The Duke/Kzzrzyskzeshevzski Poll

[CountDeMoney]

Fuck him, and fuck Duke.  Fuckers.

[Valmy]

It may have been invented by a Canadian, but basketball does nothing for me.

Really?  Why is running up and down a court and throwing a ball in a net so much less compelling than skating up and down a rink hitting a puck in a net?

[The Brain]

Basketball is nice to play and completely boring to watch.

[Eddie Teach]

Yeah, agree with Brain. The last few minutes of a close game can be exciting, but other than that they might as well be playing an exhibition game.

[grumbler]

Basketball is nice to play and completely boring to watch.

Agreed. A lot like footie in that regard.

[Barrister]

It may have been invented by a Canadian, but basketball does nothing for me.

Really?  Why is running up and down a court and throwing a ball in a net so much less compelling than skating up and down a rink hitting a puck in a net?

No hitting for one.

And while I like a nice high-scoring hockey game, the scoring in basketball is so out of control it loses any excitement.  You hardly stand up and cheer when a basket is scored every minute or two.

My own perception only.  Hardly saying that people are stupid for watching basketball.  Different strokes for different folks and all that.

It's also pretty obvious that I'm a home-town boy when it comes to team sports.  And theres no pro basketball team in Winnipeg (actually there was a short-lived minor league team in the 90s that did pretty well, but the league collapsed around them).

[Jacob]

Really?  Why is running up and down a court and throwing a ball in a net so much less compelling than skating up and down a rink hitting a puck in a net?

The real answer?

Because the way you're socialized. If the sport is:

- Local to you, so everyone around you cares about it
- One you watched while growing up
- One you played while growing up
- One in which you can field a good national team
- One which has broad cultural resonance in the culture you're part of
- One which you've been exposed to enough that you have an intuitive grasp of the tactics and skill involved

Then you're more likely to find it compelling compared to a sport for which none of that is true.

Yeah, different sports are different to play and watch due to the rules, but I think the most important facets are ones they all have in common: identification with your team as a social experience, appreciation of the nuances of skill and tactics, and bitching about the refereeing/ bad luck to people who appreciate the same sport.

[Valmy]

The real answer?

Because the way you're socialized.

True.  I guess I am just a sports junkie though I literally like every sport.  If I moved to Ireland I would be enthusiastically following all their weird Gaellic sports.

[Jacob]

True.  I guess I am just a sports junkie though I literally like every sport.  If I moved to Ireland I would be enthusiastically following all their weird Gaellic sports.

Hurling and Gaelic rules football are both pretty cool.

[PDH]

A lot of students around here take up hurling every friday night.

[fhdz]

A lot of students around here take up hurling every friday night.

[dps]

Really?  Why is running up and down a court and throwing a ball in a net so much less compelling than skating up and down a rink hitting a puck in a net?

The real answer?

Because the way you're socialized. If the sport is:

- Local to you, so everyone around you cares about it
- One you watched while growing up
- One you played while growing up
- One in which you can field a good national team
- One which has broad cultural resonance in the culture you're part of
- One which you've been exposed to enough that you have an intuitive grasp of the tactics and skill involved

Then you're more likely to find it compelling compared to a sport for which none of that is true.

Yeah, different sports are different to play and watch due to the rules, but I think the most important facets are ones they all have in common: identification with your team as a social experience, appreciation of the nuances of skill and tactics, and bitching about the refereeing/ bad luck to people who appreciate the same sport.

While there's no doubt a lot of truth in what you say, that's not all that there is to it.  High school basketball is big in WV (possibly bigger than h.s. football), and I enjoy playing basketball, but I don't much care for it as a spectator sport.

[crazy canuck]

While there's no doubt a lot of truth in what you say, that's not all that there is to it.  High school basketball is big in WV (possibly bigger than h.s. football), and I enjoy playing basketball, but I don't much care for it as a spectator sport.

There is a lot to this.  For example BB has never lived anywhere where he could watch good basketball - hence his belief a basket is only scored every "minute or two".  Good basketball is also hard to find in Canada since we dont get much NCAA coverage up here.  As I argued in the other thread NBA basketball is not as good as NCAA so I can understand how people who dont watch much and only see the occasional NBA game could come to that conclusion basketball is not very fun to watch.

However, if one was to watch a great college game - say Duke playing NC - it would be pretty tough to say that was boring.  One fly in the ointment for Jacob's theory is I find Hockey very boring.  The only time I watch is in the playoffs and even then only a few games.