Other Sport interests and do you play ?

[LFC]

I'm sure many members are not just one trick football ponies.
As much as I luv our game/play it still in my mature years yaddayadda I luv some other sports.

Motor racing has been a loonnng time fav - my ol man being in the parts game and brand sponsering he'd take us young kids to Speedway when it was huge at Sydney Sportsground - our Aussie Touring cars/Bathurst/Oran Park/Amaroo Park etc hence my passion and behind our Aussie Falcons.
I have a couple of car toys in the shed, I enjoy caring for them - was a mechanic/suspension specialist so the car bug hit me hard and done a number of track days.
I'm in the parts industry also hence I followed his lead and supply some of the majors and specialists, hence I'm at alot of Supercar meets to this day and involved in a couple of teams.
F1 followed since the great Alan Jones driving for Williams - been to our first GP's at Adelaide before the move to Albert Park.
Gone to quite a few here, been to Monza << that was epic being a Ferrari supporter.
Seen Nascar live a number of times - the joys of business gets me around.
My bro is a massive Motorcross follower, been involved with the governing body for years, I frequent some rounds, indoor supercross, done quite a few AMA US races as well - its huge over there, know many of the legends of the sport and done many motogp races as well, now this is epic riding, imo hairier than F1.
Great we have had some brilliant Aussies, on the dirt and tarmac.

GOLF, yes I know its boring, takes too long, its all too hard.
You bet it is.
I disliked it more so didn't appreciate it as a young bloke as well originally.
Due to biz come mid late 30's I started taking it on due to relatively ok hand eye co ordination.
Learnt quick enough no go over the weekends for its takes too long, plus challenging the boundaries of my boss, my better half.
She's whinged having been a football widow all our married life - my business involves regular travels so I've been MIA alot over the years so I get where she's coming from.
So golf is only during weekdays amongst a group of fellow football team mates.
Luv it, hardest game I've ever taken on but I dont take it so seriously, you can only play this game very well if you practised like being a pro, no time for that.
Hit it ok, get some pars, make a bird here and there then blow out 4 over par, its just great being outdoors, banter with mates, hit them good hit them bad whatever but its addictive !

Surfing - yes where has this all fitted in my daily life
Don't do much of this anymore due to time constraints - used to heaps from teens through to mid 30's, marriage kids/mortgage and my head strong who must be obeyed portugese wife pulled or kicked my balls in. Or should I say happy wife happy life, no sex as well haha
Man surfing is surreal, brillaint feeling, nature, stark contrast from motor sport haha
Surfed most of the north coast from Sydney to Noosa.
Surfed Hawaii and Bali, epic times, sensational sport and great for fitness - upper body strength I found was great for my footballing incl big lungs !

I enjoy sport, its a drug, a need, being active.
Whats your other passions/outlets ?

 

[vo2Max]

I like to knit tea cozies.

 

[NicCarBel]

Will generally watch any sport, but in terms of my main interests:

Motor racing
WWE (a bit of a stretch to call it sport, but it is on Kayo I suppose)
Rugby League would probably be my next bet, but haven't really watched in the past two years..

 

[melbcityguy]

AFL especially for you lfc haha
In Melbourne you need to have a team and to be fair when Carlton is winning the family get around them so it is fun

Otherwise I like tennis

I stay in the loop a bit with UFC/boxing but not to bothered.

I never got into cricket but it's good when we're winning that yeah just open to all sports and try not to be to negative with my opinions

 

[JS96]

Got into NFL about 7 years ago. Won't stay up in middle of night but Sunday night sessions are a lot of fun with their Red Zone program.

Have a fantasy team now and know the vast majority of major players.

 

[return_to_sender]

Swimming. I try to average 1km per day but it usually becomes more like doing 1x 5km on a weekend and a shorter one during the week.

I have a ritual to start each year with a 5km swim on morning of January 1st trying to con myself I'm going to finally have a healthy year.

I don't watch other sports anymore because I really don't have the time for it. As a hobby that isn't a sport, I run a quiz channel on Youtube.

 

[tsf]

I did various forms of fighting for a long time. MMA, Kickboxing etc but now I mostly just train Muay Thai in a more relaxed way now for health and exercise.

As for watching, nothing really. I like test match cricket sometimes. But really the only sport I watch is football.

