I don’t loathe sports per se, but I do have an extremely beige reaction to them. Back when we had less control over television (i.e. no DVR/time shifting/Internet streaming) I’d flip past them as quickly as I’d flip past the Lifetime Tearjerker of the Week, soap operas, evangelical preaching, etc.
I am completely mystified by the inherent tribalism (for lack of a better word). So a team owned by an insanely rich person who you have nothing in common with paints his team’s uniforms with a cute logo that an ever-changing roster of people from outside your city wear to play a game makes you want a tattoo of that? Turn over some random person’s car because those game players won or lost? Mind boggling.
(Note: I have a van full of Grateful Dead stickers, so I’m not completely unaware of what it’s like to be a group member, I just don’t get the tight association with a business.)
I’m also vocal (i.e. writing letters to the paper and city council members) when tax measures come up regarding sports buildings and other venues.
I do wonder what’s to become of the Dudeling. I think I should spend some time teaching him to watch sports or at least know something about it. Being completely unable to engage in a sports conversation has been a mild disadvantage in some social settings.
I find almost everything you mentioned boring and uninteresting, and I’ve worked in technology my entire career. It hasn’t had a negative impact on my life at all, except occasionally at parties. It’s fine to have your own interests.
When I was a youth I had a lot of anxiety from worrying that sports would be a big deal my entire life and I’d always be awkwardly out of the loop. I’ve found reality to be completely opposite - people rarely try to have conversations about sports with me. When it comes up and I tell them I don`t follow sports nobody cares.
“Nerdy” things have actually become so mainstream among men that they’re by far a bigger daily boredom than sports. I’ve had to feign interest in somebody telling me they killed an imaginary dragon or bought a phone that throws birds at pigs 50 times as often as I’ve had to feign interest in a recent baseball game.
I like watching sports because I like the action, I like that it brings a lot of people together (I’m from Pittsburgh, which is a big sports town), that said “corporations” do tend to represent the city. And said sports do bring a lot of revenue to the cities. During the NHL lockout last year, the economy here definitely took a hit – especially a lot of small businesses, like some of the local bars and restaurants. (People who go to there to watch the game, or those who might be attending like to go and grab a bite to eat before or after). The hotels, the local merchants, the people who worked at the arena, etc. There were several articles in the local papers about it.
Plus some of those venues are multi-purpose, for concerts, conventions, etc.
Besides, some of these said “millionaires” are locals who have done a lot for the city. (You’d never find a more “Pittsburgh” family than the Rooneys)
Oh, and I loathe the Dead. But I don’t go around and talk about how I can’t understand how people can be into them.
I still think he should see a doctor about it. According to all the alarm coming out of internet folks who ask this same question ad bazillium, I’m starting to think it might be a grave and insidious problem. Have this checked out, OP. Don’t make an appointment; go straight to the ER.
Look, I agree with you - as a non-sportie. It’s like I watch little or no television, but I still find those “I REFUSE TO HAVE A TV IN MY HOUSE” people a bit too pious or something.
Trouble is, it doesn’t seem to go the other way. People who like sport tend to have no problem whatsoever telling people like me we’re weird/wrong.
Sometimes we are forced to tolerate things that we do not personally find exciting, because our friends and loved ones do enjoy these things.
This ability is called social skills.
My wife is a huge sports nut. Baseball, football (American foot ball, not those nancy boys with the knee socks), basketball. She played them all and I watch it on TV and go to the games because it is important to her, and as a result, I also have a good time. She still plays softball although her knees are about shot.
Little league sports are fun for the kids. Adult sports are a distraction from the problems of the day. Camradery, sense of community and friendship and all that.
You’re asking the wrong question. You’re asking if you’re normal, and the answer to that is no, you are not. But the question you really ought to be asking is if there’s anything wrong with you, and the answer to that is also no. Most people are more interested in sports than they are in science fiction, and that works out fine for them, but you aren’t most people.
I like sports because it makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger, and because the constant action gives me stimulation and helps me be more in the moment and present with myself.
Reading a really good book can give me that same feeling. Ditto hanging out with friends.
Different methods, same high. Pick your poison as long as you care about getting high!
I really like playing sports, but watching them stresses me out. I just can’t stand the tribalism. Even when I was playing sports in school, I never really felt good about the competitive drive, I’m completely anti-competitive. I don’t mean I’m in favor of “everybody gets a trophy” stuff, but I just completely lack the group identity. The pep about “let’s beat the other guys!” I mean, once I got in huge trouble with my middle school soccer team for being honest with the ref about a mistake I made when he asked that led to a penalty.
All I could ever think was “well, they’re just people like us who want to win too. Why do we have a desire to win? Why can’t we just do what we do, regardless of winning or losing, and have them do the same? Be honest, criticize the mistakes and be proud of the achievements, whoever does the actions. Whoever wins, wins. Good for them.” It gets extremely annoying when you get the mad college rivalries where people are constantly smearing the other team. I mean, harmless pranks are one thing, but once when I was in high school the opposing team flipped one of our busses when they lost. I just find the entire thing kind of toxic. Even when it’s not toxic, I find the constant lame jokes about smearing <RIVAL SCHOOL/TEAM>, well, lame.
That doesn’t mean I never find competition entertaining, but I only really get any stimulation from it by watching people who I know are close friends compete casually. It lacks that vague faceless malice.
So I don’t really “get” sports as a spectator thing. I would give my right arm for a casual tennis buddy I could play against (wait… no… that would make tennis kind of hard to play). I love playing sports, but watching sports I really don’t get at all.
I just find the entire thing kind of toxic. Even when it’s not toxic, I find the constant lame jokes about smearing <RIVAL SCHOOL/TEAM>, well, lame.