Boring Spectator Sports
Is Golf the Most Boring Spectator Sport in the World?
There must be millions of people around the world who have difficulty understanding why golf tournaments are given several hours of airtime at a stretch on mainstream television channels. Many who have been exposed to these broadcasts might argue that golf is, in fact, the most boring spectator sport in the world.
Golf is amongst the only games in the world that takes four days to play, at tournament level at least, and literally sees play unfold at walking pace. Some might find this meditative, however, many more regard golf in the same light as anti-spectator sports such as downhill cheese-chases, marathons and canal mud-swimming in Belgium.
Is golf really the most boring sport in the world? Here are some contenders for the title of Most Boring Spectator Sport in the World:
Test Cricket: Test cricket shouldn’t really qualify as a spectator sport, since few people who attend these games actually spend any of their time watching the game. Top activities at cricket tests include carving hats out of watermelons, napping in the sun and drinking lots and lots of beer.It ought to be illegal for a game that can last five days to finish without a result, something that tends to happen more often than not in test cricket. Purists believe that the format is the ultimate measure of a cricketer’s ability. Regular sports fans believe the format is the ultimate measure of a cricketer’s ability to stay awake in the face of excruciating boredom.
American Football: American Football isn’t just boring – it’s annoying too. Any neutral watchers of the Superbowl must have noticed the fact that the game is scheduled for 3 hours of television coverage while the actual game only takes 60 minutes to play.This means that American football is probably the only sport in the world where players spend more time having team chats, being replaced, putting on and taking off gear, watching adverts on big screens and generally loafing around rather than actually playing the game.
Regular Football: Association football, aka soccer, might be the most popular team sport in the world, but that doesn’t mean it can’t at times be the most boring.
Football is virtually the only sport that routinely sees games end without either team having scored. In fact many supposedly classic encounters end with neither team doing anything more than passing the ball around amongst themselves for the best part of 90 minutes.
Some sports analysts have linked the high incidence of violence in football with the mind numbing boredom of watching a goalless draw. With so little entertainment on offer, fans are virtually forced to create their own, usually by punching the guy next to them and/or setting fire to their seat.
Baseball: Baseball might be fun to play, but when it comes to its merits as a spectator sport, baseball is America’s drawn-out answer to test cricket. Played over several hours, the game sees players hitting less often than they miss, running around in circles and eating tobacco.Conspiracy theorists believe that baseball was invented in the 1800s purely to boost hot dog and beer sales. Actually, that’s not true, but it’s difficult to figure out why millions of Americans are prepared to spend a day watching men in tights running around a stadium.
Lawn Bowls: It has been claimed that lawn bowls is the most lethal sport on the planet. The high cost in lives levied by this sport is often blamed on the fact that the game is mostly played and watched by infirm persons over the age of 70.However, a compelling argument exists, claiming that the age of participants masks the fact that lawn bowls kills by boredom alone. In recent years sports broadcasters have attempted to escalate the carnage, by beaming live images of lawn bowls tournaments into our living rooms.
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