Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court • Hacker News Board

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#11

Post by e40 » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:12 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #8

e40 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say you "hate" a sports team, it's time to do some self-evaluation.

I don't think I've ever met a sports fan who hasn't hated at least one team. Rivalries are fun; teams that you relish rooting against are fun. Emotional investment in the outcome is one of the biggest reasons folks watch sports; rooting for the underdog to win is rooting for the overdog to lose (and I can't remember a larger overdog in quite some time than the Warriors.) It's also eminently clear from my comment that…

Words matter. The word used was "hate" but it's possible that was not the correct word. I live a few miles from where GSW play. The team we lost to in the finals last year is a good team and there is no way I would ever use the word "hate" to describe how I feel about them. In fact, I like a lot of players on their team. I just want my team to win, of course.

I've witnessed a lot of strange and awful things in r/nba (toward my team and others). It does appear there is a lot of hate. There is strong evidence that people from r/nba spend significant time making fake accounts and downvoting posts in r/warriors. As I said above, if that's what you're into, then it's time to turn your gaze inwardm because you have a problem.

EDIT: any it looks like this thread is fairly polarized. Lots of downvotes, which don't seem warranted. Kinda proves my point.

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#12

Post by jmduke » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:16 PM UTC

e40 wrote: post #11

jmduke wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I've ever met a sports fan who hasn't hated at least one team. Rivalries are fun; teams that you relish rooting against are fun. Emotional investment in the outcome is one of the biggest reasons folks watch sports; rooting for the underdog to win is rooting for the overdog to lose (and I can't remember a larger overdog in quite some time than the Warriors.) It's also eminently clear from my comment that…

Words matter. The word used was "hate" but it's possible that was not the correct word. I live a few miles from where GSW play. The team we lost to in the finals last year is a good team and there is no way I would ever use the word "hate" to describe how I feel about them. In fact, I like a lot of players on their team. I just want my team to win, of course. I've witnessed a lot of strange and awful things in r/nba…

I agree that that's strange and awful behavior, and that if the only joy you get from sports comes from the suffering of opposing fans then you likely have some greater issue at play!

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#13

Post by rqebmm » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:38 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #10

aaron-lebo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a trade-off and it's a tradeoff that a lot of NFL players are clearly becoming aware of but are willing to make. In some weird sense you can only appreciate them for making that tradeoff. Effectively, they are at 20 (with today's knowledge) given 15 years at the top of the most popular American sport. They make hundreds of millions in the process (possibly). By the time they are 40 or 50 they might be a vegetabl…

The median NFL salary is $1.9million. The median NFL career length is 3.5 years. If you're in the NFL for 15 years, you are an extremely fortunate outlier . I think the main difference between someone putting their health on the line as an NFL starter and as a CEO is that, as a CEO, you know what you're getting into. There has been, to my perception, a concerted effort to avoid educating football players about the ri…

> you know what you're getting into

This is the crux of it for me. The concussion/injury risks are an issue, but if you're informed, so be it. Bodily risk doesn't stop normal people from lots of things, from driving all the way to heliskiing, and for others it's something they actively seek out. If society has an avenue to reward it, then good for them.

What bothers me is the league itself covering up those facts. It's meant thousands of young men put themselves at risk _unknowingly_ and that's reprehensible.

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#14

Post by matwood » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:39 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #3

I hate Golden State. They're an eminently villainous team: overconfident and insufferable. (This can also be said of many of their fans -- most of whom I suspect had not called themselves a Golden State fan until 2013 -- and their owner, who described their organization as 'light-years ahead' of the competition because they had the good fortune to sign Curry to the best contract in the NBA due to his reputation as in…

I was bummed when Kerr became a coach. He was one of the best parts of any NBA broadcast he was a part of. He was insightful of what was happening on the court, and his stories of playing with MJ were fun to hear. There was one off the cuff story during a game where he talked about the immense pressure MJ put on you when he passed you the ball. You never wanted to miss a shot because of the look he would give you running back down the court.

Another cool story: http://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/61933/landing-a-...

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#15

Post by AznHisoka » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:42 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #8

e40 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say you "hate" a sports team, it's time to do some self-evaluation.

I don't think I've ever met a sports fan who hasn't hated at least one team. Rivalries are fun; teams that you relish rooting against are fun. Emotional investment in the outcome is one of the biggest reasons folks watch sports; rooting for the underdog to win is rooting for the overdog to lose (and I can't remember a larger overdog in quite some time than the Warriors.) It's also eminently clear from my comment that…

It's weird in another sense because you're only hating the uniform, since players changed teams so often these days.

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#16

Post by monkmartinez » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:43 PM UTC

aaron-lebo wrote: post #6

jmduke wrote: post #3

I hate Golden State. They're an eminently villainous team: overconfident and insufferable. (This can also be said of many of their fans -- most of whom I suspect had not called themselves a Golden State fan until 2013 -- and their owner, who described their organization as 'light-years ahead' of the competition because they had the good fortune to sign Curry to the best contract in the NBA due to his reputation as in…

It's a trade-off and it's a tradeoff that a lot of NFL players are clearly becoming aware of but are willing to make. In some weird sense you can only appreciate them for making that tradeoff. Effectively, they are at 20 (with today's knowledge) given 15 years at the top of the most popular American sport. They make hundreds of millions in the process (possibly). By the time they are 40 or 50 they might be a vegetabl…

> By the time they are 40 or 50 they might be a vegetable or have committed suicide, but honestly how is that different than any other job?

