Do you enjoy watching sports?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Aha, now we’re getting somewhere! Gambling is another of those things I don’t “get”, so that partially explains why I don’t understand the appeal.

The endless memorization and regurgitation of statistics seems a bit dry to me.:slight_smile:

More questions: Do you ever convert someone by “proving” to them their team doesn’t play as well as yours? I see people saying “My team won the big game, your team sucks!” to people who respond “Well, yeah, but…” Which makes me wonder, why compete at all, nothing has been decided.

And I do enjoy watching things on TV, but it doesn’t extend so far as to go on roadtrips or buy a satellite dish for the sole purpose of watching more. Sports fans are so…intense.

I hope this doesn’t come across as calling sports fans stupid. There are so many of them, they can’t all be stupid…can they?:slight_smile:

22

I like to think I’m not stupid. And there’s plenty of well-educated sports fans. A lot of college fans graduated from the institution they support, they must be fairly intelligent as a whole. Gregg Easterbrook writes for ESPN.com as the Tuesday Morning Quarterback, and he seems very intelligent, adding a lot of political and legal commentary to his weekly NFL column.

You can’t really “prove” to anyone that your team is superior if they really think their team is. Even if a team hasn’t beat your team in 20 years, there’s always the “wait til next year” argument. As a Florida fan, I even see plenty of South Florida and Central Florida fans who claim that in five years their team will be as big as UF, FSU and Miami. And I come from a family of Alabama fans who will tell me about their 12 national championships anytime my team does better than thiers in a year. The arguments and debates are part of the fun.

The intesity level is up to the individual fan, and some probably take it too far. But maybe they enjoy that. Lots of people thought I was crazy for going on road trips to watch the team play and such, but I enjoyed them all, even when we lost.

23

The true sports fan must also learn to adapt to the environment.

When i moved from Australia to the US a few years ago, i thought i’d never get over the fact that i can no longer watch cricket, rugby, Australian rules, and soccer on a regular basis (i don’t have cable).

I thought that my only saviour would be hockey, which i learned to love during a two-year stint in Canada in the early '90s. But now, i’m a close follower of Major League Baseball and the NFL. It helped that “my” football team won the Superbowl during my first year here, although i can’t say the same thing about the baseball team, which can’t even manage a .500 season.

Now, after spending some time here, i can see the difference between a slider and a change-up, i know what OBP and Slugging percentage mean, i know an I-formation when i see one, i can tell an end-around from a quarterback draw, and i can even abuse the Ravens quarterback when he throws straight into double coverage. I’ve even learned to live with the patently ridiculous aspects of American sports, like the Designated Hitter and the Two-Minute Warning.

One sport i haven’t really got into is basketball, which is sort of strange because i loved playing the game at school and i have great appreciation for the talent of the pro players. The thing that really puts me off is the number of times that the last minute or so of the game can end up taking half an hour, and that deliberately fouling the opposition is considered an acceptable strategy. I know it’s part of the game, but it doesn’t mean i have to like it.

Like other sports fans, i have also managed to develop some irrational dislikes during my time in the US. For example:

  • i support any baseball team playing against the New York Yankees

  • i don’t mind the St. Louis Rams, but i love it whenever Kurt Warner loses a game

  • in college football, i’m happy when Notre Dame get beaten

  • in the NBA, it’s good to see the Lakers lose

  • i have a soft spot for teams from San Francisco, because my girlfriend is from there and i love the city

  • i support the Vancouver Canucks in hockey, but also support any Canadian team against any American team, mainly because the Canadian teams have had so little success in their own sport recently

  • in one-on-one sports like tennis, i generally don’t much care who wins, as long as it’s a good game, but i do dislike Martina Hingis, and Lleyton Hewitt is an insufferable little wanker, despite being a fellow Aussie

Personally, i think the key thing for any sports fan to remember is that, no matter how wrapped up we get in our teams and our games, sports is not really that important in the whole scheme of things. I love sports, and would feel a real loss if i could no longer watch it on TV or attend games, but it is not my whole life, and nor would i want it to be.

24

When athletes spend half their lives watching me do my work, and pay me millions of dollars to do it, even though they don’t know me and never will - then I’ll watch sports.

25

By the same logic, i assume that you never listen to music, watch television, or go to the movies.

26

I’m here to back up the “arguing about it is part of the fun” sidebar.

If you get two sports fans who are both smart about it, both realize the futility of the debate pretty fast and just talk. Just chatting and sharing knowledge is pretty fun when a common interest is involved.

As for why I watch (NFL and NHL, but only the NHL playoffs):
There’s a lot of drama. You can see the desperation and intensity. Anyone see the Cowboys-Giants game on Monday? That’s precisely it. New coach comes back to his old stomping ground and beats his old team in sudden death overtime. How will the new quarterback hold up under pressure? The underdog starts winning, they start losing and they come back in the end. It’s a story and it’s very entertaining most of the time.
For the record, overtime playoff hockey is the best sports there is. I loved watching the playoffs last year; I don’t recall who won (was it the Devils over the Ducks?) but I recall loving to watch it. The tension is just so high.
I’ll bash baseball and basketball while I’m here, just for good measure. mhendo, you are so right about basketball. I think the foul limit should be lower to stop that sort of late-game slowdown. Baseball is just too slow for me, but the playoffs aren’t bad, more drama if you only watch the deciding games of a series.

