Just wondering, I know that there are many Americans on this site, but do any of you follow sports? Baseball, hockey, football (american, duh), and basketball. not soccer, which is really a more European sport even though there is a league in the US.

I'm a huge baseball fan.  I follow other sports too, but less because I have an attachment to the game and more for gambling/fantasy sports reasons.

I'm guessing you're asking because of your avatar?  If so, then I will say that I had the Dodgers winning in 5.  That said, I'm rooting for the Rays, only because I really like what they've done this year.  I love teams who make small ball work for them.

On the other hand, I disagree with the Margot move.  You've got no out and runners on the corners, and perhaps the best pitcher in baseball just gave up 2 walks.  Kersh did come back and get 2 outs, but I still feel that you can't get thrown out at home to end the inning.

I'm a fair weather sports fan, which means that because I live in New England I've been a baseball and football fan for the last 20 years. Everyone hated us; life was good. But now the New England teams have enjoyed their runs and the future looks bleak. I barely watch sports.

That and it's all "fake" sports these days anyway. What with canned sound, teams ransacked by Covid, and schedules in total disarray. The stats for these seasons will go down in the books with hundreds of asterisks.  "Sour grapes," you say?  Maybe, but that's my story and I'm sticking with it ;)

M57 wrote:

I'm a fair weather sports fan, which means that because I live in New England I've been a baseball and football fan for the last 20 years. Everyone hated us; life was good. But now the New England teams have enjoyed their runs and the future looks bleak. I barely watch sports.

That and it's all "fake" sports these days anyway. What with canned sound, teams ransacked by Covid, and schedules in total disarray. The stats for these seasons will go down in the books with hundreds of asterisks.  "Sour grapes," you say?  Maybe, but that's my story and I'm sticking with it ;)

Sad, but true.

Red Sox fan for life although I boycotted the team this past season. My wife's a Giants fan and they're local so we watch most Giants games regardless.

Pretty stalwart Niners fan though I came to that identity fairly late in life (mid 20's - I really liked Alex Smith). Grew up rooting for the Dolphins for pretty obscure reasons, realized I wasn't really a fan after Marino retired and I stopped caring.

Fair weather Warriors fan, though I liked the Jazz when I was a little kid cause I wanted to play like Karl Malone, and the Hornets cause they were my favorite team to play in the original NBA Jam cabinet, and then the Hornets again cause Emeka Okafor was my favorite NCAA player ever.

Not much for pro sports in general;
For NFL - a big Niners fan (since Steve and Jerry were there) and semi-follow most of the NFC North. DON'T follow NBA since MJ left, don't follow but watch the finals for MLB (played ball since I was a kid)

Follow the Hawkeyes for most college sports with season tix for football (now you know why the NFC north, location location location

I also follow the US National soccer (Futbol) teams; altho I *heavily* prefer the women's team.

Piped-in fan noise is annoying enough, but you know what really makes me cringe?

-Fans in Brady Bunch Boxes.  It's downright Orwellian.

M57 wrote:

That and it's all "fake" sports these days anyway. What with canned sound, teams ransacked by Covid, and schedules in total disarray. The stats for these seasons will go down in the books with hundreds of asterisks.  "Sour grapes," you say?  Maybe, but that's my story and I'm sticking with it ;)

Ransacked by Covid:  Yep
Schedules in total disarray:  Yep.
Stats are all screwed up/asterisk ridden:  Absolutely.

Canned sounds ruins the game:  Hmmm....

Serious question:  Does it really bother you?

BorisTheFrugal wrote:

Serious question:  Does it really bother you?

At first, absolutely. Perhaps over time I'm getting a little numb to it, but I'm a musician so I'm tuned into sound, and it's only natural for me to think about who's throwing the volume faders up and down and for which bank of sounds - both in the stadium and on TV, ..and for which plays? You never hear any boo's when there are bad calls or poor decisions any more.  Doesn't that bother you?  And even if they did, wouldn't it bother you that less than a handful of people are making those incredibly subjective decisions.

Honestly, I still have these thoughts every time I watch a game, and it only serves to remind me of the reality that for everyone who's not on the field, it's a product ..and maybe even for some on the field.  I'm not saying it wasn't before, but I don't like being so coldly reminded.

So I'll add one more reason..

The crowd has been taken out of the game. Home field advantage doesn't exist any more.  And we can thank the Brady Bunch Box crowds for awkwardly reminding us of that.

I'll take my sour grapes with some moldy cheese please ;)

They should have the crowd noise crowd sourced..  How cool would it be to have an app you could download, and as you watch the game, you can click the 'cheer', or 'boo' button and it totals up the votes and produces sounds over the loudspeakers at the game.

MLB did exactly that actually. Although I don't think they allowed you to actually boo. Probably to protect the Astros.

It might surprise some, but I'm actually a Yankees fan, but I chose the avatar because the kid is so darn cute.

I root for the Rangers, who are looking good, the Knicks, who are perennially terrible, and the Jets, whose biggest weakness is the entire sport they are supposed to play.

You never hear any boo's when there are bad calls or poor decisions any more.  Doesn't that bother you?  And even if they did, wouldn't it bother you that less than a handful of people are making those incredibly subjective decisions.

Apparently, you never saw this:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/carson-wentz-booed-eagles-fans/1xj07vhmo9gmo1frqm7uo3f2r5

BorisTheFrugal wrote:

You never hear any boo's when there are bad calls or poor decisions any more.  Doesn't that bother you?  And even if they did, wouldn't it bother you that less than a handful of people are making those incredibly subjective decisions.

Apparently, you never saw this:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/carson-wentz-booed-eagles-fans/1xj07vhmo9gmo1frqm7uo3f2r5

No, I didn't ..but it's probably the exception at this point, right?  Is the decision actually crowdsourced? It doesn't sound like it is.

"Following the pick, the Fox crew once again turned on the boo birds."

I can just imagine where this could go. It's kind of like the A&R people in the music industry deciding what songs the public will like for them ..and those songs/videos get the promotional hype and airplay. That's part of the reason I don't listen to the radio. The whole this is just creepy to me. Merry Halloween!

Looking forward to the 2021 season! Go Yankees!

Soccer, a European sport? Maybe it was originaly, but not anymore by any means:  https://images.app.goo.gl/c2WksRvQQkHy6TUk6

DeVine wrote: not soccer, which is really a more European sport even though there is a league in the US.

Primarily a European sport, I know the MLS is here, I follow NYCFC on and off. But it's really the fifth or sixth sport in the US. 

DeVine wrote:

DeVine wrote: not soccer, which is really a more European sport even though there is a league in the US.

Primarily a European sport, I know the MLS is here, I follow NYCFC on and off. But it's really the fifth or sixth sport in the US. 

It's not a primarily European sport. It's the biggest sport in almost every American nation apart from the USA, including Canada, Mexico, most of Central America and all of South America - and also the biggest sport in most African nations and several Asian nations. 

I stand corrected. However, as a citizen of the USA, I tend to see things from that point of view. You are correct and I take it back. 

You're right it's not one of the biggest sports in the USA. Maybe because you have another sport you call football (more than 90% of the world call it football). The USA, though, even if the world's biggest economy and the leading superpower, only have about 5% of the worlds population  - and Europe another 10 %. Don't forget the other 85% :) In a very big country one can be excused for focusing on oneself but I'd think playing Risk is a valuable addition there, making you acquainted with the world map.