Least Liked Sports

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Well, I saw this and thought some of you sports fans might be interested.

 

Fox News

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Interesting. I would be interested in seeing the breakdown of race/sex/age. I'd think Boxing wouldn't be #4 if it were to be broken down by sex. I could be wrong of course but I have the feeling that more women would dislike boxing then men.

 

As for the others I Love Pro Football (American football) and college basketball. I've never really liked baseball, though I played in high school (Hey it got me out of class).

 

I like Boxing, hate the NBA and have a mild interest in Golf. I'm disinterested in the NHL as well as Soccer. I don't consider wrestling a sport (Neither do they, they call themselves "entertainment" not "sport") and dog fighting isn't a sport either.

 

No. 3 is bullfighting, a sport that Americans who haven't been to Spain or Mexico or read Hemingway don't get, never see and, apparently, don't want.

That says it all for bullfighting lol.

[therabidirishman 0]

Professional wrestling only 1 notch above pitbull fighting? :lol:

As an old time fan of wrestling,I must protest.The demographic for this poll had to be senior citizens and the anti-pro wrestling crowd.I'll admit the spectacle is not what it used to be,thanks largely to the Larry Flynt-approach of Vince McMahon Jr to the storylines and writing,but there's no way it is that close to being the most hated sport.

[subcommanderbeavis 0]

Professional wrestling only 1 notch above pitbull fighting? :lol:

As an old time fan of wrestling,I must protest.The demographic for this poll had to be senior citizens and the anti-pro wrestling crowd.I'll admit the spectacle is not what it used to be,thanks largely to the Larry Flynt-approach of Vince McMahon Jr to the storylines and writing,but there's no way it is that close to being the most hated sport.

I agree.

Professional wrestling is great!Its soap opera for men :lol:

And while it may not be a legitimate "sport",there are no better conditioned athletes,or "entertainers" in any sport elsewhere.Professional wrestlers are men and women who must perform 300 or more days a year(no off season,no unions),must live on the road,and increasingly must maintain superior standards of physical fitness.It is such a harsh life that over the past several years more and more wrestlers are dying.Many of them as a result of drug addiction to pain killers,as their lifestyle takes an incredible toll on their bodies.Those wrestling rings are not soft.That's a solid wood surface on springs that they are slamming down onto.And ask any stuntman,diving or being pushed off of a 30-foot height (from a cage)is going to hurt,no matter how you prepare yourself for the impact.I could make a lengthy list of big,tough NFL stars who tried pro wrestling and went home crying about how difficult it was.

Its a crying shame Vince McMahon Jr is putting out such shoddy product,when he has so many tremendously talented individuals in his organization (World Wrestling Entertainment...formerly the WWF).I guess today,sex is all that sells.Heck,even Star Trek is trying it! :lol:

[Sirius 0]

I used to watch wrestling :lol:

I remember Ernie Ladd,Superstar Graham,Andre The Giant,The Texas Outlaws,and Bruno Sammartino.

Any of those guys still wrestling?I know Andre died a few years ago.I don't suppose they are still active,though.I haven't followed wrestling in many,many years.

[Goose 0]

Stardate:213742.9

 

 

 

One thing i have never been able to figure out is why are people turning away from baseball????

[edmcgon 0]

Stardate:213742.9

 

 

 

One thing i have never been able to figure out is why are people turning away from baseball????

Several reasons:

 

1. Players change teams way too frequently. It is hard to become attached to a team when the roster turns over every few years.

 

2. New York Yankees. They have a significant competitive advantage because there is no profit sharing in baseball. Since the Yankees tend to dominate MLB most years, there is little drama.

 

3. A 162-game season. I cannot think of any sport which has this long a season. It is grueling trying to follow this sport in any kind of detail.

 

4. Ticket costs. I have not priced them lately, but they were about $20+ in the mid-90's (and that was for the cheap seats). That does not include parking, concessions, etc. I would not even think about going to a baseball game unless I got the tickets for free.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Stardate:213742.9

 

 

 

One thing i have never been able to figure out is why are people turning away from baseball????

Several reasons:

 

1. Players change teams way too frequently. It is hard to become attached to a team when the roster turns over every few years.

 

2. New York Yankees. They have a significant competitive advantage because there is no profit sharing in baseball. Since the Yankees tend to dominate MLB most years, there is little drama.

