With the Footy Season over in all states across Australia, the ordinary spots fan is wondering what to do with themselves.
If you are a sporting nerd, the footy season is merely a blip in the year round, so won’t make too much of a difference. But for others, how is the time during the off season going to be spent?
Off on a tangent – if you are wanting to test How Big A Sports Nerd You Are – why not take out Sports Nerd test right now.
Sure you could spend the extra time with family and friends you have almost completely ignored as you chased the oval ball throughout winter. But you’re not going to. Are you?
You are going to look for extra sport, and who better than us to tell you where to find it.
CRICKET
Channel Nein’s Summer of Cricket has already begun with the domestic One Dayers, and the Test Series are just around the corner. South Africa are coming, so too are Pakistan. It looks good on paper. Then you have to endure the commentary. By the Tea break most are looking for the Cricinfo app and a Digital Radio for the ABC Grandstand coverage. Well Sports nerds are anyway.
At a minimum it is great background viewing with the volume down on those warm / hot summer days when a hot BBQ and cold beers makes sense.
Or maybe Donald Trump could improve the Channel Nein Summer of Cricket.
OFF SEASON RATING: 1 / 5 with the Volume Up – 4 / 5 with Mute or Added ABC Grandstand.
A LEAGUE
It’s only new give it a go. Well not quite new, but newish. A League has a lot of loyal followers that will tell you how great it is. Any conversation about how great it is will feature the oft used term Sleeping Giant. With recent Sydney and Melbourne derby crowd figures it is slightly hard to argue. Some also argue that it hardly the quality of fourth division English football. The Brisbane Roar are no Leyton Orient, but who is?
But can it break through the door of the regular winter footy season fan? Maybe in Sydney and Melbourne, and unlikely anywhere else.
It is still worth spending a summer night heading to a game once a season to, and an A League game is great passive viewing on a night where you have the TV to yourself, and you’ve seen the Police Ten 7 episode before.
OFF SEASON RATING – 3 / 5
ENGLISH AND EUROPEAN FOOTBALL
The obvious choice for us here at The Gurgler. We are already massive Football fans.
Whilst the EPL has moved to Optus, which now requires double subs. What’s left on Foxtel is very, very good. Essentially, if it isn’t the EPL, then Foxtel through Bein Sports have it. Lower division English football, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, US, Champions League, Europa League, and more. So much more. Plus Fox Sports have replays of the EPL through various channels at midday the following day. At a much more social hours. Yes it’s only the big clubs, but who outside the most loyal fans looks forward to Stoke v WBA or Sunderland v anyone.
Choose a team in each league, or take a mutli in each division every weekend and stay up to 2 or 3 am to follow them. You can always sleep when you’re dead.
OFF SEASON RATING – 4 / 5
US SPORTS
Sporting hipsters have been getting into US Sports for a long time now, and it is time for Footy fans to convert if they haven’t already.
With all US Sports covering the footy season off season – Ice Hockey, NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, there’s so much to choose from. The question is which one.
We choose two methods. Picking a side to pretend you have been a supporter from birth. Buying a cheap rip off replica shirt to show your recently acquired colours. Secondly, betting on at least one team at the start of the season to win the competition. Nothing will grab your interest than a long range bet coming into potential payday late in the season.
Although NFL can be a tedious game to watch all of, we highly recommend EPSN’s Red Zone on a early Monday morning. It brings you the best of the action without much of the annoying filler. An NFL version of our favourite Sports show Soccer Saturday, except you get the vision instead of retired footballers talking about watching a Football game.
OFF SEASON RATING – 4 / 5
AUSTRALIAN VERSIONS OF US SPORTS
The footy season summer break means the Australian versions of the above US Sports come out of the shadows.
The best of these is the NBL, well now the Brisbane Bullets are back in the competition. The Baseball (ABL) kicks off soon, as is well worth a weekend afternoon in the stands. The Gurgler used to attend a game a year, and was highly impressed at the quality, the atmosphere and the seventh innings stretch entertainment that featured kids getting garbage bags to pick up the rubbish. There is some local NFL somewhere too, but no idea where and when. The Ice Hockey is actually in Winter strangely enough, so that doesn’t work.
We say stick with the NBL, but go to a game or two, it is much better than on TV.
OFF SEASON RATING – 2 / 5
SPORTS READING
Why not spend the Footy Season break to catch up with your favourite sporting biographies. Noting like combing literature with sport.
We recently recommended Sports biographies we’d like to see.
One can only hope they publish one of our books.
OFF SEAON RATING – 3 / 5
