# It's. Just. A. Goddam. Game. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 16, 2003, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754 "2003-10-16T08:02:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/21 "2003-10-16T14:21:06Z")
I’m embarrassed to say that someone I’m related to (by marriage!) was watching baseball recently and expressing himself by punching the furniture and screaming curses at the TV. He also sat around sulking after the game and mentioned that he wished he were dead. I was tempted to reply, “Honey, you’re not the only one!” The hell of it is, I’ve known plenty of other sports fans who are just as moronic. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/22 "2003-10-16T14:21:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qazzz \* > \*\*What really boggles my mind is that the masses are obviously capable of being enthusiastic, proactive, and engaged in something – but that something happens to be A GAME. “That guy better not show his face in Chicago for the next 10 years,” and “I hope nobody kills him” are just some of the remarks I’ve heard about the guy trying to catch a ball Tuesday night. I don’t understand some Americans’ priorities… Where’s the rioting about Bush’s $87 billion request including $600 million to continue searching for non-existent WMD – the reason we invaded a country in the first place? \*\* Because people are fucking stupid? I for one care more about the things you mentioned then about any sport, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could be passionate about both? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/23 "2003-10-16T14:34:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qazzz \* > \*\*What really boggles my mind is that the masses are obviously capable of being enthusiastic, proactive, and engaged in something – but that something happens to be A GAME. “That guy better not show his face in Chicago for the next 10 years,” and “I hope nobody kills him” are just some of the remarks I’ve heard about the guy trying to catch a ball Tuesday night. I don’t understand some Americans’ priorities… Where’s the rioting about Bush’s $87 billion request including $600 million to continue searching for non-existent WMD – the reason we invaded a country in the first place? \*\* Because people are fucking stupid? I for one care more about the things you mentioned then about any sport, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could be passionate about both? ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/24 "2003-10-16T14:41:01Z")
Damnit, I had a response and the server ate it… anyway I was just saying how it’s not just fans of baseball. It’s fans of sports all over the world. Soccer, football, hockey, baseball, basketball, rugby, and maybe even curling for all I know. I just know that for me, I’m emotionally involved in my team. I don’t cry when the niners lose, but I do feel a little down maybe. When they win though… oh boy, when they when the big game. What a GREAT feeling. (this season has been down quite a bit though…) Obviously people are going to take it too far. People seem to do that for everything though. So don’t condemn all fans for the crazy actions of just a few. You’ll be pitting a good portion of the world if you do 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/25 "2003-10-16T15:27:57Z")
I’m with **blowero** for the most part. I began to lose interest in the MLB in '94 and the last time I watched live games on a regular basis was the '98 home run chase. Too many overpaid, overhyped, and overmedicated egocentrics these days. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/26 "2003-10-16T15:40:00Z")
With sports, it’s easier to involve passion because there is a clear outcome. The game is won, or lost. We pay these overpriced athletes because we live vicariously through them. We can’t do the things they do, as a general rule, so we pay them because they are the best. People do get worked up over the Iraq situation, but there are so many more mitigating circumstances that very few people can sustain the passion. How long have we been searching for the WMDs? It’s like searching for the foul ball from the Cubs game- but the foul ball incident has played out, and the WMDs are still not found… no resolution there. Can we get as upset with Bush about his supposed lies as we did with the unlucky fan? No, gotta watch your back these days; can’t criticize the Pres. without repercussions. Yes, many people take it too far, but that doesn’t mean that it’s useless for the rest of us. There’s always someone who’s a little more _extreme_ than everyone else, and that’s the one that gets noticed. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/27 "2003-10-16T17:23:28Z")
One of my attendings made a similar “It’s a goddamn game” comment regarding the scuffle in the Fenway bullpen on Saturday, and again regarding the threats on the guy who caught the ball in Chicago. This is a guy who was born a Red Sox fan, who bought the satellite package so that he could get all the games down here in North Carolina and claims to have watched about 160 of them. I think that a sports rivalry has gotten out of hand if you wouldn’t be willing to go out drinking with the other team’s fans after the game. Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/28 "2003-10-16T17:37:08Z")
