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zarabia
Tol Eressea
May 13 2015, 7:34am
Post #1 of 91
(2118 views)
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Favorite spectator sports
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I've noticed recently several references to certain sports or favorite teams. I've only started being interested in *some* sports in the last couple of years. I live in Oklahoma where (American) football is almost a religion, but I only have a casual interest in it. Because of the Oklahoma City Thunder, I've taken an interest in basketball of late. And I've been watching a lot of baseball lately because of my dad who has a hard time following regular tv, but has a new-found love of the sport he played as a kid.
So what are the sports you enjoy watching regularly? You can vote for any number. I'm listing sports that people usually follow regularly rather than those that are usually only popular during the Olympics. But if you watch trap shooting or diving, please add them. I only leave them out to keep the list to reasonable length.
If I leave out a sport that's popular in your country, please do not be offended. I have tried to be inclusive, but I'm sure I've forgotten a many.
(This post was edited by Silverlode on May 13 2015, 7:49am)
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
May 13 2015, 8:07am
Post #3 of 91
(1979 views)
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It's a game of much skill and strategy, but unlike football and soccer, it proceeds at a pace that the fan can actually follow.
Polo is wonderful, too, but I don't get to see it often.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
May 13 2015, 1:40pm
Post #4 of 91
(1957 views)
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I'm not really into watching sports.
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My wife, however, does enjoy watching equestrian events.
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 13 2015, 2:22pm
Post #5 of 91
(1956 views)
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Due to it's lightning action, enormous skill, and ritualistic trappings. Yeah, weird an old country boy would develop a liking for it. (Blame The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)). Even weirder, I've turned my wife on to it as well.
Also to a lesser extent baseball, for much the same reasons Elizabeth gives.
And curling, even though I still don't quite understand the rules. Or maybe because I don't.. Mysteries and conundrums appeal to me.
I was a big fan of figure skater Katarina Witt.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
May 13 2015, 2:28pm
Post #6 of 91
(1960 views)
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I'm still convinced that curling was invented by some drunk, bored Canadians who were stuck in the middle of nowhere with some brooms, a large smooth stone and an iced-over pond. No offense, though, any number of sports were probably invented in similar circumstances.
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Eruvandi
Tol Eressea
May 13 2015, 2:50pm
Post #8 of 91
(1955 views)
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Figure skating, gymnastics, horse competitions, Olympic diving
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My favorites of the sports you've listed here are figure skating and gymnastics. I'll watch those anytime, not just during the Olympics. Diving I only watch during the Olympics, but I think it's fun to watch. You didn't list horse competitions, but I love watching those any time, so I clicked "other" because I love me some horses.  I even used to take riding lessons in my early teens until my family didn't have money for it anymore because of my dad's medical issues. I'm not quite as horse-crazy now as I was back then, but I still really enjoy watching the dressage, jumping, and horse cross country competitions.
I'm kind of "meh" about all the other sports, though I will watch some of them during the Olympics and I watch football during the Super Bowl, or if my university's team is having a big game. I just have to have someone to cheer for, or I get bored. The only sports I can think of that I won't watch at all are hockey because I just really, really, really, don't care, and baseball and basketball because in baseball the players spit a lot and both my mom and I find that gross , and in basketball my mom can't stand the sound of the shoes squeaking on the court constantly.
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 13 2015, 2:58pm
Post #9 of 91
(1956 views)
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...curling is like tegwar: The Exciting Game Without Any Rules, deliberately meant to confuse and obfuscate spectators.
Makes sense.
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 13 2015, 3:11pm
Post #10 of 91
(1953 views)
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I used to participated in in horse competitions.
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You didn't list horse competitions, but I love watching those any time, so I clicked "other" because I love me some horses. I even used to take riding lessons in my early teens until my family didn't have money for it anymore because of my dad's medical issues. I'm not quite as horse-crazy now as I was back then, but I still really enjoy watching the dressage, jumping, and horse cross country competitions.
