My Not So Wide World Of Sports

In my younger days I found most spectator sports enjoyable and often mandatory viewing. As the years go by, my zeal for sports has waned considerably and as a result the number of sports that I zealously follow is less than a handful.

Boxing is an absolute no-no. I can’t believe that I actually attended a boxing match or that the Gillette fight of the week religiously occupied my Friday evenings on the boob tube. I’m reluctant to play the role of a Roman and watch two gladiators destroy themselves.

It seems that sports fans can not get enough violence in sports these days. NFL football is slowly losing me as a fan and NHL hockey never did hook me. Wrestling? I actually watched a bunch of vicious looking clowns throw each other around for awhile but it did'nt take long to relegate that “sport” to the trash heap. Suffice to say that athletes trying to maim one another is not my idea of a sport.

Then there is NASCAR. Politics cooled me off on NASCAR racing. How can individuals who make a living going left be such vocal right wing supporters? Basketball? March madness held my attention for awhile but the games interfered with baseball spring training games so I lost interest. I can’t remember ever watching a complete NBA game and hardly tune in to one any longer. The acrobatic basket shooting and the fast pace of the game is reality boring. Golf? Actually played golf for awhile but I decided that being the world’s worst golfer was not for me. Golf on TV captures my attention now and then but a golf fanatic I am not and it has nothing to do with Tiger Wood‘s escapades ( I always knew he had a powerful golf drive but never realized he had a sex drive to match).

Baseball remains my favorite sport. If anything my interest has increased over the years. The Cleveland Indians do not make it easy, but hey its still baseball.

How about sports spectacles such as the Olympics? Glad you asked, that’s what was on my mind when I started this tome. The Winter Olympics did not get my adrenaline going. The only reason why I watched about three hours worth of the Vancouver Winter Olympics over the past two weeks is that competing TV programs did'nt make it much of a competition. As for winter sports, I would have the following on the medals stand:

Gold - Cross Country Skiing
Silver - Short Track Speed Skating
Bronze - Half-pipe Snow Board

Figure skating has its moments but can be pure drudgery unless you are a student of the moves. Judging by the age of the women competitors, I’m sure that kindergartners will eventually be competing. As for the dance version of figure skating, whose wet dream ever made it a sport? And then we have curling. it’s a challenge to stay awake while watching this sport. They ought to sweep it out of the Olympics. At best it belongs in the Senior Olympics. I understand that curling is the darling of CNBC. Makes sense, only people who understand derivatives could understand curling.

What you can take away from my verbiage - I'm not a huge sports fan, I don't like violent sports, I'm lukewarm on the Olympics, Baseball is my sport.

Two more years and the media will be hyping the Summer Olympics. Fortunately they obviously take place in the summer and "the boys of summer" will be able competitors for TV ratings, especially if the Indians are in contention. The Summer Olympics do however offer some intrigue.Will Bob Costa's hair be able to survive another dye job? Will something better than Botox come along to rejuvenate NBC's anchors?