1. going to bed recording the game only to find that your kids have programmed endless re-runs of Disney channel programs that clashed and killed your game..
2. getting up to watch it and finding it has failed
3. getting up to watch it and some bas@$rd telling you the score..
4. having to put up with a “Sex and the City” marathon (re-runs) just to earn the right to watch the game
5. that cricket question – I always say “Australia” even if they’re not playing

Nothing better than:..

1. the drama of the moment (I was there(glued to the TV) for the Gregan tackle, the Ella tries in the 84 grandslam, the Campese try in the 1991 semi, the Larkham field goal, the Lynagh try in the 1991 QF at Landsdowne Road…and the eerie silence of the Irish crowd that followed, Cornelsen’s four tries against the All Blacks, etc etc)
2. watching your team come from behind and win on the bell
3. A bowl of pasta and a glass of red while you watch the game – beats Canberra Stadium food, any day
4. explaining to your other half that the opposition are not all dirty, mindless bastards who are only out to kill our team\
5. instant re-wind
6. the mute button from time to time, when certain commentators are blathering about scrums for the twentieth time in a game

The most stupid comment though is “it’s only a bunch of grown men chasing a ball” or something similar. One English wit summed it up nicely. It’s like saying “a violin is nothing more than a bit of wood and cat gut”.

My brother is a ManU and Liverpool “fan” who knows next to nothing about the clubs, so you can understand the type of football supporter he is.

I did a lot of very serious interviewing before entering matrimony,…and married a sports nut!

No fights for the tv with me ive got my own tv and pay tv hooked up to it i’m in a sports nut paradise.

So I avoid all this and watch all the sport I can….

As for Pink Floyd, I still don’t ‘get it’….

Watch How I met your mother, brillant show.

The Wire just finished and I think it is one of the greatest shows ever created – also Mad Men is excellent.

All is not lost!

check this out today as well, from todays herald…

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/obama-is-walking-a-high-wire/2009/01/18/1232213445522.html

“You remember where you were when Stephen Larkham kicked THAT field goal”

Actually – I was at Twickers for that one!!!

in the mornings – yeah – - – for now, Ross and Burnso are back on 3AW.

it’s why God invented Foxtel and IQ, bloody marvellous stuff for sports nutz.

MC,

I’m waiting for the ‘A’ team to return on SEN.

Redb

Francis Leach is also the drive home guy on radio SEN (he was on ABC radio back a bit, then did a stint on FM radio – - he loves his music too – - and once quizzed to choose between music and sport – he chose music!!)

so – anyway, he’s part of what I mean – - we’ve got radio SEN in Melbourne………you’d be surprised how much more we know!!!! I love the folk who often ring SEN with 2 gripes……..first one is about their AFL club, 2nd one is about say Storm, or Victory, or Chelski or……

Back maybe 15 years ago you might’ve had a point on the Rugby all looks the same – - but, now, we can discern the differences – - many of us have attended over the journey now (okay, I’ve not gone to Union but have gone to half a doz Storm plus a SoO – - – without attending Union……. I think I prefer Union………..but would never want to play it!!).

- — btw – - main thing about nil all draws……….just don’t go trying to force us to watch the ‘highlights’!!!!!

A person who remembers names well is not necessarily educated in a sporting sense. Not that I say Bruce Mc Avaney doesn’t know sports. I might have my sporting prefernce but so do you.

The point is even though you dislike football (or soccer to you), I can sort of see you understand what the game is about even though you moan and whinge about it. I might get bored of tennis but I know the history of the sport and I can name you champions of the game and their strengths and weaknesses, and what grandslams they won on what surface etc.

One of the things about say a lot of people from Melbourne is that they thing rugby is one sport ?? Or people from Australia might think that football (soccer) is boring when there are no goals ?? How fairweather is that?

By the way there is one guy on Offsiders called Francis Leach who seems to have his finger on the pulse of all sports. Expert commentators for calling the game is OK. But when broad based sports jounallists like Rebecca Wilson are allowed to comment on a broad range of sports, well…thai is just gutter journalism.

I think I am “getting over” watching sport.

During the last S14 and Wallaby seasons I was not fussed if I missed a game. I consoled myself by saying “the quality of the games wasn’t great so I am not missing much”

But I think I finally succumbed to the dark side when six overs into the first 20/20 against the Saffies I turned the box off and did something else because I was bored.

I am sorry for my sins but I am sure the devil made me do it!

