During Covid lots of sorts were broadcast without any spectators. I found that it increased my viewing pleasure. No screaming crowds trying to make the most noise with drums (soccer), no altercations, no people throwing things or making annoying noices (MMA), no crazy people next to the road pushing cyclists.
Just the people doing the sport, I can hear them shout, swear and get punched. I can see bike racing without fear a crazy fan will jump in front of the pack for a photo for their grandma.
I don’t need an audience to get hyped or to distract everybody with jeers and racist shouting. For me the fans are the worst part of the sport. I don’t enjoy watching them, I want to see the athletes doing their thing.
I don’t really like sports, but I can see that. Shows without laugh tracks or live studio audiences are better, IMO, for the same reason.
Nah. Sport thrives on emotion. Without the hum of the crowd, the jeering, the celebrating and the moment to moment difference between ecstasy and heartbreak it feels incredibly flat.
Your argument seems to stem from the fact that some people inside crowds can be a problem. And that’s true for sure, but (and I’m sure the athletes taking part would largely agree), the crowds help the athletes take their game to another level.
I defy anyone to tell me that a European night at Anfield is made better by having no crowds in attendance, or that a Canadians game at the Bell Centre is improved without 20k screaming fans living and dying with each shot on goal, or that a heavyweight title being given out in an arena full of adoring fans isn’t significant better than the alternative.
I get that that’s the popular view. Hence the post in this community. I don’t particularly care for the famed ‘roar of the crowd’.
Took an epidemic for me to realize that, though. And now I notice it every time…
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You’re cherry picking the literal worst aspects of that though. I’ve been to loads of sporting events and there were no riots.
Heck, every single weekend millions of people go to watch their teams play football and it literally never breaks out into a riot.
The NBA bubble was pretty fun. Players dialed-in because there weren’t any distractions and everyone was in the same place the entire time.
Thats what I mean. It’s just more the game itself, not the frills around it.
You’re not entirely wrong but the best moments of sports have an incredibly engaged crowd. I’m a baseball fan so my experience is limited to that realm, but there are some truly special moments that are amplified by the crowd.
The first that come to mind: The Yankees first home run after 9/11; the Red Sox winning the world series for the first time in 86 years; the Cubs winning after 108 years.
Wish I had more diverse examples but those are some really incredible ones from recent history.
I don’t think there’s a wrong or right, that’s why I posted it here. So I think you are right that crowd reaction do amplify feelings, it’s just that I realized I’m not particularly fond of or taken with that effect.
Without the noise of the crowd I feel like I’m more immersed as I hear the grunting and yelling of the athletes.
But I realized that that’s not the regular opinion, I’m not saying you are wrong, just that I noticed I was enjoying something differently then most.
I thought I didn’t like basketball until I started watching the televised college games on the college TV channel here. They edited out all the timeouts, the halftime, it was only gameplay, much shorter that way and very good to watch, exciting and fast paced.
Other than those games, I really only like the artistic/entertaining sports (gymnastics, ice skating) and track events. Those I do like the audience and commentary pretty much.
never really got the draw to organized sports - feels like a waste of time to watch.
Fair enough, I mean that’s not the common opinion, my significant other is like that, too.
I wouldn’t call myself a fan in any sense of the word, but I like to see people compete, I can get excited by that, if it’s good. But I don’t support a team, I enjoy it if there’s a good fight so I tend to root for the underdog.
i enjoy competition but not “organized” competition - unless you count war/wargaming. that’s super neat.
Whist I think that war/wargaming is all about organization, I do get your point. Go for what you like! Theres some esports I do enjoy watching, even though I don’t play the games myself.