> [@](#): > > ## \*Originally posted by astorian \* quote: > > Originally posted by ivylass > The guy that ruined the fly catch for the Cubs has round the clock police protection at his house. > > ## That, to me, is a sign that some fans go beyond reason. This guy is in fear for his life! Yes, he made a mistake, but in the grand scheme of things, is it really that important? > > Not to mention, the CUbs lost 8-3. 8 to 3! That’s not a close game, it’s a rout! Even IF we assume Moises Alou would’ve made the catch (and that’s far from a sure thing), a team that loses by 5 runs has no business blaming the loss on ANY one play. Yes - you guys nailed it. And that’s kind of what I was getting at with my silly little rant. It’s not people getting emotional about the game that frightens me; I understand that it’s fun for a lot of people. But when people go so far as to get visibly upset and enraged over _one_ play, when it’s quite obvious to the casual observer that the team would have lost anyway, I begin to fear for their sanity. And I don’t know how many people I’ve heard who seriously believe that somehow, that one catch getting blocked caused some sort or cosmic spiral that led to the team fucking up the rest of the game, and _if only_ that hadn’t happened, the planets would once again be aligned and birds would sing again. And the capper is when people are seriously contemplating violence against another fan. My God - if such a thought enters your mind, you need to go in for some intensive counselling immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/29 "2003-10-16T17:38:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qazzz \* > \*\*What really boggles my mind is that the masses are obviously capable of being enthusiastic, proactive, and engaged in something – but that something happens to be A GAME. “That guy better not show his face in Chicago for the next 10 years,” and “I hope nobody kills him” are just some of the remarks I’ve heard about the guy trying to catch a ball Tuesday night. I don’t understand some Americans’ priorities… Where’s the rioting about Bush’s $87 billion request including $600 million to continue searching for non-existent WMD – the reason we invaded a country in the first place? \*\* I know, it’s a darn shame that my passion as a Cubs fan precludes me from caring one little bit about everything else in the world. If only I could get this monkey off my back, I’d be able to not only clothe and feed myself, but I could care about world events. Unfortunately, as a sports fan, I apparently only have the capacity to care about my team and nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/30 "2003-10-16T17:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whatami \* > I was just saying how it’s not just fans of baseball. It’s fans of sports all over the world. Soccer, football, hockey, baseball, basketball, rugby, and maybe even curling for all I know. Don’t _even_ get me started on soccer fans. I don’t even _know_ enough cuss words to rant about _those_ guys. Those soccer riots make _our_ outbreaks look like Girl Scout tickle fights. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/31 "2003-10-16T17:48:26Z")
What an absolute load of horsecrap much of this thread is. “Gosh, why would people get upset over a game? Boy, baseball fans, I don’t understand them. They must be idiots.” Yeah, Stephen Jay Gould, what a moron HE was. In the grand scheme of things, NOTHING matters all that much. Your favourite pastime or personal interest is no more important that any other when you get right down to it. I am sure those who claim it’s stupid to be emotionally involved in a sport have shed a few tears or felt the excitement of a good book or a great movie. What the difference is, I cannot imagine. In fact, we’re discussing this on a message board where any mention of the differences between Macintosh computers and IBM-Windows computers will result in a four-page thread of the most vitriolic, emotional, and angry posts imaginable, including a few very familiar user names in this thread. If baseball rates just a 1 on a 1-to-10 scale of importance, the Operating System Holy Wars rank at about a .00003. All in all, I think baseball fans are among the most patient and least emotionally irrational sports fans there are, with the ideal mix of passion and acceptance. I can wear a major league team’s cap to almost any other major league stadium, and the most I’ll fear is some good-natured ribbing, and 99% of fans will ask you if you’re from that city and happily talk to you about your team. I challenge any sane man to walk into the wrong side of an English Premier League’s stadium wearing the enemy side’s colours - you’ll be lucky if you aren’t stabbed before you get to your seat. I’ll take baseball fans over any other sport’s fans seven days a week and twice on Sundays. And I’ll take them over the OS Holy War True Believers, and over people who use the word “Buffyverse,” and people who argue over whether “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” is better and make up nonexistent technical specifications to prove it, and people who obsess over “Survivor,” and people who hate boy bands and pop divas, and people who give a shit about fashion, and people who belong to political parties, etc. etc. etc. etc. What do any of those things matter, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/32 "2003-10-16T18:00:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by London\_Calling \* > \*\*You might want to google a very fine man by the name of Bill Shankley, and give credit where its due. \*\* I didn’t mean to claim it for my own (though now I see that it looks that way). I was just signing my name to the post, and identifying myself as a BoSox fan. Sorry for the confusion. Shankley it is. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/33 "2003-10-16T18:09:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*And I’ll take them over … people who belong to political parties, etc. etc. etc. etc. What do any of those things matter, anyway? \*\* I was pretty much with you until that last item in your list. The difference is that when one political party comes to power, what they do _can actually have a concrete impact on our lives._ They can tax us, or not, send some of us into a war, or not, lock some of us up, or not, and so on. The other things in your list, on the other hand, _do_ all represent things that only matter to us because we _let_ them. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/34 "2003-10-16T18:21:33Z")
Well said _Rick_. You crazy bastard! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Evil\_Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Mr.Evil\_Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Evil_Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/35 "2003-10-16T18:44:49Z")