“I think here in Australia we have a lack of really true good sporting commentators and writers”

they’d be a dime a dozen everywhere else I guess??

really – - like them or not, the versatililty of guys like Sandy Roberts and Bruce McAveny is pretty good to superb- – Bruce especially has called just about everything and done so exceptionally well. Actually that NRL caller, Ray whatever who did the swimming at the Olympics………whilst he can come across as a buffoon……….he actually has a way of pulling you in…….a bit better than the real buffoon that was Daryl Eastlake.

The standard ‘live’ structure is the ‘caller’ plus the ‘expert comments’. So – - you don’t expect a multi code expert comments man? And the commentator only has to be able to call adequately – surely (whilst most of us really CAN see what’s happening for ourselves).

I know you’ve advocated soccer pretty heavily on theRoar – - now, there’s the main issue – - SBS……..the land of anything OTHER than Australian domestic sports……….and so we get the likes of Simon Hill and Les Murray who live like the old ‘home guard’ – - spending their time with their backs to what goes on domestically – constantly looking abroad looking for Heinkel 111′s coming in over the ‘channel…….oh, hang on, they probably don’t realise they’re actually looking at the Pacific Ocean and should be looking out for Zero’s.

Reality though – - is there’s only so much calling for true cross sports and cross code journalism………which tends to be more ‘big picture’ and tends to become more ‘business of sports’. However – - – in Melbourne – - – we’ve got radio SEN………we’ve got the ‘Offsiders’ effectively all day long.

btw –

I hate delayed telecasts ——— and calling at the tele “JUST KICK IT!!!” only to remember that in real time the actual game is in the 3rd qtr and I’m watching the start of the 2nd. But………it releases the tension.

btw -

my kids have been too young thus far to get into sports on tele, other than wanting to see the very start (the ‘broadcast sponsors’ and opening titles) – - I’m presently managing carefully their evolution into sports broadcast junkies……..hmmm….but, participation really must come first.

Shows like Offsiders on ABC are good examples of shows which encourage diversity in sport in Australia. Hence you’ll find most people who actually know sport tend to work for non-commercial organizations.

As for Spiro’s question, my personal highlight and lowlight in the excercising “collective will to change the outcome of play” came within seven days of each other during the 2003 RWC. I was sure it was because I was telling him to do it that Stirling Mortlock took that intercept in the semi v NZ. Similarly, I couldn’t have yelled any louder that “WILKINSON’S STANDING BACK FOR THE FIELD GOAL!!” during the Final – of course, he still got the kick away…

My greatest triumph in the sport watching stakes came just over twleve months ago, when the spare room was converted into The Sport Lounge, which included the renaming of an old couch as the Brett McKay Stand. Complete with a PVR and various sporting memorabilia, it was heaven. Until of course the death of the plasma just before Christmas, which forced the temporary relocation of the old telly back into the lounge room….

RIP Plasma….

If i dont understand or like a sport, i force myself to watch a few games until i either decide i like the sport or it isn’t for me.
While i grew up with cricket, basketball, tennis, soccer and football + more, i had to make myself watch sports like gridiron, league and union to gain an appreciation of them. I have recently gained an apprectiation of baseball, and on the list to watch is gaelic football (ive seen highlights and seems really good), ice hockey + a couple of others.

I totally agree that living with people without an appreciation for sport is just plain boring. If living with several people who dont like sport, it is very annoying looking forward to watching your team play and then getting to the TV and finding ‘Friends’ or the NEWS is being watched by people clearly bored with nothing to do.

I cannot stand watching a sport event where i know the final score. I have yet to watch a replay of my beloved Cats yet!

My wife couldn’t care less about pport. Sometimes, that’s good or bad, depending on circumstances. But she’s also an events co-ordinator, so who’s the first person she asks when she wants to know if a particular date will clash with a sporting event…..me!

S14 season is particularly tough. If I ‘mnot required to fulfil a family or friends weekend social function, then I have an almighty battle with either wife &/or teenage daughter for pay-TV time.

The flip side to the problem this article portrays is the sport-loving girlfriend I have miraculously jagged:
Us, the Monday just passed: “Lets go to the beach after work tomorrow night.” “Great idea!”
Her, Tues morn: “Babe, we can’t go to the beach tonight”
Me: “W-w-why?”
Her: “There’s a 20-20 on. Wanna come round to my place and watch it?”

There IS a God.

Watching sport live is incomparable to other televised events. I saw Campo and Lynagh steal victory from the Irish in 91 World Cup, Australia 2 cross the line to take the America’s Cup and saw the socceroo’s get robbed by poor refereeing and poor sportsmanship in the World Cup. All of thos memories will stick with me forever and all were at odd hours. The crowd roar, the exhilaration on the competitors face means more when you know it is live, actually happening and you can feel the emotion. Despite what George Gregan says passion has a massive place in sport and for those that can’t compete, riding your team home live is the next best thing.