ornoth | Friday Five #40

Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?: Not having a television, I generally can’t watch professional sports without making a significant effort. In fact, sports was one of the reasons why I got rid of my television back in 1994. You see, I asked myself what were the programs that I would go out of my way to watch, and there were only three (two of them sports): Jeopardy, NBA basketball, and NASCAR auto racing. Looking at it that way, I couldn’t justify spending $500 a year on cable just to watch that shit.

More recently, there have been a few times that I’ve made the effort to go somewhere to watch television, and those times, too, have been for sporting events: typically the NBA playoffs and the Tour de France. And I’ll occasionally go out to a Celtics game with friends.
What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?: I don’t usually favor teams, but individuals. I have rooted for the Indiana Pacers, mostly because of future hall of famer Reggie Miller. However, I have a large number of professional cyclists whom I hope do well; that list includes local hero Tyler Hamilton, Lance Armstrong, David Millar, Francesco Casagrande, Tom Danielson, Greg LeMond, Bobby Julich, Michael Rasmussen, and many others.
Are there any sports you hate?: I don’t hate any, but there are several that I find uninteresting. That list includes just about everything not mentioned above, but at the top of my “boring” list are baseball, football, golf, hockey, college basketball, horse racing, bowling, skating, skiing, drag racing, and many others.
Have you ever been to a sports event?: Yes. Not worth getting into.
Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?: For the past five years or so my primary sport has been endurance cycling (and commuting). However I have previously gone through phases of competitive running, soccer, baseball, bowling, and archery. I have also spent a lot of time doing recreational racquetball, billiards, inline skating, golf, swimming, rock climbing, skateboarding, and tons more.