the game. You really need to sit down and pay attention to the entire game, with no breaks except for halftime, and that's tough to do if you don't have a real interest in who wins imo.

[Whitesox]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

My thing with soccer is that I like it, but not enough to sit down and really watch a full game with teams that I don't care about. I can't see myself becoming a fan of a team I have no connection to overseas, and MLS sucks. So I watch team USA a lot, and I'll watch random world cup games, but that's about it.

It's also a tough sport to just have on in the background. Baseball, you can put it on, and when you hear its 2nd and 3rd with no one out pay attention. Football, on a big 3rd down you pay attention. Basketball, last couple of minutes of a close game. Soccer its harder to know when you should look up and watch, and there's so little scoring that if you miss one goal, you missed a huge part of the game. You really need to sit down and pay attention to the entire game, with no breaks except for halftime, and that's tough to do if you don't have a real interest in who wins imo.

I understand where you're coming from.

But, why do you say that the MLS sucks? I know the players aren't as good, but the competition is some of the best I've seen.

In European leagues, you have your top 2-4 teams, your middle 10 or so teams, and your bottom couple of teams.

In the MLS, just about everyone is even, or close to it. A 2-1 game is much easier to watch than an 8-1 game.

[wsu_gb23]

Re: Sports you just can't stand to watch

NBA- Lazy athletes not giving their best every night.

Tennis

Soccer