favo(u)rite of the big four do-it-on-yer-own sports

open goal

lol oh shit

dude badminton

^not even joking

but tennis then golf

hush my child, and snooker vs badminton vs korfball shall happen one day

Boxing > tennis > Actua Golf > golf > F1

tennis >>>> golf >>>>>> boxing >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> f1

i wouldn't even call f1 one of the big four. athletics? figure skating?

lol badminton is like my fav sport, im not even trolling.

xpost ^^^^^^^

Athletics is too broad an umbrella IMO, and figure skating lol

The sheer amount of money involved in F1, not to mention the rabid European fanbase, necessitates its inclusion, even if it's only being described as a solo sport for practical purposes.

Easy. Boxing.

Haha F1.

even if it's only being described as a solo sport for practical purposes.

u crazy, motor sports are just about the biggest team sports of all

I've just logged off to go and vote and had to come back on cos louis's made me think that a F1 where the drivers had to get out and change their own tires would be awesome.

I'd totally start watching auto racing if they did that.

It IS a team sport in everything but for the actual aesthetic dynamic of the very competition. But that dynamic counts for a helluva lot. Foremost, individual achievements are tabulated, then the team follows.

lolololololol NV

It IS a team sport in everything but for the actual aesthetic dynamic of the very competition

rong

Also, I don't consider poker a sport, but it's the greatest of individual competitive endeavors.

what is F1? racing? that's not a sport

i'd watch that too! tbh f1 is only tolerable b/c nicole scherzinger's bf does it.

even just the "running" segment of athletics is more worthy to be here than f1 though.

WmC, perhaps Poker vs Chess vs Go is due an airing at some point, but obviously it's not for this poll.

Not sure what my own answer is yet. This one's a toughie, 3 of them are more or less on a par, with F1 lagging behind

F1 isn't a sport. You take a winner one year and put him in a different car the next year and he's a bum. It's a car making competition.

do-it-on-yer-own sports?

first thought, "ay, why's masterbating missing from them options?!"
second thought: "uh-uh, masterbating's more an art than a sport, obviously".

I LOVE that Lex thinks that figure skating is a bigger sport than F1, even without the ensuing "is it a team thing?" hoo-ha.

a better sport for sure

I'd like to know how auto racing isn't a team sport.

hi Bill, welcome to an hour ago in the thread

Badminton is such fun. Was surpised 'poppage' wasn't an option.

Surprised, even...

that is another poll, poppage vs ooh maybe pole vault

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Tennis - the one I enjoy watching the most by a mile. Also, best soap opera action outside football. I get the feeling the year round fans are fine but the fairweather fans are knobs, especially Wimbledon/Henman Hill mob.

Golf - I like the idea of golf better than the reality. I'm sure playing is fun but I don't really get it as a spectator sport. Fans are fine with me.

Boxing - dudes punching each other in face, not keen on that really. Fans are dicks of the highest order. Comfortably the worst of the four great British working class individual sports, behind darts, snooker and angling.

F1 - no sport involving driving cars really really fast should be this boring. The drivers AND fans = knobs. I tend to assume anyone who is really into F1 also reads the Mail and likes Bravo Two Zero and military history.

That is in order of preference by the way. Voting tennis.

Snooker > Tennis > The rest.

also, omg @ Sclungethorpe United.

Tennis>>>>>>>>>>Golf>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>F1>>Boxing

golf, which should win this by a street if i've gauged ilx correctly yet again.

Tennis>Golf>Boxing>F1

F1 entirely for middle-aged (in spirit if not necessarily in age) Clarkson acolytes.

At the moment tennis, but I do enjoy golf as well - very relaxing on the telly. Plus I will watch F1 from time to time as well (but it is only really interesting when there are adverse conditions and/or, I hate to say it, a lot of accidents). It has genuinely been more exciting the last couple of years.

As regards Matt DC's point about tennis fans, the crowds at the French Open are easily bigger dicks than the Wimbledon crowds.

Golf - I like playing, even though I only play a few rounds every year and consequently never get any better. I don't dislike watching it on the telly, but wouldn't make a point of doing so.

Tennis - I used to be pretty decent, but haven't played for about 3 years for no good reason really. It's good on TV.

Boxing - if you can suspend thinking about the horror of what it's doing to their brains, then it's the most thrilling of the four. But as a sport the politics of the payday and lack of real meritocracy make it a bit pointless.

F1 - couldn't care less. An abject spectacle really.

So I'll go for Golf, for the totally subjective reason that it's the last one I played.

Boxing - Fans are dicks of the highest order.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 09:58 (51 minutes ago) Bookmark

Angry dudes in their 60s in barber shops going "You vacking idiot, John Conteh would ave vacking murdered Bernard 'opkins" > all other sports fans.

