Frank Hovis Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I suppose I've always known it was a waste of time - watching rather than doing - but I used to watch test matches, football, athletics, golf, whatever. Over the years my interest has steadily waned to the point where I just couldn't give a stuff and didn't watch or follow the Olympics, recent England football matches, the Ashes. The only exception this year has been some of Wimbledon. I'm now getting to the "flannelled fool" view of Kipling and have started thinking it's all rubbish and turn off the radio when the sports news comes on (currently they keep trying to tell me about golf, cricket and cycling - go away). I retain an interest in football but the £200k a week salaries for kicking a ball means that I'm rapdily going off it. This is not a doom and gloom everything's terrible thread, I have plenty of interests and activities, but my old interest in sport has all but gone. Anybody else? Is this an age thing - I'm (very) early 40s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOP Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I suppose I've always known it was a waste of time - watching rather than doing - but I used to watch test matches, football, athletics, golf, whatever.Over the years my interest has steadily waned to the point where I just couldn't give a stuff and didn't watch or follow the Olympics, recent England football matches, the Ashes. The only exception this year has been some of Wimbledon. I'm now getting to the "flannelled fool" view of Kipling and have started thinking it's all rubbish and turn off the radio when the sports news comes on (currently they keep trying to tell me about golf, cricket and cycling - go away). I retain an interest in football but the £200k a week salaries for kicking a ball means that I'm rapdily going off it. This is not a doom and gloom everything's terrible thread, I have plenty of interests and activities, but my old interest in sport has all but gone. Anybody else? Is this an age thing - I'm (very) early 40s? I'm younger than you, but it seems to be happening to me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y-QUERK Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I'm younger than you, but it seems to be happening to me as well. +1 Im 28 and I used to love watching sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest skullingtonjoe Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I suppose I've always known it was a waste of time - watching rather than doing - but I used to watch test matches, football, athletics, golf, whatever.Over the years my interest has steadily waned to the point where I just couldn't give a stuff and didn't watch or follow the Olympics, recent England football matches, the Ashes. The only exception this year has been some of Wimbledon. I'm now getting to the "flannelled fool" view of Kipling and have started thinking it's all rubbish and turn off the radio when the sports news comes on (currently they keep trying to tell me about golf, cricket and cycling - go away). I retain an interest in football but the £200k a week salaries for kicking a ball means that I'm rapdily going off it. This is not a doom and gloom everything's terrible thread, I have plenty of interests and activities, but my old interest in sport has all but gone. Anybody else? Is this an age thing - I'm (very) early 40s? Check out www.dww.at for women`s wrestling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyoto Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Agreed. I wonder if Sky TV has become a part of it. I remember watching football and cricket on terrestial TV whilst growing up but never really watch any nowadays as I don't have Sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Stromba Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Yes, i used to love F1 in the 90's, but over the last 5 years or so ive started to become less interested. However, i still watch old races from the 80's and 90's and they are just as good now as they were then. So i dont think its an age thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6538 Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Never been much into watching sport. Never really found much of it interesting, to be quite honest. Football I just find annoying; the obscene wages, the pathetic hero-worship and tribalism, the (mostly) moronic, amoral and generally offensive people involved with it and the fact that a huge number of supporters seem to think it's the single most important thing in the world. All of it just p1sses me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pick It Down Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Start gambling on it. Just avoid betting on games where you already have an interest in it. If you consider yourself knowledgeable (who doesn't), then you are only really betting against the average punter. I'd reckon the average HPCer has a bit more nous so can spot a good bet. I had a bit of a spell like this. As an ex-Manchester United fan I followed FC United for a while in their first two seasons but I just got bored of the lower standard. The camaraderie was good though. I'd also always followed Salford rugby since a kid but have been steadily priced out due to the standard £1 increase in ticket prices year-on-year, now at £17, with no improvement in quality. So rather than being a regular supporter I'll go 4 or 5 times a season instead to catch up with mates. The rugby's a sideshow. I'm really looking forward to the return of the Premiership, or more accurately, Jeff Stelling's Gillette Soccer Saturday Special Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 I'm very pleased to know it's not