Boring Sports on TV.

[Kermit]

Seeing the discussion where a lot of people are saying that international football, outside of the latter stages of tournaments, is boring got me thinking of sports which, imo, are an incentive to turn over to something else on the box. Would be interesting the hear what others reckon. For me, in no particular order of apathy are

Darts---A pub pastine commercialised for t v and played by weirdoes with funny haircuts. Was better, imo, when the top players were all fat sods who swigged beer in between shots.
Snooker---What's the point? One bloke messes up his shot and sits down while his opponent clears the table. Riveting stuff----not.
Speedway---Four blokes on motor bikes jostling to see who can be the first one to navigate the first curve so the rest can find an orderly procession behind him to the finishing line.
Synchronised Swimming----What can possibly be said ?
Dressage----Strictly Come Dancing but with horses.
Wrestling---Always thought blokes who have a thing about watching other, oiled up, blokes grappling with each others leotards should have a serious word with nthemselves.
Curling---Admittedly only ever seen on the box, at least as far as I'm aware, when there's a winter olympics on but imo ice bowls leaves me as cold as the bloody playing surface.
Ice Skating/Dancing---Can be a good watch when someone goes base ovcer apex but otherwise-----
AND FINALLY----I kid you not I have actually seen it broadcast on TV. Can'rt remember who was playing who. But really whoever thought showing tele Chess was a good idea has to be in a job well beyond their pay grade capabilities.

[Macca1973]

Formula One and snooker for me, both completely unwatchable

[fjthegrey]

All sport, in a competitive context, has the ability to be riveting I think.

The ones that are difficult to get on board with are those that at their highest level are judged on nuances that a casual or novice viewer wouldn't understand or be able to decipher. Dressage probably the best example on that list of a sport that is so intricate and specific that what is or isn't a good test is only really understood by a highly trained expert. High bar to entry.

I wouldn't actively choose to watch pretty much anything on the original posters list, but I'd personally choose to watch any of those sports being played out by their peak competitors at a meaningfully high level event over the England football team playing a friendly or in that stupid nations league thing.

I genuinely would be more interested in watching the two greatest synchronized swimming teams battle it out for their World Cup than watch England play a meaningless game. I could barely muster the enthusiasm to watch England in the Euro's tbh. I haven't even bothered to watch the West Ham 3 minute highlights on Youtube the last month, even the game we won. Football is the most **** it has ever been for me. I can't even remember if I've been to a game this season and I'm an ST holder. I think I might have done one early in the season but I don't know who it was against.

Anyway. It all has the potential to be good when the event itself is good. A World Cup final can be the most tedious thing imaginable if nothing is happening, an early stage Olympic curling event could be utterly gripping if it's a real close back and forth.

[dasnutnock3]

Equestrian sports. Never understood the appeal.
Indoor athletics. Yawn.
Swimming. Great sport to do, excruciating to watch.
Marathons. Just show us the start & finish.
Tour De France. See Marathons.
Tae Kwon Do. Arse kicking contest.

Actually, might be easier to list the sports I do watch on TV :

Regularly - football (club), rugby union (international), rugby league (international), MMA.
Occasionally - cricket, boxing, tennis, F1, judo (if it's on). I'll watch stuff in the Olympics I wouldn't normally care for (gymnastics, diving, hockey etc) but usually only if we've got a medal hope competing.

[Harlow Hammer]

Don't you find than when big events are on you suddenly start watching them, get invested in them, even though you have may no idea what is happening.

As for boring sports, based on watching them on TV

Darts - Aside from the world championships at Ally Pally
Snooker
Golf, I play it and watch some it but it goes on for too long
F1 - Recent season have been a procession, this seasons had a bit for to get into
Marathon, long distance running
Test Matches
Chess, is that a sport or a pass time
Le Mans
NasCar, Indy 500, going round in a circle 500 times!
Cycling

[Macca1973]

Harlow, yes. The Olympics is the perfect example. I was jumping up and down watching things like rowing, BMX riding and Taekwondo now I won’t watch them for another 4 years.

[wolf359]

I love F1 I watch all practices , even preseason testing. However I rarely watch it just on the TV. I need my iPad and laptop with timings and additional cameras. To see the complete picture more than what is on the TV is needed.

[Rio]

Dressage
Gymnastics
Wrestling
Trampolining
Skateboarding
Figure skating


Just no.

[dasnutnock3]

Skateboarding

Just no.

It's not a sport. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's got nothing to do with competition or contests, no matter what ESPN would have you believe.

[Kermit]

It's not a sport. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's got nothing to do with competition or contests, no matter what ESPN would have you believe.

Imo that can be said about a lot of so called "sports". Ffs there's even a clamour to have darts included in the Olympics. It's a pub pastime in my book, on a par with cribbage. But, in fairness to darts anyone watching a game can at least tell who's winning. Unlike things like horses poncing around doing their best Fred Astaire impersonations, diving, gymnastics, ice skating and all the others that rely on a panel of judges to award marks.

[Junco Partner]

F1: The red car and the blue car had a race....for hours and hours, round and round....yet it was all sorted by the first corner.

All motor 'sport' really, just cars and bikes going round and round. May as well stand by the M25 for an hour or two.

Golf: More a game to play when out for a walk than a sport, unbelievably self-important.

Fishing: Bob & Paul aside.

Basketball: Up & down, up & down, up & down, over and over....for 2 hours, the winner is largely known in fifteen minutes.