27

How did it come about? Well, my father used to take me to Angels games all the time growing up, so that’s the team I cheered for. Same with basketball and the Lakers.

How does it influence my life? Well, I watch sports sometimes during my leisure time when I’m not doing something else. I follow my team in the standings. When the Angels come to Baltimore, I try to attend a game or two. That’s about it.

And no, it doesn’t ruin my whole week when my team loses a game. Unless my team lost to a friend’s team and I have to endure trash-talking. But that’s also kind of fun since I get to turn it around when my team beats his.

Call me when you see the Giants win the World Series in your lifetime. But I’m sure that 2002 NLCS banner flying over PacBell makes it all better.

Convert someone? It’s not a religion, there’s no converting. Indeed, if I knew someone who switched allegiances because of a team’s winning percentage I wouldn’t respect that person as a sports fan.

That stuff about the other team sucking is just trash talking. See my response to Troy. You don’t do it to convert something.

And anyway, something certainly has been decided. Last year, it was decided that the Buccaneers were the NFL champions. The Angels were the MLB champions, the Spurs the NBA champions and the Devils the NHL champions. That gives them and their fans complete trash talking rights throughout the offseason, until a new team wins.

28

**

I agree completely with this. I would much rather go out doing stuff than laying around watching some silly sports. I find watching any sport incredibly dull and boring.

**

I can’t make the same claim here.

29

Please ignore the poor grammar above.

30

Baseball, yes.
Other major American sports (not except the Super Bowl. Which is an event more than “sports.”)

I’ll watch random Olympic stuff (do not get between me and the TV during Ice Dancing) and occasionally get caught up in the weird sports stuff that comes on TV from time to time (e.g., I ended up watching part of a lumberjack competition intensely once - and found myself cheering for a certain co-ed log rolling relay team. And then there was the day where I watched curling for several hours straight…)

Strangely, I get kind of bored watching the one sport I “do.” (90% of triathlon pretty much fails as a spectator sport, there are great moments, interspersed with a whole lot of boredom.)

My dad watches sports, all sports. Probably picked up something from him… it doesn’t influence my life that much, I don’t think. I go to baseball games from time to time - great way to spend an evening (on evenings when I go, I have to clear my schedule. Same way I would do for a movie). It doesn’t ruin my week if they lose. It is slightly elating when my team wins - but it wears off in an hour or so. Slightly defeating when they lose. It still wears off in an hour or so. But you’ve got the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. What else do you want in your drama?

31

Live yes. On TV?? No, and I don’t really “get” the sitting in front of a TV watching sports either.

NOT that I’m not well aware that there are lots of folks who do enjoy this (my own mom and sis are RABID football fans).

My fave (pretty much only) sport is Hockey. Love it. My son played pee wee for a couple of years (now THAT is a crack up and very VERY fun!!).

Actually, come to think of it, I can understand the TV thing. After all, I love dancing and teach it too, but I still love watching competitions (including collegiate cheerleading and anything to do with dance and gymnastics) on TV, even though I don’t get to “actively” participate.

32

Well, mhendo, allow me to say “you’re welcome” on behalf of my beloved Giants (that’s football, you baseball heathens) for giving you two sources of pleasure…being owned in the superbowl you mentioned, and beating the crap out of Warner in week 1.

That MNF game was truly spectacular, despite the painful divisional loss.

I often find the elitist mentality of “I play sports…what’s the point of watching?” amusing. You will never hear a musician/writer/painter/artist/comedian/actor echo these sentiments…they will almost always say they listen/read/watch as much as they can. Mostly because it helps them do what they do.

Sports allow whole communities to come together, and share common ground, regardless of racial/ethnic/religious/political/moral differences. And that is a powerful thing. It is difficult to dehumanize somebody who shares a similar interest.

Try running errands all week wearing a baseball hat with the local NFL team’s logo on it, and you’ll be amazed how many spontaneous conversations complete strangers will start with you. After last season’s finale between the Giants and Eagles, while I was wearing my Giants hat, the gas station guy, the deli guy, and the convenience store guy all started up conversations with me out of the blue.

At very least, sports is a more interesting small-talk filler than the weather.

At its best, sport allows people to transcend any and all divisive issues to reach a common ground. Sports have strengthened countless Father-Son relationships, and inspired more than a little “hometown pride”.

And you don’t have to be blessed with genetic athletic ability to be a fan. Not all of us can play sports equally well, so good luck coming together with your fellow softballers if you can’t hit or catch. But just mention how the Yankees are the Evil Empire, and you have acquaintances for life.

All that aside, it has intrinsic entertainment value. It is the only true reality TV that has ever existed. No scripts. No contrived scenarios. And it’s a damn sight more fulfilling than watching Everybody Loves Raymond.

