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What's the Most Exciting Mainstream Sport to Watch and Why?
- Thread starter Gaf Zombie
- Start date
You have to admit that soccer has a pretty bad parity problem (by design), so while individual matches can be sublime, watching a random match can result in absolute stinkers.
Unless Richmond is in the grand final and they just slaughter the fuck out of the other team.
Idk how the poll choices dont have tennis but do have both golf and baseball.
Tennis is fucking tense when you have two top teir players facing off.
Dunno about that, I can enjoy a team absolutely ripped apart by another team with great skill.
My team (Celtic) are way way way ahead of literally 95% of the league, but way behind everyone in the big countries in European competition so I'm frequently on both sides of mismatches.
Edit I can get why you might not like that if you don't like the sport, but I do so I can find enjoyment out of most games.
When baseball is exciting it excites me the most, when it's not it's slow and "boring," but I like that about it. The downtime is chill, snack, and chat time. It's also my favorite sport because it's a game of duels; I revel in 1v1 scenarios.
Incidentally, Duel is my favorite Spielberg film.
Incidentally, Duel is my favorite Spielberg film.
It may have been the NBA, for its athleticism, skills and dramatic punctuations of dunks and three pointers, if not for the obnoxious, almost bafflingly numerous timeouts and stoppages. Americans, for a country that prides itself on entertainment, your sports are bizarrely out of touch with the idea of pacing and climax. The end of a close NBA game should be the most exciting thing ever (especially knowing there's no such thing as a draw in the NBA) but instead it's packed with something like 20min of literal commercial breaks and delay. It sucks out so much of the excitement of the thing. Play the bloody thing!
Tennis is another candidate for most exciting, maybe simply due to raw tension, which the scoring system of tennis can deliver to absolute fever pitch. Tennis has a natural ebb and flow of buildup of tension and release that is really dramatically organic which makes it far easier to consume IMO than the NBA.
AFL, Australian Rules football is also a good candidate just because the play is so relentless and continuous. Not many stoppages, and an ad break only rolls in after a major score. It's otherwise bumper-to-bumper play of hard hitting, fast paced, slick and impressive skills that really doesn't let up.
Tennis is another candidate for most exciting, maybe simply due to raw tension, which the scoring system of tennis can deliver to absolute fever pitch. Tennis has a natural ebb and flow of buildup of tension and release that is really dramatically organic which makes it far easier to consume IMO than the NBA.
AFL, Australian Rules football is also a good candidate just because the play is so relentless and continuous. Not many stoppages, and an ad break only rolls in after a major score. It's otherwise bumper-to-bumper play of hard hitting, fast paced, slick and impressive skills that really doesn't let up.
Basketball (NBA), each player has a personality that's not hidden like in other sports. Also, 20 point lead changes happen often it's super entertaining.
It's hockey. Game 7 with Sharks down 3 nothing in the 3rd period with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the game, on the verge of elimination and their captain and leading scorer goes down with a scary injury. Watching what happened after this last year was just amazing:
www.youtube.com
EXTENDED POWER PLAY: Game-Changing Power Play SPARKS SHARKS EXPLOSIVE Comeback
A 5-minute Major Penalty from Cody Eakin to Joe Pavelski forces the Sharks to come out swimming for the Hungry Knights!! And they made them pay for what they...
www.youtube.com
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I don't really enjoy watching sport that much.
But I can tolerate AFL and Basketball. Probably because they both have alot of continual play, short stoppages and are generally high scoring.
AFL is slightly better to watch due to being a contact game.
Also I didn't play either as a kid, I played Rugby Union. But I don't like to watch it at all
But I can tolerate AFL and Basketball. Probably because they both have alot of continual play, short stoppages and are generally high scoring.
AFL is slightly better to watch due to being a contact game.
Also I didn't play either as a kid, I played Rugby Union. But I don't like to watch it at all
Video is as unavailable as my heart is to hockey. I've seen a few minor league hockey games live and they were incredible. On TV it's atrocious to follow.
