Sports that you've learned to love later in life

[cpr]

People here are forgetting their age when they first learned about competitive cheese rolling

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

The best way to enjoy MMA is to stop watching UFC and watch RIZIN and ONE.

 

[BoyBrumby]

you got into one motorsport and you chose ****ing formula 1?

watch indycar for the best open wheeler racing in the world ffs.

Two wheels > four every time, IMHO.

Don't follow it anywhere near as closely as I did as a kid, but the old man used to take me to watch the speedway every summer Sunday back in the day.

IIRC DCYE's dad used to be a speedway rider?

 

[Furball]

I really got into cricket around 2002/2003, but test matches leaving domestic, free-to-air, TV (i.e. channel 4) really killed it for me. Was never into it in the same way after that.

MMA is one I have tried to get into, but just can't. I think Brumby said it best, when he once posted about how it's tough watching someone who has already fallen to the floor being sat on and just beaten until they are unconscious. This is a lot more bearable when the person receiving the beating is a total **** who you despise (which does often seem to be the case tbf), but it's just not for me really.

Tennis is another sport I just cbf to watch anymore. I don't not enjoy it. But often I just feel like you may as well just start watching 3 sets in.

Yeah this is why I've never got into boxing or MMA.

I'm fine with wrestling because of the theatre and because it can be athletically really incredible, but at the same time you know that unless something goes badly wrong the athletes aren't getting majorly hurt.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah this is why I've never got into boxing or MMA.

I'm fine with wrestling because of the theatre and because it can be athletically really incredible, but at the same time you know that unless something goes badly wrong the athletes aren't getting majorly hurt.

...Owen Hart?

But more generally, aren't serious injuries fairly common in pro wresting?

 

[Furball]

...Owen Hart?

But more generally, aren't serious injuries fairly common in pro wresting?

They are, but they're not as the result of getting punched in the head because the rules of the sport are that you knock your opponent unconscious to win.

 

[sledger]

I think a lot of the injuries in wrestling are caused by wear and tear rather as much as they are individual incidents. No real off season etc.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

IIRC DCYE's dad used to be a speedway rider?

Aye but not of any real renown. He was doing quite well and moving up the levels but a combination of a bad crash/expense of competing put an end to it.

As far as motorsport goes Speedway is by far the most exhilarating. Everything else just seems so laboured and long. Still watch the world championship to this day.

 

[Chrish]

I put so much time and mental energy into the two sports I properly follow that doing anything more than casually following something else seems like too great an ordeal for me to really follow through with. I think in theory I could really enjoy baseball, rugby union and American football but I've only really dabbled on the outskirts of occasionally watching them.

Cricket and what else?

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Curling when Winter Olympics is on. Too lazy to hunt it out the rest of the time but I enjoy it and the tactics. Other than that I always been in to bowls, football, cricket and horse racing and always watched a bit of tennis, rugby and golf. I guess I can say I have gone off snooker and motor racing the older I have got and definitely watch less rugby now than I used to but that is having a family for you and not being a single bloke.

 

[Prince EWS]

Cricket and what else?

Rugby league.

 

[Howe_zat]

I followed football first like every English kid, later lost interest with the exception of big tournaments, and got into cricket and rugby as a teenager which I've evidently stuck with.

The only sport I've really grown into since leaving home is basketball, and that's entirely due to Cricsim, and I don't know if I should be embarassed about that.

 

[cnerd123]

this but 5 weeks ago. i prefer pure muay thai to mma though, because bjj is ****ing boring to watch and the ufc fanbase is often sickening.

I'd say MMA is a pretty great spectator sport, but its fanbase is horrific and its competitive structures are such a joke that it can be hard to get invested in beyond individual fights.

where is this horrific fanbase? All I follow is r/mma and they're perfectly fine. Every MMA fan I know IRL is good to discuss with as well. If you're talking about Social Media, then fans of everything on SM are terrible. Even cricket.

If anything, the independently-produced content around MMA makes me more of a fan of it. Things like the Heavy Hands podcasts, Jack Slack's breakdowns, Ariel Helwani, Chael Sonnen, Firas Zahabi, etc. I wish cricket had more content like that. MMA has got some good movies/documentaries too. Choke is superb.

And as DCYE says, if you don't like the UFC, then RIZIN and One Championship are fantastic alternatives. I quite like some Bellator now and then too. And since MMA is all about the individual match-ups, there is always plenty of great fights to watch. Cricket gets a bit stale that way - not enough alternatives to watching the established Full Members and Domestic leagues, lots of cricket that lacks context. Even just the way cricket matches are packages and sold is poor compared to MMA. Commentary can often be bad, it's loaded with badly-timed ads, you often can't find a legal online stream or a replay online, etc.

