Favorite sporting event?

[Uncle_buck]

1. FIFA World Cup
2. Rugby World Cup
3. Wimbledon
4. Tour de France
5. Olympics
6. Summer/Winter X Games
7. US Masters
8. A good Las Vegas Boxing supercard
9. NBA Finals
10. Hong Kong 7's rugby

 

[JR]

1. FIFA World Cup
2. Rugby World Cup
3. Wimbledon
4. Tour de France

Why do you hate American sports?

 

[Uncle_buck]

It's not that at all. I actually love American Sports but I felt I could only list ones I really have access to see.

I love reading and seeing college hoops when I can but it is just not that available to me. I have subscriptions to many US sports publications which I rely on for so much of my information in the UK.

The sports higher up are just so much more available. If you were to ask what I would like to see as and what would be my favourite sporting event to go to, hell tailgating at a regular season NFL game would be something I love to do, going and sitting in the stadium with the fans in a Boca Juniors vs River Plate soccer game in Argentina would be in there, going to a Sumo tournament would be in there. I unfortunately could only comment on what I get to see......

One thing I don't like about American sports actually is the insistance on calling it the world series or world championships. Always gets me that one, especially as I'm not aware the US are the champions in either baseball or basketball currently!

 

[CollegeJournalist]

It's certainly not the Super Bowl anymore, which I find overhyped, too long and boring almost every season now. With ESPN going to 24/7 NFL coverage for two weeks, it just gets old before kickoff. A one-week layoff would make the SB better, IMO.

For me:
The Olympics will always be one of my favorites. I'm not a huge fan of any event in particular, other than 100M and short track speed skating, but there's something special about athletes that train for four years for a shot at gold. And the fact that in some events, like the 100M, diving, etc etc, their shot at perfection may last less than 10 seconds.

Being a Kentuckian, the Derby will always be one of my favorites. The thrill, pageantry and buzz of Derby Day is awesome, even though everyone in Louisville knows that Thursday is the best day to be at the track on Derby week.

The World Cup is up there, even though I hate soccer and just watched the WC for the first time last year. Something about the thrill and the passion had me hooked. I woke up at 4 to watch the US, went back to bed, then went to a friend's house and watched a random game with England.

And finally, opening day/baseball playoffs. The beginning to baseball season trumps the beginning to any other season, if only for the fact that they don't put meaningless spring training games on TV and the fact that day baseball is still the greatest thing in sports. Throw in the first day of the playoffs, when the games go on all day, and it's a beautiful thing.

 

[crimsonace]

NHL Stanley Cup Finals (the playoffs themselves are a 2-month binge for me ).
Indianapolis 500 -- the "spectacle" isn't quite what it used to be, but the on-track racing is as good as ever.
Winter Olympics (esp. the hockey tournament)
NCAA basketball 1st & 2nd rounds
Rose Bowl -- but only when it's Big 10 vs. Pac 10
Super Bowl
FIFA World Cup
And, until 1997 (but not since), the Indiana high school basketball tournament

 

[crimsonace]

MLB Opening Day
Cubs Mathmatical Elimination Day

Aren't these two usually a week apart?

 

[alleyallen]

My favorite sports moment is the time when the teams are lining up for the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl. At that point, all the hype is gone and anything is possible.

My favorite sporting event is any in-person game that features back-and-forth action and a thrilling finale. And since you never know when one of those moments will strike, it's like waiting for lightning to come down.

 

[DocTalk]

Uncle Buck,

Thought it is not my "favorite" event, the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong is one great party.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Big Ten-Pac 10 Rose Bowl (The REAL Rose Bowl)
Game 7 of any World Series
Game 7 of any Stanley Cup Final
MLB Opening Day
Cubs Mathmatical Elimination Day

Isn't that list repetitive at the end?

Keep it up and I'll get so pissed I'll bust out IJAG's favorite Brook Jacoby card.

 

[BYH]

Big Ten-Pac 10 Rose Bowl (The REAL Rose Bowl)
Game 7 of any World Series
Game 7 of any Stanley Cup Final
MLB Opening Day
Cubs Mathmatical Elimination Day

Isn't that list repetitive at the end?