I was the guy crouching behind the wings of the jumps, ready to run out and replace any railings a horse knocked down, hopefully before the next horse made a run. Kinda like a rodeo clown, only I didn't have to wear a red nose.
I also got to clean out the stables.
(This post was edited by Darkstone on May 13 2015, 3:11pm)
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Annael
Immortal
May 13 2015, 3:49pm
Post #11 of 91
(1949 views)
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I played softball in my youth so I appreciate good playing. As someone once said, it doesn't matter how many games you've seen, there's always the chance you will see something you've never seen before - a comment echoed just last night by the commentators on the Mariners-Padres game (and how many games have they played in/seen?) I'm True to the Blue of the Seattle Mariners but will go see their farm league team, a college team, a high school game . . . I just love it. When the Mariners aren't playing I cheer for the Boston Red Sox; when I don't care about the outcome between two teams I still watch just for the pleasure of watching top athletes at the top of their game.
I watch downhill skiing because I was a downhiller too (even raced for a year - poorly, I am too cautious). I watch Nordic skiing because I do that still (no racing). I watch figure skating because it's so beautiful. Diving is another sport I watch with appreciation.
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Elberbeth
Tol Eressea
May 13 2015, 5:19pm
Post #12 of 91
(1939 views)
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Curling is far more fun to play than to watch\\
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Ciars
Rohan
May 13 2015, 6:17pm
Post #13 of 91
(1938 views)
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I voted for football, love the Champions League! Gymnastics, swimming, tennis, hurling and figure skating. I still swim quite a bit, the legacy of hours of training as a youngster can't be broken easily, and do watch water polo in majors simply because I was once on a water polo team so appreciate the energy and skill it takes, also I'd add Gaelic football, it's not as fast perhaps as Hurling( the sport of Kings,) but, it does require skill and stamina with a strategy, many Gaelic players have successfully transitioned to Aussie Rules as they can transfer their skills, also, there's nothing quite like an All Ireland at Croke Park to get the blood pumping! I love watching tennis and still remember how every year around the Queens/ Wimbleton time my mum would get us these cheap wooden rackets and for a month or so all us kids would be convinced that we were the next big thing!
(This post was edited by Ciars on May 13 2015, 6:20pm)
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Darkstone
Immortal
May 13 2015, 6:21pm
Post #14 of 91
(1930 views)
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Probably if I understood it more it would lose its allure.
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Riven Delve
Tol Eressea
May 13 2015, 6:28pm
Post #15 of 91
(1932 views)
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And it's a good thing I love it too, because so does my son. We are at his baseball games from April until July, and then again through September and October.
As someone once said, it doesn't matter how many games you've seen, there's always the chance you will see something you've never seen before - a comment echoed just last night by the commentators on the Mariners-Padres game (and how many games have they played in/seen?)
Very true! In fact, just last weekend my Pirates executed a 4-5-4 triple play. Sure, I've seen a few triple plays before, but the 4-5-4 had never been done in the 100-plus-year history of major league baseball. I love that!
I watch every Pirate game I can on TV, and I follow the Phillies and also the Nationals, because their AA farm team is right up the road, and it's a fun family outing to go grab a hot dog and see a game live! Then we can brag about having seen Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond, Anthony Rendon, etc., way back when...
Mostly watching sports (I like NFL football and hockey too) is an emotional experience for me. Some of my earliest memories are snuggling on my dad's lap and watching the Steelers on TV or listening to the Pirates on the radio. My dad played in a local baseball league into his twenties, and I like to think my son is carrying on the family tradition.
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
May 13 2015, 7:39pm
Post #16 of 91
(1920 views)
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About the only "sport" I watch is figure skating during the Olympics.
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But that feels more like dancing than sport to me.
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Donry
Tol Eressea
May 13 2015, 7:40pm
Post #17 of 91
(1922 views)
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Curling is the Canadian version
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of bowling....the American roll a ball down an alley to knock over pins....we slide a rock down a sheet of ice trying to make it stop in the right place.....both sports usually take place in some small out of the way type place where - by most accounts - there used to be a lot of smoking and drinking inside.