Boxing - Fans are dicks of the highest order.

Not true

roland garros fans aren't as clueless as wimbledon fans, you'll overhear less of the "so when is steffi on court then?", and i don't think there's an equivalent of "henmania" (lol because mauresmo always chokes in the first week, if not first round). the show court fans will boo players at the slightest hint of a misdemeanour but this adds to the tv excitement! they'll boo ANYONE, even - especially! - home players who have the temerity to lose. except the champs who've paid their dues, they loved kuerten and graf towards the end.

oh, football fans, can you tell me about samir nasri? he's a football player and one of my favourite tennis players, tatiana golovin, has apparently quit tennis ("chronic injury") to be his WAG :( i want to know if he's ~worthy~ of her.

Boxing is the rare sport that really was better in the old days.

so tennis

I would imagine running is more popular than boxing or golf.

a GIS suggests nasri isn't worthy but i want to know about his character~~

oh, football fans, can you tell me about samir nasri? he's a football player and one of my favourite tennis players, tatiana golovin, has apparently quit tennis ("chronic injury") to be his WAG :( i want to know if he's ~worthy~ of her.

Really??!?!? French, plays for Arsenal, he's good, in an Arsenal sort of way, and does not appear to be a dickhead, as far as one can tell. I'm sure they will be very happy together.

Golf = too bourgeoise
Boxing = too violent
F1 = pollutive, not a real sport, cars just suck

Gotta go for tennis I guess. I would've voted for running had it been included though, somehow that feels like the purest form of sport. Just running, with your legs.

oh well that's acceptable then...she only played three tournaments last year, none so far this year :( i really loved watching her play, too.

xp

That's a shame about Tatiana Golovin... retiring, I mean, not going out with an Arsenal player

Golf = too bourgeoise

Not everywhere

Mainly I can't stand all that Mexican wave bollocks at the French Open, where they all smugly clap themselves at the end.

Where is it not bourgeoise? In Finland merely the money you need to join a golf club (in order to play on a proper field) and buy the equipment means it's off-limits for working-class people.

(x-post)

well, she hasn't officially retired...but yeah, there goes that promising career.

omg i'm so excited about wimbledon now. gonna start the thread 2day.

what's wrong w/being bourgeois tuomas?

We have public golf courses over here.

I think in order for any sport to be "fair" it should be open to anyone interested, not just people with enough money. That's why running is the most democratic of sports.

(xpost)

Where is it not bourgeoise? In Finland merely the money you need to join a golf club (in order to play on a proper field) and buy the equipment means it's off-limits for working-class people.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:03 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's more nouveau than bourgeois in the uk.

I mean, how many African pro golfers do you know? Yet there are a lot of famous African runners.

(x-post)

So that proves your point does it?

http://www.africansuccess.org/docs/image/so_goosen_b.jpg

HI DERE

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/11/28/tim_clark_wideweb__470x304,0.jpg

And another one...

http://images.smh.com.au/ftsmh/ffximage/2009/05/25/rory_sabbatini_wideweb__470x349,0.jpg

and another one...

I voted golf but really it's an honorary vote for snooker

Okay, South African whites excluded. I'm sure they're not particularly poor.

You never know, they might be poorer than you

If they can afford to buy proper gold equipment, I'm sure they're not.

Golf.

Never heard of borrowing clubs?

Phoning round your friends, getting together some clubs (you don't actually need a full set), going down the local public course with some beers and whacking a few balls?

Who do you borrow them from if you're friends are working-class too? I'm sure the bourgeoise don't just borrow stuff like that.

x-post

Oh god, do we have to dwell on these tedious class issues? What difference does it make? Everyone at the top of the sports listed above are wealthy as fuck anyway - it doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the sport. Find it weird that your criteria for whether or not you enjoy a sport is based on meta issues like "too pollutive" or "a bit posh" and not like, you know, is it good to watch/play.

LOL. What are you on about? (xp)

Where is it not bourgeoise?

Ireland. Can't speak for anywhere else but your argument is what would be known as total bollix in my locality, where you can pitch n putt for €3 including club hire.

a good pair of running shoes doesn't cost far off a reasonably priced starter set of clubs, if you want to get picky.

i was pretty into F1 between '93 and '96. a few of my relatives play golf inc. my younger cousin in tournaments, but meh.

Everyone at the top of the sports listed above are wealthy as fuck anyway - it doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the sport.

Yeah, but some sports at least give the poor to chance to try and become rich, whereas others don't.

F1 because a fair advantage makes useless people's dreams come true (Hello Jenson Button).