 

3. A 162-game season. I cannot think of any sport which has this long a season. It is grueling trying to follow this sport in any kind of detail.

 

4. Ticket costs. I have not priced them lately, but they were about $20+ in the mid-90's (and that was for the cheap seats). That does not include parking, concessions, etc. I would not even think about going to a baseball game unless I got the tickets for free.

Agreed on all counts, I might add one to the list though.

 

5. Game length. Americans attention span is short, they (we) don't want to sit for 5 hours to watch a slow paced game that has little drama. Football is fast paced, hard hitting and gives you reason to scream at your TV (Sometimes gives you reason to put a shoe through the tube too!) lol

 

Football could be in danger with #1 too, it's hard to follow a team when you can't keep track of who's playing for the team. I hate (but understand) free agency. I miss the days when players would stay with a team for 15 or 20 years. I hated to see O.J. Simpson in a 49ers uniform and Joe Nameth in a Rams uniform. Joe Montana as a Chief and Emmitt Smith as a Cardinal? Reggie White as a Packer/Panther? Those things should never have happened.

[Takara_Soong 4]

Stardate:213742.9

 

 

 

One thing i have never been able to figure out is why are people turning away from baseball????

Several reasons:

 

1. Players change teams way too frequently. It is hard to become attached to a team when the roster turns over every few years.

 

2. New York Yankees. They have a significant competitive advantage because there is no profit sharing in baseball. Since the Yankees tend to dominate MLB most years, there is little drama.

 

3. A 162-game season. I cannot think of any sport which has this long a season. It is grueling trying to follow this sport in any kind of detail.

 

4. Ticket costs. I have not priced them lately, but they were about $20+ in the mid-90's (and that was for the cheap seats). That does not include parking, concessions, etc. I would not even think about going to a baseball game unless I got the tickets for free.

Agreed on all counts, I might add one to the list though.

 

5. Game length. Americans attention span is short, they (we) don't want to sit for 5 hours to watch a slow paced game that has little drama. Football is fast paced, hard hitting and gives you reason to scream at your TV (Sometimes gives you reason to put a shoe through the tube too!) lol

I'll add a couple more items to this ever growing list.

 

6. Labour disputes - I was a baseball fan until the last management/player strike/walkout/whatever and then I had enough.

 

7. Outrageous salaries (although this could be included for the drop in support for all professional sports) - I saw a statistic that indicated only 39 players in MLB make the league minimum. According to CNNSI website the median salary (the point at which an equal amount of players is above and below) in MLB dropped to $800,000/season, the average salary rose to $2.5M/season.

[Captain_Smiley 0]

Well,baseball is my favorite sport.But I have to agree that for all of the reasons listed,fans are turning away and potential new fans are far and few in-between.I'd also say that many of today's players,most notably Barry Bonds,are arrogant,disrespectful of the games past and those players who made a mark in the game before them,and often contemptuous of their fanbase and teammates/coaches.

Also,Baseball almost mortally wounded itself when it cancelled the world series in the 90's,and then again threatened to a few years ago.

One thing is clear,and that is that MLB cannot continue on as it presently is,or there really won't be any professional baseball in the 23rd-century(or the 22nd).

[edmcgon 0]

And yet another reason to add: the lengthening seasons of other sports. For around 100 years, baseball owned the summer. Football did not begin until September. Basketball and hockey were over around the time baseball started each year.

 

With basketball and hockey playoffs stretching into June, and football starting its' preseason in late July/early August, plus the improved attendance for year-round sports like NASCAR, baseball is no longer the only game in town.

 

One other thing I just thought of: Statistics. Baseball invented the art of sports statistics. Part of its' charm was the millions of statistics with which the game could be analyzed (and over-analyzed). Now, every sport has them.

[Captain_Redneck 0]

I'll bet the people polled know nothing about the sport of professional wrestling at all!I hate people who condemn Pro Wrestling without knowing a thing about it,and who only spout off biased opinions against the sport that they have picked up from reading columns by sports writers or parent's groups that just don't get it!

Professional wrestlers are dedicated athletes who put on a great show,and whose only reward for a lifetime of entertaining their fans is usually broken bodies,addiction to painkillers,and retirement on a fixed income.