The premise of your question is deeply flawed. It is radically different.

How many "young men" end up with broken bodies well before they make it to the big show? We just had a very young man at Univ. of Arizona (Kerr's alma mater) retire from basketball at 19 years old due to a 3rd tear of the ACL.

How many TBI's does it take before we end something that is clearly bad for society? You can't legally double leg tackle a guy standing on the corner, nor can one legally ingest many substances. Yet, society allows this "trade off" because it is sport. The logic falls flat on its face.

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#17

Post by aaron-lebo » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

monkmartinez wrote: post #16

aaron-lebo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a trade-off and it's a tradeoff that a lot of NFL players are clearly becoming aware of but are willing to make. In some weird sense you can only appreciate them for making that tradeoff. Effectively, they are at 20 (with today's knowledge) given 15 years at the top of the most popular American sport. They make hundreds of millions in the process (possibly). By the time they are 40 or 50 they might be a vegetabl…

> By the time they are 40 or 50 they might be a vegetable or have committed suicide, but honestly how is that different than any other job? The premise of your question is deeply flawed. It is radically different. How many "young men" end up with broken bodies well before they make it to the big show? We just had a very young man at Univ. of Arizona (Kerr's alma mater) retire from basketball at 19 years old due to a…

We allow a lot of things that are bad for society and even impact larger groups of people just as negatively. Cigarettes? We let people work jobs that break their bodies over decades. Manual labor?

It's how the world works. These guys are at least getting rewarded for doing it....

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#18

Post by bardworx » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

e40 wrote: post #4

jmduke wrote: post #3

I hate Golden State. They're an eminently villainous team: overconfident and insufferable. (This can also be said of many of their fans -- most of whom I suspect had not called themselves a Golden State fan until 2013 -- and their owner, who described their organization as 'light-years ahead' of the competition because they had the good fortune to sign Curry to the best contract in the NBA due to his reputation as in…

When you say you "hate" a sports team, it's time to do some self-evaluation.

It's part of the "fun" of being a fan and the "hate" is in perspective, for most folks.

I'm a Yankee fan; I hate Boston Red Sox...in most cases, I dislike people from Boston for no good reason. However, when the Boston experienced a tragedy during their marathon, I couldn't care less about baseball and only wanted to support friend and co-workers who were from Boston. During the next Red Sox game, I cheered for them because inside I made the decision to distinguish what I feel as a fan vs. the person that I am and the humanity inside of me.

Do I wish Red Sox luck? No...I still dislike their team, fans, etc. but with a very conscious effort to separate fandom vs. humanity.

On a side note: I travel to Chicago a lot, for work. When I wear my Yankee hat, I catch a lot of flank and in most cases, I partake in some general banter.

If the situation seems a bit too intense, I'll leave them alone since it's not worth the argument + getting in a scuffle while on a work trip is frowned upon.

There are differences, we (fans) understand limits and are okay with the dichotomy of using the word "hate" with no real intention of harm.

Clearly, there are outliners in every case.

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#19

Post by cafard » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:49 PM UTC

e40 wrote: post #4

jmduke wrote: post #3

I hate Golden State. They're an eminently villainous team: overconfident and insufferable. (This can also be said of many of their fans -- most of whom I suspect had not called themselves a Golden State fan until 2013 -- and their owner, who described their organization as 'light-years ahead' of the competition because they had the good fortune to sign Curry to the best contract in the NBA due to his reputation as in…

When you say you "hate" a sports team, it's time to do some self-evaluation.

There's hate, as in "beat, possibly fatally, a guy who wore the other team's jersey into your team's stadium". And there's hate as in "seldom miss a chance to speak badly of". Fortunately, the overwhelming number of those who would say they hate the Cowboys/Raiders/Patriots/Lakers fall into the second category.

Re: Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court

#20

Post by monkmartinez » Thu, Dec 22, 2016, 3:54 PM UTC

aaron-lebo wrote: post #17

monkmartinez wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> By the time they are 40 or 50 they might be a vegetable or have committed suicide, but honestly how is that different than any other job? The premise of your question is deeply flawed. It is radically different. How many "young men" end up with broken bodies well before they make it to the big show? We just had a very young man at Univ. of Arizona (Kerr's alma mater) retire from basketball at 19 years old due to a…

We allow a lot of things that are bad for society and even impact larger groups of people just as negatively. Cigarettes? We let people work jobs that break their bodies over decades. Manual labor? It's how the world works. These guys are at least getting rewarded for doing it....

Cigarettes? We don't allow minors to legally have them, further they are taxed and regulated at great length. Also, there is a massive educational aspect warning everyone about the risks. Show me that with the American Football, please.

Manual Labor? Ever heard of OSHA, MSHA, NIOSH, NIST? Just a few of the agencies looking after the well being of folks working manual labor. I work in a glorified blue collar job, we are regulated very tightly. We have presumptive cancer laws and you can't perform our job as a minor... most don't make it until they are well into their 20's.