FWIW I don't enjoy any of the sports on the list, so I ranked them based on other criteria than enjoyment.

Finland, not exactly renowned for its golfers and golf courses, as we can see here.

running is fucking boring to watch, even if it does provide a TOTALLY LEVEL PLAYING field.

finland regularly produces top class sportspeople in disciplines that anyone can participate in, such as driving cars worth 7 billion euro.

oh, football fans, can you tell me about samir nasri? he's a football player and one of my favourite tennis players, tatiana golovin, has apparently quit tennis ("chronic injury") to be his WAG :( i want to know if he's ~worthy~ of her.

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 10:54 (37 minutes ago) Bookmark

Not much to look at but Zidane loves him and has repeatedly spoken about him being his proper successor in the French team. Seems like a nice lad as well, the only time you really see his face about is our charity things (and lol french rap vids.)

^^^lol xp

running is fucking boring to watch

Err, Usain Bolt?

Now that is a short attention span if Usain Bolt bores you!

finland regularly produces top class sportspeople in disciplines that anyone can participate in, such as driving cars worth 7 billion euro.

Who said anything about Finland? I'm not saying F1 is really democratic either, though I'm sure the drivers themselves don't pay for the cars.

Yeah, I could only watch half that race.

x-post

xpost

Taking part in motor sport is much more expensive than joining a golf club. I'm surprised I need to state that.

Except for maybe banger racing. Maybe.

What sports do you enjoy btw?

And you don't need to join a golf club to play golf either

Who said anything about Finland? I'm not saying F1 is really democratic either, though I'm sure the drivers themselves don't pay for the cars.

Uh

Where is it not bourgeoise? In Finland merely the money you need to join a golf club (in order to play on a proper field) and buy the equipment means it's off-limits for working-class people.

― Tuomas, 16 June 2009 10:03 (35 minutes ago) Bookmark

and

though I'm sure the drivers themselves don't pay for the cars.

wait a minute, just for consistency's sake.

you are seriously arguing one of two things-

(i) to start racing is cheaper than to start golfing

or

(ii) someone starting racing doesn't have to pay for their own car

can you please tell me which of these you are saying

xposts but still

not to pile on tuomas, who i'm sure isn't even that interested in any sports.

Taking part in motor sport is much more expensive than joining a golf club. I'm surprised I need to state that.

Okay, you can add F1 on the list of bourgeoise sports. It's not like I'm defending it.

(ii) someone starting racing doesn't have to pay for their own car

I think in most cases they do, but no one starts racing with a F1 car.

So can "working class" people afford cars but can't afford a few golf clubs? Or can't they afford either? What can they afford? Oh... shoes.

http://www.twogunrocky.com/fouryork2.jpg

L-R: Miki Hakkinen, Retief Goosen, Usain Bolt, Tuomas

Yes, shoes. Though some African runners started their careers running with their bare feet, so apparently even shoes aren't necessary.

blowin mindz

i don't know anybody that started playing golf as a member of st andrews, if you see what i'm saying tuomas.

What's "St. Andrews"?

lex is better at this kind of thing than you

Where is tiddlywinks band?

Trouble with just picking up some clubs and playing golf every once in a while, is that you're going to be almost prohibitively bad at the game if this is the limit of your practice. Just sayin'. Still great fun, but riven with inadequacy.

xx post

Lex has a fucking clue about sport so the comparison is unfair.

I speak from bitter experience xp

xxpost

I mean yeah that is pretty much true of any sport though. If you are a serious runner you will eventually pay to join a running club; if you take football seriously you will join a football club etc. All of that costs money which I am sure is just as prohibitive to poor people as any costs associated with golf.

Tuomas have you ever seen Cool Runnings?

Hey, We're Racially Incongruous!

Dude, anybody can jog round a track or go to a kickaround in the park. Golf is a different animal. I'm saying that if you DON'T take the playing of it especially seriously, you won't be able to play it effectively in ANY capacity. Joining a football/running club really doesn't cost that much fwiw.

Lex has a fucking clue about sport so the comparison is unfair

lex is the "go-to guy" for tennis!

Dude, anybody can jog round a track or go to a kickaround in the park.

And this is more of a preparation for a career as a professional sportsman?

you could kick a ball in the street.

Srsly I know/have known tons of working class people who play golf. Kids starting out with a 5 iron and a putter is standard practice.

Joining a football/running club really doesn't cost that much fwiw.

Running clubs cost about £25 per year. Entrance fees for races can be expensive though.

i can see what louis is saying, a bit.

if you play bad golf against an equally bad golfer, it's still no fun, whereas destroying your nephews at football in the back garden rocks, even if you're not actually any good.

but in terms of the 'what it costs to play' argument, the 'golf is expensive' just doesn't get off the ground.

