Service of Sports on TV
September 14th, 2023
Categories: Golf, Sports, Sports on TV, Tennis, TV
Retired beloved NYC sports broadcaster Warner Wolf, [whose “Let’s Go to the Videotape” became his trademark], calls in to a local morning radio program every Monday. He predicted that investors in major league pickleball are wasting their money because the game is to be played. It’s not a spectator sport, he said. If you ask Google “how many people play the game?” the stats range from 4.8 to 8.9 million. Wolf is one. He lives in Florida now and plays five days a week.
I was athletic when young but have never voluntarily watched sports on TV and have not loved the baseball, football and hockey games I’ve attended. The exception: watching tennis in person is fun.
Yet the moment Wolf said what he did about pickleball I thought of golf. Millions watch major tournaments on TV. Too slow a game for me when I tried playing it, watching it on TV is excruciating yet my husband adored doing so almost as much as watching his beloved football team which in the day was the Redskins. He also played golf for years.
Do you think pickleball will be profitable for the investors in major leagues?
I am not envious enough of those who look forward to watching their favorite teams in season to force myself to follow. I’m not curious to see if their enthusiasm is contagious though I’m glad so many derive pleasure.
I wonder: if you enjoy watching sports on TV have you been doing so since you were a kid? What about it captures your fancy? Do you also go to the games?
Tags: Warner Wolf
Since I’ve been spending time in Germany for the past several years, I’ve developed a taste for watching like international soccer and Olympic-driven competitions like skiing and gymnastics. In truth this was originally due to the language being too difficult for me to understand. That eliminated police/crime shows and movies, although Some Like It Hot was hilarious, even in German.
I can’t imagine pickleball capturing an audience, but who knows. TV has made celebrities of golfers and tennis players so anything is possible.
FATHER TIME HAS PUT US ON MUCH SLOWER AND ENERGETIC PAST TIME—CROQUET! BUT IT DOES KEEP US MOVING!
ASK,
Uh oh. I forgot the Olympics! What a dope. I do watch some of the ice-skating and diving.
I suspect that some German TV platforms have an option to change language–at least in captions. So much is possible these days!
TC,
Walking is my “exercise” of choice. You’re ahead of me with croquet.
TV is a godsend to those of us who don’t care to bounce around from stadium to stadium – especially in cold football weather. Pickleball? Here’s hoping the game isn’t as foolish as its name! That said, if it becomes popular and its investors collect, all the more power to them!
Lucrezia,
If golf can do it why not pickle ball? Curling hasn’t made the cut for big bucks so the jury will be out for a while for the pickle.