To think that, with the exception of gymnastics, men's sport is always more exciting?

[Nancy66]

Bit of a betrayal of my sex here but I honestly don't find the women's version of any sport all that interesting or exciting to watch:

Tennis
football
track and field
swimming

I'd always rather watch the blokes.

YABU - sport involving horses is always more exciting.

I watched the cricket the other day and the women seemed very amateur in comparison

I loved watching Kelly Holmes win and I enjoy watching the women's marathon(I don;t think its significantly different to watching a mens marathon)

I think for quite aq while some yearas ago the womens tennis matches were MUCH more interesting than the mens with all the power serves and nought else, though that has changed as a bit recently.

Not interested in football of either sort and hate womens rugby but think thats just because I grew up wathcing men.

DOesn;t it come down to whether you are watching sport for a display of pwer (in which men will almost inevitably win) or skill?

many womens sports are 50 years behind mens - its like pitting a 1950's mens football team against a 2000's one and complainging the 1950's one is a bit amateurish!

Kelly Holmes winning the double gold was a great moment - but nowhere near as exciting as old Lightning Bolt in Beijing.

Maybe it's because sport is usually about speed and strength and a woman will never be able to match a man on that front.

Tell that to the following (among others):

Nicole Cooke
Victoria Pendleton
Paula Radcliffe
Rebecca Adlington - that 400m win was INCREDIBLE drama
Kelly Holmes
Annika Sorenstam
Carolina Kluft

Also, tell it to my husband during the 2005 Wimbledon Ladies Final - Venus Williams v Lindsay Davenport. He had money on Davenport as a double with Federer and the tension and stress in our house when Davenport had a Championship point was incredible. Great match.

The problem, as far as I have seen it, is that women's sport has always been laughed at or leered at in the media, and this view permeates down to young girls which makes it less appealing. I find it very very annoying!

I prefer watching the men as then I can perve over their bodies

Personally, I think men's gymnastics is the sexiest most exciting sport going.

Nancy - I actually found that watching Kelly Holmes win the 1500m gold - her first of the double - more exciting than Usain Bolt.

I was standing up screaming and yelling, and was in floods of tears at the end.

Whether this is because of her 'story' and how much she had been through, and how much she had battled through injury I'm not sure, but it was a moment I will never ever forget.

Mens sport also gets a lot more fundin, more
endorsements. More airplay on tv. No wonder the womens seems more amateurish. Professional male athletes have the game as their job. Professional women athletes have to hold down a proper job as well.
Can you name the current holders of the womens cricket world cup? I am sure that most could not. Sad but true.

"DOesn;t it come down to whether you are watching sport for a display of pwer (in which men will almost inevitably win) or skill?"

but even on the skill level mainly due to the professional era hitting mens sports earlier and the greater participation of men in sports as compared to females, the men will be more skillfull.
as a man i know i might get flamed but i'm gonna agree with the OP.
tennis about 10 years ago the womens games where more exciting to watch and gymnastics is always fantastic, but once i get beyond those two i'm honestly struggling to think of a sport that i enjoy watching women in as much as men.

i wanted to ask on here a while ago basically why women don't play sports in comparrison to men. but i was worried i might get accused of shit stirring or else just get the kind of response you can often get when you ask why a certain group don't do x/y/z, i.e. individual people from that group saying "that's not true, i do x once a week". but the reality is out of my male friends (and this is since college so pre-children) not one of them would go a week without playing their choosen sport, most even played for a club even if it was the most amateur level so trained once a week and then played competitively, but the same could just not be said for the women i know. around the same nukber like to keep themselves fit and exercise in the gym etc. but there's just not that interest in competitive sport.
is it all down to the formative years and how boys are encouraged into sport more than girls?or is it something down to mens desire for physical competition?

OverMDB great minds think alike, AT EXACTLY THE SAME MOMENT !!

Lou

I agree completely.

But I can name the current holders of the women's cricket world cup - England! They have just done the double in the T20. Clare Connor was named one of Wisden's 5 cricketers of the year last year, a very great honour in the sport and the first time it has gone to a woman.

I do think men are naturally more competitive than women when it comes to sport.

When I go running (and i'm pretty good and pretty fast if i do say so myself!) I get the death glare if I dare to overtake a man and he will burst his lungs to overtake me a few paces later....

