Favorite Sport and Why

[Old South Stands]

As a TV sport I like college football the most, especially ACC games and some of the more important SEC games. I used to watch the NFL when I was younger and was once a fan of the league as a whole, but the teams have become almost interchangeable over the years, lacking the distinct personalities they once had. I think the ‘80s / early ‘90s Forty-Niners were a forerunner of today’s “corporate” NFL franchise, but compared to most teams today, even they seemed to have personality. Though college football has changed in recent years, it is still a fun game to watch. And, at least here in the south, there’s a huge social component to the game as well. Everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the game, can talk about it on some level, and most people have a favorite team they root for. It’s part of the fabric of life down here. For me, football was also a great sport to play growing up, and all those years of Pop Warner and early H.S. football helped this once awkward, nerdy kid fit in a lot better than I might have otherwise.

On a personal level, however, hockey is my favorite. It doesn’t translate as well as football to TV, but as a live sport I like it best. For me, what makes the game is the ice itself. I still love going to a rink and breathing in the cold air and smelling the aroma all rinks seem to have. I went roller skating at a public rink for the first time around the age of 7, but a couple weeks later I had my first foray out on the ice. There was no comparing the two. I was hooked from that point on. I grew up watching the Flames on channel 17, as well as all the international hockey that was on television back then. The 1980 games in Lake Placid pretty much cemented it for me.

As a participatory sport, I even prefer it to football. The sensation of gliding around the ice with the puck is something that simply can’t be described. There’s nothing quite like it. And while not everyone gets to be a ball carrier in football, everyone on every line has the opportunity to handle the puck. And unlike soccer (especially at the youth level), you don’t spend an afternoon running around a large field and maybe touching the ball 2 or 3 times, never really being a factor in outcome of the game. I wished I had the opportunity to get into hockey earlier and play it as a youngster. The game trains you in everything: agility, reflexes, physical endurance, and speed, and there's great camaraderie as well!

 

[CuseJacket]

Favorite: Basketball, participatory and watching.

Hockey? I'd get into it if more in ATL or in my circle were into it.

Rugby is highly underrated. Great times when you're around the top levels of that environment. Lacrosse is also underrated, but that may be my Syracuse bias.

Common theme across basketball, rugby, lacrosse and hockey to some extent is more continuous action. Players play both ways.

Football and baseball? 13 minutes of action "crammed" into 3.5 hours. If football wasn't already popular, I'm not sure it'd become popular, if that makes sense. Probably not a popular opinion.

I want soccer to take off in the U.S. Too much passion for it around the world for us to be irrelevant. Like ATL United, if we make it a point of emphasis, it can be fun.

 

[MidtownJacket]

Love College Basketball for the fact that a single player can make or break your single games, but teams can play good solid ball and win the season. College football is big because I grew up in Georgia watching the jackets and all my memories of attending games at school and since gradation.

Agree 100% on Rugby being under the radar. I played a few seasons for a men's club in Atlanta after graduating from GT and watch it any chance I get now.

I live in Houston now (left Atl before the United came to town, so I am slowly adopting the Dynamo. I grew up playing soccer, and now that I have a daughter it would be cool to watch a sport with her and have a home town team (in a sport currently unclaimed)

 

[wesgt123]

College football. You know why.

 

[Milwaukee]

College football
Euro soccer
College hoops
PGA
NFL
MLB

No hockey, no nba, no nascar

 

[forensicbuzz]

1. Anything Georgia Tech is playing at the time.
2. Hurling

 

[Old South Stands]

Favorite: Basketball, participatory and watching.

Hockey? I'd get into it if more in ATL or in my circle were into it.

Rugby is highly underrated. Great times when you're around the top levels of that environment. Lacrosse is also underrated, but that may be my Syracuse bias.

Common theme across basketball, rugby, lacrosse and hockey to some extent is more continuous action. Players play both ways.

Football and baseball? 13 minutes of action "crammed" into 3.5 hours. If football wasn't already popular, I'm not sure it'd become popular, if that makes sense. Probably not a popular opinion.

I want soccer to take off in the U.S. Too much passion for it around the world for us to be irrelevant. Like ATL United, if we make it a point of emphasis, it can be fun.

I think one of the reasons I got into hockey as much as I did was because a friend's dad owned the ice rink near our home. It was out on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. From that point on I sort of took ownership of the sport. This same friend was largely responsible for me becoming a Tech fan as well. His dad was a wealthy alum and took us to a night game against UVA during Eddie Lee Ivery's sophomore year. We got to sit in the press box. I was hooked.