The others depend on the match up and circumstances. World Cup football is the greatest sporting event on the planet. A regular 3-0 lopsided league match can be dull as hell. Champions League gets better the further it progresses once the riff raff is gone.
NBA regular season feels meaningless but the playoffs are superb. NFL is awesome but there's so much down time it can be maddening. Baseball is a great background sport but 162 games is crazy and it can be dull as hell.
Golf is a hard pass every time.
Is it only unavailable when playing it embedded on Era or when you try to play it on YouTube too?
Edit: Looks like it doesn't work embedded. I edited my post to have a direct link.
I just watched it again and it still is amazing to watch.
Football (non-Americanised) or hockey are the only sports where I've ever cried.
They win, all day long.
They win, all day long.
I don't know why but the ridiculously high score count and cramped court make me really dislike basketball. It's a giant, confusing mess.
I chose soccer. I like the slower-paced tension, the action looks "cleaner," and the matches don't drag on forever like American football and baseball.
I chose soccer. I like the slower-paced tension, the action looks "cleaner," and the matches don't drag on forever like American football and baseball.
Cool. Made it until I "saw" the first goal. I couldn't see shit. I'm either very bad at watching hockey, or a miniscule puck flying quickly through the air makes for awful television.
These are among the reasons I agree. Love the pace, the build up, the constant running clock, the atmosphere, the singing...
Football (or soccer as you Americans call it) Hockey, Tennis, and basketball are all my favourite.
High pace and pretty much constant play. Plus lots of high skill and also pretty easy to follow and understand
Baseball and cricket rank as the worse.
High pace and pretty much constant play. Plus lots of high skill and also pretty easy to follow and understand
Baseball and cricket rank as the worse.
it's one of those things that's way better to watch live in person. one of those sports where tv doesn't do it justice.
As a Canadian... I'm not a fan of hockey. Dump and chase, dump and chase, dump and chase.
The answer is American football.
The answer is American football.
Hurling or football is probably my favourite to watch. The pace and overall skill required to play both (although hurling at a much faster pace than football obviously) really keeps me engaged. I prefer swimming to both in terms of participation, but I'd rather watch those on tv.
Soccer - and I don't even really like Soccer. The rules are mostly transparant so you can follow along (I have no fucking clue why teams are getting penalities in Rugby for instance), and the pitch size/player count means play is flowing but not too hectic (eg Basketball). And play builds up naturally to attacks on goal which is a great tension generator. Basketball is too fast paced for that IMO.
And although they don't score that often, I think maybe that helps with the excitement. Its kind of like blue balls until people score
And although they don't score that often, I think maybe that helps with the excitement. Its kind of like blue balls until people score
NHL Hockey is my favorite to watch, both live and on TV. It is an acquired taste/skill to watch it on TV. It helps to know the game so you know where the puck is even if you can't always see it.
Olympic hockey is #2, followed by international rugby union and soccer, and then Champions League soccer.
NFL and playoff baseball and basketball are in the next tier down (I love baseball, but I fully admit it's not exactly an exciting sport to watch).
People have already explained why hockey is such an exciting sport. There is nothing like playoff hockey.
Olympic hockey is #2, followed by international rugby union and soccer, and then Champions League soccer.
NFL and playoff baseball and basketball are in the next tier down (I love baseball, but I fully admit it's not exactly an exciting sport to watch).
People have already explained why hockey is such an exciting sport. There is nothing like playoff hockey.
Personally, i think they should reduce game lengths from 90 (2x45) to 60 (2x30) minutes or so.
It'd make people forgive those games with few to no goals more, and players could spend more of their energy on any given play - because they wouldn't have to save some for those extra 50%.
American Football, Baseball, Tennis, Cricket, Rugby etc have too many enforced breaks in play. It's so stop-start and takes forever.
