Now that the NBA is locked out and could possibly cancel the entire season, it's time to seriously reassess which sports are worth following, and which aren't. Let's get right down to it, shall we? I'll go in ascending order of interest.- Nascar: Awful. Incomprehensibly boring. Driving in a circle for hours on end, with maybe three minutes at the end that decides the race. Maybe I don't understand the subtleties of this sport that make it so compelling, but I've got a feeling that it doesn't get much more nuanced than a case of Natty Light and staring at really loud blurs all day. I love how they're trying to introduce this professional wrestling aspect to it, with the drivers getting in each other's faces at the end of the race. Snoooooooooooze. Talk about trying to manufacture drama in a sport that provides none. This sport is getting way too popular, and being shown way too much on Sportscenter. Truly frightening trend.
MMA: Can't get into it at all. When I was a kid, boxing was fun to watch, with Tyson, Hagler, Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, etc. Now it's garbage, and this is just as bad. The matches last thirty seconds, and they just seem barbaric. I'm usually not squeamish, but I just feel like a bad person watching it. I feel like I should be calling the cops or something. I feel like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV, hopelessly watching while Apollo Creed gets his head bashed in. THROW IN THE TOWEL! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! And I'm bored at the same time, somehow.
Soccer: Fun to watch, especially when I know a bunch of players on the teams. I'm a pretty casual fan, but it is a fun sport to watch. It's almost like starting to watch the show Weeds, though. I feel like I already watch enough series/sports. If I totally threw myself down this rabbit hole, I might never resurface.
- College football: I love watching my Gators, but unless it's a huge matchup between top ten teams, or I'm vicariously rooting through a friend, I don't really have a huge amount of interest in watching other college football games. Utah vs. Nevada? I'd rather gnaw on a barbed wire fence.
Tennis: Tennis is my favorite sport to play, so of course I love watching it.
- Pro basketball: I still enjoy watching it, but there's not enough parity, and certain players almost single-handedly destroy entire teams (IE Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks). I won't really be upset if they cancel the season. More time for other things!
College Basketball: I love watching the Gators, but-unlike with football-I also fairly consistently enjoy watching other late-season top twenty-five games. The tournament is so freaking great.
- Pro football: The general obsession with fantasy football is annoying, but I still enjoy watching the games. Once again, my team blows right now, but hopefully we'll be awful enough to draft Andrew Luck.
- Baseball: I love baseball, and have since childhood. As a kid I pored over box scores, memorized statistics, and got hooked for life by the great NY Met teams. For some, though, the slow pace doesn't provide enough instant gratification and second-to-second action to appeal to them. It's somewhat similar to people's qualms with soccer. If you're really into it, and get into the subtleties of the game, it's fascinating. If you're a casual fan, it might seem boring at times. Myself, I'll never stop following baseball, no matter how disgusting and depressing the Mets get.
Once again, there's no transition to the music portion of this post. One of the guys from Primal Scream joined The Jesus and Mary Chain very early on, and lemme tell ya, he did a great job with both groups! "Just Like Honey" is from J&MC's classic debut album Psychocandy, and uses the intro to "Be My Baby" and mega-fuzzy guitars to great effect. "April Skies" is from Darklands, and while it sounds more conventional, it also absolutely destroys me. Every time the section from 1:23-2:08 comes on, I wanna jump around and pump my fists like I'm in a John Hughes movie montage.
"Slip Inside This House" is a housey old tune from the great Primal Scream album Screamadelica. Every time another element comes in, the song just keeps getting better. So flipping good.
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