Anyone else watching a lot more sport over the past year?

[Tocklishchap]

Over the past year - indeed the past 18 months since the pandemic started - I find that I have been watching a lot more sport than previously. I have always been interested of course and played a lot of sport when I was younger: Rugby - or Rugger as we called it; Football; Cricket: all these took up a lot of my spare time.

For most of my post-student days my principal interests have been in the arts and aesthetics and so I have just kept up with scores, read occasional commentaries, watched highlights of matches, etc. This year, however, I have watched the Euros religiously, ditto the Six Nations and also started taking an interest in American and Australian Rules Football - and exploring the Irish sports of Gaelic Football and Hurling. My friends have noticed this change and I find it hard to explain.

Has anyone else on this Forum become more sports-orientated recently or noticed another comparable shift in their interests?

 

[jack webb]

The pandemic kind of had the opposite effect on me. Out of sight, out of mind, so in general sports have held less interest for me...with the exception of televised college football. I missed the energy of games played before 100,000 fans.

 

[mhip]

Less and less...

I'm pretty much down to the NHL, and women's college volleyball.

 

[Tocklishchap]

The pandemic kind of had the opposite effect on me. Out of sight, out of mind, so in general sports have held less interest for me...with the exception of televised college football. I missed the energy of games played before 100,000 fans.

I have also enjoyed some college Football - although being British I did not grow up playing the game. You probably experienced it. Rugby Union was my nearest equivalent.

I see your point about the loss of crowd energy. In the past I have been more of a participant than a spectator.

 

[Duke Santos]

I don't think it had much effect on me. I still watch the sports I care about: college football, college hockey, college basketball, F1, International Rugby and Major League Baseball. Ignore the sports that I don't care about. Probably the only change is that I did not watch a single Cubs game this year after the godforsaken Ricketts family put all their games on a streaming network--first time in decades that I didn't watch a single Cubs game both on TV and in person. I guess the Ricketts family is unaware of the lesson of how Dollar Bill Wirtz absolutely cratered the Blackhawks' fanbase in the 90s when he made it impossible to watch home games on TV.

 

[jack webb]

I don't think it had much effect on me. I still watch the sports I care about: college football, college hockey, college basketball, F1, International Rugby and Major League Baseball. Ignore the sports that I don't care about. Probably the only change is that I did not watch a single Cubs game this year after the godforsaken Ricketts family put all their games on a streaming network--first time in decades that I didn't watch a single Cubs game both on TV and in person. I guess the Ricketts family is unaware of the lesson of how Dollar Bill Wirtz absolutely cratered the Blackhawks' fanbase in the 90s when he made it impossible to watch home games on TV.

I had a similar experience as a Red Sox fan. Baseball's hold on me had long been weakening, but I'd still tune into the Friday night games that were on free TV, everything else having been moved to cable. Then they took away the Friday freebie as well. That was about it for me, and the sport wonders why World Series television ratings get lower every year and their fan-base demographic is near geriatric. Say what you will about the NFL, but one thing they've gotten right is keeping their games accessible. Even the Super Bowl is on broadcast television and starts early enough so that the youngest fans can see at least part of the game.

 

[Duke Santos]

I had a similar experience as a Red Sox fan. Baseball's hold on me had long been weakening, but I'd still tune into the Friday night games that were on free TV, everything else having been moved to cable. Then they took away the Friday freebie as well. That was about it for me, and the sport wonders why World Series television ratings get lower every year and their fan-base demographic is near geriatric. Say what you will about the NFL, but one thing they've gotten right is keeping their games accessible. Even the Super Bowl is on broadcast television and starts early enough so that the youngest fans can see at least part of the game.

I'm old enough to remember being in elementary school in Northern California, and the teacher turning on the radio for an A's-Mets World Series game. It was literally a freakin' day game.

 

[Tocklishchap]

I'm old enough to remember being in elementary school in Northern California, and the teacher turning on the radio for an A's-Mets World Series game. It was literally a freakin' day game.

I don’t know much you know about the boys’ boarding school system in England? For us, sport was very much part of the curriculum and life of the school. Boys lived in Houses, each one with a Housemaster, and the Houses held matches against each other - with school teams competing against similar schools. When I was chosen for a House Rugby team it meant that I had games or practices most days, including my final year when I had important exams (and when I sometimes played in school as well as House teams). It also meant that other sports got squeezed out, including Fencing, which I had enjoyed.
I’m sure it did me a lot of good however!

 

[ter1413]

I caught the major UEFA matches, US Open, some boxing and other random events. But I also miss the energy of games played before huge crowds.

I say that I am watching MUCH less.

 

[Tocklishchap]

I caught the major UEFA matches, US Open, some boxing and other random events. But I also miss the energy of games played before huge crowds.

I say that I am watching MUCH less.

I get what you mean and I seem to be going against the grain by watching more! Maybe it’s just a midlife thing. …