# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/41 "2003-10-16T20:56:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > \*\*Don’t have much passion in your life, eh? \*\* Oh, not this old chestnut. Sheesh. So sports fans, who get excited over grown-ups who get paid to play a game, have ‘passion’ in their lives, and the rest of us, who can see it all for what it is, supposedly ‘lack’ passion? Yeah, as if. Listen, first of all, in order to have passion in your life, you have to have a life to have passion in. And spending hours on end watching over-paid uncouth brats being paid a life’s wages a week to kick balls around or hit things with sticks is _not_ a life. It’s an escape from life. Some of us feel very passionate about things in _real_ life, that _really_ matter. The fact that sport doesn’t hold much interest for us doesn’t mean we lack passion. We can just find better things to feel passionate about than ‘this team won’ or ‘this team lost’ while _playing a game._ ---
**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, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/42 "2003-10-16T21:26:05Z")
Well put, **ianzin**. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/43 "2003-10-16T21:55:21Z")
Fucking people that take SDMB serious are fucking idiots. You sit around here arguing about worthless shit with a bunch of fucking morons that think including a link to a website validates their intellectual superiority. Get a life people, it’s only a message board. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/44 "2003-10-16T22:20:57Z")
Interesting how people in this thread have mentioned emotionally manipulative movies AND the hunt for WMD’s, since both are epic works of fiction. 🙂 I’m an Angels fan, so I don’t have a dog in this fight, although it would have been cool to see the Cubs play the Yankees (or the Red Sox…but that matchup would have brought about the Apocalypse, and I’m not quite prepared for that, since LOTR3 hasn’t been released yet.) I’ve done the math, though. If Moses Alou had caught the fly ball, the Marlins would have scored only two runs in the 8th inning, not eight. And it’s more than that. After that play, the entire momentum of the game changed. You could feel the wind go completely out of the Cubs’ sails. That’s when they started making ultra-crappy plays. Sure, we’ll never know for sure what would have happened. But I’ll daresay that Stan Bartman’s interference was much more complicit in the Cubs’ loss than, say, Bill Buckner’s miffed ground ball in the '86 Series. And if people still blame HIM after all these years…well, baseball fans have a long memory. I’m glad I’m not Bartman. ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/45 "2003-10-16T23:04:19Z")
Ah, now **ccwaterback** is truly getting the hang of it. Com’n folks, this is a fucking _Pit thread_! We want tears and recriminations! ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/46 "2003-10-17T00:13:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Telemark \* > Sorry for the confusion. Shankley it is. No worries 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/47 "2003-10-17T00:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KGS \* > But I’ll daresay that Stan Bartman’s interference was much more complicit in the Cubs’ loss than, say, Bill Buckner’s miffed ground ball in the '86 Series. And if people still blame HIM after all these years…well, baseball fans have a long memory. Indeed. FWIW, I explained how Buckner had almost nothing to do with the '86 Sox collapse in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=4117748#post4117748) post in the other Cubs thread. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/48 "2003-10-17T00:31:31Z")
I just love these circle jerks. It must feel good to think, GOD, I’m SO much better than loser baseball/pro sports fans because they get all worked up over a silly GAME. How many of you are Buffy geeks? Simpsons? Monty Python? Computer? Babylon 5? How many of you smug folks saying, “Why can’t you get that worked up over something that matters instead of baseball” actually DO something about your precious convictions? About as many as sports fans, is my guess. Everybody has their pet diversions. Yours are no better than anyone else’s. So shut the fuck up for once. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/49 "2003-10-17T00:35:07Z")
Most sports fans are pretty moderate in their fandom. I work with several, and while they’ll spend half an hour a day agonizing over the latest game, that’s pretty much the end of it. Some sports fan (such as those threatening the errant fan the other night) take it too far. This goes beyond fandom, and becomes obsession. Obsession in almost any form, to my mind, is almost invariably harmful. Now replace “sports fans” in the above with “Trekkies”, “Pythonites”, “silent film buffs”, or what have you. It works whatever the subject. As for passion, I can only speak for myself, but I have passion for many things in my life: my wife, my children, my work. The fact that I don’t glue myself to the television (or the bleachers) to follow every Cubs game has nothing to do with passion, or the lack thereof. Everyone puts their passion in different places. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/50 "2003-10-17T00:37:22Z")
Oh, almost forgot. Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/51 "2003-10-17T01:28:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\*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. \*\* [Some people](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mriots.html) _have_ been provoked to extreme violence by works of art. Personally, I think getting violent over either is stupid. I think sports games can be fun to watch, and I have been moved almost to the point of tears by books, music, and movies, but I’ve never felt compelled to be rude to someone who disagrees, or who, like the guy who tried to catch the ball, fucks something up by accident. So he messed up the game. A FUCKING GAME. Is that a reason to threaten death against him, or even to yell at him and pour beer on him? And who gives a fuck that he was wearing headphones? I listen to music at college games all the time. Sometimes I’d rather have the anarchic ballet of a sports game set to music than to rowdy fans and stupid announcements. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/52 "2003-10-17T02:27:52Z")
The poor little wounded cub. Lost from it’s mother, aimlessly wandering through the woods weeping for it’s Mama. But what’s this? His Mama is miraculously nearby and hears her pitiful baby crying. Mama leaps in the air and runs towards her ailing child. ::CRACK:: the sound of the hunter’s 30-06 breaks the silence of the forest and Mama bear wrings in pain as the lethal shot passes through her body. The cubbie cowers in fear, destined to die of starvation. Several days later, a goat passes by and bleats with delight when he discovers the baby bear’s carcass. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/53 "2003-10-17T03:19:35Z")