Have you seen the price of a good snooker cue lately?

Dude, anybody can jog round a track or go to a kickaround in the park.

And this is more of a preparation for a career as a professional sportsman?

I'd say being able to train your sport regularly is a pretty essential requirement for becoming a pro sportsman, even if it's not all you require.

(several x-posts)

tennis > boxing > golf >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> f1

It's where most players start off! Albeit at quite a young age.

Anyway, if you're really into a sport, it's always possible to make outlays. I'm skint but paid 150 quid for a new cricket bat the other day, AND I pay annual dues for my club. No regrets there.

Oh man snooker! Nothing better than wandering into a snooker hall and grabbing some tattered old cue before compiling a heroic 32 break (my record)...beats slogging it round a 9-hole par-3 course in 54 any day

Are drummers more middle class than singers?

Price comparison: beginner's set of clubs vs PS3

maybe that's why geir objects to beats, on tuomas/moral grounds xpost

if you can't afford a job then you shouldn't have a PS3 etc

Anyway, if you're really into a sport, it's always possible to make outlays.

Well yes exactly, which is the problem with what Tuomas is saying. Golf isn't sooo prohibitively expensive that if you realised you had a child prodigy on your hands, even a working class family couldn't somehow find a way to get them playing.

I would imagine, to become any good at golf, you need to hone your game on some reasonably-sized courses (not just pitch'n'putt or sub-2000yd 9-hole public courses). Whereas a tennis court is a tennis court - it might have weeds growing through the tarmac, holes in the net or only a few feet of clearance at the back, but it's still the same dimensions whether it's in yr park or at some fancy club.

I don't know whose argument I'm supporting here.

(But, yeah, working class kids I went to school with played a lot of golf).

same here, but fishing wins this hands down.

I think the main difference between playing tennis on public tennis courts and playing golf on public golf courses is that the public golf courses are often much better quality!

I dunno Michael, I doubt you'd get very good at tennis playing on tarmac, although you could still enjoy it. it's the same argument with pitch n putt or a par 3 golf.

To improve, you're gonna have to move up a level eventually anyway, but if you have real talent then expense is not gonna hold you back in golf any more than it would in tennis etc

If it just becomes a passtime that you enjoy a lot without ever taking all that seriously, then you can join a pretty decent 18 hole course for a beginner's fee that won't break the bank- maybe about 150 quid for the year around my way.

A set of decent clubs- maybe 150 quid.

that's not crazy money by any stretch of the imagination.

St. Andrews and Carnoustie are both public courses, by the way

didn't know that. what's it cost to go round st andrew's i wonder?

Ironically, and I know I shd stop responding to the troll, and I'm not interested in class issues here, but in the UK the route into professional Tennis has probably been less accessible to working class kids than professional golf.

twelve quid for balgove, huh.

To get really good at tennis, you'd need access to better players i.e. through a £££ club, wouldn't you? Or maybe pay a trainer. At golf, at least you could practise by yourself a lot more.

really, we need some kind of study as to why our advantaged kids aren't getting access to the supports they need to make a career as professional footballers.

It's because you can't kick a ball in the street anymore...

(xposts) cheap set of clubs ~£30 at any car boot sale

http://www.virginmedia.com/images/lesaux.jpg

I still don't quite know why tennis is so off-limits to working class kids. I mean, I think it probably is, but there's no reason why it SHOULD be. Except maybe just that there aren't enough quality tennis courts - you get a couple in every park but it's difficult to build wide interest out of that.

poncey sport

I think municipal golf courses are waaaaaay superior to municipal golf facilities, plus access to good coaching seems to be much more important in young tennis players, plus probably just historical traditions i.e. working class kids more likely to have parents who play golf than tennis.

Sorry, municipal golf courses superior to municipal tennis facilities I meant.

i think "working class parents more likely to play golf" is s fairly new phenomenon, admittedly?

We used to play a bit of tennis as kids ... but only when the Wimbledon Fever was upon us and then the tennis racket was back in the cupboard till next year

I used to play quite a lot of tennis as a kid. On a cracked concrete court with no net sloping up a hill, mostly.

The actual Old Course = £64 off-season. Wonder how many people do the Seve fist-pump on the 18th?

(xxxxpost)

Did once read a stat that said that the UK had the most municipal park tennis courts per capita of any European country, but by far the fewest indoor courts. Considering our weather...

(Though I've played in snow and hail, goddamit).

Tennis is a bit shit when abilities are mismatched, but at least with golf you have the whole handicap thing to even it out a little.

