# I don't like sports: am I weird? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907 "2014-06-16T14:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/61 "2014-06-17T03:49:57Z")
The only sports I enjoy watching are the Olympics . . . and only events with individuals or pairs (like gymnastics or skating. Any team sports are totally boring to me. I’m old enough to no longer have “normality” as an issue. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/62 "2014-06-17T03:51:29Z")
I played sports all through High School and really never gave a shit about any of them. I enjoyed it sometimes but never cared about the professionals. I still enjoy going to an event once or twice a year, but it’s always for the companionship, the excitement of the crowd, and the alcohol ;D …It did take a year or two at a proper job as a real adult with people asking me all the time, “Did you see(!) game X last night?!” before they realized I just didn’t care about that stuff. Didn’t really matter. To my friends (professional and personal) I’m that guy that isn’t interested in sports. No big deal. I don’t hate on people that are into them, it’s a fine interest. Just not for me. /edit …Though I tend to get really interested always in the World Cup. I did play soccer in High School and that was probably the sport I was best at. Passable for a high-school senior though not great. I did enjoy soccer the most though. I think I like the World Cup because I understand the game the best and enjoy the international competition part of it. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/63 "2014-06-17T03:52:44Z")
Just because: [Walking Sports Database Scorns Walking Sci-Fi Database](http://www.theonion.com/articles/walking-sports-database-scorns-walking-scifi-datab,1442/) ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/64 "2014-06-17T03:57:43Z")
I never liked team sports, I do my archery, I ran track and did some boxing. I find very few men I have much in common with. Cooking, gardening, woodwrking, nature, animals, social issues do interest me. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/65 "2014-06-17T04:35:55Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > If you aren’t normal, neither is the guy who wrote this: [How Football Sounds To People That Don’t Care](http://www.tickld.com/x/how-football-sounds-to-people-that-just-dont-care-T). To me, that just sounded whiney. If you want to hear what football sounds like to people who don’t know or care about football, [give this a try](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8) ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/66 "2014-06-17T04:58:21Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Why should a team’s defeat put a person in a bad mood? I know it’s a feeling and feelings aren’t supposed to make sense. But I just can’t relate to this. And I can’t think of anything else comes close. Upthread “Game of Thrones” was mentioned. Why should a character’s death put a person in a bad mood? That comes more than close, IMO. It’s about emotional investment - of course you are going to be in a bad mood when you are emotionally invested in something and something highly disappointing happens to it. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/67 "2014-06-17T10:16:18Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Upthread “Game of Thrones” was mentioned. Why should a character’s death put a person in a bad mood? That comes more than close, IMO. It’s about emotional investment - of course you are going to be in a bad mood when you are emotionally invested in something and something highly disappointing happens to it. I should have said, “There isn’t anything that comes close _to me_.” No TV show has ever put me in a bad mood before. ---
**Author:** ![jfreakofkorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jfreakofkorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jfreakofkorn)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/68 "2014-06-17T10:18:35Z")
i do not like none of them, except one, sleeping and counting the sheep tripping over the back fence people just have to find their own click and not follow a trend … IMO ---
**Author:** ![Notloc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@Notloc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notloc)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/69 "2014-06-17T12:21:19Z")
You and me both. I never saw the point in hitting a ball with a club and running around in circles. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/70 "2014-06-17T12:31:24Z")
Here are some statistics that I completely made up. I think the bell curve goes like this. 25% of people obsess over sport, usually in a narrow range. 25% of people don’t give a shit about sport whatsoever. 50% of people have no great interest but will watch one or two things a year within a wide range, as a show of support for a friend, family member, or national pride on Grand Final\* day. I fit in the “really dislike all sport” category, and also think most of the professional level shenanigans need a complete overhaul from the ground up. \*Superbowl, Olympics, Tour de France, Wimbledon, whatever that hockey thing was that just finished up last week ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/71 "2014-06-17T13:42:44Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > You can play it cool if you want. This is probably wise when it comes to making friends. But I’m going to keep sucking my teeth every time I see a middle-aged guy with a paunch walking around in his favorite super hero athlete’s jersey. OK, not really. But I do think this is a silly fad. And if someone asks my opinion, I’ll be honest and not hold back. Nothing wrong with a bit of cosplay now and then. ---