 

[Uppercut]

where is this horrific fanbase? All I follow is r/mma and they're perfectly fine. Every MMA fan I know IRL is good to discuss with as well. If you're talking about Social Media, then fans of everything on SM are terrible. Even cricket.

If anything, the independently-produced content around MMA makes me more of a fan of it. Things like the Heavy Hands podcasts, Jack Slack's breakdowns, Ariel Helwani, Chael Sonnen, Firas Zahabi, etc. I wish cricket had more content like that. MMA has got some good movies/documentaries too. Choke is superb.

And as DCYE says, if you don't like the UFC, then RIZIN and One Championship are fantastic alternatives. I quite like some Bellator now and then too. And since MMA is all about the individual match-ups, there is always plenty of great fights to watch. Cricket gets a bit stale that way - not enough alternatives to watching the established Full Members and Domestic leagues, lots of cricket that lacks context. Even just the way cricket matches are packages and sold is poor compared to MMA. Commentary can often be bad, it's loaded with badly-timed ads, you often can't find a legal online stream or a replay online, etc.

In Ireland most MMA fans are McGregor bandwagoners, so...

Huge fan of Jack Slack though.

I disagree much more strongly on the packaging. The UFC coverage really suffers from being totally centralised in one organisation with extremely controlling bosses. As a result you can watch a 3-hour card without ever hearing from anyone who isn’t specifically employed to sell you the ‘product’, and being American they’re not subtle about it. It desperately needs an independent broadcaster. I should check out Rizin or ONE but I’m not sure where they air here.

But really that’s secondary to the biggest problem: the fact that the competitive pyramid is just ‘which names will sell fights’.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

you got into one motorsport and you chose ****ing formula 1?

watch indycar for the best open wheeler racing in the world ffs.

This. A million times this.

Always followed F1 ever since I was a kid watching Albert Park 2002 and Mark Webber on F1 debut, but over the last couple of years my interest has waned somewhat

 

[NUFAN]

Im a bit similar to Pews but you can add in NBA to cricket and rugby league. I do love big events like the tennis slams, world cups, olympics etc. but ive got to the point where I only really love 3 sports.

Sports that I used to watch more of but less now is easier: football, F1, moto GP, ironman, triathlon, boxing but even out of those, id really only say I loved football.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

where is this horrific fanbase? All I follow is r/mma and they're perfectly fine. Every MMA fan I know IRL is good to discuss with as well. If you're talking about Social Media, then fans of everything on SM are terrible. Even cricket.

The mainstream fanbase for MMA is awful. Dumb meatheads in monster caps and tapout shirts trying to re-enact that sick knockout they saw on the undercard after 17 rum and cokes.

Every. Single. Time.

It's so bad here that despite being a sports bar we don't even show it at the place I run.

 

[cnerd123]

In Ireland most MMA fans are McGregor bandwagoners, so...

Huge fan of Jack Slack though.

I disagree much more strongly on the packaging. The UFC coverage really suffers from being totally centralised in one organisation with extremely controlling bosses. As a result you can watch a 3-hour card without ever hearing from anyone who isn’t specifically employed to sell you the ‘product’, and being American they’re not subtle about it. It desperately needs an independent broadcaster. I should check out Rizin or ONE but I’m not sure where they air here.

But really that’s secondary to the biggest problem: the fact that the competitive pyramid is just ‘which names will sell fights’.

Eh, I'm okay without an independent broadcaster given the commentary teams at the UFC are pretty excellent at what they do. I really don't mind being sold a product that I actively chose to tune in to. I watch the UFC for good fights and I get them. Their match making has been really solid in the last couple of years, and you can always skip the CM Punk and Greg Hardy fights.

The lack of the competitive pyramid is a drawback tho. There is some good match-making time to time, and if you watch fighters from the indy scene/undercards you can see them getting different stylistic match ups as they move up the ladder, but at a certain point it's just about the money fight.

Having said that, I still find it entertaining. A good fight is a good fight, whether or not the people fighting actually 'deserve' to be there based on their skills. I like a good narrative, and I like personalities. It's all part of the entertainment value for me.

 

[Burgey]

We're all pretty much waiting for you to learn a bit about cricket, *****.

 

[jimmy101]

The only sport I've really grown into since leaving home is basketball, and that's entirely due to Cricsim, and I don't know if I should be embarassed about that.

Really fun sport to play as well imo. It's non-stop nature is excellent for your fitness.