Atenzan 1,084 Posted January 21, 2018 Admittedly I'm a bit of a sport junkie, I'm sure many of you are as well. So let's see what sports we have in common besides sumo... The sports I watch, from the ones I started watching least to most recently, are: -Basketball. Fell in love with it pretty much from birth. I melted every 90s highlight reel my family could provide me with. Currently intently following Milwaukee and our hometown hero. No team has been more of a joy to watch live than Panathinaikos in their glory days. -Snooker. Eurosport used to scratch the itch, then it got discontinued from Greek free to air TV. Now I'm a semi-serious pool player, and if Athens had a snooker scene I'd be a snooker player as well. -Water polo. I like watching it but I don't follow any team. I used to play and now that I no longer do, I am out of shape. I trained and swam in the 2004 Olympics pools, so I've had the privilege of meeting most of the Greek national team. Rumour has it that if you say my team name and cap number to the then Panathinaikos coach, he still has flashbacks to my 7-goal game against them as a left flat, my sole claim to fame in the sport. -Rugby union. Can't remember how I started. But the 6 Nations is bar none the most heart-wrenching tournament I have ever seen. -Cricket. I was in Sri Lanka for a brief time in 2012/13. I got hooked. I have almost followed every ball of certain Test matches. -Baseball. The obvious next sport to get into. Like mini-Tests more than T20s; I was intrigued. Will the Mariners ever make the playoffs again? Not counting football. I only watch the Euro/World Cup voluntarily. And only some matches. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orandashoho 720 Posted January 21, 2018 Besides sumo? -- Tennis. I'm a glutton for tennis ever since the Connors/McEnroe days. It has a brilliant scoring system. Sadly, the friend I used to watch Wimbledon with has passed away, but I think of her whenever I sit down for a good binge. -- Snooker. Really got into in the eighties -- I had Cliff Thorburn's maximum break on VHS but some **%&$!** taped over it! How we sat on the edge of our seats till deep in the night! -- Sailing. I used to race catamarans but alas this is a thing I can't do any more, but I love to watch the reports that nowadays get you very close to the action. I'm a trimmer at heart and I so miss the kick of creating speed, of surfing a big wave and steering just so to make the most out of it, of choosing the right strategy to catch the best wind... right now it's the Volvo Open, at other times you can catch me watching Extreme40s or CG32 and what Spindrift2 is doing (alas, she just lost her mast)... Not a lot of coverage on TV, but TV5 has an excellent programme called "Thalassa", and there's the internet. -- Speed skating. I've never been good at this, I had weak ankles. But the sport is a popular spectator sport in The Netherlands thanks to our small nation continuing to produce great champions like Sven Kramer. I've been following the World Cup and maybe I'll just take some time off work to catch them live at the Winter Olympics. -- Darts. Because I played competition darts a while, been to a few tournaments (knocked out in the first or second round each time, but great fun). Sadly, a torn off supraspinatus tendon put an end to my aim, so I gave all my darts, flights, stems etc. to my neighbour after I happened to hear those characteristic triple thuds coming from next door. -- Road cycling. I just snatch bits on TV just to keep informed on what's happening. Not as deeply into it as in bygone days when I myself was racing and had all the magazines etc. But own Gios Torino is waiting for me when I get back to The Netherlands with a lot of time on my hands to get back in shape. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gurowake 4,107 Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) I don't really watch other sports, but if I did, I'd watch Curling. Edited January 21, 2018 by Gurowake 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sakura 1,495 Posted January 21, 2018 3 hours ago, Gurowake said: I don't really watch other sports, but if I did, I'd watch Curling. I like it when the Olympics (both seasons) come around because I get to watch sports I don't usually watch and have great fun. The Winter Olympics has so many great things to watch - many of which make no sense. I mean, who thought it was a great idea to hurl yourself off a cliff on a pair of skis or slide down feet-first on your back on a tea-tray down a tube at great speed. Very entertaining, nonetheless. Outside of that I like snooker, tennis and cricket. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,791 Posted January 21, 2018 Now only ski jumping and occasionally k-1 like events. Biathlon was my 4th favorite sport, but I stopped to follow that in recent years. I watched tennis grand slam for a while when Becker won Wimbledon till Graf retired, golf major tournaments when Langer did well, the tour de France as Ullrich was good, the Olympics and track and field World championships till about 10 years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kintamayama 45,530 Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) Baseball, basketball, and most recently, Gezundheit. It's a knock out tournament where the winner is the one who can sneeze the most times in 33 minutes. World champion is Ble Syou from Hong Kong, who has broken every book in the record. Not everybody nose it, but it's catching. Edited January 21, 2018 by Kintamayama 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Swami 245 Posted January 21, 2018 F1, rugby union, snooker and darts. Swami Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atenzan 1,084 Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, orandashoho said: I had Cliff Thorburn's maximum break on VHS but some **%&$!** taped over it! How we sat on the edge of our seats till deep in the night! Just in case you're still searching for it... The spin on the final yellow is a thing of beauty. Who's your favourite? Mine was always Hendry but now he's retired. Edited January 21, 2018 by McBugger 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yukiarashi 195 Posted January 21, 2018 American football (NFL), college football, and ....................................nascar I feel like my teeth are falling out just writing this with all the culture on this page. I cover all ends of the cultural spectrum. Basketball-college basketball occasionaly look at scores but don't watch games Rugby-Looks fun Baseball-The last five minutes of the World Series Sailing-I went on a boat once... Tennis-I play it every now and then Snooker, Water Polo, Cricket-Who are they? As for the sneezing championship I get a lot allergies in the fall and sneeze in a mirror a lot, does that count? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kintamayama 45,530 Posted January 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Yukiarashi said: As for the sneezing championship I get a lot allergies in the fall and sneeze in a mirror a lot, does that count? Definitely. Please sign up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gurowake 4,107 Posted January 21, 2018 10 hours ago, Sakura said: slide down feet-first on your back on a tea-tray down a tube at great speed. Do you know they also have the same thing, but head-first? Sound like suicide to me. It's called "skeleton" appropriately enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orandashoho 720 Posted January 21, 2018 8 hours ago, McBugger said: Who's your favourite? Mine was always Hendry but now he's retired. Dennis Taylor with his upside-down glasses. Such a likeable character. Of course Hendry and Davis, for their excellence. Terry Griffiths for being Welsh. And when Higgins was in "in the groove" he was second to none. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atenzan 1,084 Posted January 21, 2018 Just now, orandashoho said: Dennis Taylor with his upside-down glasses. Such a likeable character. Of course Hendry and Davis, for their excellence. Terry Griffiths for being Welsh. And when Higgins was in "in the groove" he was second to none. I have to say we have very similar taste. As a little boy I was dazzled by Kirk Stevens and his white suit, and Jimmy (Jimmay! ) White and his talent, much like Whirlwind Alex Higgins. Though he was before my time, I modelled key parts of my game after John Spencer. My perfect player has Davis' mind, Spencer's tactics, Hendry's nerves, Higgins'/Ronnie's talent, John Higgins' fundamentals and Doherty's guile. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yatagarasu 352 Posted January 21, 2018 Football, NFL, NHL, Cricket, WEC (endurance racing), occasionally Kabaddi if I'm in the mood and it happens to be on TV and when the Winter Olympics are on I enjoy watching the ski-jumping, luge and bobsled. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orandashoho 720 Posted January 21, 2018 6 minutes ago, Yatagarasu said: Football, NFL, NHL, Cricket, WEC (endurance racing), occasionally Kabaddi if I'm in the mood and it happens to be on TV and when the Winter Olympics are on I enjoy watching the ski-jumping, luge and bobsled. Learn Something New Every Day... I'd never eaven heard of kabaddi. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atenzan 1,084 Posted January 21, 2018 12 minutes ago, Yatagarasu said: Football, NFL, NHL, Cricket, WEC (endurance racing), occasionally Kabaddi if I'm in the mood and it happens to be on TV and when the Winter Olympics are on I enjoy watching the ski-jumping, luge and bobsled. Cricket and kabbadi... Sri Lankan? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yatagarasu 352 Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) 11 minutes ago, orandashoho said: Learn Something New Every Day... I'd never eaven heard of kabaddi. Weirdly for me it's linked to how I first discovered sumo when I was a kid. Back in the late 80s Channel 4 (a mainstream UK channel) used to have 'weird' foreign sports on a Sunday morning. They would be sumo and, when sumo wasn't on, kabaddi. They even had a special channel ident: https://youtu.be/hXWoqyoiB7g?t=4s Edited January 21, 2018 by Yatagarasu Edit: it was the 80s <cough> showing my age... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yatagarasu 352 Posted January 21, 2018 4 minutes ago, McBugger said: Cricket and kabbadi... Sri Lankan? No, just a British kid who also happened to be very curious about foreign sports (see my post above)! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benihana 1,937 Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) During the ski season on weekends my TV is set to winter sports by default. Bob, toboggan, skating, ski jumping and especially biathlon, but alpine skiing not so much. When the olympics are on, i don't care what they show, i'll watch it. But besides that only some Bundesliga, Champions League, international matches. When i find something interesting when zapping through the channels, i watch it, regardless what, even golf or bowles. What do you think how i discovered sumo? Edited January 21, 2018 by Benihana Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Getayukata 119 Posted January 22, 2018 I like tennis, show jumping and 3 day eventing, figure skating, skiing and even some golf occasionally (Tiger Woods on the top of his game was incredible to watch playing). I'm not so interested in team sports, though I used to like watching the cricket test matches as a teenager - don't see them broadcast much in Canada though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chichūkai 9 Posted January 23, 2018 Does puroresu count as a sport? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sakura 1,495 Posted January 23, 2018 On 1/21/2018 at 08:59, Yatagarasu said: No, just a British kid who also happened to be very curious about foreign sports (see my post above)! I loved watching Kabbadi on Sunday mornings on Channel 4 (I thought it was Saturdays). I watched it in the early 90s. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gurowake 4,107 Posted January 24, 2018 I have a very very hard time believing Kabbadi is an actual sport and not something made up as a spoof. I guess to me it just seems too hard to enforce the most ludicrous-sounding rule in the game, and that people would devise ways around it that would be impossible to catch. Maybe if I could see it live I might believe it, but in videos it's just like "How the hell do they know he's not cheating?" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Burajirotono 99 Posted January 24, 2018 (edited) -Football: Because im brazilian. Every man in Brasil likes football. My team is the greatest in the world; São Paulo Futebol Clube. We arent in a good moment right now but its a matter of time to get back on track. Funny thing is that most of the real football fans in Brasil dont cares for our famous national selection, we like the clubs much more. -Boxe: Im a huge fan and i used to train when i was younger, my grandfather was an amateur boxer but he was kind of lame to go pro....Rsrsrsrs. Im crazy about the great ones like Ali and Chavez. Today my love goes for Canelo and GGG and im dieing to see them get together again! -Female volleyball: I adore to watch those lovely girls. I hate masculine volley. ...But ozumo is my favorite! I'm kind of famous between my friends for this bizarre taste. They all kwon that calling me for a party or something during a basho is pointless... Edited January 24, 2018 by Burajirotono Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