Personally I think the England ladies cricket team rocks and they can hardly be described as amateur. Did you realise they currently hold the Ashes, the ICC World Cup and the ICC 20/20 cup?

OverMDB and choccyp1g totally agree with you.
like watching mens sport just for the men !!!

MayorQ - I agree with you actually about women's participation in sport, it's a constant source of frustration to me.

Women tend to go for individual 'activities' based around fitness - the gym, yoga, pilates, aerobics etc - than team sports. Personally I'd have loved to be in a team sport but have never really been able to find enough like-minded sporty types to make it work. I have a background in swimming and athletics but have always envied men and their communal need to be in football teams and so on.

For women, the whole point of sport appears to be about fitness, rather than camaraderie and enjoyment. It's only the sport geeks fans that stick it out - and there are always lots of other things to distract you way before children.

Lol Lou, I couldn't have named the holders of the women's cricket world cup that's true. But I can't name the holder of the men's cricket world cup either. I'd rather watch paint dry than watch cricket

I do think the men's tennis at Wimbledon is more exciting than women's, obviously because they are 5 set games. Although I hated it a few years back when it was all about the serve and no rallies. The best match I have seen recently was the one between Federer and Nadal last year - by FAR the most exciting and entertaining match in a long time. The Williams sisters are always good to watch too, but I'd like to see the women's tennis changed to 5 set matches in line with the men's.

I could have easily named the women's cricket world cup holders, can tell you the football one too (although I don't watch football with either sex playing so I'm not quite sure how I know it ).

and do you find that you do stick out a bit angelene? i know some women who are into supporting sport, a lot of big munster rugby fans etc. but the women i know who play sport seem to be a bit of a phenomenon. they all seem to be without exception at the high end of their sport, and i think it might be because this is all that's catered for in a way for women. i.e. there's no place for competitive amateurs who are not up to the top-standard. where as for men i've played against some sunday league sides that have 20 stone 45 year old men out every week against me when i was an uber-fit 20 year old.
although tennis seems to be the one exception to this as club night is full of ladies, but as for team sports outside the couple i know who take it very very seriously and who have been brilliant at whatever sport they're playing since school days it's non-existent.

oh and no woman would dare over-take me when i'm running. then i'd have to do the lung bursting thing and sprint until i found the next thing that i could pass off as a marker before stopping for my obviously planned,carefully considered for part of my shaping as an athlete and in no way a face-saving exercise, stretch.

Mayorquimby - that made me laugh that's exactly what the blokes do. If I overtake and they know they can't catch me they drop down and performs some elaborate stretch in a 'you're not faster than me I was going to stop anyway' sort of gesture.

I have a theory that men don't go for very sporty women which could be a reason why girls don't go in for competitive/team sports.

weird synchronised posting choccy!

I like watching women climbing, but mostly just to watch their technique in order to improve my own climbing.

I'm a pretty good climber, and climb with men, and it's amazing how competative they get. If I can do something they can't hey will practic and ractice until they can get it too , or they will find some excuse for why I could do it and they can't (they're too tall, weigh more than me, not as flexible etc. etc.)

Nancy I think you are right there.

I tihnk men find very sporty or athletic women a bit intimidating.

MayorQ - agree again. I do stick out a bit I suppose, there were 4 of us girls at school, 2 in particular who were very keen at doing everything. But I'm not a top top performer, very much a have-a-go amateur - although particularly in swimming I am better than everyone else in a public session because I have the technique.

Also your comment about the tennis club is exactly my point - there are a lot of ladies there, probably fewer who would define themselves as women.

Tennis fans, no actually not tennis fans, Wimbledon fans, make me want to scratch my eyes out. They really do give female sports fans a very bad name.

There are a few of us and I include a number of my friends as people who watch sport enthusiastically and with knowledge without leering at the blokes bodies . But then I recently posted a thread wondering if I was a bloke in a woman's body...

(shakes head disapprovingly of pathetic males encountered by nancy) never drop down, that's admitting defeat. god i fear for when i'm older and i most certainly won't be able to catch them, right now it's fine because no woman has ever upped the anti and made it into a race so i can normally get past them. but in 20 years when i'm in my 40's i could be in trouble.

you could be right on the guys not being into sporty girls especially around secondary. although hockey was quite a big private school thing when i was in my youth so most girls i went out with would have (been forced to) played but it wouldn't have been taken seriously by any of the girls in the cool crowd bar 1/2 looking back on it now.