The official "I hate sports X, Y and Z" thread

[Tony Baloney]

I would have been a fairly passive follower of rugby until the wee lad started at the local RFC a couple of months ago. Now I have really got into it and don't see the negative aspects of it that some do (mostly the Irish Rugby team and D4 connection).

[OakleafCounty]

Professional boxing, not for the sport itself which I think is greatest of all but for the road it has been going down for the past 30 odd years until today when it's nothing more than a business. I don't think it will ever get back to one world title per weight which is nothing less than a crying shame.

With all due respect to men like Bernard Dunne but if there was only one belt per weight I don't think he would ever have been labelled a world champion.

The below might interest you.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/queensberry-rules-boxing-blog/2013/oct/15/boxing-one-champion-every-weight

Cheers, good read!

[Bord na Mona man]

Hate is a very strong word and I'd wonder why anyone would be so annoyed by a form of entertainment that they'd really genuinely hate it. Ignore it by all means but why the hate.

Hate is not too strong a word for what I would feel back in the 80's when RTÉ would cut away from a soccer match (usually involving Liverpool) to one of what seemed like a thousand 'Group 1' races in England that they were showing on the BBC anyway. Yep, hate works for me.

Noel Reid!

[deiseach]

I'm willing to give Noel Reid a pass for the manner in which he editorialised when John Upson denounced the aborted start fiasco at the Grand National in 1993 by saying it wouldn't happen in "even in a backward little country like Ireland". Great telly!

[Jell 0 Biafra]

As this thread develops, I'm only now beginning to realize how few sports I actually like to watch.

[gallsman]

I would have been a fairly passive follower of rugby until the wee lad started at the local RFC a couple of months ago. Now I have really got into it and don't see the negative aspects of it that some do (mostly the Irish Rugby team and D4 connection).

Try living in and being a member of a gym in Blackrock. You'd see it soon enough.

[Oraisteach]

I can enjoy pretty much any sport, but NASCAR . . . . after 30 seconds, I'm jaded.

Drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, drive down a crowded straightaway and turn left, C-R-A-S-H !!!!!!!  Much prefer Formula1

Or as a Georgia resident said to me when I got a new car, "Hey, y'all, NASCAR."

[Orior]

Is there a sport with less competitive games ie in an actual competition. They hardly have to qualify for the World cup and play friendlies in Autumn and Summer.

That's why the Six Nations is what excites me about rugby. Each game has a history (except the Italy games, but they're getting there) and it is reasonably competitive - these days four of the teams start out with hopes of victory and I can remember when the number was five.

Clarification needed. Each England game has history i.e. Calcutta Cup, Home Nations, Six Nations

[deiseach]

Clarification needed. Each England game has history i.e. Calcutta Cup, Home Nations, Six Nations

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.

[muppet]

On Hector and Nolan last night an Orangeman said that Marching is their equivalent to GAA sports.

I still like Orange Marches.

It will only be an equivalent sport when they have an international element.

They need to do what the Gaa did with the AFL and blur into another sport and have yearly events.

Any ideas what to match the Orange Marches with?

Crocodile Wrestling?
Bullfighting?

My favourite would be....

Cheerleading.

[theticklemister]

Boxing!

It bores the bejeusus out of me.

[DrinkingHarp]

American sports.....designed arse about face

Short plays to meet tv advertisers demands....cant take "entertainment" products like these seriously. Just vehicles to sell product dressed up as a sport.

All American sports were played well before TV was around and not designed to meet the advertisers demands. I can see your take on why that may come across, although they do not have 15 players per side running around like billboards.

[Eamonnca1]

There is one sport I can't stand the sight of. UFC. Nothing but a glorified street brawl with hugging on the floor. Give me Queensberry rules any day.

[johnneycool]

American sports.....designed arse about face

Short plays to meet tv advertisers demands....cant take "entertainment" products like these seriously. Just vehicles to sell product dressed up as a sport.

All American sports were played well before TV was around and not designed to meet the advertisers demands. I can see your take on why that may come across, although they do not have 15 players per side running around like billboards.

Yeah some of the rugby jersies now are just ridiculous looking now.

American sports originally didn't lend themselves to the incessant breaks for TV commercials and were tampered with to allow the money men in. I remember watching some of the 94 world cup games on US TV and they cut away during the game itself for advertisements, annoying as f**k. If Fifa were to allow timeouts in soccer, the US advertising lads would be in like a flash, as well as Sky etc, etc. Soccer has already sold part of its soul to the business world and slowly the dependence UK football teams have for TV money will mean the TV men will want more return in advertising revenue for their huge outlay.
Timeouts or something similar is not that far away IMO.


Don't get most motor sports, horsey shite, but hate is too strong.

[deiseach]

American sports.....designed arse about face

Short plays to meet tv advertisers demands....cant take "entertainment" products like these seriously. Just vehicles to sell product dressed up as a sport.

All American sports were played well before TV was around and not designed to meet the advertisers demands. I can see your take on why that may come across, although they do not have 15 players per side running around like billboards.

It's swings and roundabouts. I like the way American teams wear classic jerseys - buy one, you've bought it for life. However, the broadcasts are contaminated by advertising to a ludicrous degree. The bookending of ad breaks with sponsors logos is far more subtle than bellowing out "this broadcast is brought to you by Pepsi, official soft drink of the World Series" as a player is about to pitch. In the end, all professional sports are in thrall of television.