Thwacking a golf ball up and down a field on your own is a sight more fun than hitting a tennis ball up a wall.

tennis is a sport which seems to have completely, wildly varying class nuances depending on where you are in the world - in the UK and US it's perceived as a fairly elitist sport, in eastern europe it's a way out of poverty, and in france i gather that it's popular in all demographics.

maybe middle/upper class brit kids only hang around in groups of two?

wd explain the ting tings i guess

We used to play tennis in the car park outside our house - it had a fence going across that could act as a net

http://www.twogunrocky.com/fouryork2.jpg

though even then it's never so clear-cut...this is a great interview w/the british women's no 1 anne keothavong, who broke into the world top 50 this year - she's a born & bred hackney girl whose parents were laotian refugees. hardly a "poncey" background.

I s'pose any sport which involves direct combat, as it were, rather than take-your-turn, is going to be no fun if you're massively inferior to your opponent. They do have handicapping in tennis tournaments but I still don't know how satisfying it would be to flail away, winning almost no rallies, but getting to 4-4 cos you have a 40-love head-start in every game.

tuomas pulled a real keyzer soze on this thread, huh

wasn't serious about 'poncey' at all lex. but more high profile cases like that girl would probably help broaden the sport.

Yeah I knew about Keothavong, I can see the balance turning if her and Murray continue to do well. The whole thing is generalisations and regional variations, like you said.

F1 is about as individual a sport as an individual sport where you have to yield to your teammate while you are way ahead, so they win, and you cry.

The usual accusation aimed at British tennis players is that they are a bunch of middle-class softies, that they have had it easy, born with silver spoons in their mouths. When she meets new people Keothavong doesn’t always tell them what she does for a living, "because there’s an immediate assumption that I’m loaded and spoilt".

She admits that she doesn’t come from typical British tennis stock, and says, "It’s good to show that people from my background can make it as professional tennis players"; though she is often saddled with a stereotype of her own: that she has fought her way out of the Hackney 'ghetto’. "I find it frustrating that people think that Hackney is like that," Keothavong, who still lives with her parents in the borough, says. "It’s almost as if people expect me to come out with some street slang, you know? I’m actually very fond of this area."

tennis is as do-it-on-yer-own as a do-it-on-yer-own sport where you can win half your games without doing anything but your opponent fucking it up.

any sports that involves messing up other people is instantly not do-it-on-yer-own, so boxing's out

football is a do-it-on-yer-own sport if you are:

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00493/Cristiano_Ronaldo_493242a.jpg

You're basically arguing for trampolining here aren't you Ken?

What about a getting-another-living-creature-to-do-it-for-you sports poll? Greyhound racing... errrrrrr, pigeons... cockfighting

(xxxpost) fightclubselfpunch.gif

don king

10-pin bowling > darts > gymastics > golf

football is a do-it-on-yer-own sport if you are: ronaldo.jpg

any sport that involves the referee being a fucking blind moron is not a do-it-on-yer-own sport

Any sport that relies on waiting for the bloke to come and unjam the pin return = not do-it-on-yer-own

actually gymastics is out by my previous rule.

What about a getting-another-living-creature-to-do-it-for-you sports poll? Greyhound racing... errrrrrr, pigeons... cockfighting

Does horseracing count? Presumably not seeing as the jockey has a fair bit to do there.

lol NV.

The upper-class view of golf Tuomas shows here is common in Norway as well, or at least was until recently. This isn't due to the cost of a set of clubs or anything, but probably a result of supply/demand wrt access to golf courses -- I believe Norway had one (1) 18-hole course about 30 years ago! This of course tends to lead to high prices -> less popular interest -> little incentive to build more courses -> high prices etc in circulo. It's broken out of this now, though, and golf has become reasonably popular in the middle class as well.

...and Norway doesn't go below middle-class, does it :P

i think this may have been true of the netherlands as well, as most of their courses seem to be unplayable for half the year due to the water table or somesuch

Louis totally knew what he was doing when he started this poll.

btw Any sport that relies on a 5ft Irish lad to carry the equipment, select the equipment and tell you how to hit the ball = not do-it-on-yer-own

also if a fat cigar smoker can be one of the best players in the world, it's no more a sport than snooker or spin bowling.

isn't this the case in most countries? because by nature it is quite resource intensive to maintain acres and acres of grass just so that some posh cunt can knock a ball across the whole thing into a little hole?

or into a net

or over a net

I thought we'd established you don't necessarily have to be a posh cunt to knock a ball into a little hole

on the internet
xpost

I thought we'd established you don't necessarily have to be a posh cunt to knock a ball into a little hole

No, you're right about the posh bit.

that took a while!

