OT: Your favorite niche/non-"major" sports
We've entered the summer sports doldrums. The only active "major" sport is Major League Baseball. The Tigers stink, and we still have two months to go until football season.
But that doesn't mean there aren't any sports at all. Wimbledon is firing up, and the Tour de France begins shortly. There is auto racing on television every weekend, and other lesser-known sports are active as well.
Are there any "niche" sports that you enjoy? For these purposes I won't count US national teams in soccer or the Olympics; however, if there's an "Olympic" sport that you enjoy outside of the Olympics (I've gotten up at 5 am to watch Alpine skiing in non-Olympic years before) that totally counts. Sports Michigan plays that aren't the four majors (eg Wrestling, Field Hockey) count as well if you actively follow them in-season.
Post your favorite niche sports here.
Cricket.
There is a world cup going on right now. Better than baseball not as good as football or basketball.
Agreed. I know everyone criticizes cricket for taking too long at 5 days. But the reality is that most games played nowadays don’t take that long (8 hours) and cricket has made a move to make the game more appealing by promoting 20/20 matches which end in about 3 hours
It is.
Heard India vs Pakistan matches was watched by 1.2 billion people. Yea....best CFP game gets what viewership ?
Wouldn't happen to be the Schaumburg area? I used to live there and there's a large Indian-Paki population and quite a few Cricket leagues. I work with a lot of people that are first generation Indi/Paki backgrounds, and I get completely lost whenever I ask them to explain cricket to me. My little pea brain can't handle it, but it looks amazingly fun.
PSA - many people of Pakistani descent, especially those in England, view the use of the word "Paki" as offensive, just saying.
Female mud wrestling none of that weird s*** that went on in Wisconsin where they had male pudding wrestling
I can't think of a better sport... played in cable knit sweaters where the participants stop playing a couple times during the match to eat meals and drink tea.
I'm Indian-American, and I like cricket. Agree on the not as good as football, but I prefer watching baseball to cricket. One-days are my favorite form of cricket, and while it's hard to watch the whole thing there is something fun about paying attention to a test match for a week, watching a bit of it every day. While I liked 20 overs at first, I now find it less dramatic since the batsmen don't care as much about protecting their wicket. But there's something about the back and forth of baseball - the way that runs are more impactful, that every two out pitch has the drama of a third down in football - that can get me to watch every pitch with an intensity I just can't get when I watch cricket. And when a pitcher is on, I cannot take my eyes off of it.
Definitely makes a difference that I grew up here and not there, I'll fully admit to that.
curling
this version being much under appreciated...
I've liked curling ever since seeing it as a kid on the CBC beamed into Detroit. Good call.
I wouldn't say niche, just vastly underappreciated...Championship Toe Wrestling! If you don't know, get educated!
Womens beach volleyball
Underrated post. I caught this entirely by accident on a sports channel late at night.
2 hours later Mrs. Hatter got woken up for the best 20 seconds of her life.
Legends Football League.
Pictures or it didn't happen.
(Sorry, Hatter - couldn't resist.)
I lived in Hermosa Beach from 2008-2014. The AVP was born in Redondo Beach (though now HQ is in Newport Beach), and the Hermosa Beach Open and Manhattan Beach Open are fun summer weekends, to say the least.
Kerri Walsh was (may still be) a Hermosa resident when I was there - one of our many local sports celebs, along with several Lakers and pretty much the entire LA Kings roster.
Kerri joined the badminton club I belong to this year. Apparently, she likes hitting things over nets. I’ve also seen her at a church in Manhattan Beach. At her height (no heightism implied) she stands out in a crowd.
Women's Beach Volleyball has new branding and has huge growth................
nude putt putt golf
What do you think of the new Holey Moley show on ABC?
I like it, it's like Wipeout mixed with putt putt, with A LOT of Steph Curry "cameos".
can we just get wipeout back? all these odd ball summer tv "sports" like ninja warrior or holey moley and all I want is to watch some rube eat shit trying to hop off a spinning foam arm
I'm sure he thinks it needs less moley and more holey.