Basketball is too high-scoring, no single basket really means anything. Golf is too slow and only really "exciting" in very short bursts.
Additional minus points for basketball and baseball because they play 1,000,000 games a season.
Football and Ice Hockey are the two that strike the best balance of constant action punctuated by decisive moments.
A goal really means something because there's likely to only be 3-5 per game, there are only a very few enforced stoppages, the momentum of a game can turn on a dime.
My preference is Football, but if Football didn't exist I'd probably be an Ice Hockey fan. My only major ding against Ice Hockey is the puck moves so fast I can find it hard to follow.
Basketball is too high-scoring, no single basket really means anything. Golf is too slow and only really "exciting" in very short bursts.
Additional minus points for basketball and baseball because they play 1,000,000 games a season.
Football and Ice Hockey are the two that strike the best balance of constant action punctuated by decisive moments.
A goal really means something because there's likely to only be 3-5 per game, there are only a very few enforced stoppages, the momentum of a game can turn on a dime.
My preference is Football, but if Football didn't exist I'd probably be an Ice Hockey fan. My only major ding against Ice Hockey is the puck moves so fast I can find it hard to follow.
This is probably just cultural conditioning, but cricket imo. I can't stand most ball sports that involve running between two goal posts hoping for a score. Cricket is at least incremental, so something productive is happening at all times, even if it's really slow. I know a lot of (non-Commonwealth) folks might think it's boring, but if you're prepared for it and willing to just chill, it's a pretty neat time. An ODI also lasts a decent length of time, as opposed to being over in 90 minutes or what have you.
I've seen entire football matches where teams just kept kicking at each other and nobody even scored a goal. What a waste of time.
I've seen entire football matches where teams just kept kicking at each other and nobody even scored a goal. What a waste of time.
Hurling although it doesn't count as mainstream anywhere outside Ireland.
Just from mainstream sports, rugby union's high points are stellar, probably the best of any sport. Something like South Africa vs Japan from the 2015 world cup stands against anything else.
Football has been held back by FIFA's awfulness for years. There should by now be heavy punishments for diving (starting with multi-match bans for proven cases and immediately escalating to bans of months or years for serial offenders) and for things like complaining to referees (should be instant yellow card for anyone who is not the captain). The sport does regularly produce matches that transcend the current regulatory/disciplinary failures(and the World Cup is pretty much the only sporting event that is truly planetary, and there is nothing remotely like it in any other sport), but it's all too easy for that sort of nonsense to ruin matches.
Just from mainstream sports, rugby union's high points are stellar, probably the best of any sport. Something like South Africa vs Japan from the 2015 world cup stands against anything else.
Football has been held back by FIFA's awfulness for years. There should by now be heavy punishments for diving (starting with multi-match bans for proven cases and immediately escalating to bans of months or years for serial offenders) and for things like complaining to referees (should be instant yellow card for anyone who is not the captain). The sport does regularly produce matches that transcend the current regulatory/disciplinary failures(and the World Cup is pretty much the only sporting event that is truly planetary, and there is nothing remotely like it in any other sport), but it's all too easy for that sort of nonsense to ruin matches.
I think this is a necessary element of most sports. It's often easy (especially for newer fans of any sport) to take good teams for granted. If most games are close it can give the wrong impression of the skill gap between teams or leagues or players (or however a sport is organised). A reasonable solution to this is a system that occasionally allows, say, Champion's League-class teams to play against amateurs. That's also a system where, even more occasionally, that Champion's League-class team loses to the amateurs. Giant-killings are rare in any sport, but I think football is probably the sport that provides the best chances of them happening.
Let me see you handle a mistimed 1-legged tackle to your ankles, as your boots are firmly rooted to the ground due to it's immense spokes under the boots.
I'd like to see how you would handle that :)
football is a physical contact sport, I've seen horrific challenges kill careers and even felt the pain of bad challenges myself. If you think it's all dive and pretending I would pay big money to see you last 5 minutes with some of the rough house players.