Keep it up and I'll get so pissed I'll bust out IJAG's favorite Brook Jacoby card.

That's a pretty weak deterrent.

Looking forward to Baseball Tonight this year, A_QB? Looking forward to seeing Dusty on a nightly basis?

 

[Cosmo]

I'm picking Junkie in the Prancing Billy Series this year.

 

[Uncle_buck]

Uncle Buck,

Thought it is not my "favorite" event, the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong is one great party.

One great party is quite right. In 2003 I went and played in the Manilla 10's the weekend before the 7's then flew in to HK and went to play in the 10's at HKFC and then to top things off spent 3 days in the south stand creating absolute havoc!!! It was one great 10 days and one of the most memorable times of my life! Oh to be youthful enough to do it all again

 

[CollegeJournalist]

NHL Stanley Cup Finals (the playoffs themselves are a 2-month binge for me ).
Indianapolis 500 -- the "spectacle" isn't quite what it used to be, but the on-track racing is as good as ever.
Winter Olympics (esp. the hockey tournament)
NCAA basketball 1st & 2nd rounds
Rose Bowl -- but only when it's Big 10 vs. Pac 10
Super Bowl
FIFA World Cup
And, until 1997 (but not since), the Indiana high school basketball tournament

As a Kentuckian, I'm obligated to tell you that our Sweet 16 is better and always has been.

Just kidding. I've never been to Indiana's, but I couldn't imagine the uproar that would take place if the KHSAA decided to split basketball into classes.

There was tons of ruckus when they created an "All-A" Classic for smaller schools that took place before the season ended, and that isn't even a true state championship, since all the teams in that are still eligible to go to Rupp.

 

[imjustagirl2]

This is not even a competition: The NCAA men's basketball tournament. Beyond that, more specifically? The first two full days.

Thursday and Friday of the first weekend make my entire year wait worthwhile. I long for the days when I worked at a PM so I could wrap up the paper and be on my couch with a Pepsi by noon for the first tipoff.

Sweet Jesus, is it March yet?

 

[Oz]

This is not even a competition: The NCAA men's basketball tournament. Beyond that, more specifically? The first two full days.

Thursday and Friday of the first weekend make my entire year wait worthwhile. I long for the days when I worked at a PM so I could wrap up the paper and be on my couch with a Pepsi by noon for the first tipoff.

What she said. I miss having those days off to simply kick back and watch the tournament nonstop, waiting for the upsets to come in, because you know they're going to come soon enough.

 

[pallister]

The opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament are what I miss most now that I'm working news side. I loved putting together section fronts for the first four days of the Big Dance. Even more than the Super Bowl.

 

[Birdscribe]

For the purpose of this thread:

NHL - Cup finals
PGA - Any of the majors as well as SoCal events
College baseball - Cal State Fullerton in the CWS
College hoops - First weekend of the NCAA Tournament (while watching it in Vegas)

Ah, a man after my own heart. Well done, CFC, especially the mad love for the Titans in Omaha.

To this, you can add MLB's Opening Day. Add the first weekend of the tournament and the Masters and it's easy to see why the third week of March to the second week of April is sporting Nirvana.

 

[linotype]

I'll echo those who have praised the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA tournament. This is the first year I'll actually work those days since I was in junior high; Dad somehow always managed to get me an early-dismissal slip in high school because of a phantom "doctor's appointment," and I've had good luck with college classes and vacation/personal days around that time.

But here's one that hasn't been mentioned yet -- the Friday night before the first big Saturday of college football season. Theoretically, a great season remains a possibility for every team in the country (NCS/non-BCS chatter be damned).

Every year at about midnight, about 12 hours before the first noon kickoffs of the first college FB gameday, I listen to the local high school scoreboard show on the radio and raise a toast to my beloved alma mater's hopes of going 11-0, 12-0 or 13-0.

 

[Write-brained]

Boxing for Boobs.