F1 Fanatic

Football, massive Arsenal fan, lived in Holloway all my life, so it was always going to be that way. My dad livs in the old Highbury stadium flats, I go to as many matches at Ashburton Grove as I can, a few friends have season tickets, as does my girlfriend so any chance I get.

Big lover of Cricket, my Dad was nearly a professional cricker, of significant talent, however his back caved in before he really got a chance to take it to the next level, so I got a good education on the joys of the sport.

Watch a bit of tennis but Football F1 and Cricket take up too much time already.

Hah Scribe I see you used the name Ashburton Grove for the Arsenal’s stadium, nice!

That Champions League final was the worst one I’ve personally ever seen, it was shaping up brilliantly and then it got ruined. Even more disappointing than United’s capitulation to Barcelona in 2009.

I remember I started this kind of thread in the old forum. Anyway, the only other sport (or sports entertainment) I follow is WWE wrestling, though I’m watching it less and less as time goes on. Any other sport I watch is normally hosting their big event(s) when I watch it. So I watch the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champion’s League, Six Nations, Rugby Union World Cup, Tennis Grand Slams, Snooker World Championship, Cricket World Twenty20, Olympics etc. So I watch a fair bit of sport aside from Formula One.

Actually your two exceptions work for me, Ned: I used to skate in my younger wannabe skater-punk days (which for me, ahem, means the late 80s) and cycling is pretty much the only sport I’ve ever considered in any way as “my own”. I love it; there’s just something about the mix of physical challenge, speed and zen-like concentration I like – and maybe even this year I’ll actually spend money and buy my first ever quality bike. The only team sport I was ever any good at was hand-ball – how nerdy can you get? I was a very awkward teenager. Anyhoo, as for sports on TV I’ve always been attracted to speed – starting with hockey, downhill skiing and cycling (for reasons above). But then I have this inexplicable taste for watching excruciatingly slow stuff like cross-country skiing and snooker (pool/snooker being another ‘sport’ I enjoy). Oh yeah, and I’m pretty handy with a frisbee!

Football – I’m a Liverpool fan, but I go to Elland Road occasionally.
Rugby League – Love it, huge fan of the Bulls, but we just lost today :(
Rugby Union – I follow the internationals like Six Nations and World Cup
Snooker – Watch all the evnts
Tennis – Usually watch grand slams
Horse Racing – All the weekend events
Bowls – Championships usually

All of them! Well, that’s a slight exaggeration…but I’ll watch most sports if they’re on the TV. Even the cross-country skiing shown on Eurosport for 23 hours a day (no matter what is shown on the schedule, they are always broadcasting cross-country skiing).

In terms of sports I really follow, it’s only F1, football (Blackpool), rugby (Edinbugh & Worcester Warriors) and cricket (Lancashire & England). Everything else I’ll watch with interest but won’t go out of my way to watch.

My second love is Snooker. My dad has a quarter sized table which I’ve practised on since I was 8, and the one time I went to a club and played on a full sized one I was pretty good. I love playing it, and I love watching it.

Also have spurts of interest in cricket, used to play for my village team but I had two problems: I can’t throw and I used to have two badly ingrown toenails, so a simple yorker or a clumsy stumble would put me out of the game. In the end I only actually played twice for them, once I didn’t get to bat and spent most of my time in the field down at 3rd man, and the other time was a for school team created for a match gainst the teachers. Used to bowl fairly decent leg spin, and I still enjoy a couple of hours in the nets.

Other than that I wouldn’t call myself a sports fan at all. I watch Wimbledon, Darts and the Olympics when they’re on but everything else is just a bit rubbish.