I come from Fife in Scotland, where there's roughly 50 golf courses, around 20 of which are municipal courses.
I grew up thinking of golf as a working class game and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. It was only when I got a bit older that I realized that there's a lot of tossers involved in private golf clubs, but that never denied me access or priced me out of playing the game. That may be the case in other parts of the world - it just isn't true here.

there's a lot of tossers involved in ________, but that never denied me access or priced me out of _________

fill in the blanks for anything and everything, really

not polo

Golf is definitely mostly an upper-class sport in Finland, both because of the high membership prices for golf courses (and the lack of public courses) and golf club prices, and because of the upper-class stigma it has. I don't think too many working class kids would try it even if they afforded to.

So we've established that, despite it's long history there and the numerous successes of its many professional golfers, golf is a bourgeois sport in Finland. And, errrrrrrrrrrr, that's it.

Seriously though, it is played a lot in Sweden I believe

Yeah, see also tennis -- compare the international tennis success of Sweden with that of Norway or Finland...

Norwegians and Finns, we JUMP ON SKIS instead. :p

Ski equipment is cheap then?

Two planks of wood and a couple of sticks for balance innit

No sticks necessary in ski jumping! Hospital fees might be considerable though.

Or an old mattress and a good sense of aim

gotta tell ya, here in the west of ireland skiing is considered an extremely expensive, upper class pursuit.

srsly, tho, guys: skiing is better than all of these

^^^this

i'd also say cycling, though obv most races are actually won with the help of teammates. still, track racing is an individual pursuit, and more of a sport than fucking F1

BMX

i once harbored dreams of getting on the Irish Nat'l Ski Team being as I am in the top 1% of downhilling Irish nationals

T/S Skiing vs driving into a tree at 50mph

you can do that on skis, too

Was kind of my point

T/S -- Into a tree at 50mph: skiing v. driving

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper951/stills/3f779c6db808b-72-2.jpg

Bigger than all of these, probably.

Not a sport.

and F1 is??????

Srsly skateboarding belongs in a poll with breakdancing and hanging around the town centre drinking Vodkat out of a paper bag.

and guitar heroing

lol europe

lol @ old people

F1 is at least more physically demanding than golf ffs.

lol backward Europe behind the curve on the otherwise global sensation that is competitive rolling

Srsly skateboarding belongs in a poll with breakdancing and hanging around the town centre drinking Vodkat out of a paper bag.

― F.C. Farcottonlocomotiv (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, June 16, 2009 8:26 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

"breakdancing?" LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

lol @ american muscle-worshippers

lol at a dad not actually having any idea how skateboarding works or what you even do with those things anyway, it's just a board with wheels on it!

Nah, seriously, so psyched for the next World Cup of Skateboarding. I'll be rooting for plucky South Korea.

the world cup of skateboarding is a team event, tho, and irrelevant to this thread

So psyched to see young hotshot Calvin Tipmeister IV scoring with a big aerosol followed by a 950 into a tubular rollie revert in the World Championroll of Competitive Board Jumping.

dadz r funny 2

Are you dissing the World's Cup of Skateboarding?

totally all about Chaq Fajkatwy acing the Buddy Air doubletoe into Wayne's Colossal Fingerspin before grinding into a Crossboard Halfcock

Last year's event cancelled when the entire field failed the dope test.

Last year's event cancelled when the entire crowd failed the dope test.

~scenes from a mid-90s sketch comedy show~

Nah, but seriously, you're alright kid.

awesome thread twist through 900% on a straight leg hacky sack

wait, are we talking about skateboarding or cricket

cricket is just shit

next sport

skateboard makes a handy cricket bat in a pinch

Cricket is competitive and followed by billions of people so I guess we're talking skateboarding.

a reasonably priced gold plated gnarlboard costs at least 15% of a small country's GDP

parkour 4tw right?

cricketboarding will surely popularise bat sports in the united states of america

in what way is cricket competitive? dudes take three days to bother winning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrdSBvtYn2M

cash-strapped working class cricketers can economize their transport and equipment costs while they wait for their shot at the majors

Although to be fair cricket hasn't thrown up huge personalities like QI regular Tony Hawks and Wee Man off of Jackass.

boggling at the concept of "cricketboarding"

we must make this happen

"i walk on the red carpet of the universe,
to converse between time and space"

is that where you board on a bat or you bat with a board?

a bard on a boat bats a ball with a board to a broad 'til we're bored

we could call it crutisborad

Where's that thread where ILE got invaded by angry people from a parkour message board? That's one of the all-time greats.

HI DERE, about 3 minutes ago

in what way is cricket competitive? dudes take three days to bother winning

Excuse me, five days

^^^ Never seen anybody play England.

