Sports

Lately, I've been watching quite a bit of sports on TV. The 2006 Volleyball World Championship in Japan was excellent - although it seemed poorly attended. The audiences at most of the games seemed to fill about 10% of the hall. I really enjoy watching and playing volleyball, so I don't really understand the lack of interest. Of course, the Canadian men's team lost most of their games, but they did win the one that counted most to me: Canada 3 - Korea 1. The game is much more interesting now with the new scoring rules, and the men's game, which I used to find boring because no one ever seemed able to return a spike, has really developed. There are a lot more blocks and spike pick-ups. This is a game that most people can play easily. It has lots of action. Where's the interest?

The Asian Games in Doha have also been on TV a lot. Which brings me to the original purpose of this post - boring sports. Now I used to think that darts (a pseudo sport if there ever was one - played by fat, out-of-shape middle-aged guys) was the most boring sport in the world. I have changed my mind. Taekwondo is truly the most boring "sport" that I've ever seen. In the Asian Games, I can't count the number of rounds I saw that passed without anyone throwing a punch or a kick. They just bounced on their toes for a couple of minutes and then sat down and got toweled off and drank a little more energy drink (It must have been hot in the arena because they never did enough to sweat). How many sports are there where the referee has to constantly tell the participants to fight? In the matches that I watched there were more penalty points taken off than points awarded. I can't say that I watched most of the fights until they ended. I suspect that most of the fighters won by getting scores like -2 compared to their opponents -5. When there was an occasional exchange of blows, no points are awarded for what looked like a good shot to me. People lashing out while falling on their ass seemed to be able to score. Maybe they should dispense with the padding, gloves, and head gear and just go at it until only one person is standing (Oh, wait. That sounds like K-1).

I practiced Taekwondo years ago, and I don't remember it being so boring. In fact, I think I got punched and kicked quite a bit.

How did this "sport" get into the Olympics? I'd rather watch synchronized swimming. I've certainly seen more action at a salsa contest.