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
May 13 2015, 10:08pm
Post #18 of 91
(1890 views)
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No, actually curling was invented
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by some (possibly drunk and bored) Scots...who were probably stuck in the middle of nowhere with some brooms, large smooth stones and iced over pond, or bog, or river. So, brought to you by the same people who throw tree trunks and big chunks of metal and stone about for sport during the summer. 
I love watching curling. It's like strategic shuffleboard with boulders and brooms instead of cues and discs. It amuses me while also inspiring admiration for being able to have so much control over heavy sliding objects. Sweeeeeep!
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
May 13 2015, 11:39pm
Post #19 of 91
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Also the same folk who brought us golf--if you reject the story about Bullroarer Took and the Battle of Greenfields!
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sevilodorf
Tol Eressea
May 14 2015, 12:46am
Post #20 of 91
(1875 views)
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unless a family member is involved. I did nine years of horse shows with my daughter, plus t ball and soccer before that. The granddaughter did dance and cheerleading. My brother and niece did stock car racing. When the bakersfield hockey --- think minor minor league-- first got started I attended games because they had some really great ticket prices, but my interest fizzled.
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Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea
May 14 2015, 2:16pm
Post #21 of 91
(1865 views)
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It's almost a contact sport, depending on the meeting.
Seriously, I watch a lot of different sports but follow none. I can watch the Olympics and get excited about the fact that countries from all over the world are represented more than I do about the competition. I like baseball (Go Orioles!) but don't follow them regularly, I like football (Go Bills - don't tease) occasionally but again, I don't follow it that closely. I used to love to watch fencing before it became the polite form of roller derby with the fencers smashing into each other with barely any footwork or swordplay.
Our state sport is jousting and we have a cricket team that practices on one of our local park soccer fields. I'd like to see both of those someday, but more for the novelty.
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Annael
Immortal
May 14 2015, 4:23pm
Post #22 of 91
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It's almost a contact sport, depending on the meeting.
I don't have kids but a close friend has three boys & I often got pressed into driving to/attending a game (they all played baseball for different teams and usually their games occurred at the same time in widely different areas of the city). The parents could get . . . intense.
(This post was edited by Annael on May 14 2015, 4:24pm)
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Donry
Tol Eressea
May 14 2015, 9:06pm
Post #23 of 91
(1834 views)
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pun intended......the curling season ended here back in Feb/March....the four big tournies being the Scotties (Canadian Women's National Title), the Brier (Canadian Men's National Title) and the Men's and Women's World Championships. A lot of little towns across Canada have curling rinks.....like I mentioned in the earlier post, it's like driving through small towns in the U.S., so many of them have a bowling alley....up here, most towns have a hockey rink and a curling rink....some of the bigger cities now are putting in a third type of rink for figure skating.....anyway...lot's of ice here in the winter.
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RosieLass
Valinor
May 14 2015, 9:44pm
Post #24 of 91
(1832 views)
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I go through phases of watching sports.
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At the moment, the only sport I'm paying any attention to is soccer, because I have a season ticket to the local MLS team. But I've missed several games, so I'm not even being all that faithful to it.
In my hardcore sports nut phases, though, I watch hockey, basketball, baseball and soccer. I've never been a huge American football fan, mostly because here in Denver, it's not so much a sport as it is an obsession, and I just can't get that worked up over it. Plus, the game isn't that interesting to me.
And I'm not really interested in individual sports like tennis and golf.
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zarabia
Tol Eressea
May 15 2015, 6:28am
Post #25 of 91
(1809 views)
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So, do you call it soccer in Estonia?
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I had always thought the US was the only country that called football soccer, but I saw an interesting infographic showing where it's called soccer and where it's called football. I was surprised to find that several other countries use the word soccer, but I've forgotten which ones.
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*snert!* //
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