At the Y

I am watching basketball on the TV screen, and trying
only to watch basketball, not the latest reports
on what might have happened to the Boeing 777
that vanished into thin air.  The man next to me asks,
So you're starting to like basketball.  Then he adds,
It's almost like ballet.  You think? 

Nope, I say.   But I'd love to watch a real ballet
while I'm working out. Wouldn't you?  He grunts.
That would be like watching the grass grow.

You mean like watching basketball?  I ask.

I think how often I've heard men compare football or baseball
or boxing to ballet, as if that's a reason to appreciate it.
So why can't we just watch ballet?