I love it, and watch every day. I wish spitting were the most obnoxious thing I watch on television. Ever check out the nightly news?

Love it and watch almost every pirate game

[QUOTE=Fredman;1529272]Love it and watch almost every pirate game[/QUOTE
]Buccos are 3-0! A good start. (We always seem to do well against Detroit.)

I like MLB and we watch it often. I was told by the high school boys I taught that the reason they spit is that the dust from the field gets in their mouths and they need to get it out. They also chew bubble gum to help them focus and it creates a lot of saliva. They also told me about the testicle tugging but I am too much a lady to address that in public. I was a bit embarrassed when they shared it with me, but I must say it did make sense. I just look away.

Funny how this thread about baseball has evolved from spitting and jewel-tugging to the game being boring to watch. Especially considering we are in the capital of what many consider the most boring spectator sport on earth -- GOLF! Don't get me wrong -- I love playing golf (not any good at it but I love it). When it comes to watching sports not playing them, it's all about having something to root for -- a team....a player.....a country. Watching some guy you don't care about walk around a green lining up a putt is like watching someone figure out their next chess move. BUT if you are rooting for him/her it is exciting! Same with baseball...despite the occasional lack of manners. So support and root or find something else to complain about.

Agree. I like to watch both sports, so this is just an observation...

At least in golf, the broadcast can switch between numerous golfers and holes for current "action". As baseball drags along, there is no alternative to the "action" currently on the screen. :shocked:

I love live baseball (football the exact opposite). On tv, not so much. Yes, it is a slow game but those seconds of a great catch or a triple play make up for it. As Sally explained, there is a reason for the spitting. Not the greatest thing to see but it’s part of the game. So is the pitcher stall. There is a beauty to baseball that the fast-action games can never meet.

As to college ball over the pros — why? Collegiate athletes are semi-pros at the very least. Few get an education and their scholarships are an insult to those with scholastic scholarships. The schools make big money off their student athletes. At least the pros are honest about the money they get.

The NFL’s popularity is all the more remarkable when you inspect the fare it has to offer each week on television. An average professional football game lasts 3 hours and 12 minutes, but if you tally up the time when the ball is actually in play, the action amounts to a mere 11 minutes.

I could not find the same information pertaining to baseball.

I seem to recall a golf swing is a second and a half. So with a par of 72 and assuming no practice swings that's less then 2 minutes of action.

Come on, tom. Your premise doesn’t hold up for golf. How about time the ball is in the air and bouncing around? Much more than a-second-and-a-half of action per swing. And the fact that there are dozens of players, not just one. A broadcast can easily have player shots on the screen almost continuously. Not so for baseball and football.

And I repeat, I like watching baseball and football...and golf. :)

Might as well throw basketball into the mix...

I rarely watch basketball on TV. College is tolerable. Pros not so much. (Non-contact sport!?! Right!!) And just for the record, I played college basketball.

I think basketball suffers from one major thing compared to any other major sport...no single play early in the game really makes that much difference in the outcome of the game. You could see the greatest spinning, twisting, slam-dunking move in the history of basketball early in the game and yes...it's great to watch the athleticism. But did it really, dramatically impact the outcome of the game? Not really. Even if the game ends up close, you won't look back and say that move won the game. It was just another basket.

But in baseball or football, a 1st inning home run might be the only run of the game. And if the game ends 1-0, that home run hitter is the hero of the game. Or if an opening kickoff is returned for a touchdown, or there is a long, spectacular touchdown run or pass in the first quarter, and the games ends up a low scoring battle, maybe 10-7 or something like that...that play will be looked at as the deciding play of the game.

You never know when the "big play" is going to happen in football or baseball. In basketball, the "big play" can't happen until the clock is winding down near the end of the game.

I worded my thoughts incorrectly.

I should have said when someone plays golf and shoots 72 they are swinging the club, exercise?, for around 2 minutes.

I enjoy watching golf on TV, just like my dad. He took it more seriously. When Jack or Arnie was putting, as kids, we had to whisper in front of the TV.

Heheh. I remember reading once...I can't provide any specifics or backing for this, I just thought it was funny and probably accurate in its own way...that a person would pass out VERY QUICKLY if they maintained the level of exertion of the moment of impact of the golf club hitting the ball. The exertion is greater than experienced in almost any sport for just that micro-second! :D

Boy, did I crack up reading this. He’s watching the game so a kid shouting certainly wouldn’t interfere with the viewing. Neither Jack nor Arnie could hear the kid noise through the tv. So, I guess you guys had to whisper because the announcer whispered. Ah, the idiosyncrasies of the sports fan.

I remember a friend telling me that she told her husband that her water had broken. He told her to wait until after the 9ers won the game (it. was. the. first. quarter.). Being the lovely soul she is, she took the remote, turned off the tv, held her husband’s head between her hands and repeated through clenched teeth, “Dear, my. water. broke.” Amazingly, they’re still married.

Great thing about these true to life, gigantic, HD, LED, 4K, OLED, Plasma, LCD, etc. televisions..... They all come with a remote control right in the box. And if you can figure out how to properly install the batteries in the remote, you can probably grasp the concept of changing channels or turning it off. That would save you the time of going online and complaining about what you were so painfully forced to endure on the screen.

Then this wouldn't be a forum, would it.