If you want to know the true value of sports, go hang out in any stadium parking lot 2 hours before kickoff on a Sunday afternoon. Those people are much happier and friendlier than if you met them in the grocery store checkout line. (Except in Philadelphia, of course – those people are scum.)

The other question about it runining your week or making your day? My week was not ruined this week…that loss was in a game for the ages. I was majorly bummed for about 3 days after the San Fran debacle last year in the playoffs, and actually slipped into a deep funk for a week after the aforementioned superbowl. Other than that, I’ve never lost sleep over my Giants.

But there have been countless weeks where I’ve been happier than a pig in shit after a good, hard-fought win by the G-Men. The week before that very same Superbowl, for instance, I was on cloud nine. (41-0 pounding of the Vikes.) But the biggest example would be last season. For the entire month of December, I was in heaven, being a secondary Jets fan as well. (Their dismantling of the Colts helped ease the pain of the 49ers game.)

Btw, I just thought of a perfect example. A while back, there was a thread about bachelor parties. I confess I was getting very pissed off, and started feeling very negatively about the OP. All of a sudden, somewhere around page 3, she drops the bombshell that she’s a Giants fan. Immediately I fell in love. Go figure.

Go Big Blue!

Must…Kill…Redskins…

33

They are more of a competition than sport. Similar to boxing and tennis.

34

I only watch (american) football. It’s not the violence so much as the combined violence, grace, talent, and strategy that set it apart from other sports and make almost every game an epic war movie. I don’t make a point to watch it, and I HATE when they bump Fox’s Sunday night schedule beacuse of it, but it’s still great TV.

35

I watch a pretty decent variety of sports, especially for a girl. I love watching baseball (particularly the Braves, and anyone beating up the Yankees), billiards, football, basketball, volleyball, and hockey. It’s almost as fun as being at the event in person.

Football: My roommate’s a USC alum. Before I started watching games with him I didn’t really care for it. It’s grown on me.
Baseball: Had it on for background noise at first, but after I learned the game I started to enjoy watching it. Been a fan for 10 years now.
Volleyball: My college has excellent mens and womens programs, so I started watching to see what the fuss was all about.
Basketball: Back in 1997 or so, Michael Jordan was still around and kicking ass. My school also managed to have a decent team that year. I couldn’t really get away from it, so I decided not to fight and started watching.
Billiards: I’ve played pool for 12 years now, since I was a high school freshman. I like watching because it reminds me of playing.

As far as how it influences my life, the only loss that can get me down is if the Braves suck in the postseason. Even then I’m hardly devastated. I’ll be mildly bummed out for a week or so but then life will go on. Regular season losses hardly register (unless they make a habit of it). I’ll feel a twinge of disappointment when my school loses an important game, but nothing major. Sports doesn’t rule my life.

36

It still blows my mind that sports is something they actually talk about on the news. To me it’s on a level with talking about movies or TV shows. It’s not news, it’s entertainment! But even news shows that don’t stoop to talking about Ben and J Lo have a sports segment. Wha…?

37

Sometimes.

I don’t watch sports on TV (even when I had a TV, I didn’t) because I find it intensely boring most of the time. Especially golf. Don’t even get me started about golf on TV.

In person, however, it’s fun. That said, pretty often, it’s just a background for something else, like a date or an outing with friends. I will NOT pay major league prices, so we go to minor league games and sit in the front row for $10. It’s fun! (I think I said that part before.)

The other thing about sports is this: sometimes, it is fascinating to watch someone be that good. At anything, really – I’m fascinated by watching a world class pianist, or Yo-Yo Ma, who almost seems to become part of his cello. I don’t think it’s that odd to also be fascinated by watching people who are that good at something else, whether it be running or skating or being a shortstop – Omar Visquel (sp?) makes it look easy, and like he’s dancing ballet at the same time.

Me, I’m not that good an any one particular thing, so I just sit back in awe of the humans that have far surpassed me. (Tongue slightly in cheek, but I really do enjoy it.)

38

I love watching baseball on TV, but I love baseball in general. Basketball is also pretty good too.

I don’t see how watching sports is any more horrifying an idea than watching anything else, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t watch SOME TV show or watches movies, or watches plays, or something.

39

I’m with you on this.

Especially when the same folks who claim not to be able to understand watching sports often spend their own time watching shows like “Friends” or “Sex in the City” or “Law and Order.”

I’m not saying that there’s anything especially bad about those shows (i’m a big Law and Order fan myself), but to imply that there’s something inherently less understandable about watching sports than watching a sitcom or a drama is plain silly. It’s just entertainment, of one variety or another.

The problem with some anti-sports fanatics is that they often insist that there is something objectively bad or boring or immoral about sports, rather than simply admitting that it’s a matter of taste, and that they don’t happen to like it. There are plenty of TV shows that i don’t like, including just about every “reality” TV show, but i concede that this is just a matter of my own preferences.

40

Do hordes of people run around wearing “Law and Order” T-shirts on the day it airs? Does the local channel update us on “Friends” right after the weather report? Do people find a special new identity as “Sex & the City” fans? Bumper stickers even? It’s weird, I tell ya!

P.S. I have never seen any of the above shows.