Here in Charleston there's actually a high school rugby club, though, what's really popular here is lacrosse -- and across all age groups up to college age. Youngsters, too. There's even a store here that sells just lacrosse equipment, to give you an idea of the sport's popularity in the Charleston area, especially in the more affluent places like Daniel Island, Mt. P., and downtown. There seems to be literally hundreds of players in the area. ****'s Sporting Goods also has a section dedicated just to lacrosse gear. If you've never seen it before (you probably have), box lacrosse is really entertaining. I'd never heard of it before but watched in on YouTube, and it blends elements of both lacrosse and hockey. The goalies actually wear heavier protective gear than in ice hockey.

I don't mind soccer over in Europe. In many ways it's like college football in the south, the way people take it so seriously and make it into an event. If I lived over there, I'd probably be into it. I'm probably a minority now, but there's a part of me (chalk it up to age or whatever) that's sad to see how it's displaced many of our native sports, and I hope newer generations of kids re-discover baseball and football. I find baseball pretty boring to watch, but as a participatory sport, it really prepares kids to deal with stress and pressure. I think kids need more of that these days. When you're up at the plate, your success or failure is individual and very public. The situational awareness required when on base is good for developing the mind as well. I don't think I'd ever want my son to play football at the college level, or perhaps even prep football. But the lessons learned in Pop Warner were invaluable to me. I have a son coming up who really wants to play football. I've been monitoring the CTE thing in the news, but am not sold yet on the dangers of it in Pop Warner. I've experienced firsthand the differences between being hit in those leagues vs. being hit at the high school level, and there's a huge difference.

Some of you from up north may be familiar with the soap box derby. It's not as common in the south and may even be dying out across the country. But it was still a big deal in the rust-belt states back in the '70s. My dad got me involved after I'd read about it in a school reading assignment (an article on Mt. Trashmore in Virginia). I eventually won 1st in the Atlanta area in '78 and got to race at the world championships in Akron. It was a blast.

 

[CuseJacket]

I think one of the reasons I got into hockey as much as I did was because a friend's dad owned the ice rink near our home. It was out on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. From that point on I sort of took ownership of the sport. This same friend was largely responsible for me becoming a Tech fan as well. His dad was a wealthy alum and took us to a night game against UVA during Eddie Lee Ivery's sophomore year. We got to sit in the press box. I was hooked.

Here in Charleston there's actually a high school rugby club, though, what's really popular here is lacrosse -- and across all age groups up to college age. Youngsters, too. There's even a store here that sells just lacrosse equipment, to give you an idea of the sport's popularity in the Charleston area, especially in the more affluent places like Daniel Island, Mt. P., and downtown. There seems to be literally hundreds of players in the area. ****'s Sporting Goods also has a section dedicated just to lacrosse gear. If you've never seen it before (you probably have), box lacrosse is really entertaining. I'd never heard of it before but watched in on YouTube, and it blends elements of both lacrosse and hockey. The goalies actually wear heavier protective gear than in ice hockey.

I don't mind soccer over in Europe. In many ways it's like college football in the south, the way people take it so seriously and make it into an event. If I lived over there, I'd probably be into it. I'm probably a minority now, but there's a part of me (chalk it up to age or whatever) that's sad to see how it's displaced many of our native sports, and I hope newer generations of kids re-discover baseball and football. I find baseball pretty boring to watch, but as a participatory sport, it really prepares kids to deal with stress and pressure. I think kids need more of that these days. When you're up at the plate, your success or failure is individual and very public. The situational awareness required when on base is good for developing the mind as well. I don't think I'd ever want my son to play football at the college level, or perhaps even prep football. But the lessons learned in Pop Warner were invaluable to me. I have a son coming up who really wants to play football. I've been monitoring the CTE thing in the news, but am not sold yet on the dangers of it in Pop Warner. I've experienced firsthand the differences between being hit in those leagues vs. being hit at the high school level, and there's a huge difference.

Some of you from up north may be familiar with the soap box derby. It's not as common in the south and may even be dying out across the country. But it was still a big deal in the rust-belt states back in the '70s. My dad got me involved after I'd read about it in a school reading assignment (an article on Mt. Trashmore in Virginia). I eventually won 1st in the Atlanta area in '78 and got to race at the world championships in Akron. It was a blast.

Very familiar with all of what you said about lacrosse, except magnify it by 100x. I got a letter of interest from the GT club lax team when I enrolled as a freshman... simply because of the HS I came from... and I never played lax. Syracuse made it to 22 straight Final Fours from 1983-2004. They have 5 national titles in the 2000's. They've performed poorly by those standards in the last decade which I largely attribute to the growing popularity of the sport everywhere, and so the playing field has been leveled. I've noticed the increase in popularity in and around Atlanta area high schools.

