Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Any sport that involves running trumps any sport that doesn't

I’m sorry but golf has to be the most boring sport to watch on television, with the possible exception of auto racing (minus the crashes, which I suppose people enjoy).

It’s true that I dislike golf as a sport. “Golf is a good walk spoiled,” said Mark Twain. But it’s more that it translates poorly to television. Some sports are like that. I like baseball but can’t sit for 4 hours to watch all 9 innings.

Plus, I hate the snobbery of golfers and golf fans who put down sports where there’s actual athletic activity involved.

I was in the cafeteria a few days and the US Open golf playoff was on. I asked the other guy in the room if he was watching it. He said he just wanted to see one more hole and then I could turn the channel so I said ok.

By the time my 15-minute break was up, they still were on the same hole.

And this was only a two-person playoff!

I think a hole in golf lasts somewhere between the length of an inning of Major League Baseball and "two minutes" of professional throwball.

And I can say definitively that if you spend time watching golf on TV, you forfeit your right to call soccer boring.

1 comment:

TourPro said...

I missed Monday's playoff, but I did catch Sunday afternoons dramatic regulation finish.

A fun alternative is speed golfing where total time is factored in to your final score.

On a semi-related note, my daughter commented on the recent fishing tournament on Lake Champlain. While we watched the over-powered boat pull in with its one fish for weighing - "They should use sailboats."