 

[Blackout]

In my younger days I played just about everything that I could... rugby union and league, Aussie rules, football, cricket, basketball, swimming. These days, I still play cricket pretty competitively, but there's no way my body can no longer hold up to to any of the more vigorous sports. I'll also play golf poorly when given the opportunity as well.

Although I no longer have any particular interest in watching AFL, I will still head down to watch the local footy club whenever I can. On TV, I'll make an effort to watch test cricket, football or the WRC if it is on and I have the time... unfortunately time is becoming a scarcer and scarcer commodity. I've even recently started watching the netball with my wife, as a compromise to let me head down to Melbourne to watch A-League games.

 

[LFC]

good to see some varied interests - the weirdest for me, yes MCG lol gayfl and JS's NFL.
Fighting - you violent luving blokes haha oh yes the fitness.
I lost complete interest in boxing (heavy weight) after Tyson.
Enjoyed Ali's antics, Frazier/Foreman/Holmes era's for they were the big news back then.
In the end I find it all too violent nowadays even though I admire the craftsmanship - be good to be around you blokes in need but I found as a young kid - run for your friggin life the best form of attack haha

JS96 you been to any "live" NFL games ?

RTS, I've been a water lover all my life, lived on the coast etcetc, swimming long distances is massive effort - hard frigging work, kudos 1k a day !
I'll stick to paddling surfboards - a 3hr surf is excercise enough.

 

[LFC]

In my younger days I played just about everything that I could... rugby union and league, Aussie rules, football, cricket, basketball, swimming. These days, I still play cricket pretty competitively, but there's no way my body can no longer hold up to to any of the more vigorous sports. I'll also play golf poorly when given the opportunity as well.

Although I no longer have any particular interest in watching AFL, I will still head down to watch the local footy club whenever I can. On TV, I'll make an effort to watch test cricket, football or the WRC if it is on and I have the time... unfortunately time is becoming a scarcer and scarcer commodity. I've even recently started watching the netball with my wife, as a compromise to let me head down to Melbourne to watch A-League games.

hey mate, good summary,
I think you hit the nail on head living here due to our climate - many of us tried everything/anything.
I think thats been one of our achilles heal re football in the past.
How many of us had good hand eye co ordination, you'd try heaps of sports, whereas abroad most would focus on 1.

Swinging a golf club, nothing great (i'm like a 20/22 HC) but I can connect that little white ball, played tennis squash, purely because its a ball game.

Yes my body is starting to tell me I'm getting old er.

 

[Blackout]

hey mate, good summary,
I think you hit the nail on head living here due to our climate - many of us tried everything/anything.
I think thats been one of our achilles heal re football in the past.
How many of us had good hand eye co ordination, you'd try heaps of sports, whereas abroad most would focus on 1.

Swinging a golf club, nothing great (i'm like a 20/22 HC) but I can connect that little white ball, played tennis squash, purely because its a ball game.

Yes my body is starting to tell me I'm getting old er.

A lot of the diversity came from growing all up and down the east coast. So I'd mostly just play what the other kids were playing. When all the other kids are Italian and Greek you play football, and when you move somewhere there's no local rugby club, you find an Aussie rules footy club instead. Sport was just what you did for fun.

Having said that, the changes around my local clubs in the past 10 years have been noticeable. Once upon a time you'd get bullied for not playing sport, recently I've almost seen the reverse. I've seen plenty of instances of kids get being asked by their peers why they'd waste their time with it.

 

[tsf]

Fighting - you violent luving blokes haha oh yes the fitness.

lol. little truth in that. I do just actually like fighting, however having said that I am not an aggressive person. The mental health benefits are very good too.

 

[LFC]

funnily Blackout I come from wog/ethnic parents who bought a house in Sydney angloland since a young kid.
Thankfully football was pretty strong, we never heard or played afl type games at the local ovals, push bikes,football, cricket nets, bit of league not much on my part.
Though as you mention you played what the majority did.

All good TSF as long as it ticks your box's all that matters.
Not sure how its a mental health benefit but as said if it relax's you good stuff.

 

[JS96]

I grew up with rugby league. I read Big League magazine as a kid and teenager for hours as I had trouble falling asleep and developed an encyclopedia knowledge. I still see old team sheets from the 90's and recognise even reserve grade names. I was massive on NRL as a kid and teenager and once technology became better, football entered my living room more and more. Back then it was Sunday mornings checking the small section with the 4 English division tables. Remember the SBS soccer hotline? Was the jingle 1900 922 333?

