Atenzan 1,084 Posted January 24, 2018 22 minutes ago, Gurowake said: I have a very very hard time believing Kabbadi is an actual sport and not something made up as a spoof. I guess to me it just seems too hard to enforce the most ludicrous-sounding rule in the game, and that people would devise ways around it that would be impossible to catch. Maybe if I could see it live I might believe it, but in videos it's just like "How the hell do they know he's not cheating?" Disclaimer: my experience of kabbadi comes from very informal matches in Sri Lankan beaches. I haven't seen any pro matches, but now I might do. I'm assuming you mean the rule about the raider holding his breath. That's actually pretty enforceable live, you make every raider chant the mantra as one continuous word. Kabbadikabbadikabbadikabbadi... If any person in the defence catches a) the raider whispering or b) a millisecond between an 'i' and 'k' they immediately let the whole beach know. The least enforceable rule in live play, though should be very enforceable with slow motion replay, is the bonus point for crossing the second line. Both feet have to be in the air while the lead foot entirely crosses the vertical plane- and you let 7-year-old Mahela on the sidelines call that in real time. If Mahela's cousin is on the raider's team, it's a point every time. If he's on the defence, no score. Most of the time both teams complain fervently for nine seconds until they grudgingly agree to replay the raid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gurowake 4,088 Posted January 24, 2018 27 minutes ago, McBugger said: I'm assuming you mean the rule about the raider holding his breath. That's actually pretty enforceable live, you make every raider chant the mantra as one continuous word. Kabbadikabbadikabbadikabbadi... If any person in the defence catches a) the raider whispering or b) a millisecond between an 'i' and 'k' they immediately let the whole beach know. I guess part of the problem for me is that the actual rule and the way it is intended to be enforced aren't particularly related. First of all, 'k' is an unvoiced consonant. If someone practiced enough, they might be able to pronounce it while inhaling through the nose. It might be obvious that's what they're doing, but that's the entire point of what I'm concerned about - pronouncing that word constantly does not imply continual exhale from the lungs. Maybe it should be actually transliterated "gabaddi". The flip side is that it seems much harder to me to actually be voicing all that than it is to simply hold one's breath, such that the way of enforcement of what the rule is supposed to be is much more onerous than the rule itself is. Why not change the rule so that it has nothing to do with holding one's breath, but explicitly that you have to be voicing the chant constantly while exhaling? That might be the real rule for all I know, but the rule is presented that they must do the raiding "while holding their breath", which sounds entirely unenforceable and just plain silly, while explicitly making it be the case that they have to chant constantly exhaling doesn't sound nearly as weird and is somewhat harder to boot. At least, that's my take on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Burajirotono 99 Posted January 24, 2018 Many years ago i worked in a tennis magazine...The whole "tennis world" is very weird and i have some funny stories from those times... One time (2004 or 05) i was covering a important (well...Important for brazilian standards) tournament with my editor... The Campari was one of the tournament sponsors and they put a little stand near to the courts to offers booze for free to the vip public and the press (actually for the vips only but we drinked too anyway) and my editor, a very stereotyped old jornalist, was drinking like there will be no tomorow (since day one)... On the last day we got an exclusive interwiew with the champion, a 17 years old boy who beats the favorites, it was late and my editor was like pissed drunk...He actually make more askings about football than tennis and was being totaly inconvenient, huging the little champion and spitting in his face with his drunken talk. The staff of the boy was becoming angrier and angrier and than the fucker grabed the boy for the neck and asked face to face; "you are so shy...Are you still a virgin?" The boy got red like tochinoshin on a bout and we got kicked out by the staff. The kid´s name? Rafa...Rafa Nadal...True storie, guys. 1 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atenzan 1,084 Posted January 24, 2018 6 hours ago, Gurowake said: [long interesting post] I remember that you're supposed to chant the mantra because you're not allowed a second breath- exhaling was OK. Wikipedia disagrees with me and says that the raider can't exhale, but many south Asian