Love it, trying to become a contestant
Went to a lingerie football game once and it was a kick. Hot woman barely dressed and actually playing their asses off trying to win Me and a few buddies had a great time and wish the league was still going
Korfball.
I love the Tour de France even though I am no cycling fan. It's on in the background in my house quite a bit in midsummer. Almost like a travelogue with all of the beautiful scenery and quaint French towns. The British broadcaster (don't know his name) who calls the action is absolutely brilliant to listen to and he has in a way become the "voice of July" in our house. Live coverage here in the eastern time zone typically begins in the early morning, but they replay the entire coverage at least once if not twice each day.
It's not a niche sport but I am also very interested to see the Open at Royal Portrush this week. That golf course looks like God carved it out himself and the Irish fans should be great.
Other than that I am going to try to avoid the television more and get out and enjoy the beautiful Michigan summer.
Phil Liggett. Ironically, he's not well-loved amongst cycling fans, but his voice and meter do a good job.
The only real issue I have with cycling these days is that the spring classics and Giro are exciting but difficult to watch, and the TdF is easy to watch but hasn't been very exciting. Just a nitpick, though.
I never understood the Phil Liggett hatred. It always seemed like hipster cyclists that wanted to show they knew more than the announcer. Phil knows more about cycling than nearly anyone alive and I'm sure he intentionally dumbs it down to keep things accessible for casual fans.
Some of it is the dumbing down, the cliches, and the occasional dumb things that would be said (in fairness to Phil and the late Paul Sherwen, when you have to fill 2 hours on a flat stage with a hopeless breakaway dangling at 2 minutes you’re going to say some dumb things), but a lot of it is the front-running boosterism. They tend to shrug off any potential criticism of whichever Anglo rider is winning the TdF. And you don’t get much insight.
I don’t mind Phil and cut my teeth listening to him narrate some thrilling Lance stages, but I get why there’s some pushback. I also think that some of the pushback is overreaction.
WTF, Paul died?!??!?
The "Paul is Dead" rumor began at Michigan by a Daily writer named Fred LaBour, who subsequently became a member of the swing band "Riders in the Sky." I know this because I wrote a Daily story on him when he was performing in Ann Arbor back in 1986. I had no clue about his involvement until I interviewed him. Cool story, cool guy.
Paul Sherwen, who announced next to Phil, died late last year. Both provided interesting commentary to the Tour.
I guess he died right about when I had my heart attack, in December.
CNBC's Tour coverage was in the process of turning the commentary over to younger ex-bikers.
im interested to see this years open too - nice course and a really talented field. its not this week though - british open usually played in mid july, around the 20th. i think the irish open is this week
I grew up watching Greg Lemond and absolutely loved following the Tour during Lance’s reign of dominance, even going to Paris one year to watch the final stage on the Champs Elysees. Lance’s confession broke my heart and it’s never been the same since.
Arguably not a sport, but Formula 1.
It’ll get better when someone can actually take a bite out of Mercedes.
I love F1. Even if it is a 3 team race between Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull every year.
The NHL
-Division 3 Women's Volleyball final 4
-Women's tennis (although it's really hard to keep track of all the new names that emerge every year)
-Division 3 Men's basketball
-Professional Bags
Curling although in Canada it is not even remotely a niche sport. TSN (the Canadian equivalent to ESPN) pretty much runs every draw of every major national event on their main network and the Brier is played in NHL arenas in Western Canada. TV on curling is a huge draw (as opposed to my watching the US Championship a few years ago on a shaky web feed via the Detroit Curling Club's Facebook page).
If that's not enough there is actually a pro league (basically) called World Curling Tour and they show every draw on TSN's competitor so you can have curling running in the background on your TV most weekends from October/November to April.
Canada!
TSN's curling announcer is magnificent.
I cut my teeth watching curling on the CBC back in the day, usually because my mom had it on. Of course, Shuster's gold medal was a big deal here in Duluth. Still a lot harder to find on tv, though.
Growing up in Saskatchewan, I can't think of many family get togethers that didn't have curling on in the background.
Hillbilly biathlon, Upper Midwest variety, in which competitors ride snowmobiles and shoot at road signs with shotguns.
Seriously? Team handball.
You're missing out. Just sayin'