I can see the attraction in darts & snooker that there is a series of mini-climax's building up to the big climax, though rarely watch. With all the Olympic stuff I can find myself gripped to see how it finishes, who wins etc, but not give it a seconds thought for four more years.

I've limited 'sports' bandwidth these days, football, cricket & boxing take up enough of this....the Tour in the summer and a dabble in big Rugby games & Super League keep me right. I've no room for anything else frankly.

[sendô]

Golf on the tele. Deary me, who cares? Some yank needed fewer whacks to get the ball in the hole 18 times than some other yank? Why do I care, I can barely see the ball on the tele anyway.

Snooker, as much I enjoyed playing pool/snooker when I was younger, and a bit now on occasion, it has always been boring to watch.

Darts, it's only vaguely interesting because there's lots of noise and every few minutes someone checks out and the drunken crowd cheers, but otherwise it's just two blokes seeing who can hit the T20 the most.

The winner for me though is horse racing. Honestly, unless I've got a few quid on it, who cares? I can't tell the horses apart, they all look the same, and I'm not about to pick one based on his rough upbringing on the mean streets of rural Ireland or whatever the f*** I'm supposed to care about if I'm not about to win/lose money.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

Anything with horses. Any American games. Any pub games. Anything where the only way of determining the winner is with a panel of judges.

[Junco Partner]

The ones that are difficult to get on board with are those that at their highest level are judged on nuances that a casual or novice viewer wouldn't understand or be able to decipher.

...Anything where the only way of determining the winner is with a panel of judges.

Yeah, anything where someone has to tell me who won, IE a little bureaucrat somewhere gives a 6.0 or a 120 or something, leaves me completely cold.

Not worth watching or getting involved in.

[Cockneyboy311]

Seeing the discussion where a lot of people are saying that international football, outside of the latter stages of tournaments, is boring got me thinking of sports which, imo, are an incentive to turn over to something else on the box. Would be interesting the hear what others reckon. For me, in no particular order of apathy are

Speedway---Four blokes on motor bikes jostling to see who can be the first one to navigate the first curve so the rest can find an orderly procession behind him to the finishing line.

Sticking up for Speedway here. It is a unique sport, where you want the meetings to be close. A thrashing in Speedway is boring I'll admit. Each team has the same points average, and you need to fill your 7 rider spots to that average. This is to ensure that teams are as equally matched as possible. Unfortunately it doesn't always work like that. Riders go out of form, or riders who had low point average get better and start smashing it. There is also the issue with injuries. It is a very dangerous sport, so you can lose a member or members of your team for weeks at a time. Then it is either rider replacement (another rider within the team takes his rides) or you get a guest in with a similar points average. This can work out great or be a nightmare. So many variables.

You'll find the best racing in the Grand Prix, so the individual event. The best riders in the world up against each other. I've seen some fantastic racing in those meetings (incidentally, Britain's Tai Woffinden is 3 times world champion, however injuries have taken their toll and he's not what he once was)

Me and my Dad visit a different track each year (RIP Lakeside Hammers) and I always pick a meeting where I think it will be close. We've seen some decent racing and we'll do the same again next year. Poole, Oxford, Belle Vue, Rye House (now closed), Peterborough (now closed), Ipswich, Kings Lynn all ticked off the list. Maybe Leicester, Birmingham or Sheffield next.

[Kermit]

Thanks JuncoPartner I'd completely forgotten about fishing. I've lost count of the number of times I've been told it's good for the mind because it's so relaxing.

All I can say is that if I want to relax there are plenty of pubs where I can go and have a chat with people and put the world to rights. I find that more pleasant than sitting by some pond or river, playing with maggots or bits of assorted food discarded from the fridge and trying to outwit a bloody fish.

I read somewhere it's the most participated in "sport" in the country. I can believe that. I know quite a few otherwise perfectly sensible people, with good, responsible jobs, who choose to spend much of their spare time sitting in by themselves watching a bit of plastic tied to the end of a line.

[Kermit]

Sticking up for Speedway here.

I live in Hertfordshire and more years ago than I care to remember a mate of mine who was very into speedway persuaded me to go to a meeting with him. I only went once so I'm probably being a bit unfair (although on a few occasions I've seen a bit of it on the box) and it seemed to me that the bloke who had the lead at the first bend always won. Unless he fell off I suppose. Which didn't happen when I went.

[kenthammer]

Another one sticking up for Speedway though I'll be the first to admit watching live is far better than on the box

[Toulouse_Iron]

Hmmmm, boring to watch but fantastic, yet horrible to actually do: Rowing.
At least, on the surface, you can tell who is winning. a race from, point A to point B with a repetetive action. Dull as dishwater.
BUT,if you've ever rowed to any decent level, you can see what's going on under the surface, who has the upper hand, who is inching ahead, who is slowly crumbling, Whose technique is fraying, who is digging deeper than you can ever imagine and who is rowing out of their skin, transcending pain, in a state of grace.
Must be the same with swimming I suppose...

[Cockneyboy311]

I live in Hertfordshire and more years ago than I care to remember a mate of mine who was very into speedway persuaded me to go to a meeting with him. I only went once so I'm probably being a bit unfair (although on a few occasions I've seen a bit of it on the box) and it seemed to me that the bloke who had the lead at the first bend always won. Unless he fell off I suppose. Which didn't happen when I went.

Must’ve been Rye House if it was Hertfordshire.

Getting out of the gate first and round the first bend is important but again it depends on the match up. Top riders can come from the back. Chris “Bomber” Harris is superb at it, which is just as well being an average gater!