sites seem to confirm my memory. As for the actual word kabaddi - not kabbadi as I thought it would make more sense -in times gone by it used to be kai pidi, Tamil for "holding hands". But they made all the raiders chant so quickly that it morphed into kabaddi. Note that the d in kai pidi (and kabaddi) is pronounced with the end of the underside of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth. If you say kabaddi quickly it often sounds like kabari. And I should think that the air inhaled during a single k is negligible, and might be more tiring to even attempt than actually concentrating on your raid and getting back quickly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yatagarasu 352 Posted January 24, 2018 11 hours ago, Sakura said: I loved watching Kabbadi on Sunday mornings on Channel 4 (I thought it was Saturdays). I watched it in the early 90s. Ohh, maybe it was Saturdays...it was a long time ago! Watching it now is odd though - I actually don't like the swish stadiums but preferred watching the outdoor stuff on a dirt pitch. C4 was remarkably enlightened by late 80s-early 90s standards by showing overseas sports. Even NFL was considered pretty novel at the time. Interesting article here: http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/oldott/www.offthetelly.co.uk/index22d6.html?page_id=1255 A pity they regressed; I'd love for them to show sumo again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suwihuto 127 Posted January 25, 2018 Rugby league, korfball, cricket, snooker, motor sports, and major events in many other sports. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jalil_the_swan 25 Posted April 29, 2018 Snooker, darts and F1. Not a big fan of soccer football anymore but still watch it either when Swansea City or our national team plays. Soccer football these days is full of yaocho. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kawika 123 Posted May 2, 2018 Rugby Union. NFL. Baseball. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shatsume 118 Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) Caught Pro-Kabaddi on sky not that long ago, also Kabaddi world cup, surprisingly India won, interesting to see the other nations teams. I'm a fan of watching darts, cricket, ice hockey, netball, Rugby Union 6 nations and world cup, and soccer (Celtic and Wales games only really though). oh and tennis I guess, but only really the big 4. Ryder cup is also good... Still a Dolphins fan, but haven't watched an NFL game in full in years. Love playing badminton but think it is awful to watch for some reason. Edited May 2, 2018 by Shatsume 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Churaumi 743 Posted May 8, 2018 My coworker and I refer to ourselves as “The Office of Sports No One Cares About.” He is a fan of Bayern-Munich, so we have the Champion’s League on. I’m partial to Real Madrid now, but we may be the only Oklahomans that know those are teams that play a sport. Every other month, we watch sumo (thanks Kintamayama, you make it easy to evangelize the good word of sumo). We have a seasonal guy that helps out sometimes, he makes us watch swimming occasionally. Other people come by and get sucked in, certainly helps having someone that can explain what’s going on. People tend to take to sumo faster, by the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StevenBrown 0 Posted February 18, 2019 On 21/01/2018 at 07:51, Gurowake said: I don't really watch other sports, but if I did, I'd watch Curling. I also didn't watch other sports. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikawa 1,794 Posted February 18, 2019 (edited) NFL, but only the game highlights on YouTube, because Tom Brady's story is so inspiring, going from a sixth round 199th pick to the greatest of all time. Football (or soccer in some countries), because I grew up in England. Sheffield United's my home team. I used to watch tennis, snooker, rugby union, formula one etc, but much less nowadays. I have recently been watching quite a bit of League of Legends. Do eSports count? Edited February 18, 2019 by mikawa Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fujisan 533 Posted February 19, 2019 (edited) I don't enjoy your average sports and I especially hate cricket and Tennis("Nothing interesting has happened at Wimbledon since the wombles left...."