I recognize the prevalance of sports in society. I still can not recognize the importance. You might think that is a rude statement if you like sports. You might also think that "Kim Kardashian (and the things she does) are not important" is a rude statement if you like celebrity gossip. Personally I don't see much difference between the two. I do however find it more rude that people won't ask me personal questions or feign interest in my hobbies, yet sports fans find no problem with going out to a bar and talking about nothing else for the entirety of their stay. Have you ever hung out with a group of coworkers who worked for a company that you don't work for? Did they talk about their job the entire time? Was it incredibly boring? That is how non-sports fans feel every time one of their friends starts talking about last week's game. To clarify, I understand sports just fine. I still do not enjoy them. How does this possibly make ME a dick? If you think that the best way to relate to people is to discuss their hobbies, you have really only scratched the surface of human interaction.
Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
141–150 of 511 posts
Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#142Sports are so prevalent that if you're not interested, it must be an affect :) I can watch some sports for a while (basketball and football), but after a couple hours it gets pretty boring, plus I've probably had some beers so the combination tends to make me sleepy. It was exciting when I was in college and rooting for my team at the stadium and all that, but how people connect with teams outside of such a setting h…
Affect =/= affectation, if that's what you meant to say.
I suppose. Colloquially "an affect" means a put-on or, sure, an affectation. Affectation is just such a clumsy word, though.
Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#143Meh, this is not a problem that needs addressing.
When people say they "don't like sports," what they often mean is that they don't follow any teams.
I played baseball growing up, still play tennis and row. I "understand" the rules of most sports – except cricket but c'mon. I can have a good time drinking a pint with friends and listening to them discuss sports. In fact, my ignorance often leads to great conversations, as they explain some backstory about how the wide receivers played on rival college teams or the history of nation's soccer team or whatever. It's fun. Sports are inherently dramatic, and it's easy to be drawn into an evenly matched contest. Given the right context and group of peers who are passionate about the outcome, pretty much everybody will enjoy watching sports.
However, I just find the whole process of following a team to be a colossal waste of time. All of the time spent reading about drafts and trades and injuries and stats, they add up to hours every week – even without watching any games. I personally would much rather be cooking or reading a novel or playing video games or hiking. Some people would find those things to be a colossal waste of time. That's okay.
There's no reason for us all to be so defensive about what we like and don't like. I like sports, but I choose to spend my free time on other things. That doesn't make my hobbies better or worse than Joe Football's. Just different. End of story.
Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#144When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills. It's called being a snob. The disdain for working class culture among academics was part of the reason I choose not to pursue a formal higher education. I suspect this overt snootiness keeps many gifted working class kids from participating in higher education. I grew up working class and w…
It seems to me that rooting out and shaming "snobs" is becoming something of a cultural pastime. It really bothers people when you don't like what they like. So it must be because you're an asshole snob, not because you just don't like it. It's related to all the anti-"hipster" crap that has popped up in recent years. It's fun because skewering "hipsters" is puncturing pretensions, you're taking cultural snobs down a…
I agree that seems to be a common pastime on discussion forums, even such a fine one as this. However, I was happy to see that the blog post simply focused on what the author could do to improve, rather than lambasting others.
Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
"When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills." That's nice. What other corporate products must I consume in order to be a validated member of your social caste? How about this: "when you show overt contempt for fast food, you are showing contempt for most everybody, and that is a problem with your social skills." If I don't eat at McD…
Having a valid reason why some activity is intrinsically bad (e.g. fast food) is very different from disliking such activities because they are "beneath" you. Sports are widely loved and not intrinsically bad. (I'd even argue that fast food itself is not intrinsically bad, but that's a different discussion) However, even expressing contempt for intrinsically bad activities can be interpreted as offensive and hostile.…
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Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#146When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills. It's called being a snob. The disdain for working class culture among academics was part of the reason I choose not to pursue a formal higher education. I suspect this overt snootiness keeps many gifted working class kids from participating in higher education. I grew up working class and w…
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Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#147Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#148Anyone else wish people would stick with "disinterested" == "impartial" rather than "disinterested" == "uninterested"? Yeah, I know, language changes, so deal. I guess so, but is there no value in fighting the tide of sloppiness? Where do you draw the line? Probably way too late on this one.
Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#149Obligatory xkcd: http://xkcd.com/1480/ You can watch sports, or you can participate in the watching of sports. One requires real interest in the event while the other merely requires interest in who's nearby. People are different. I'm into some sports and can't stand others. But I like being social with friends, both F2F and online.
I ordinarily dislike when people do this ("obligatory xcd: URL"), but that is today's comic. So it is actually relevant. Today.
There's also the fact that the parent comment went on beyond simply linking the relevant comic. Even being today's comic doesn't make it a useful comment if that's all you say.
Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports
#150i always found Chomsky's take on sports to be quite interesting... "Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance. [audience laughs] That keeps them from worrying about -- [applause] keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might…
I totally agree with Chomsky. It is indoctrination. I always found the routine military displays especially troubling. The American version of the communist dictator's military parade.
And then there's the weird government/corporate partnership on stadiums. And the protected monopoly status.