Where's that thread where ILE got invaded by angry people from a parkour message board? That's one of the all-time greats.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 8:45 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

!!!!!!!

if anyone is going to come here from a parkour board to be angry we just need to link them that youtube video above.

in what way is cricket competitive?

http://static.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/62300/62396.jpg

free-running / la parkour: Jump London

family is the most important thing

this is my life, the fatal attraction

i hit the ballard and fly through the air
an explosion of movement, wind streaming through my hair

that's when i turned it off

golf by several hundred yards with a swirling wind over the alligator laden fairways

oh yeah, this is a poll.

can't even remember if i voted.

Voted Extreme Rollerboard

You have already voted in this poll and cannot vote again.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9nTItnS3VNk/ST2TgA-0GII/AAAAAAAApFc/xM5CfJzFMc4/s400/iran+students+protests+in+teheran+dec+7+2008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/birdnestsoup/golf.jpg?t=1245163222

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/kenjuggle3/arshavingolfsale.jpg

how exactly did i not see that coming

golf sale was genius though

lol @ sum one defending a yuppie pursuit like fukken running over golf on class grounds. not that running is a sport but still

tennis is rad fuck u if u vote for F1

tennis would be rad if you could play it down the street, XTRM style. on a court it's boring and samey.

your mom is boring and samey. in bed.

touché

how is she in court though is the question here

On court or in court?

would smash

i'm not really comfortable with this line of conversation guys, can't we just agree golf is for poor people?

lols to michael jones

How's her service?

i'm going to do the post, and i want this mess tidied up when i get back

lol i asked her how old she was and she told me "30, love"

New balls please, etc

"Federer?"
"Nah, I barely know 'er"

This thread has truly reached its nadal, errrrrr, nadir

was it in or was it out?

you cannot be serious

a delicious forehand lob into the tramlines

Early in the game when you broke me
Just like a serve (matchpoint matchpoint)
We shoulda walked off the court
But we both didn't have the nerve (matchpoint matchpoint)
So we volleyed a while with small talk
And a smile and as push comes to shove
I'd say this must be the matchpoint of our love

do-it-on-yer-own, sport

http://www.impawards.com/2005/posters/match_point.jpg

Cycling FTW

I'm not really enthusiastic about any of these. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch them, but if I turned on the TV and found one of these on I suppose F1 is the one I'd be least likely to turn over. But I don't really understand it (the technical side of it, i.e. why some cars are faster than others). Tennis I'd make a special effort for if it was Andy Murray about to win something big (Come on Tim!). With boxing, it's not so much the violence that's a turn off, it's more the lack of violence - most of it seems to consist of two blokes circling each other, dummying, blocking, ducking, backing away, and then hugging each other. After ten minutes someone actually lands a blow but it's so fast that you don't even see it. Golf I couldn't give a fuck about on any level.

haha i cant believe nobody commented on this

Gotta go for tennis I guess. I would've voted for running had it been included though, somehow that feels like the purest form of sport. Just running, with your legs.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 5:59 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

just a fella runnin with his legs, yessir, just some good ol legs and tha open road~~~~~~~~~

tennis in a landslide btw. also f1 should've just been 'motorsports' and boxing shouldve been 'combat sports'

just a fella runnin with his legs, yessir, just some good ol legs and tha open road~~~~~~~~~

i think i act on behalf of the entire ilx community when i weep tears of joy at this point

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

who voted f1?

darts and snooker shd've been in this pool ahead of the non-sports btw

ALLEZ C'MON

I always thought tennis ws the more "bourgeois" sport (wtf anyway) than golf, despite the entrenched costs of the latter being significantly greater

oh, nv already said that upthread

voted F1 for old times sake. and to annoy people.

lol @ sum one defending a yuppie pursuit like fukken running over golf on class grounds.

You actually think there are more yuppies among professional runners than among professional golfers?!!

golf reeeeally not yuppie.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/keeptrolling.jpg

I think the majority of top runners are from Third World countries. Most pro golfers I've seen on the telly are slightly chubby white dudes from the US or Western Europe. Maybe I'm going along the stereotype, but the latter seem more yuppie to me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/keeptrolling.jpg

my fav golf champ is se ri pak, she is not a chubby white dude from the US or w.europe

http://img.timeinc.net/golf/i/tours/2007/07/july15_pak_299x303.jpg

And you think most golfers are like her?