/ "If Roger Federer was such a great sports man he'd play a more interesting sport....") I do like playing some sports but not like watching them (Soccer/Pool/Running) I have watched darts and snooker(Judd Trump is/was amazing he didn't so much play the cueball as take it for a walk)but I wouldn't worry if I never watched them again...... I like contact sports especially Mixed Martial arts and have a large collection of UFC dvds........I was hooked after watching UFC's greatest knockouts a few years back. Edited February 20, 2019 by Fujisan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kyokufuji 64 Posted February 21, 2019 Curling Timber sports Kabaddi (just discovered it a couple weeks ago, and it’s hilarious to see it mentioned here!) Formula 1 (when it’s competitive) Poker Track Cycling Biathlon Robot Wars/Battlebots Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Churaumi 743 Posted February 21, 2019 If I see darts on tv I can’t not watch. Hypnosis is too subtle a word. ”ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY” rings in my ears for days. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shumitto 418 Posted February 22, 2019 On 24/01/2018 at 00:03, Burajirotono said: True storie, guys. Brazil Open 2005 ? Are you going to watch the next edition ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eikokurai 3,437 Posted March 20, 2019 (edited) Rugby union, mostly. I watch a game a day at times from just about anywhere in the world. I even watched the Japanese university final this year. I can’t get enough of it. Fortunately there’s a tiny but dedicated group of rugby fans in China who upload match videos online, and because it’s so small, nobody notices and takes the videos down like on YouTube. I will also watch rugby league, though to less of an extent, and my hometown football (soccer) team, though my interest in that has gone down in recent years. I don’t pay much attention to the league table and never watch other teams, so I rarely have any sense of context. That actually makes it more enjoyable though. I just take each game as it comes and don’t worry about relegation battles or whether my team is being cheated out of its best players by ‘big clubs’. Outside of that, I’ll actually watch just about any sport if it comes on, except perhaps basketball which I find dull. Edited March 20, 2019 by Eikokurai Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chanko Thief 67 Posted May 10, 2020 I am a huge boxing fan. In addition to this, I am a fan of World’s Strongest Man and NFL (Go Seahawks!). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katsunorifuji 65 Posted May 12, 2020 Wow a lot of diverse sports tastes here including some I had never heard of before. I’m pretty boring in this regard. I like American football and will generally watch it on Sunday and Monday evenings when the day is winding down or when my team is playing. Otherwise I’m not as into all sports as I used to be. I will still watch baseball and NHL if my favorite teams are on but not as much as before. But if I’m bored and in front of a TV I will watch just about anything. Seasonally speaking soccer during the World Cup and all sports during the Olympics especially get watched. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eikokurai 3,437 Posted May 13, 2020 Thanks to YouTube I’ve been getting a little more interested in other grappling sports, especially judo. I like the overlap in some of the terminology from sumo which helps me understand. Like the highlights video will say the winning technique before the clip and I can guess what it means so I know what to look out for. I never appreciated judo before but it’s definitely growing on me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robnplunder 975 Posted May 13, 2020 As I got older, I've dumped some sports and now only watch golf, football (soccer), boxing, Baduk (Go), and sumo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oortael 153 Posted May 13, 2020 I could watch pretty much any sport as long as I have a rooting interest in it : local or favorite player/team, betting interest, storytelling, heavy underdog (Enho, Tokushoryu in Hatsu) ... I'd rather watch a random handball match with the French team than say an Liverpool-ManCity FA cup final, even if I prefer soccer to handball overall. Tho, my go to sports are baseball and soccer. Pro wrestling is fun to watch sometimes too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
code_number3 708 Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) 13th May 2012 That “AGUEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” moment Edited May 13, 2020 by code_number3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikawa 1,794 Posted May 13, 2020 2 hours ago, code_number3 said: 13th May 2012 That “AGUEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” moment I watched that game in a Durham pub, as a Man City supporter (since 2002). That second half was so painful to watch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikawa 1,794 Posted May 13, 2020 14 hours ago, robnplunder said: As I got older, I've dumped some sports and now only watch golf, football (soccer), boxing, Baduk (Go), and sumo. Baduk? Really? How did you get into that game? I used to teach it to local kids on Sundays Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
