What Sports have you lost interest in?

[DrW]

For me, it is not "lost interest", I always disliked

- Sports where the results depend on judging (ice skating, gymnastics, equestrian dressage, and all the new X games stuff)

- Why are there four different styles of swimming? 

- Why are there so many different distances in track running?

 

On the other hand, I like sports where you need some versatility (biathlon, triathlon, hepta/decathlon, olympic pentathlon - although the last loses some appeal with the removal of the equestrian part). I could even come up with a few new combination sports:

- King/queen of the runners: each athlete does a 60 m sprint, 400 m hurdles, 3000 m steeplechase (or cross-country), and a marathon.

- King/queen of the ice track: you have to combine runs in luge, skeleton, and bobsleigh.

- Sailor king/queen: First, you let them sail their high-tech, heavily computerized catamarans. In the second round, the skippers have to compete in a $5,000 Optimist dinghy.   

  

Edited November 28 by DrW

[BillsPride12]

21 hours ago, coloradobillsfan said:

Tennis used to be so much fun to watch.  After the matches we would play right out in the street and have arguments about who would be McEnroe, Connors, Lendl, etc.  Indoor soccer was huge too - the Stallions were every bit as popular as the Sabres at our school

Tennis is actually the opposite for me because I never watched it or followed it in my life before but I started getting into watching Jessie Pegula's matches and meanwhile I have some family friends that are avid Tennis players and they have taken me out a couple times.  It's something I want to continue to get into.  I could use a new hobby 

[Irv]

Pro wrestling.  It kind of looks slightly fake. 

[May Day 10]

For me, in large part, the NHL.

 

I used to be a crackhead when it came to hockey and the Sabres.  Knew every player.  Would watch every minute of the Sabres.  Would watch other games if the Sabres werent on.  Loved it.

 

The league/sport is horribly boring now.  I go to games and all I can think about is leaving.  There is little to no action.  Players are too big, fast, and skilled.  Coaching is too perfected.  Goaltending is being a spreadsheet for where to stand to make themselves bigger and cut down shooting percentages.  Games are a slog to wait until a team makes a mistake or there is a odd bounce so a team can get a scoring chance.

 

To make it worse, the NHL has created "coaches challenges" to take goals away (it never works the other way).  Silly things like if a toenail was Offside a minute before a goal was scored, completely unrelated to the scoring play.  Goalie interference challenges where nobody really knows what the rule interpretation is or should be.  

 

There is no more fighting and raw emotion that made the sport great 10-15+ years ago.  Players are very careful to protect themselves and their earning.  The NHL is scared of concussions and refs break up anything, and the league is quick to suspend.  Most games just seem like a recreational skate.

 

 

The league structure is also terrible.  Horrible divisional structure, with no rivalries.  The Sabres play the Leafs 3x and need to play Anaheim, San Jose, Utah, and all the other Western Conference teams 2x.  Games mean nothing.  To make it worse, the league has that terrible points structure where some games are worth 50% more than other games on a particular night, and rewards both teams for playing boring in the 3rd period and getting the game into overtime.  Everything is a slog.  The playoff format is also silly.  Divisional-heavy with a confusing wild card system, and you barely play the teams you need to battle with.

 

It also doesnt help that the sabres havent really been a good and relevant team, other than a blip in like 25 years.  Then they do a clown, loser thing, like retire Ryan Miller's jersey.

 

 

 

The NHL desperately needs a new commissioner (and board of governors) with new, fresh ideas to capture the imaginations of potential (and old) fans.  NBA has done a good job, as has MLB (and I was very anti-Manfred), the NFL is the NFL and could probably do anything and it would succeed.  

[PromoTheRobot]

Not into the NBA at all, even though I like college ball. I did follow Caitlin Clark in the WNBA this past year.

[BillsPride12]

10 hours ago, May Day 10 said:

For me, in large part, the NHL.

 

I used to be a crackhead when it came to hockey and the Sabres.  Knew every player.  Would watch every minute of the Sabres.  Would watch other games if the Sabres werent on.  Loved it.

 

The league/sport is horribly boring now.  I go to games and all I can think about is leaving.  There is little to no action.  Players are too big, fast, and skilled.  Coaching is too perfected.  Goaltending is being a spreadsheet for where to stand to make themselves bigger and cut down shooting percentages.  Games are a slog to wait until a team makes a mistake or there is a odd bounce so a team can get a scoring chance.

 

To make it worse, the NHL has created "coaches challenges" to take goals away (it never works the other way).  Silly things like if a toenail was Offside a minute before a goal was scored, completely unrelated to the scoring play.  Goalie interference challenges where nobody really knows what the rule interpretation is or should be.  

 

There is no more fighting and raw emotion that made the sport great 10-15+ years ago.  Players are very careful to protect themselves and their earning.  The NHL is scared of concussions and refs break up anything, and the league is quick to suspend.  Most games just seem like a recreational skate.

 

 

The league structure is also terrible.  Horrible divisional structure, with no rivalries.  The Sabres play the Leafs 3x and need to play Anaheim, San Jose, Utah, and all the other Western Conference teams 2x.  Games mean nothing.  To make it worse, the league has that terrible points structure where some games are worth 50% more than other games on a particular night, and rewards both teams for playing boring in the 3rd period and getting the game into overtime.  Everything is a slog.  The playoff format is also silly.  Divisional-heavy with a confusing wild card system, and you barely play the teams you need to battle with.

 

It also doesnt help that the sabres havent really been a good and relevant team, other than a blip in like 25 years.  Then they do a clown, loser thing, like retire Ryan Miller's jersey.

