What’s the most boring sport, and what would you do to make it more exciting?

The key to enjoying spectator sports is to have played the sport otherwise you can't appreciate the finer points of the game.

When we were kids, everybody played baseball in one form or another. Nowadays it's not as popular with kids who grow up playing computer games.

Same thing with football.

When players were exceptional years ago, we knew because we knew what was difficult about the game from our own experience.

Today, we have announcers who BS us about every player in the game. "He's one of the best at [insert inconsequential skill]".
 

Naturally said:
Okay, some will shoot me and no offense intended ... Hockey
I've never been to a live event and have earnestly tried ... more than once, to watch it on TV.
I CAN'T SEE THE PUCK. I can't follow or anticipate the action.
Alls I see is somebody swing a stick (sometimes the stick just flicks at what I don't know) followed by some kind of skate race with folks bumping into each other.
Rinse and repeat.
That said, it IS a sport that takes GREAT skill ... to watch
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And yet, many Americans have no problem at all tracking a 100 mph fastball during an MLB game. Or seeing a funny car go over 300 mph in a 7 second pass at a quarter mile drag race . Or see the 6 inch space between cars running 200 mph at Daytona. The problem you have is simple, you don't understand the game, and you probably have never had some body sit down with you and explain it to you. I am not going to be that guy.

You admit that you have never seen a hockey game in person. Thats part of your problem, right there. TV coverage, especially the Canadian network games are good, but the real thing is way better. Why ? You can see the entire 200 foot long by 80 foot wide ice surface in a glance. You can see the plays develop and the passing is stick to stick, and FAST. Remember that the hockey net is just six feet wide and four feet high, with a goalie in front of it that can cover from one post to the other is a butterfly style move.

Unlike NFL games where there are two full sides one for offence and another for defense, in hockey the players go both ways in short spurts of less than a minute, and they change on the fly while the play goes on. Unlike baseball no one on a hockey team is eating on the bench, or nodding off in the bull pen. Constant movement, three 20 minute periods, with 2 15 minute intermissions between the second and the third period. No tie games in hockey, if the score is tied at the end of 60 minutes, its now overtime, first team to score in OT wins the game.

The NHL regular season is 84 games, then the Stanley Cup playoffs start. IN order to get to the cup final 7 game series, a team has to win at least 4 games out of 7, THREE TIMES to get to the cup round. It is the hardest championship to win in any pro sport. And unlike the other pro sports trophies, the names of each player and coach on the cup winning team are engraved ON THE CUP each season. The Stanley Cup was first played for in 1896, and it was given by Lord Stanley the Governor General of Canada at the time. He was a big hockey fan. The current cup weighs about 35 pounds and it is solid sterling silver.

The boards are used like the rim on a pool table, to bounce passes around the defending team, the sticks are made of carbon fiber with a very flexible shaft, and the puck is a six inch diameter by one inch thick hard rubber disc. Speeds of shots are 80 to 100 mph and in a average game that goalie will stop 30 to 40 of them.

Take the time to learn about OUR GAME. JimB.
 
Alls I know about hockey from TRYING to watch it on TV is that a goalie at some point takes the puck out of his back pocket and places it in the cargo net behind him and everyone points their stick to heaven and cheers him. Don't know the timing of how the goalie figures out when to do this ... except maybe when people in the arena are loudest or something. Dunno ;) ... I'll just grab my hat and coat ~~~
 
jimintoronto said:
You admit that you have never seen a hockey game in person. Thats part of your problem, right there. TV coverage, especially the Canadian network games are good, but the real thing is way better. Why ? You can see the entire 200 foot long by 80 foot wide ice surface in a glance. You can see the plays develop and the passing is stick to stick, and FAST. Remember that the hockey net is just six feet wide and four feet high, with a goalie in front of it that can cover from one post to the other is a butterfly style move.
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Yeah, I got the fever after going to a game
Me and my buds would hang around after a game and raid the stick pile

We didn't have ice, so we played roller hockey in an old abandoned gym

Good times
 
Naturally said:
Alls I know about hockey from TRYING to watch it on TV is that a goalie at some point takes the puck out of his back pocket and places it in the cargo net behind him and everyone points their stick to heaven and cheers him. Don't know the timing of how the goalie figures out when to do this ... except maybe when people in the arena are loudest or something. Dunno ;) ... I'll just grab my hat and coat ~~~
Click to expand...
You have it backwards. The goalie's job is to keep the puck OUT of the net, not put it in the net.

Lets remember that in hockey the goalie plays every minute of the 60 minute game. Stoppages are called when a goal is scored, a penalty is called, or in the premier NHL for the 2 minute TV time outs which happen 3 times in each 20 minute long period. Minor penalties are 2 minutes in the box, 5 minutes for fighting, ten minutes for a gross miss-conduct, or for the worst infractions, the player is sent off for the rest of the game, and the league MAY invoke a 2 or 3 game suspension PLUS a monetary fine. NHL players who don't play due to a suspension don't get paid for the games they sit out by their team so missing a game may actually cost them 20 or 30 thousand dollars.

I mentioned that Canada considers hockey to be " Our Game ".