just me or my age. Thanks for all the support. I can't really pinpoint why. The nearest I can come to is that sport has become close to the status of an established church these days. You are expected to know who won a gold medal in Beijing as you were 100 years ago expected to know the book of Leviticus. Like KingStromba I also used to be a big fan of Formula 1, but haven't watched a race for a decade and couldn't tell you much about it these days. It just went corporate and the skill / characters left it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I feel exactly the same as the OP. But I did listen to the Amir Khan 'World Title' fight last night. Sparkling performance by Kahn, but a knowledgeable commentator afterwards said the following: there are at least half a dozen fighters at Khan's weight that his management should not allow him to meet for at least three or four more fights. Because they would beat him. What's a world title worth if it's simply about steering your man away from dangerous opponents so that he can enjoy a string of big pay days? Anyone remember when 'World Champion' meant you could beat anyone at your weight currently in the game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CokeSnortingTory Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 For me it's the creeping commercialisation/adverts that have infected sport - even cricket. You're just watching one long product placement event, with a bit of sport in the middle to fend off the tedium. It just makes the sport visually really ugly. Part of the pleasure of many sports is that being played on green surfaces they are easy on the eye. But when they started that trick on rugby and cricket pitches where they cover the turf with those distended adverts that look "right" from the TV camera position, you find yourself looking at a lot of garish colours with people in garish colours running over them. This sort of thing doesn't upset the hardcore fans, but it is very off-putting for the casual viewer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DementedTuna Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I like watching the odd bit of bike racing, and go see the gee gees sometimes, but that's about it. And the latter is mainly because the girlfriend likes it. Never been into football much, too much violence associated with it, especially up in Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DisposableHeroes Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 The thing I love about sport is that it cannot be predicted, like some throwaway soap or film. MotoGP has been excellent, F1 better this year, Tour De France excellent. Isle of man TT, true guts and none of the money sh1te Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 For me it's the creeping commercialisation/adverts that have infected sport - even cricket. You're just watching one long product placement event, with a bit of sport in the middle to fend off the tedium.It just makes the sport visually really ugly. Part of the pleasure of many sports is that being played on green surfaces they are easy on the eye. But when they started that trick on rugby and cricket pitches where they cover the turf with those distended adverts that look "right" from the TV camera position, you find yourself looking at a lot of garish colours with people in garish colours running over them. This sort of thing doesn't upset the hardcore fans, but it is very off-putting for the casual viewer. Good point about the visual stuff. One poster on here last week said she watches the tour de france for the scenery! (nothing to do with lycra ...) Never liked F1, but tried watching when I was a student. After a while you can figure out where they are on the track by looking at the advertising boards - each corner or straight is reserved for Vodafone/Firestone etc or groups of smaller budget products. Maybe you don't notice if it's a sport you really like. Rugby probably has as much placement as soccer - I never notice it in the former but I do in the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry AKA Pod Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 F1 has been shit pretty much since Roland Rat and his mate Senna died due to the restrictions they brought in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 Since my OP I've been trying to think of a classic example and have come up with snooker. Snooker was for many years the preserve of pub dwelling entertainers who made their living playing exhibition matches all over the country and entertaining the punters. When it started on telly the players were still entertaining both in style / speed of play and in banter and post match interviews. They knew how to work a crowd and build up tension. Showmen. Names that spring to mind are: Hurricane Higgins Bill Werbeinuk (?sp) Doug Mountjoy Ray Reardon It was enjoyable to watch. Yes you admired the skill but you also watched it with a smile. Then with success it began to change. Attracted by the money to be made from tournaments younger players who were technically brilliant but deeply dull came through the ranks. Steve Davis / Stephen Hendry may have been better players than Higgins. But it was like watching paint dry. There was a late kick of showmanship in the form of Ronnie O Sullivan but him aside it is now dull tedious dull zzzzz...... It should be entertaining, and it isn't any more. I wouldn't consider watching it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wires 74 Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Miserable sod -it`s been the best days sport on the telly for many a year today - a 59 year old with a plastic hip so nearly getting his hands on Golfs Claret jug and the Test match so poised the tension is unbearable -throw in the Tour De France and last nights Amir Khan performance and the weekends been incredible . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6538 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Miserable sod -it`s been the best days sport on the telly for many a year today - a 59 year old with a plastic hip so nearly getting his hands on Golfs Claret jug and the Test match so poised the tension is unbearable -throw in the Tour De France and last nights Amir Khan performance and the weekends been incredible . Sorry, golf is easily the most boring sport on the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profitofdoom Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Sorry, golf is easily the most boring sport on the planet. I disagree.I'm not a golf fan but the Open a few years back with the French guy throwing it away right at the death was exciting and entertaining to watch.As regards football I used to go back in the 70's and stand on the terraces.It cost two quid to get in and was an enjoyable day out.Since the advent of SKY the whole thing has become just big business.Technically the play is vastly superior to what it was but pay £100 for two tickets to a Premiership game? Not likely. Even ordinary Championship level players are on £10k a week. Having said all that there is an element of getting old and nostalgia creeping in.Thinking of Wimbledon I really enjoyed watching Borg,Connors,McEnroe and Nastase.I know todays players are as good if not better but it doesn't appeal the same. Formula 1 : Watching Graham Hill,Stirling Moss,Jim Clark was more entertaining than todays sanitised health and safety processions.Even the World Cup,Cruyff ,Rensenbrink and Neeskens tormenting and ultimately destroying Brazil in 1974 remains the highlight to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithanwif Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I feel exactly the same as the OP. But I did listen to the Amir Khan 'World Title' fight last night. Sparkling performance by Kahn, but a knowledgeable commentator afterwards said the following: there are at least half a dozen fighters at Khan's weight that his management should not allow him to meet for at least three or four more fights. Because they would beat him.What's a world title worth if it's simply about steering your man away from dangerous opponents so that he can enjoy a string of big pay days? Anyone remember when 'World Champion' meant you could beat anyone at your weight currently in the game? Too true. I also watch Mixed Martial Arts. Absolutely hooked on it. And for the previous poster who mentioned womens wrestling ( in a sport thread?? ) theres even some womens MMA coming up of interest. It's a young sport, but its picking up popularity fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob8 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Since moving abroad, I find that I have pretty much stopped watching sports I was not that into, but were hyped (football) or overhyped in the British media (rugby union, golf, tennis), but still keep up with the cricket and boxing to a certain extent and certainly rugby league (which is dramatically downplayed in the British media and is about as easy to follow from Scandinavia). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallburt Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Football has lost it since it became a huge money game - they dive, feign injury, in essence it is a game for over-paid cheats. Rugby union, tennis and golf I find dull but I do like a good cricket test match but now that is also on Sky it suddenly seems less important. Channel 4's coverage of the 2005 Ashes was superb and made the game accessible for many who had never followed cricket. I worry that Sky will also kill this like they have with football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 It was between 1990 and 1995 i can recall realising it was a waste of time watching it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony2007 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I suppose I've always known it was a waste of time - watching rather than doing - but I used to watch test matches, football, athletics, golf, whatever.Over the years my interest has steadily waned to the point where I just couldn't give a stuff and didn't watch or follow the Olympics, recent England football matches, the Ashes. The only exception this year has been some of Wimbledon. I'm now getting to the "flannelled fool" view of Kipling and have started thinking it's all rubbish and turn off the radio when the sports news comes on (currently they keep trying to tell me about golf, cricket and cycling - go away). I retain an interest in football but the £200k a week salaries for kicking a ball means that I'm rapdily going off it. This is not a doom and gloom everything's terrible thread, I have plenty of interests and activities, but my old interest in sport has all but gone. Anybody else? Is this an age thing - I'm (very) early 40s? I totally agree with your sentiments. I have come to the conclusion that watching sport is a form of voyeurism and is indicative of people who never really grow up and become adults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Resurrected this thread to say Cook just made the most c**tish decision in cricketing history by not enforcing the follow on. Rain affected so Pakistan needed to bat out virtually the whole game anyway. Can't the idiot to maths. Now when the hell do you declare? We've added f**k all runs and are clueless to how many overs remain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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