I’m not a big sports fan, so there’s not much of a reason for me to watch ESPN in the first place. But I really got wondering what the deal was when I saw the Poker championships on ESPN.
Uh…I’m confused. Is poker a sport?
What would make it a sport?
Seriously, is it a sport?
Because–if it isn’t a sport–why the hell is it shown on ESPN?
That’s one thing I’d love to understand, because I know it’s gonna be on this summer, at least according to the ESPN site.
This is a head-scratcher to me–is it that nobody could figure out a channel that would take it? Why not Game Show Network or one of the other national basic cable stations besides ESPN?
I can’t find this answer anywhere–any takers or insightful awesome people out there that can shed light?
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As a bonus, can anyone explain why Curling–of all the events–is featured so damn much in u.s. coverage of the Winter Olympics?
To me it’s giant shuffleboard with ice instead of wood and sand. Does that mean we can have Grand Master chess competitions with those foot-tall pieces and boards in the parks?
The Chatty Introvert 
i can’t say for sure, of course, but in general television networks love curling — the game can be covered with a fairly small number of cameras, it proceeds at a pace that lets the colour commentators, well, commentate, the players carry microphones which helps the understanding of the game, the ratings are good and there are natural pauses in play about every fifteen minutes for commercials.
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wow–tailor-made for TV, I suppose. Just funny because so few people (that I know anyway)seem to consider it a sport worth watching. Then again, none of us watch “reality” TV, and there are so many shows out there that it’s crazy, so what do we know?
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all questions like this all ultimately boil down to money. it may be true that viewership is low (i’m in canada where it’s not and everyone in my househgold plays and watches) but costs are low as well. if costs are lower than income then, well,– in the zillion channel universe cheap content that yields a profit is king. hence reality shows.
(aside from all that, it’s engaging and listening to the players talking amongst themselves during the game makes it even more so.)
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Can’t speak to the poker thing. But curling is featured on the Winter Olympics for the people that think that anything else is just too exciting and would incite a heart attack or stroke. I would like to be one of those broom guys because it looks like an easy job to get paid for.
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I wonder if they get paid extra to sweep the ice after other arena events.
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