 

[JS96]

good to see some varied interests - the weirdest for me, yes MCG lol gayfl and JS's NFL.
Fighting - you violent luving blokes haha oh yes the fitness.
I lost complete interest in boxing (heavy weight) after Tyson.
Enjoyed Ali's antics, Frazier/Foreman/Holmes era's for they were the big news back then.
In the end I find it all too violent nowadays even though I admire the craftsmanship - be good to be around you blokes in need but I found as a young kid - run for your friggin life the best form of attack haha

JS96 you been to any "live" NFL games ?

RTS, I've been a water lover all my life, lived on the coast etcetc, swimming long distances is massive effort - hard frigging work, kudos 1k a day !
I'll stick to paddling surfboards - a 3hr surf is excercise enough.

I've been to one NFL game. It was a fun experience. There's a lot going on between plays such as the play timer, stats showing up, watching the pre play movement. I'll watch a single game but RedZone is the go crossing over to the action of a certain game.

It's the TV breaks that annoy me. It's set up for maximizing advertising and spending. Fan at home know they can get up and grab food and also do so at the stadium. They need to speed it up. It can't be that one team punts and then they go to an ad break for 4min then the team has 3 downs then punts and then another break. Don't forget the injury timeout filled with ads and then a team took a time out in the middle of those downs. Oh and the clock is 2:04 in the 4th so after one play we're onto the 2min warning.

While visiting America I went to the baseball. It's a cultural thing and they've changed rules to shorten games by an average of 37mins. Tedious at times but it's more something where you talk to people and glance at what happens.

 

[return_to_sender]

I grew up with rugby league. I read Big League magazine as a kid and teenager for hours as I had trouble falling asleep and developed an encyclopedia knowledge. I still see old team sheets from the 90's and recognise even reserve grade names. I was massive on NRL as a kid and teenager and once technology became better, football entered my living room more and more. Back then it was Sunday mornings checking the small section with the 4 English division tables. Remember the SBS soccer hotline? Was the jingle 1900 922 333?

Being a kid from Adelaide, this is exactly what it was like with the AFL/SANFL. For my age, the AFL started right at the moment where I remember basically everything. Those first few years of the Adelaide Crows seasons, I could probably name every player in a team photo, recount ladder positions, games and scores, you name it. It was like a religion in Adelaide and the whole emotional wellbeing of the state was riding on that team. Probably still is.

I think around 2003 or so I was becoming disengaged from it and maybe 2005 or so hadn't watched a game of AFL since. I think I watched some SANFL a bit after that but I haven't given it a thought since I left Adelaide. Australian rules was always a sport to be watched but something I wasn't connected to because I never played it and never particularly wanted to. Also cultrually, it just started repelling me more and more, especially because you're rubbing shoulders with people who are actively railing against your real passion (sockah) and your background as well. Like, pretending to go along with it and they're saying to you 'wogs, right?' But I think the actual catalyst which killed it off for me finally was it became so homogenous? Like, drafts, caps, no home grounds.... that was happening at the same time that we were getting good coverage of EPL on fox and you just couldn't compete with the tribal nature of it. Even Arsenal looked like it was absolutely heaving compared to even the best atmosphere you ever saw at Football Park...

Since then, the sport has probably regressed more than I could ever have thought. It seems that half of that league is now on drugs.

 

[JS96]

Being a kid from Adelaide, this is exactly what it was like with the AFL/SANFL. For my age, the AFL started right at the moment where I remember basically everything. Those first few years of the Adelaide Crows seasons, I could probably name every player in a team photo, recount ladder positions, games and scores, you name it. It was like a religion in Adelaide and the whole emotional wellbeing of the state was riding on that team. Probably still is.

I think around 2003 or so I was becoming disengaged from it and maybe 2005 or so hadn't watched a game of AFL since. I think I watched some SANFL a bit after that but I haven't given it a thought since I left Adelaide. Australian rules was always a sport to be watched but something I wasn't connected to because I never played it and never particularly wanted to. Also cultrually, it just started repelling me more and more, especially because you're rubbing shoulders with people who are actively railing against your real passion (sockah) and your background as well. Like, pretending to go along with it and they're saying to you 'wogs, right?' But I think the actual catalyst which killed it off for me finally was it became so homogenous? Like, drafts, caps, no home grounds.... that was happening at the same time that we were getting good coverage of EPL on fox and you just couldn't compete with the tribal nature of it. Even Arsenal looked like it was absolutely heaving compared to even the best atmosphere you ever saw at Football Park...