Just one example from last year's Stanley Cup final series, between Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers. Each team has 20 players on their roster, so the 2 teams had a total of 40 players in the final best of 7 series. Of those 40 players, 31 on them were born in Canada. And the managers of both teams were also Canadians. At one time in the past Team Canada was the Olympic hockey gold medal winner in both men's and women's hockey, in the same year which was 2010 in Vancouver. Syd Crosby scored the "Golden Goal " against Team USA in the final 2 minutes of the Gold Medal game. Hockey games between Canada and the USA , at ANY level are grudge matches, never mind the Olympics. JImB.
 
Baseball. Because of my father...I hate baseball. We only had one T.V. and when it was baseball season, he'd have it on all the time. I did attend a baseball game, however. Two of the players were my supervisor's husband and a co-worker who was on the opposite team. I liked both of them but was partial to the co-worker, who I knew better, of course and who was also a friend. Knowing the players did make it less boring.
 
I'd have to say, "Formula One Racing" or any racing sports watching in person or on television.

Granted, I've done it in the 80s for Gilles Villeneuve and the Ferrari team. I stopped after witnessing his tragic death. It's all them going around on a track. Boring!

However, it's much more fun to be part of it, via a video game. ASALPHT game on Xbox trying to win (which we do often LOL) is much better.

Then, miniput is okay from time to time BUT 18 holes full golf game...please!!!

Soccer? Seriously too big a playing surface with a bunch of whinners that fake injuries all the time. Waste of time IMHO. Most games I've heard of end up NIL-NIL or 1-NIL. Get on with it, score goals or go home 🤣🤣🤣
 
Bretrick said:
Curling. Sliding stones on a sheet of ice. Chess on ice. Amusingly pointless.
Anyone here played this "sport"?
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Betrick. IN small town Canada , curling is what the farmers do in the winter, if they are crop growers. The ones who have dairy or beef operations still have time during the day to go into to the curling club to play a few ends. At the national level Canada produces world champions in both the men's and the women's competitions. The ability to be able to get that 40 pound stone to stop in a 3 foot circle, while avoiding the guard rocks put in front of it by the other 4 person team, is a definite skill. Don't be so quick to dismiss the sport. JimB.
 
I love tennis and golf. I once watched a single tennis match for 6 hours. It was great. All sports are interesting if you like that particular sport or someone who plays it.
 
Nascar racing.
Start go straight make left turn, another left turn, go straight make left turn, another left turn, go straight make left turn, another left turn, go straight make left turn, another left turn, go. Repeat for hours.
 
I know it sounds strange but, the most boring sport to watch for me is ice hockey. Yes it is fast action. And exciting. But, really! All it is is men body slamming one another. What skill is there in that? It is all very predictable. If body slamming was made illegal then the players would have to actually play the game employing skill with the stick, menuverability, tactics, strategy, and teamwork. And, they'd have to use their brains rather than their brawn. Then ice hockey would be exciting to watch.
 
Knight said:
Nascar racing.
Start go straight make left turn, another left turn, go straight make left turn, another left turn, go straight make left turn, another left turn, go straight make left turn, another left turn, go. Repeat for hours.
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Yes. And it is almost a parade with little real passing or team work between team members. Sadly, Indy car or open wheeled racing has become almost the same. One of the reasons for this, I think, is because all are now so evenly matched in terms of technology. No one innovates any longer in racing and employs different tech to race against one another. The cars and engines are essentially all the same, today.
 
Baseball…so slow and boring. New rule should be a time limit on how long a batter can be in the box. It’s tiring to watch a batter rearrange his “junk” after every pitch.

A close second is car racing. Around and around they go while onlookers are hoping for a little excitement- like a big wreck.

And third is men’s basketball. It’s just a dunking contest. Women’s basketball is much more entertaining. They actually have defined plays and defense is exciting.
 
Robb.hisself said:
I know it sounds strange but, the most boring sport to watch for me is ice hockey. Yes it is fast action. And exciting. But, really! All it is is men body slamming one another. What skill is there in that? It is all very predictable. If body slamming was made illegal then the players would have to actually play the game employing skill with the stick, menuverability, tactics, strategy, and teamwork. And, they'd have to use their brains rather than their brawn. Then ice hockey would be exciting to watch.
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Tell me about your skating ability on ice ? The clue to your lack of knowledge was when you called it "Ice hockey ". Seriously, to play hockey a player has to be just as strong and agile as any football or baseball player, but they have to do it on ice at speeds around 30 kph. I have to shake my head at your comments. JImB.
 
Most of my friends can't understand how anyone can watch the sport of sailing,
such as the America's Cup racing.
Does look boring to most people, and I can understand that.

Like a lot of sports, it takes a bunch of money to pull it off.
The skill of those who can read the wind and bend it to their will,
keeps me watching.

I am So Lucky that my wife was an avid fan of the sport when we very first met.
We never miss a run up to the Cup or any of the matches.

As far as what can be done to make it more exciting, adding the foils was one.
They can turn on a Dime and reach unheard of speeds.

I am an addict when it comes to this sport.

 
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I used to enjoy watching those boats, back when they were
just on sail, not on stilts....it just doesn't seem the same any
more....ah well.....
 


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