Regardless of whether or not the matches are "real"(I hate that term as its applied to pro wrestling),these men and women get hurt,sometimes badly...take Owen Hart for instance,a tremendously talented athlete from Canada.He died in the ring after a fall from the rafters of an arena in Kansas City,Mo.I can't tell you how many wrestlers have died from drug abuse.

The typical wrestler in the WWE (the premier company in the industry)must wrestle and be on the road more than 300 days per year.There is no union to guarantee these wrestlers are treated fairly.For the thousands of wrestlers who are employed by various small-time "independent" promotions,life is worse.They are often paid little (sometimes not at all),and must work multiple shows a night,whether or not they are injured (since refusing means they can be fired on the spot,and most certainly will not be paid)....

I could go on and on,but I won't.When it comes to wrestling I tend to rant

Professional Wrestling is my favorite "sport".

[subcommanderbeavis 0]

I'll bet the people polled know nothing about the sport of professional wrestling at all!I hate people who condemn Pro Wrestling without knowing a thing about it,and who only spout off biased opinions against the sport that they have picked up from reading columns by sports writers or parent's groups that just don't get it!

Professional wrestlers are dedicated athletes who put on a great show,and whose only reward for a lifetime of entertaining their fans is usually broken bodies,addiction to painkillers,and retirement on a fixed income.

Regardless of whether or not the matches are "real"(I hate that term as its applied to pro wrestling),these men and women get hurt,sometimes badly...take Owen Hart for instance,a tremendously talented athlete from Canada.He died in the ring after a fall from the rafters of an arena in Kansas City,Mo.I can't tell you how many wrestlers have died from drug abuse.

The typical wrestler in the WWE (the premier company in the industry)must wrestle and be on the road more than 300 days per year.There is no union to guarantee these wrestlers are treated fairly.For the thousands of wrestlers who are employed by various small-time "independent" promotions,life is worse.They are often paid little (sometimes not at all),and must work multiple shows a night,whether or not they are injured (since refusing means they can be fired on the spot,and most certainly will not be paid)....

I could go on and on,but I won't.When it comes to wrestling I tend to rant

Professional Wrestling is my favorite "sport".

I agree with you,Captain Redneck (nice avatar..."Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert,isn't it?One of my favorite wrestlers).Ours is an underappreciated much maligned form of sports entertainment.

[Stormtrooper_HK554 0]

I hate professional wrestling.Its just a ten-in-one sideshow,with altogether too much sex and violence.I wouldn't mind so much if the show was rated for ages 17-up,or on cable television,but it isn't.Its on UPN,and targets a young audience.

I'd also disagree that it is a "sport".

There are very good reasons professional wrestling is not mentioned on ESPN,or talked about in newspaper sports sections anywhere!

As for the death of Owen Hart...he died because he was attempting a stunt that he had no business attempting,repelling down from the arena roof on a faulty cord/rope/bungee cable/whatever...In fact,I doubt Vince McMahon disliked the boosted interest in his WWF after Hart's death generated news stories all over the place.

[therabidirishman 0]

I hate professional wrestling.Its just a ten-in-one sideshow,with altogether too much sex and violence.I wouldn't mind so much if the show was rated for ages 17-up,or on cable television,but it isn't.Its on UPN,and targets a young audience.

I'd also disagree that it is a "sport".

There are very good reasons professional wrestling is not mentioned on ESPN,or talked about in newspaper sports sections anywhere!

As for the death of Owen Hart...he died because he was attempting a stunt that he had no business attempting,repelling down from the arena roof on a faulty cord/rope/bungee cable/whatever...In fact,I doubt Vince McMahon disliked the boosted interest in his WWF after Hart's death generated news stories all over the place.

The wrestling programs on UPN do warn viewers about the shows content before the show begins,and there are shows on cable that are a bit more heavy on the sex/violence than the UPN programs.The bottom line is that parents need to keep an eye on what their kids watch.Professional wrestling has always been over-the-top,its nothing new.Don't like it.Don't watch it,amigo.Owen Hart's death was a tragedy that had nothing to do with vince McMahon or the WWF.The stunt was one that Hart had performed dozens of times,and a stunt that he came up with,not McMahon.The inquest ruled out any fault on behalf of Titan Sports (McMahon's company).It looks as if another non-fan,who doesn't even watch wrestling has altogether too many uninformed opinions.

Edited October 14, 2003 by therabidirishman