Sports books...

[fajrdrako]

From August 14, 2008: Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general? Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both? And, Second: Do you consider yourself a sports fan?

The easy answer is "no", and "no". Whatever instinct makes people like sports, I don't have it.

There are some sports I love: fencing, equestrian sports, archery, gymnastics. But I don't find myself making any time to watch them. I just love them in theory.

I watched a few minutes of the Olympics coverage with josanpq the other day - swimming events - and was somewhat amazed at how boring I found it, how uninteresting even the most beautifully toned and muscled bodies, how full of platitudes the announcers and the athletes were. I was more interested in catching glimpses of China.

The only sport I like watching on TV is European football.

So - do I read about sports? No, though sometimes sports come into things I read. I once (in my teens) went on a spree of reading Paul Gallico, after seeing and loving the Disney movie, The Three Lives of Thomasina, based on his novel. Paul Gallico was a sports reporter for years, and I read all his short stories about sports - and loved them because I liked his style of storytelling. Subject matter was irrelevant.

The Olympics have been featured in some books I've read about ancient Greece. Now, that was fascinating. Cynisca, winning the Olympic gold in 396 BC - yes! Go for it, girl! But it was history, not sport, I was reading.

I can't recall otherwise reading books about sports, ever. Most movies about sports bore me. The only sports movie I can think of offhand that I actually enjoyed was Bend it Like Beckham.

Comments

[elebridith]

Books about the Olympics, no. Sports fan in general, no.
I *would* watch more of the Olympics, but due to the time difference the show it here in the morning when I'm at work. Duh. I'm mildly interested - I go Yay! when Germany scores a medal, but that's it. I'm more interested in the winter olympics, I love to watch figure skating, ice dance and such. In other sports, I actively watched the European Championships in football although I don't consider myself a football fan *g*, and everything with horses, if I stumble on it.
Movies... I watched "Cinderella Man" mainly because of Russell Crowe, I really don't like boxing. I liked "Remember the Titans".
Books... does Dick Francis count? *lol* Long time ago I read Jekaterina Gordejewa's "My Sergej", but I can't remember a lot. I don't actively seek out books about sport.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

If Dick Francis counts - yes! I read him enthusiastically. Not because of the horseracing (though he makes it very interesting) but because he tells such good stories.

I like figure skating, too. But again, don't generally make time to watch it.