Sport???

[Babru]

I like watching top tennis and golf. I also play golf very badly - living in Edinburgh we are surrounded by courses and it's not dear to play (compared with other parts of the country and abroad). On Sunday we were lucky enough to be able to get the local bus along to see the Scottish Open Golf, we walked about eight miles around the course and had a good day, so not everyone who likes to watch is a couch potato, honest

That said, when I go abroad I can't believe the number of people who sit around drinking beer in so-called sports bars and watching football. Most look like they've never kicked a ball in their lives......

[Scarlet]

Drama and crime set in modern day.

There's only so much of that one can watch...and half of it is so unbelievable it's painful.
I've never been a big TV fan, as a family of 4 we rarely have the TV on and when we do, we all prefer to watch different stuff!

I love the rugby, OH watches the Tour de France...and since I've been with him he has consistently covered 10,000 miles a year on his push bike.

[greenishfing]

There's only so much of that one can watch...and half of it is so unbelievable it's painful.
I've never been a big TV fan, as a family of 4 we rarely have the TV on and when we do, we all prefer to watch different stuff!

I love the rugby, OH watches the Tour de France...and since I've been with him he has consistently covered 10,000 miles a year on his push bike.

I agree there modern crime dramas are mainly rubbish and few and far between. That is the problem. All the time and money goes on sport and their overpaid presenters.
I am not a hater of sport. I love swimming, sailing, windsurfing and horseriding and used to also play squash. However I wouldn't want to sit and watch any of them. I just don't see the point.

[veggiechicken]

if you don't like what's on, watch another channel. If none of them suit you, turn it off and do something that you enjoy.
I rarely watch TV, not because I dislike what's on, but because I can fill my time doing other things that I would prefer to do.

[bikermike]

you may not be alone, but you are not the whole view either.

If I had my way, it would be wall-to-wall motorcycle racing with test cricket, tour de france and rugby to fill in the gaps. I recognise this would not be popular

I would say sport on the BBC is accessible and not over-hyped (mainly as it can't afford the expensive sports). The problem of non-participation is a serious one, but there's a balance - most people get the dream of competing in a sport from seeing it on television. My personal bugbear is the word "elite" in context of sport. It creates an idea that, eg the premier league is composed of aliens and is not part of a continuum that goes from the dog and duck 2nd XI all the way up to the heady heights of the world cup.

Plus, the telly has an off-switch...

I haven't watched it for over a year now, apart from postman pat etc with the small person. I'd rather be doing than watching

[bikermike]

I agree there modern crime dramas are mainly rubbish and few and far between. That is the problem. All the time and money goes on sport and their overpaid presenters.
I am not a hater of sport. I love swimming, sailing, windsurfing and horseriding and used to also play squash. However I wouldn't want to sit and watch any of them. I just don't see the point.

Why are the presenters over-paid? By what metric? How much are they paid relative to other stars etc?

[bikermike]

moi aussi
(but by live updates on the website and via the grauniad)

[Snoop Puss]

My mum has been complaining about all the sport on telly too recently, bumping 'her' programmes off the screen. But my dad and gran used to watch a lot, especially in their later years when keeping up with a plot was difficult. Mr Snoop's gran apparently was a big wrestling fan (I try not to think about why).
And truth be told, my mum does watch quite a lot of sport too. Just a bit fed up that there's been so much top sport that really does deserve to be on TV (cricket world cup, Wimbledon, Tour de France) all at the same time recently.

Plus, does showing sport on telly really stop people going out and playing? I don't know. The only thing I've read is that it's hoped that England's cricket success will encourage new generations to go out and take up bats and balls.

[1Bee]

These days we rarely turn the TV on to watch what is actually on at that time. We pre-record and stream a lot, so we get picky. Mostly I just watch when Husband and I are sitting down to tea, and the kids are in bed. Then it's Pointless, University Challenge, Antiques Roadshow or something like Killing Eve, Ghosts or Brooklyn 99. Husband watches much more than me: I'll choose to game rather than watch.

We do watch sport, and LOVED the Cricket World Cup, but most of the sport Husband wants to watch is pay per view and too expensive.

If it were just up to me I'd mostly watch movies, historical drama, cooking and gardening programmes.

[MillieBee]

How about chariot racing? Motorcycle jousting? Extreme kayaking? I'd watch all those.....at least until the first casualty, then I'd get bored and want to switch over to some whimsical gardening programme, cookery, or some drama combining history and fantasy (like what would have happened if we'd had dragons at Agincourt, for example). Or zombie apocalypses.
I am quite happy to suspend all belief when watching TV. I have quite enough boring reality in my working day thank you!

[Baldy]

The only thing I've read is that it's hoped that England's cricket success will encourage new generations to go out and take up bats and balls.

Unfortunately all the cricket pitches have been dug up and turned into allotments

[SarrissUK]

I think the BBC is excellent, both in terms of the quality of the presenters generally, and in terms of the drama. In fact, some of the stuff I have seen over the last few years, absolutely rival international quality. I think all brits should be proud of the BBC, especially if you compare it to the drivel that US TV provides.

I do like to watch some sport, but even that I have trouble keeping up with. Theres just too much other stuff that is more interesting to do! By the time I have watched some of it, I want to get up and do something else. There's only so many hours in the day, and I have no desire to fill it with telly, but when I do, it's almost exclusively BBC.

[SarrissUK]

Oh and whether or not watching something makes you do it... I have to disagree. Last year I was very inspired by the runners in our local 10k. I really fancied taking it up, but I'm petrified of trying, as when I exercise I look a complete mess, and my knees aren't what they used to.... but having seen some running on TV, and realising I really won't change my eating habits (well I haven't for 46 years and I think it'd be insane to think it would change now), something else has to. I am going to see the local 10k race again on Sunday, and when I get paid, I'm ordering some running shoes.

[mcdood]

If your knees aren't good Sarriss, careful what you do, road-running is probably the worst , a lot of impact. I used to do 1/2 marathons up till about 10 years or so ago so have a bit of insight. As for sport on the box, I'm quite selective now but over the years I've watched a lot and played a lot. Was pleased to see Sky released the World cup cricket final to Channel4 so many more could watch. I loved it.

[SarrissUK]

If your knees aren't good Sarriss, careful what you do, road-running is probably the worst , a lot of impact. I used to do 1/2 marathons up till about 10 years or so ago so have a bit of insight. As for sport on the box, I'm quite selective now but over the years I've watched a lot and played a lot. Was pleased to see Sky released the World cup cricket final to Channel4 so many more could watch. I loved it.

I have heard that too, about the high impact being bad... but it's a different bad. I used to play football, so my knees were twisted in all weird and bad ways so they're not strong in that sense. In terms of the impact, I'm not too worried, especially since I've seen research showing on several occasions that running is better for the cartiledge in the knees than walking due to the increased blood flow because of the higher impact.
Trust me, I will watch it and be careful