Aperfect example of what is wrong with a great number of sports fans in the United States is the annual NFL draft in New York City. I was unfortunate enough to agree to go to the one back in 2001, and my mind still reels. Grown men painted from head to foot in _their_ :rolleyes: team’s colors and clothing, not to mention 8 sheets to the wind, and this was 3 hours before the draft started. I witnessed no less then 10 fights between various fans over what player a certain team was going to draft.:rolleyes: And then there were the Eagles fans who booed unmercifully **every single draft pick their team made.** If you hate the team that much, then why do you fucking root for them in the first place?:rolleyes: I guess the topper was the 5 Jets fans who screamed out variations on "OH MY FUCKING GOD, THE FUCKING SEASON IS RUINED, RUINED!!! and then burst into hysterical crying jags that lasted over 90 minutes. All this because the Jets selected a cornerback instead of a running back.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/36 "2003-10-16T18:55:00Z")
I agree with **Rick** : Anyone who gets too worked up over _anything_ needs to realize that in a century, _none of it will matter_. **At all!** Even Rome had a long history of completely mundane crap. We remember maybe one-tenth of one-thousandth of what went on at the time, and only a tenth of that has any bearing whatsoever on our daily lives. We can name Caesar and Graccius and Augustus Octavian as having been Great Men (Really, lucky bastards in the right place at the right time.), but who can recall the baker who took the cobbler to court over a matter of twenty as? Not one goddamned person, and that case may have defined a whole family history for decades. And if so little survived from Rome, what do you think will survive from the asinine cultures of today? And if you think a century is a long time (it isn’t, kiddies), imagine a thousand years. You can’t, really, but try. In one thousand years, we went from crawling around in filth to global dominance. In one thousand years, the Arabs went from cultural and economic supremacy to becoming the butt of a bad joke, fighting over a strip of desert surrounded by other strips of desert. One thousand years ago, what happened? On the whole, diddly shit. It’s so far removed from our own era to be meaningless. Whole empires have faded into irrelevance. We try to preserve the past. We honestly do. But when it comes to preserving the lineage of two thousand years of inbred morons who ruled a narrow strip of land by a river, it becomes pointless. Maybe a few names swim to the top: Cleopatra, for fucking Marc Antony; Tut-ankh-amen, for not having been robbed by Arabs after he’d died; Nefertiti, for having had a great bust; and not much else. I’m forgetting some mildly important ones, true, but two thousand years’ worth of vital personages? I think not. And those are the rulers, not the tradesmen or the farmers or the soldiers or anyone who really made the empire run. Those useful blobs faded away a millenia ago. Even in America’s history, you can easily get by with a few names. Washington, for being the first. Jefferson, for being the most democratic. Lincoln, for preserving the Union. Franklin Roosevelt, for creating the America that would rule the second half of the 20th Century. Reagan, for defining a whole school of political discourse. Nobody else swims to the top. Wilson’s Leage of Nations? Dead and buried and rightfully forgotten. Teddy Roosevelt’s adventurism? Jingoistic bullshit. Kennedy’s Space Program? Damn fool dick contest, and not followed up on properly. (The technology itself was vital, and the spirit of adventurism was useful, but the whole enterprise was doomed from the start. Let’s hope China sparks something more lasting.) So the next time you feel like fighting, ask yourself this: Who swept up the crap of Beaucephalus, and what did he think of the guy who ran the mess hall? ---
**Author:** ![SoxFan59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@SoxFan59](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoxFan59)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/37 "2003-10-16T19:10:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mullinator \* > \*\*I know, it’s a darn shame that my passion as a Cubs fan precludes me from caring one little bit about everything else in the world. If only I could get this monkey off my back, I’d be able to not only clothe and feed myself, but I could care about world events. Unfortunately, as a sports fan, I apparently only have the capacity to care about my team and nothing else. \*\* Hey Mul! Its been a LOOONG time, eh? And the Cubs still suck, don’t they? 😃 Of course, the White Sox didn’t make the playoffs. :smack: But that doesn’t prevent all of us south siders from doing the happy dance last night! ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/38 "2003-10-16T19:58:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > I am sure those who claim it’s stupid to be emotionally involved in a sport have shed a few tears or felt the excitement of a good book or a great movie. What the difference is, I cannot imagine. I think the difference would be that I don’t usually consider death threats against anyone after I read a book. This isn’t a thread about people who get emotional, it’s a thread about people who practically lose their fucking mind. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/39 "2003-10-16T20:45:03Z")
Try telling that to Steve Bartman. I’m sure he’s redoing his wardrobe in the new Fall Fashions Kevlar Look™ right about now. This from someone who gives a flaming shit about 99% of sports. I can only wonder if this event will cause (at least) Bartman to reconsider his own slavish devotion to the sport. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/40 "2003-10-16T20:46:35Z")
**blowero** , you forgot to add, “…you stupid cocksucker.” I’m tellin’ ya’, if you want this thread to fly, you need to add more cuss words. Even better if you can combine them with vicious personal insults! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754.md?page=3)