I think posters are right when they point out the essential similarity of most obsessions - and it is true that in 100 years it won’t matter, regardless of the topic. The thread about celebrity has basically the same argument. Question is, though, how much of our humanity do we cede by investing in situations where we have no say over the outcome and receive no direct economic benefit? It would make sense for ballplayers to argue over game choices - but there’s nothing fans can do. On the other hand, we do all have the opportunity to vote, so you’d think there would be at least a passing interest in the political landscape on the part of the masses. But instead they’d rather speculate about celebrity love lives. It just feels like an endless series of carrots being dangled by the powerful to keep the proletariat entertained while they exploit us. That’s the part I resent. People being passionate about their teams is endearing; people being distracted from the genuine issues in their lives is not. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/54 "2003-10-17T04:42:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fessie \* > I think posters are right when they point out the essential similarity of most obsessions - and it is true that in 100 years it won’t matter, regardless of the topic. The thread about celebrity has basically the same argument. > > Question is, though, how much of our humanity do we cede by investing in situations where we have no say over the outcome and receive no direct economic benefit? It would make sense for ballplayers to argue over game choices - but there’s nothing fans can do. On the other hand, we do all have the opportunity to vote, so you’d think there would be at least a passing interest in the political landscape on the part of the masses. But instead they’d rather speculate about celebrity love lives. > > It just feels like an endless series of carrots being dangled by the powerful to keep the proletariat entertained while they exploit us. That’s the part I resent. People being passionate about their teams is endearing; people being distracted from the genuine issues in their lives is not. **fessie** , at your earliest convenience, please pencil me in for the next love child appointment. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/55 "2003-10-17T05:14:36Z")
Why read? It’s only ink on paper. Why ask her to marry you? It’s just words. Why watch movies? It’s all illusion. Why play chess? It’s not really a kingdom. Why get out of bed tomorrow? What will it matter a hundred years from now? Let’s just all become Bartleby. Everyone needs release and catharsis. People who become violent over anything are usually taking things too far, but what’s wrong with a little identification and projection? It’s not as if sports fans’ lives are generally consummed with nothing else. Meanwhile, I’m going to go hit some “ivories” that cause some hammers to hit some strings that reproduce sounds that came from the mind of Beethoven. They’re only notes. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/56 "2003-10-17T06:31:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Already in Use \* > [Some people](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mriots.html) _have_ been provoked to extreme violence by works of art. Well, O.K. - I _did_ stab that guy who coughed loudly in the middle of Mahler’s Second Symphony, but he had it coming.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/57 "2003-10-17T06:57:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fessie \* > \*\* That’s the part I resent. People being passionate about their teams is endearing; people being distracted from the genuine issues in their lives is not. \*\* But how distracted are they, really? How many are distracted to the point that they will miss the days work after their team has lost? Or let the house go to pot? Or be too depressed to go to church, temple, etc? Or not care who the next President will be? Bloody few, I tell ya. Granted, there a few vocal idiots in Cubland that have made news. But it’s onlnly the dolts that make the news. Do you think that if it were not for baseball, these idiots would be rational humans with appropriate priorites? That it is BASEBALL that drove them to heinous action? I assure you, most Cubs fans, though heartbroken, are still making valuable contributions to society today. Just as most Red Sox fans will do tomorrow. Yankee fans, of course, will continue to serve their Dark Lord and Master, Satan. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/58 "2003-10-17T07:15:50Z")
I’ve said before, (I don’t know if I’ve said it here, but I know I’ve said it), it’s not the _passion_ that is the problem. I think we all need a passion in our life. We need more than one passion. Something to look forward to. I grew up in a home where there were a lot of passions–music, art, travel, and yes, my dad was a Dodgers and Angels fan. 😉 But I think my mom would have had him committed had he breathed a word of violence against someone who’d screwed up the Dodgers game, or had screwed up a performance of Sibelius’ 4th Symphony performed at the Hollywood Bowl, or whatever. I firmly believe that passion makes our lives worth living and without it we become boring, dull, empty shells of people. So even if I don’t give a rat’s ass about sports (though I do feel a fondness towards the Dodgers and Angels), I wouldn’t dream of belittling someone for being a sports fan, as long as they weren’t wacked out about it. I used to know a woman who was so in love with actor Harrison Ford that she steered _everything_ in a conversation to make it about him. You like to eat oranges. Well, Harrison Ford eats oranges too. You drive a car? Well, want to hear about Harrison Ford’s car? Oh. My. Gosh. :eek: There’s passion, and then there’s lunacy. I’m all for passion, because I think it makes us all more interesting people. But this over-the-top obsessive lunacy is too much. And I think that people who carry on, get violent, or seem to be truly, genuinely _freaked out_ and are crumbling into jagged sobs over a game, a symphony, or Harrison Ford is **WACKED.** ---
**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 17, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/59 "2003-10-17T17:24:40Z")
You know, **yb** , people like that are called “fanatics” for a reason. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754/60 "2003-10-17T18:13:17Z")
Jeff, there are more sports fanatics out there than some people care to admit. That’s the point, I think! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-just-a-goddam-game/207754.md?page=4)