There's nothing inherently racist about tennis or golf. Golf only seems racist because of country clubs, but that's not the sport's fault. My beef with golf is that it's a waste of fucking land.

i don't think "most golfers" are like anyone, they are all their ~~own person~~~~

if all you mean by yuppie is rich(ish) and white then... sure. but strictly (pedantically, twattishly) speaking it refers to young, urban professionals, only the latter of which really applies to golfers.

gotta love the fact that one of the first out lesbian athletes was a golfer called muffin spencer-devlin tho

muffin spencer-devlin!!! what a name

My beef with theme parks is that it's a waste of fucking land.
My beef with sport is that it's a waste of fucking land.
My beef with holiday camps is that it's a waste of fucking land.
My beef with playgrounds is that it's a waste of fucking land.

WS Se Ri Pak btw

I'm not saying there's anything inherently racist/classist in any sport, but the varying social status different sports have + equipment and practice costs mean that in real life they often follow class lines.

(xxxx-post)

http://thesouthlandssteelmagnolia.com/Babe_Didrikson_Zaharias.jpg

^ate the kitty cat

My beef with theme parks is that it's a waste of fucking land.
My beef with sport is that it's a waste of fucking land.
My beef with holiday camps is that it's a waste of fucking land.
My beef with playgrounds is that it's a waste of fucking land.

DISINGENUOUS! Nothing wastes land like a golf course. Or takes as much water to maintain. There are golf courses in the fucking desert!

Yeah, I'm sure a playground will provide fun for a more folks than a golf ground, plus it's free.

"for a lot more folks"

http://www.urban75.com/Mag/troll.html

Yeah, I think that Donald Trump's development in Scotland is an environmental aberation. (multiple x-posts)

Which one is trolling: making coherent arguments related to the discussion or posting "troll" images again and again?

"coherent"

http://www.urban75.com/Mag/troll.html

― F.C. Farcottonlocomotiv (Noodle Vague),

When did you decide to become an asshole? Was it just earlier, or has this been brewing for a while?

Which one is trolling, coming onto a thread about sport to make undergrad-level snipes about sport from a position of total ignorance and ignore all the arguments that don't suit your version of class war or shutting the fuck up and starting a thread about tofu piercings?

I do like how that post makes less sense as it progresses.

Not especially talking about you there kenan but srsly "golf is a waste of land" is an argument up there with "if we were all vegetarians the world would have enough food" as a non-argument.

Ok that does sting a bit as I have recently railed against the latter baloney POV.

Which one is trolling, coming onto a thread about sport to make undergrad-level snipes about sport from a position of total ignorance

Why are my "snipes" "under-grad", and what makes them "ignorant"? I'm not saying golf or any sport is bad or anything, just that with many sports there's often a specific class status. Just like with many other hobbies.

There is an argument that SOME golf courses are a waste of water (not land) in areas with a lot of tourists and serious water shortages but the same could be said about hotels, swimming pools and lawns and none of that but none of that is the fault of tourism, swimming or grass in themselves.

Tuomas only you could come onto a thread and state the blindingly obvious in such an infuriating way that it becomes a massive thread derail.

golf's decadent wastefulness is very much a +ve for me

I mean, not to jump down on your throat or anything but even needing to make that point in the first place just looks like a pose and it's understandable people are annoyed. It's a bit like indiscriminately going onto any old rap thread and talking about gun crime.

Why are my "snipes" "under-grad", and what makes them "ignorant"?

Sigh. Because umpteen people have pointed out to you that there is no simple class status associated with sport, that it varies from country to country to region to region, that a simple class reading of x = good y = bad is pretty asinine to the majority of sports fans, that your stereotype of the noble shoeless African peasant keeping it real on the running track is ludicrous, that "just saying" = trying to derail a convo about sports to a convo about why we should value some forms of culture over others.

Also lol lex.

Hey... next nine holes is on me guys.

surely F1 is way more bourgeoise than golf

burning loads of fuel to go around in circles quickly and then waste perfectly good champagne spraying it everywhere?

voted golf because it was the only actual do-it-on-yer-own sports as stated before (if you don't count caddies)

Caddies totally count. I think what we've learned today is that it takes a village to play some dumb game that's not as good as football.

you just have to think if you are making a computer of those sports, which of them can have a 1 player mode that doesn't involve any computer opponents.

tuomas really needs to acquaint himself w/john daly, is there a better example of golf's egalitarianism than him~

also the reason ethiopians and kenyans dominate competetive running is they have legs like storks and they grow up in high altitude environs. it's really not much more equitable or accessible a sport than plenty of other tickets-out-of-poverty like soccerball, basketball, etc.

or F1

watching people get wound up arguing about golf is a lot more fun than watching golf

so is sticking your head into an oven

Carlin contends that watching golf on television is "like watching flies fuck." I admit, I enjoy it a little more than that.

golf balls are such a waste of titanium

"Golf is a bourgeois sport" said Chavez on Sunday after officials have moved ahead to close two of Venezuela’s top golf courses.