10 - televised deer hunting (true story - i was at "Cabelas" a few weeks ago. they have a shrine to dead trophy deer in the store. over 100 full body taxidermified deer in special hall, with muted lights and soothing music, so you can worship them respectfully)

9 - rattlesnake wrangling

8 - curling (that flat bowling ball the throw on the ice)

7 - bocce

6 - TV golf (i know this will be controversial - but if you love it, play. don't spend 4 hours watching it on TV. its not like its a demonstration of exceptional conditoining and athleticism, is it?)

5 - that new minor league football team. the one with the Las Vegas locomotives. isn't this like the 17th minor league football attempt? give it, puleeeze!

4 - lacrosse. did you play lacrossse in college? you did? thats fine - you're one in a million. now go watch it in person - don't take up an entire HD channel on comcast with this crap

3 - americas cup sailing. i guarantee that if you met any of these racers or big money backers for real you'd instantly recognize that these are the most elitist, condescending out of touch buffoons in the world. we're not even in the cup most times anymore. its always foreign nations anyway.

2 - skeet shooting. this isn't a sport. its practice for shooting ducks and quail. i dont really want to see ducks and quail shot either, but it makes more sense than seeing those little clay disks blasted for couple of hours.

1 - biathelon - why is this still an olympic sport? skiing until you're out of breath and ready to collapse, and then seeing if you can still aim a gun? does this have anything to do with the original greek olympics, or is it just an arcane norwegian army training exercise that got out of hand when our backs were turned? it would make as much sense to have people run from mini mart to mini mart until they were breathless and then see if they could aim a pistol and hold up the cashier - that's actually something more people do in america, than ski with a glorified pellet gun.

And any eating "contests." When in the WORLD did food become a sporting event. Disgusting.

I would add poker tournaments to your list - talk about BORING!!! I'd rather watch golf, seriously, and I hate golf.

The biathalon would be greatly improved if it were skiing while shooting.

Of that list, other than golf (which is legitimately popular for a reason I can't grasp) and the olympic sports (which you just have to put up with for a couple weeks every 4 years) they are all relegated to weird channels and/or weird times of day. If it was the same with the WNBA, and people weren't subjected to a million WNBA commercials during NBA games, I don't think there'd be any backlash against the league.

Exactly... none of these sports "should" die. Bocce for example, is a great game/sport... it just shouldn't be on ESPN and we shouldn't be told we ought to support it.

how about any sport with "ultimate" as part of its title?

i wish i'd thought of that.

how about banning anything with "fantasy" in the title, as well?

Curling is actually really, really popular in Canada. The women's curling game is just about as good as the men's game too - it's fun to watch if you know all the strategies and know the curlers.

Are 9 and 10 really on tv? On my first date with a woman, she told me that rattlesnake wrangling was one of her part time jobs in college. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. 6 weeks later, when she needed help moving a dead (human) body, I knew that I would marry her. It's been 6 happy years since our wedding.

6 - I totally agree. Absolutely don't get the appeal. I've heard it can actually be pretty interesting to go to a major tournament and watch it live. But while I enjoy playing the odd round, I can't imagine watching other people do it on tv.

5 - Wait 5 minutes. It'll be gone.

3 - a) I don't like the idea that a sport should only appeal if Americans are doing well. b) It's not really various foreign nations dominating it. It's mostly boats full of New Zealanders flying flags of various countries that the sailors (and sometimes the money) have nothing to do with.

2 - During the last Olympics (my first with tivo) I watched a bit of that for the first time. Very impressive skill. Interesting for about 10 minutes. I have a friend who has gone to the last 3 Olympics as a spectator - he always goes to all the shooting competitions because he is there as a guest of one of his clients, who is an IOC member representing the shooting sports. He told me the other week that it is one of the least likely sports to be dropped. Even though it has limited appeal, it is supported by very wealthy people - Saudi princes and the like.

1 - Probably got started for the same reason modern pentathlon did...as some sort of war exercise (MP is meant to simulate a POW escape) or maybe winter hunting exercise. I wonder how its competiors get into it. Are there people growing up dreaming of competing in biathlon? Or is it a fallback option for people who couldn't cut it either in nordic skiing or in shooting?

i'm not surprised that curling up with a flickering tv showing curling is as popular as curling up with a good book next to a flickering fire in canada.

in upper warizistan i understand "stallion fighting" (think dog fighting on steroids) is all the rage.

each nation has its own traditions.

all i'm saying is that in america it would be a shame to have the WNBA off the air, while curling continues relentlessly channel 289

comcast (my cable provider) has at least two "sports" themed channels with competing hunting progams. i can't recall the channel numbers, but ocassionally i flick one on and watch for a few seconds.

on one channel they're using guns, on the other they're bow hunting.

the plot of each is the same however -

- exposition (showing the site, why its beautiful and special)

- introduction of the main characters (an expert and a guest or sports celebrity guest hunter)

- pimp my weapon (why the gun or bow is aspirational)

- the suspenseful buildup - waiting in the tree stand or blind

- the shot, and tracking the wounded animal until it collapses

Rattlesnake wrangling is not a "regular show", but i've seen several 'specials', (although not in the past several months).

i think this is a springtime, once a year activity. they go after them when they're about to emerge from hibernation, and are emaciated and lethargic. they put them into some sort of corral (with solid walls, not a split rail fence of course) and evidently kill them off camera. or sell them to snake handling churches. evidently rattlesnakes like to "den" together during the cold months and can be captured en masse in the spring.

My wife did it before sunset during the summer, because that's when the snakes liked to bask on dirt roads. She was working in a lab that was doing research on the tail shaker muscles. Her roommates were generally none too thrilled that she kept bringing home ice chests with a live rattlesnake inside. Not that this is relevant, but I thought it was all very interesting.

I think BA that you miss the point. Curling, hunting shows, poker tournaments, if they are on the air they make enough money to cover their costs. The WNBA not so much.

I mean curling is rocks, ice point camera done. What do you need 4 viewers and one advertizer? Poker Tourneys only cost the cameras.

Though match play is much more dramatic (see Ryder cup, President's cup) than stroke play. The problem with golf is the shots they show--putting (boring unless a pro drains a 30 foot snake) and tee shots. What is interesting (at least to me) is the scrambling, the trouble shots. Even the approach shots have more drama that watching someone miss a 20 foot "birdie" put. The TV coverage for golf is the equivalent of showing just the strikes in baseball, or free throws in basketball--too small a part of the game to be interesting.