Since then, the sport has probably regressed more than I could ever have thought. It seems that half of that league is now on drugs.

I loved rugby league and football as a small child. Played football first then rugby league in teen years. Went back to football at 18. Had basketball and roller hockey at 7-9 also.

Growing up on the central coast most families are one sport or the other. We had a mix but rugby league and football didn't cross over much. AFL was a tiny community then you had the cricket and surf lifesaving families focused on summer.

Around 2002 when NRL executives and former players living in the area would visit junior clubs telling us we could be the first to play for an NRL Central Coast team, being of age when it comes around. They basically promised this to get stars in our eyes.

By the time this was supposed to happen the Mariners had been formed and had immediate popularity. John Singleton said 'I told you so' to the NRL and I didn't enjoy the local rugby league communities dismissive behaviour and disdain towards the mariners. I still have to listen to it today. As my social circle has matured it's 'yeah the Mariners are good but a rugby league team would be bigger'.

My dad and his generation actually argue a league team from the cost wouldn't kick on as most people already have a team so getting the converts would be tough. I tend to agree. You'd have plenty of away support for the Sydney teams living on the coast.

From afar I've noticed how the NRL has become very Polynesian. It just doesn't resonate with me anymore. They just go on and on about their cultural stuff and dancing that I'm tired of hearing it.

Football being a world game had every culture to begin with. A yes, tribalism. I feel the NRL and AFL have lost that. As a kid the clubs felt bigger than they are today. Maybe it was just the naivety of being young. The club and its respective Leagues club had stronger community ties though.

 

[NicCarBel]

I've been to one NFL game. It was a fun experience. There's a lot going on between plays such as the play timer, stats showing up, watching the pre play movement. I'll watch a single game but RedZone is the go crossing over to the action of a certain game.

It's the TV breaks that annoy me. It's set up for maximizing advertising and spending. Fan at home know they can get up and grab food and also do so at the stadium. They need to speed it up. It can't be that one team punts and then they go to an ad break for 4min then the team has 3 downs then punts and then another break. Don't forget the injury timeout filled with ads and then a team took a time out in the middle of those downs. Oh and the clock is 2:04 in the 4th so after one play we're onto the 2min warning.

While visiting America I went to the baseball. It's a cultural thing and they've changed rules to shorten games by an average of 37mins. Tedious at times but it's more something where you talk to people and glance at what happens.

I remember a few years back, my brother and I were just randomly talking about NFL, and I said something like "if I was in charge of American Football, I'd make these changes, and the game would be amazing."

I can't remember what the changes were off the top of my head. I think they were:

• No time off, at all. Keep the 40 second play clock, and that's it.
• All snaps to be taken from the point of down, rather than moving it towards the centre marks.
• The Special Team (Offense) can regather punts.

He just responded with "Well.. that's Rugby League"

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

lol. little truth in that. I do just actually like fighting, however having said that I am not an aggressive person. The mental health benefits are very good too.

You're a Balkan football fan..... fighting is in our blood

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

hey mate, good summary,
I think you hit the nail on head living here due to our climate - many of us tried everything/anything.
I think thats been one of our achilles heal re football in the past.
How many of us had good hand eye co ordination, you'd try heaps of sports, whereas abroad most would focus on 1.

Swinging a golf club, nothing great (i'm like a 20/22 HC) but I can connect that little white ball, played tennis squash, purely because its a ball game.

Yes my body is starting to tell me I'm getting old er.

We should hit the golf course one day LFC, sounds like you're at my level

For me, played footbal/futsal and 5 a side until mid 30s when I did both knees in the space of 6 months. Played volleyball at state comp level as a teen and also athletics.

Now its golf with the boys whenever we can get a chance (its getting rarer to find the time these days sadly) and social tennis once a month or so.

I enjoy watching basketball (especially Euroleague - the NBA has started shitting me to be honest) and oddly NFL which, after many years of not knowing what the hell was going on, paid a bit of attention to becuase of a work mates passion and now enjoy the game a bit...