Joost Blog

Faithful readers (hello?) of this blog know that I am more than a casual sports fan. Like many of my fellow citizens, professional football is my favorite sport, and like 33 other people in a city of 8 million, I’m a Jaguars fan. But that didn’t keep me from rooting for the Giants on Sunday (Coughlin was at the Jags for years).

Anyway, football is over now (the Pro Bowl doesn’t count), and while there’s still basketball and hockey, and pitchers and catchers report in a manner of days, I thought this could be a good time for me to expand upon my sports fandom.

So today, I present seven new sports I have been watching. I’ve watched enough MMA and boxing lately that I’m not including it in this list, but you know where to find it.

World of Badminton

Possibly the most exciting racquet sport out there. It’s like ping pong, tennis and volleyball all in one, but without any balls. Plus, the women wear skirts. Here they talk about how badminton is a physically and mentally demanding sport. Is there a sport that isn’t?

TV4 Anytime Yoga

Why yes, Kerry, there is. Yoga. Despite the fact that you “practice” it, I don’t think this is a sport – and it’s really not a spectator sport unless you’re, you know, practicing. And by that I mean following along with the video. Disclaimer: this program is in Swedish. It’s especially fun to hear them say “hatha yoga.”

Boats on TV

In stark contrast to yoga, you have Boats on TV – which, I assure you, is much more entertaining than “boats in a glass bottle.” Actually sort of thrilling. And sailing combines two of my favorite things: boat rides, and men with (Australian) accents.

Cycling TV

Bicycles, on the other hand, are not something that I enjoy riding. For two birthdays in the last ten years I have bought myself a bike (the first one got stolen – probably because I left it in one place for a year), and I might have logged 10 miles total. I rode the one I got last year across town to meet my friend, realized the tires were completely busted, walked it home and it’s been collecting dust in my apartment ever since. One might argue that watching me try to ride a bike would be a lot funnier than watching these professionals, but they’re, um ... racing?

World Championship Sports Network

Aha – sports that I actually did, and not just in gym class (although that was the pinnacle of my volleyball career). I officially “retired” from swimming after my sophomore year of college, to great fanfare. Until that point, I spent approximately half my life in or around water. At some point, I dipped my toe in just about every aquatic event: diving, open water swimming, water polo, and yes, water ballet synchronized swimming.

Rugby de Chile

My brother somehow ended up hanging out with the All-Blacks once. About the next day, he started playing rugby. I have to admit this is the first time I’ve actually watched rugby, and it’s actually rather close to (American) football, now that I think of it. The commentating is in Spanish, which almost makes watching the action more fun.

Soccer

I’d be remiss to leave this out. The sport that the rest of the world calls football, and that people in the U.S. over the age of 13 think about once every four years, or when Zidane headbutts someone (still one of my all-time favorite moments in sport). There's lots soccer from around the world on Joost – Guatemala, Italy, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the U.S. – and clips of great goals and moments in soccer. Perhaps it's time to start warming up my fandom for 2010.