Following are the list of Olympic sports I enjoy watching and ones that leave me nodding off or changing the channel. I would love to hear from others on what moves them or bores them.
This list is not a commentary on the athletic skills or talents involved in the sport, but rather how I see them as a spectator and not an insider of the sport:
BORING
- Dressage: Apologies to Patricia Nell Warren, but watching a man or woman on a horse trotting around an arena is a better sleep aid than Ambien; even the horses looked bored. The jumping competition at least has a bit of excitement.
- Fencing: It happens way too fast for a novice to appreciate what is happening. I watched a gold medal match (or tried to) and had no idea who was scoring points and why. Best viewed in super-slo-mo.
- Beach volleyball: Face it, NBC obsesses over this simply because the women play in bikinis and show major T&A. As a sport it is serve, setup, return, repeat. Yawn. The indoor game is much more enjoyable to watch.
- Synchronized swimming: Every time I see it I only think of the classic SNL skit that lampooned it. I can’t see how anyone outside of immediate family can be entertained by such a contrived sport.
THEY ROCK
- Weightlifting: A simple concept with tons of drama — can the athlete lift that incredible weight over his or her head? The athletes are animated (as is their entourage) and the emotions are raw and real. Wish I saw more of it.
- Anything with a race: A swimming or track or road race is also easy to grasp and follow. I watched the road cycling and the weather (it rained on the women) and course made it compelling. The only swim race that bores is the 1,500 meters because it takes too long.
- Water polo: Four, eight-minute quarters with nonstop action. And the guys are smoking hot.
- Rowing/canoe: These are dramatic events with great visuals. One of my Olympic must-sees.
Not that I have had my say, feel free to suggest your own list.
By Jim Buzinski
3 responses so far ↓
1 Jim Allen // Aug 19, 2008 at 3:27 am
Can’t stand beach volleyball, no matter the gender playing it. Loathe girls gymnastics, but readers of this blog know that. I don’t think tennis should be in the Olympics if the same players are winning Grand Slams –the four majors are their Olympics– and I’m glad that my beloved baseball and softball are getting the boot, baseball because it’s not the best athletes in that sport and softball because there’s no competition for the US. Soccer should also get booted, since the best players are playing for their league teams, not in Beijing, again, the World Cup is that sports Olympics.
On a more positive note, I like watching any sport that’s NOT baseball, basketball, ice hockey, the real football and the false god, erm, NFL/college football. I really like field hockey a lot, same with handball (much different from the “smack a ball against any wall” version I played at recess when I was a kid) and the trampoline. Water polo kicks ass too –OMG! men in a pool with body hair!– and I’d love to see the pentathlon (shooting, fencing, swimming, equestrian and running), though Jim will hate it because it has foils and horses. Of course, the biggies like men’s gymnastics and the track and field stuff is cool.
2 Fae // Aug 19, 2008 at 4:38 am
I apologize to all Equestrian Dressage lovers out there…but it gets my vote as the most boring olympic sport ever. The horse does some zigzag thing and stamps its feet and some weird canter thing. Repeat. snooze. It’s the Summer Olympics’ version of Curling!!
3 Patricia Nell Warren // Aug 19, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I am always amused at this discussion. Thank heavens that we are all free, as we sit in front of our TVs — or in front of our laptops for Web viewing of streaming NBC videos — to hit the remote button or the mouse, and go where it’s not boring for each of us personally. Thank heavens that nobody holds a gun to our heads and makes us watch any of those sports that we happen to detest.As a writer I try hard to find what’s at the core in each and every sport. A sport exists because a group of people out there find it culturally fascinating and challenging. There are dramatic subtleties in dressage that people miss if they don’t know horses, or the sport. Likewise there are dramatic subtles in golf that fans and players of the game are captivated by.The whole point of the sports world is the incredible diversity — there’s something there for everybody. The Olympic Games reflect that diversity. If you don’t like what’s beginning programmed at the moment, you hit the remote.Personally I adore racing of any kind, as everybody knows — whether it’s horses or humans or cars or yachts or aircraft. You could even get me trackside for a British-style ferret race. I also love everything else in track & field, futbol, rugby, basketball — plus anything else equestrian that exists on this planet. In fact, the list of sports that bore me is probably pretty short…and even so, I might wind up having to write about them, so I won’t burn my bridges with the people who love those sports.
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