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Favorite sport to attend as a fan?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Ace, Jan 17, 2007.

  1. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    The SportsJournalists.com sports poll made me think of the difference between liking a sport and enjoying it in person.

    If you were going as a fan with a friend or parent or child, which sport do you most like to attend?

    I would pick pro baseball. The crowd usually isn't too crazy. The pace of the game suits a conversation. It's one sport better in person than on TV. Almost always a joy.

    My favorite sport is college football but it can be a hassle. Fans are more likely to be drunken idiots, you can't really hold much of a conversation during the game, etc.
     
  2. leo1

    leo1 Active Member

    i agree. baseball is the way to go. love that you can have a conversation. tough to have a good converstion during a football game.
     
  3. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    If I want to go out with some friends and enjoy an athletic event, it's usually baseball. As you mentioned, the pace lends itself to conversation. Back when the NYC teams weren't drawing as well I'd often get upper deck seats on a Sunday, bringing the NYTimes and a little brunch from Ess-a-Bagel. I also enjoy going up to New Haven and see a football game at the two-thirds-empty-unless-it's-Harvard Yale Bowl, then off to Pepe's or Sallys for a pizza.
     
  4. DisembodiedOwlHead

    DisembodiedOwlHead Active Member

    Enjoying a sport in person does not necessarily have to equate to having a conversation.

    I would pick a college basketball tournament game. More action per minute and tons of emotion. That's the experience for which I'd aim.
     
  5. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Baseball ... and nothing else comes close.

    NFL can be fun, but I wouldn't even think to take my kids to a NFL game, at least not until they hit double-digit ages. Just not conducive for that.
     
  6. WSKY

    WSKY Member

    Baseball is cool for the atmosphere on a nice summer day (or night), but I gotta go with hockey. That's what I call a good time.
     
  7. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    I'd put an NFL game first. I love the atmosphere, being part of 50,000-plus. Being in Heinz Field for the Steelers wild comeback against the Browns in a Wild Card playoff game a few years ago is one of my favorite moments as a sports fan.

    Have to admit, part of it is going to NFL games was a bonding thing with my father and I. We moved around a bit, but wherever we went, he got tickets and he'd take me. We were very different people (he has since passed away), but football common ground for us.

    I love to see baseball in person, too.

    Hockey is probably the sport that gains the most in person. If you haven't seen a game in person, you are definitely missing out, even if you don't love watching it on tv.
     
  8. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    I love watching football in person. TV's view of the game is very ball-centric, as it ought to be. But in person you can watch plays unfold, watch line play, watch linebackers work. TV does a terrible job of covering a football, but you'd probably need about 4 or 5 angles, simultaniously broadcast, to cover what you can see at the game.

    The most fun of being at a game is college basketball. The student-to-fan ration is probably the best, the arenas are condusive to controlled bedlam, and it's the most fan involved in sports. As a student Terp, going to Cole Field House was the greatest, and I grew up going to MSG to watch the Knicks play in the early 70's.(though being 9 or 10 and hearing 19,654 people yell BULLSHIT in unison at Mendy Rudolph, was heaven).
     
  9. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    If I have to go to a game, with a gun to my head, I'd pick baseball. Easiest crowds to deal with, etc.

    But with the passing of 2006, I've now gone two full years without attending a live sporting event, even though I live in an area with all four pro teams and several college ones, and this is exactly the way I want it. Once my kids got to the age where they could get themselves there, I was free.
     
  10. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    In terms of experiencing a sport and getting the best-view possible of world-class athletes, I'd pick a big-time tennis tournament. If it's the early rounds, Joe and Jane Fan stand a good chance of getting far closer to Roger Federer at work (even if it's just practice) than they do to the stars of any other game.
     
  11. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Nothing beats a warm July day with a beer in hand and the roof open at Skydome aka Rogers Centre. Great way of passing a Saturday/Sunday afternoon.

    But..I love junior hockey. You get to see the stars of the future (Staal's, Wojtek Wolski, Bryan Little, to name a few) and the players make enough mistakes to make the game interesting.

    And a good junior hockey fight can't be beat.
     
  12. expendable

    expendable Well-Known Member

    Hockey - because the beer always stays cold.
    Baseball - because you need to drink the beer fast before it gets hot.
     
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