Favorite minor sport to cover...

Women's college volleyball is a blast to watch. Very fast paced, skilled game.

 

I just started covering college gymnastics about a month ago at a new job and I have to say it's a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The technical stuff can be overwhelming but once you get past it, it's a blast to cover. They're amazing athletes and have devoted their lives to the sport. There's a ton of emotion and the fans are generally very knowledgeable.

 

I'll pitch a vote in for wrestling, when it comes to intercollegiate sports. Favorite event I've ever covered was probably the Mat Classic state wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome in Washington. Non-stop matches, you'll never want for something to do.

Outside of intercollegiate sports, marathon running and auto racing are also a blast. Some of the craziest characters and best profiles come out of these sports (hobbies?). No one gets into running without a good reason, and most people who are into auto racing are insane.

 

Slightly different take: The sports I know we have to cover heavier than in many other areas.

1. Dirt-track racing (personally, I love sprint-car racing, but the junk cars just leave me cold)
2. High school wrestling
3. College wrestling
4. Field hockey (our coverage area has players in 37% of the nation's D-I programs)
5. Lacrosse (and rising with a bullet)
6. Bowling

 

Boxing though it was anything but a minor sport back in the day. The papers would send their top writers to cover the training camps. Read in the Dempsey book by Roger Khan (Flame of Pure Fire - what a great book) that the writers would drink and play cards each night, sometimes engaging in fist fights after boxing related arguments went too far. Those were the days.

Boxing is still nice to cover, the ex fighters come out for the big fights and are always accessible. Just not enough major events these days in the sport as so many fighters are protected and the best vs. the best has become a rarity (ie Mayweather dodging Pacquiao for a $50 million payday).

Tennis and track and field are classic sports to cover too.

 

Women's volleyball. No doubt.

 

I love all the different shots you can get in track, and there's such a large variety of events you can cover.

 

The athletes are all very cool to interview too, very well mannered and polite, very few if any arrogant jerks. It's a shame the sport is so low on the totem pole in the U.S. now.

 

I've never been much of a fan of MMA, but I love covering it. There is a pro fighter in town here who fights in some smaller shows and has a group of guys he's training that fight. The bouts are never all that long and the shows are small enough that I never have to go through hoops to get access. If there are enough local guys on the card, I can usually get enough feature stories for a week.
least favorite minor sports would have to be ski jumping and power boat racing.

 

Absolutely. That's how I learned to appreciate the sport. My college had a top-20 program when I was there and I covered them (among lots of other stuff) for three years.

 

Though I didn't cover nearly enough of it, I definitely agree. Really cool sport

 

Really enjoy ice hockey and golf, although I don't consider either of those minor. I think I did close to 50 stories on our local junior hockey team last winter (gamers, previews, features, etc.)

Would like to have the chance to cover lacrosse and curling, neither of which are around this area. I enjoy a moderate dose of swimming and tennis. (When I say moderate, I mean 2-3 stories per season.) Track and soccer are like pulling teeth for me, and I flat out refuse to cover wrestling or rodeo.