**Author:** ![staili](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@staili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/staili)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/72 "2014-06-17T16:23:23Z")
I watch individual sports on TV from time to time, but count me in as one of those who’s never felt that my local professional sports teams have anything to do with me. I understand how college teams have some connection to alumni because the players and the alumni all went to the same school, but the local professional teams just happen to play some of the time on a local field and I don’t think that anything they do reflects on the city where that field is located. I’ve lived in a couple of different cities that have fervent, fervent sports fans, and I smile and say, “Go XXX!” when required, but I can’t identify with that passion. I think part of it is that I’m not that competitive in general, at least about that kind of stuff. I’ve been on a team where the outcome doesn’t have any ramifications, and people are saying, “We HAVE to win!” And I’m thinking, “Do we really? Who cares?” I’m probably not the best person to have on your team in a situation like that. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/73 "2014-06-17T16:24:14Z")
The OP may well be weird. Not liking sports, however, has nothing to with it. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/74 "2014-06-17T16:42:02Z")
Doesn’t something like two out of every three Americans _not_ watch the Super Bowl, the country’s most popular sports event? Perhaps those of us who like sports are the abby normal ones. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/75 "2014-06-17T17:58:12Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > If you aren’t normal, neither is the guy who wrote this: [How Football Sounds To People That Don’t Care](http://www.tickld.com/x/how-football-sounds-to-people-that-just-dont-care-T). > [@Fenris](#): > > To me, that just sounded whiney. Because it was whiny. Yeah, if a lot of people had an interest in archaeology and there were updates about it on the radio, I’d just get over it like how I do when they tell me who the Cubs lost to. Who cares? And if someone wanted to talk about it, I would easily say “I’m not an archaeology fan” and the person would let it go and we’d talk about something else. What’s the problem? It’s not like I’m being oppressed by it like this dude makes it seem. He needs to untwist his underwear. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/76 "2014-06-17T19:30:30Z")
You know who else liked football? Sartre. Yeah… Jean-Paul Sartre. Albert Camus played in goals for Algeria an’ all. …and Socrates played for Brazil. Look it up… 's all true. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/77 "2014-06-17T19:41:03Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > It’s not like I’m being oppressed by it like this dude makes it seem. He needs to untwist his underwear. I used to think that he lived with his very strict grandma who gave him shit about his video games and told him how he’s ruining his life. But now with this sports oppression, I am not so sure. Maybe he lives with a sitcom dad who harasses him about his video games and lack of football, and his brother who is very good at football and gets all the girls. And a mom who just wrings her hands and says “oh dear.” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/78 "2014-06-17T19:46:31Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Because it was whiny. Yeah, if a lot of people had an interest in archaeology and there were updates about it on the radio, I’d just get over it like how I do when they tell me who the Cubs lost to. Who cares? And if someone wanted to talk about it, I would easily say “I’m not an archaeology fan” and the person would let it go and we’d talk about something else. What’s the problem? It’s not like I’m being oppressed by it like this dude makes it seem. He needs to untwist his underwear. Do you think it might be different for a guy versus a woman? I don’t feel oppressed by sports talk either. But I’m a “girl”. I’m not _supposed_ to get it. If I mistake the Cicinnati Reds for the Redskins (which happened to me just recently), people smile at me in that “aren’t you cute” kind of way and gently explain the difference to me. But I imagine it would be different for a guy. Almost all the guys I know are into sports. I mean, I can’t think of any special interest where people will really give you a hard time if you aren’t a fan. But I can certainly think of situations where being a non-sports fan could be a social disadvantage. I don’t think women are likely to find themselves in these situations. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/79 "2014-06-17T19:55:26Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Do you think it might be different for a guy versus a woman? > > I don’t feel oppressed by sports talk either. But I’m a “girl”. I’m not _supposed_ to get it. If I mistake the Cicinnati Reds for the Redskins (which happened to me just recently), people smile at me in that “aren’t you cute” kind of way and gently explain the difference to me. But I imagine it would be different for a guy. Almost all the guys I know are into sports. > > I mean, I can’t think of any special interest where people will really give you a hard time if you aren’t a fan. But I can certainly think of situations where being a non-sports fan could be a social disadvantage. I don’t think women are likely to find themselves in these situations. About half the men I know aren’t interested in sports, and perhaps they’re suffering in silence, but I’ve never heard a word uttered about their being “oppressed” by sports fandom. They’re not into it, and when they hear about it, they just ignore it. But anyway, there’s a lot of “girl” stuff that permeates the news I don’t give a shit about either, like celebrity gossip for example, and even though it’s ubiquitous, I still don’t feel oppressed for not caring about Kim Kardashian. Yes, I hear about it, yes, people talk about it, but I can easily sidestep that conversation by using my words. “I haven’t been following this” is enough to shut that entire little program down. Women attempt to talk to me about sports too, btw, and I’m usually just like “Don’t really follow,” and they drop it. I guess you can count that as being at a social disadvantage, but I’ve not given a shit about sports for a long time now, and it’s never been an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907/80 "2014-06-17T20:13:23Z")
> [@Notloc](#): > > You and me both. I never saw the point in hitting a ball with a club and running around in circles. Makes more sense than carrying an air filled pigskin while trying to outrun a half dozen over-sized men who will pound you into the ground if they catch you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-sports-am-i-weird/690907.md?page=5)