Re: the structure of sports and the benefits to kids... I think you can get that in almost any sport, not just baseball or pop warner. It won't upset me if those sports die out, though I don't think they will any time soon. Hopefully folks don't take it the wrong way, I'd still put my GT football fandom up against anyone. I enjoy the pageantry and atmosphere that surround college football games. In a way I think fantasy football saved, or at minimum was a boon, to the NFL. People who can't throw a pigskin and had little affinity for the sport are now talking about Cover-2, WR targets, , back-up RBs, etc. because they're in a fantasy football league at work or with friends.

People are creative, so it'll be interesting to see what takes hold over the next 20-30 years. I played baseball, soccer and basketball growing up. Ultimately focused on basketball and became a hoops junkie. I think it's a sport that requires nearly every attribute of an athlete, whereas I think others require subsets of those skills. But I know I'm biased.

 

[GTJake]

I played all the "traditional" sports in HS, one year at a JC for football so I'm centered on those sports.
College Football - GT is obviously the focus, but I enjoy watching a lot of other games as well
MLB - Totally focused on the Braves, I buy the MLB Channel so I watch most all the games
College Basketball - Same as College Football, I enjoy watching
NFL - Mostly focused on the Falcons, but I'll watch some other games as well
GT Sports In General

 

[GTballer21]

Baseball. No need for explanation because it’s the best.

 

[Buzzbomb]

Had a professional offer from a tryout camp at 16 y.o. for Baseball. Chose staying in H.S., etc.(although played the sport every year from T-Ball and up). My Grandfather played professionally before WWII, and when he came back in those days, he was considered too old. Summers in Binghamton we played baseball and ocassional street hockey. Coach Hyder offered me a seat at the end of the bench for hoops; Eventually his son Tommy got that spot. I did play H.S. Basketball also, more of a shooter and playmaker naturally, forced to play inside on some of my teams that were short-handed. I led in bloody noses, perfect height for the opponents elbow. I graduated from Ga. State, played there until tearing my knee up.

Non-participatory is college baseball. Took the busses downtown when we didn’t have practice or a game as a kid, to watch Jim Luck’s Team. We finally got some old bleachers to sit on, after previously having to stand up behind the plate for nine innings. All before Chandler. Basketball is next, although I spend more time writing our AD’s during the last three regimes, because it kills me to hear more cheering from the opponents. It started getting bad when Charlotte brought in louder fans when Hewitt was having problems. Football is exciting, but even with the road games we can only have 13 or 14 games maximum to attend.

Really enjoy reading from you gentlemen. I would have never guessed Milwaukee has Baseball last on his list.

 

[1939hotmagic]

I could write a dissertation on the topic and address numerous other sports, but will limit my remarks to these . . .

College football: Aside from the pageantry of game day, I enjoy (albeit from a fan’s perspective) the violent choreography of it all, the Xs and Os, the clash of offensive and defensive styles – and yes, I greatly appreciate the contrarians, one reason I hated to see Johnson retire and not be replaced by Monken or Bohannon (and no, that doesn’t mean I won’t pull for Tech and CGC now).

Tennis: Enjoy playing it (in a most mediocre fashion), and often enjoy watching it as well. Prefer singles over doubles. I enjoy that, barring poor line judges, the game boils down to the play, tactics, and strategies of oneself and one’s opponent – no teammates to blame nor rely on. There’s variety – flat, kick, or slice serves. Topspin, flat, slice, or chop/backspin ground strokes. Surprise, such as the well-timed drop shot, or underarm serve (which should be used far more often, there’s nothing illegal or unethical about it) or (these days) coming in to the net. The occasional bit of pure fun, such as players pulling of “tweeer” shots, or Federer doing his sneak-attack service return.

College basketball: No doubt my appreciation is influenced by this being written in latter March. As with college football, I enjoy the assortment of offensive and defensive approaches, all the more so when the players competently execute. And this time of year, it’s great fun for this casual fan to learn about and enjoy performances by players most of us seldom see (e.g., Wofford’s three-point machine, Fletcher Magee – did you see that game against Seton Hall last night?).

College volleyball: The points are exciting. The gals are incredibly athletic. And at plenty of places, you can attend games and pay little or even nothing for it. ‘Nuff said.

While I don’t doubt the obvious athletic ability involved in soccer, most of it I just don’t appreciate or enjoy much other than a few oddities such as knuckleball free kicks, flip throws, and “scorpion” kicks. Soccer’s fluidity combined with the general lack of scoring just leaves me in a stupor when watching it – though, for those who’ve grown up in the game and appreciate all that goes in within the ebb and flow, good for you that you enjoy it. That's no knock -- chance are pretty high that most folks reading this feel about tennis as I do about soccer. I get it.