 

 

 

The NHL desperately needs a new commissioner (and board of governors) with new, fresh ideas to capture the imaginations of potential (and old) fans.  NBA has done a good job, as has MLB (and I was very anti-Manfred), the NFL is the NFL and could probably do anything and it would succeed.  

This is a pretty good post.  I agree with most of what you are saying but I haven't completed walked away from the NHL yet.  Mostly in large part because of what the Sabres have meant to this town historically and the fact that as a Sports nut I am losing interest in so many others already it's hard to totally shut out the NHL but when I do watch games I find myself pretty checked out, it's been awhile since I have been truly entertained by an NHL game.

 

I mentioned in my original post one of my best friends growing up was the biggest hockey nut and he quit following the NHL altogether for most of the same reasons you just mentioned.  I keep hoping if the Sabres ever got really good again it would spike up the excitement level but who knows how long it's going to take for that to ever happen again.

Edited November 30 by BillsPride12

[4th&long]

Sabres and the NHL. I used to watch every game. Now I might watch the equivalent of 1-2 games a year. I tried to watch a game the other night and they got shut out 1-0. Who can watch that *****? College basketball is another one I don’t watch anymore. I still try to watch some baseball but it’s usually 2-3 innings a couple times a week of Yankees games. I used to watch as much as I could, every pitch if possible. It’s like watching paint dry now. 
 

but the Sabres are the real kill joy for me. I wish they would move and we could get an NBA team in Buffalo.

[Gugny]

On 11/26/2024 at 11:33 PM, SinceThe70s said:

Boxing - when it became obvious it was fixed or scripted. Tuned in on Saturday and it was worse than what I turned my back on years ago. Not only a total joke, but boring af. At least back in the day it was entertaining.

I was an avid boxing fan throughout the late 70s into the late 90s. 
 

By that time, and since then, I’ve pretty much only paid attention when Tyson is fighting  

 

And I know that this last Tyson show was purely exhibition and a money grab. But I watched because I have Netflix and didn’t need to pay more to see it. 
 

What pissed me off (all over again) was the female undercard fight. 
 

That - once again - cemented that it’s a dirty, fixed sport and reminded me why I stopped paying g attention decades ago. 
 

Fantastic fight with a rigged result. 

[Fr. Jerk]

NBA used to be dope, ya dig?

[Another Fan]

I’d actually say football.

 

The Steelers/Browns game was great last week.  An old school rivalry in the snow.

 

But since that game I could care less to follow the rest of the games.  Didn’t watch a second of Thanksgiving’s games or yesterday.

 

If the Bills were still putting out 6-10 teams good chance I would have cut the cord 

[Mike in Horseheads]

11 hours ago, Gugny said:

I was an avid boxing fan throughout the late 70s into the late 90s. 
 

By that time, and since then, I’ve pretty much only paid attention when Tyson is fighting  

 

And I know that this last Tyson show was purely exhibition and a money grab. But I watched because I have Netflix and didn’t need to pay more to see it. 
 

What pissed me off (all over again) was the female undercard fight. 
 

That - once again - cemented that it’s a dirty, fixed sport and reminded me why I stopped paying g attention decades ago. 
 

Fantastic fight with a rigged result. 

Boxing used to be great, The Hearns/Hagler/Leonard fights were slugfests.  I used to love Olympic Boxing then the Roy Jones Jr fiasco happened.  I don't think I watched one bout in the Paris games

[SirAndrew]

I’m just a football guy at this point. I like other sports, but something about the pro versions don’t appeal to me. I’ve noticed a lot of laziness in sports that have long seasons. You’re aren’t getting much effort until playoff time. The NBA, NHL, and MLB used to have a little intensity during the regular season. A mid winter NBA game looks like practice now. 

[dpberr]

NBA Basketball.  Just chucking 3s.  Boring to watch.  

[stuvian]

I've drifted away from the NBA and boxing over the years

[Kelly to Allen]

Loved basketball in the 90s. It's really really bad now. Hockey used to be incredibly physical and is not the same anymore 

 

 

[Gregg]

The Islanders being bad and boring has my interest in hockey declining. The playoffs are great but as for the regular season I am watching less and less games.

[BarleyNY]

I loved watching NCAA basketball, NBA and the MLB in my youth. I haven’t watched anything other than the occasional playoff game in many years. I never cared much for the NHL so not much happening with me there. 

 

NCAAF and NFL were always my favorites and still are, but my interest isn’t what it was. I still watch the Buckeyes, Bills and other games every week, but my consumption of other games has fallen in a major way off this year. Homogenization of schemes, spectacle over game play and the outsized impact of the refs are all reasons. 

 

I am more likely to watch the X Games or a less popular college or pro sport than I am an NCAAB, NBA, MLB or NHL game. 

[BillsPride12]

It pains me to say this but I am getting there with the Buffalo Sabres 💔

[Orlando Buffalo]

The more I think about the only sport I watch a lot of anymore is football. College football is starting to become less fun after the top 25 because too many players are planning there next team by week 7. NBA I am completely out of because too many players simply don't care, and I had season Tix for 6 years. NHL is tied to the Sabres being bad for so long. Baseball has killed the "growing with the team" where I could watch 7 guys get good together like back in the 80s and 90s, along with the terrible blackout rules. 

[Gregg]

What does everyone think about baseball proposing a "Golden at Bat" rule. I think it is one of the dumbest rules that I have ever heard of. For example, if the Yankees have the bases loaded and the #9 hitter up. Boone could announce he wants to use the "Golden at Bat" rule in this spot and just substitute Judge to hit for the #9 hitter. WTF kind of BS rule would this be if it passes.