used to be like that when you could smoke and drink and play darts, too much hassle now to do it. besides if you play for a team i can assure you the drinking only comes after the game has finished, not during lol, pool you can get away with fluking shots as you are pissed, not so much darts as more skill involved and less luck.
If you don't like cricket... Don't go on the cricket thread I'm not up for discussing political and works issues on here so stay off the gazza thread that's on here Sport on a basic level is a bit pathetic. Football is 11 men kicking a pigs blade around yet we all love it. Cricket is trying to hit a ball into a crowd but love that as well. Just because it involves having an attention span lasting more than 90 minutes doesn't make it any less of a sport. If you want games that don't end in draws and only last a few hours, go watch baseball instead.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28542813 La Liga president wants the world's 500 best players in Spain. So that's 300 for Real Madrid and 200 for Barcelona #collectivebargainingorfuckoffyoumoron
I think there is a reason most successful sports end up being between an hour and two hours in length. Any shorter and it's not worth the spectacle- any longer and people's attentions drift. As a spectator you need "enough points" to happen that it's worth watching... but not too many that each individual point means very little. It's possible to become interested in any sport if you invest time... but I think it's no coincidence that football is more popular than say... cricket. Timewise- it is closer to the sweet-spot of most people's attention spans... score wise... there are usually enough goals to keep it interesting- but not so many that each individual goal is meaningless and not worth cheering for. I think Ice Hockey also sits in the sweet spot- but perhaps doesn't have quite the worldwide appeal because, being on ice... fewer individuals have an invested opinion of it- having never played it themselves. Baseball... too long. Basketball... scores are too high for each individual score to get an emotional response from the fans. There is nothing wrong with following any of those sports- they're certainly not inferior- but it's no surprise why football is more popular than cricket, for example. Cricket is too long- and too high scoring for most people to invest an emotional input. Same with F1... I used to love F1- but I can see why people don't... too few "scores" (overtaking)... I liked it because I had related to the English teams and the "evil German Schumacher"... now Schumacher is gone- it's boring... I have no emotional attachment...
t20 is doing well and helping the Caribbean economy., probably the same as the ipl as well and it helps both national teams ie india and west indies bring through some exciting talent at the same time, england like football will wait too long to join the party and do similar. i know rhc and a few others will disagree, but its getting the younger generation interested in cricket again as test cricket is too long (ie 5 days) normal people have work commitments, children etc etc, well one dayers, t20, you can get away with it. you watch test cricket and its a case of spot the younger generation, as when i have watched it has been mainly old people ie retired who have nothing better to do with their time as they don't want to take up bowls,golf or similar ****e.
20/20 is also a slog fest that removes about 75% of the skill of the game. you could basically call it kiddie cricket and put the ball on a post like they do in kiddie baseball and hit it as hard as you can/ bowlers are forced to bowl one line, certain height etc etc at speed, get them in... batsman have 10 wickets for 20 overs so that's 1 wicket per 2 overs so they don't need any defensive skills but need to just hammer the bat at it. all their fielders do is catch deep and save runs i nshort its a different entertainment but the truth is the real skill and the toughness of a 5 day game bowling 20-30 overs in a day is all gone. the types of balls that can be bowled are limited. If a minute (minimum) per ball for 8 hours bores you fine but if you can't appreciate the skills and work required then you just have not bothered and thats on you. same for rugby. for me watching 7s is missing 70% of the game and all the power and basically violence and a good ruck. its all about the skills employed folks. after all.. come on you can tune in for the days review each night and get the highlights if you've time commitments.
