Answer the question with a sentence or two then let people ask some questions. It’ll get a conversation going. Once you hit paragraph stage with your initial answer to their question the asker thinks you are entering Grandpa Simpson territory.
Now, concerning sports, you don’t have to memorize minutia to watch a game.
Not all men like football. I, for one, don’t think it’s quite as boring as golf, but it’s pretty close.
The former is fake people doing a real thing, fictionally; the latter is real people doing a fake thing, in reality.
The rules of sports are just so… arbitrary. I just can’t interest myself in how people interact with such a narrowly defined set of rules, for a goal that’s ultimately meaningless. Overcoming adversity is certainly interesting–but (to me) only when it’s a real thing, like building an airplane or rocket or quantum computer. Or, alternatively, taking out a bad guy or saving some innocents from danger. It’s also interesting even if the participants are fictional, because at least I understand the purpose of what they’re trying to achieve. But sports are just a bunch of made-up rules that have no analog to anything real. The best I can do is that they are a crude simulation of war, but even that’s a stretch.
In case there’s any confusion, I’m not saying sports are faked. I’m saying the rules represent a fake thing. Or perhaps more accurately, they’re entirely self-referential: their only purpose is to enable the game itself. There is no outside achievement, like learning something about the universe or doing something that’s never been done before.
Of course, people are welcome to enjoy what they want–the only time sports really bother me are when people get so emotionally invested that it spreads beyond the game itself–like when fans go into a foul mood when their team loses, and take it out on others. Not everyone does this, but plenty do. If you like the emotional rollercoaster, fine, but limit it to the game…
Right.
And just as appreciating fiction usually involves some “willing suspension of disbelief” where the reader or viewer pretends that what they’re reading or viewing is more than just something that someone made up, appreciating sports usually involves an analogous attitude where the viewer pretends that it matters who wins.
(And yes, in both cases, there are people who take it way too seriously and don’t know when to stop pretending.)
I’ve given up trying to understand people’s interest in football. It’s just the way things are on this planet.
I like football. I got the ability to understand it from…my mother - the biggest Dallas Cowboys fan on Earth. Seriously, she watches historical games on the NFL channel when the regular season is over and you don’t be in the same room when they made a mistake circa 1976 because you are going to lose your hearing.
I don’t obsess over it though. I haven’t watched a game live this season. However, I can’t understand why people think that football isn’t strategic. It is the most strategic major sport in existence. Even the coaches are key players during the game. There is a reason why football video games often let you play the role of coach while that concept would be ridiculous for sports like soccer. Decisions and strategy matter as much as the actual execution.
I never minded watching sports with my ex (luckily he had no interest in basketball. That would have been a deal breaker). Of course we’d usually be at our local bar so it was a very social thing but I did pay attention and when I didn’t understand a call or something he *seemed *glad to explain. And then we went home on got on with our lives. He didn’t feel the need to keep talking about it. I can understand enjoying football as much as I can understand enjoying anything, I guess, but what’s with the need to recite stats and replay it over and over and over and have it dominate the conversation for hours at a time? Mondays at my office are almost unbearable with these man children going on and on and on.
What thing do you greatly like, and share with your friends? I’d like to infantilize you for it as a vehicle for my own sense of smug superiority.
Then why do I see so many people wearing the jerseys, numbers, and even players names everywhere? It seems that the outfits are extremely important to the fans, considering they spend a lot on them and frequently even wear them to work. I’m a huge fan of airshows, but I don’t dress up like one of the Blue Angels when I go out.
You may have a point here, and I’d be the first to admit missing subtle social cues on this sort of thing. But I still notice a curious similarity in men who insist all conversations revolve around sports. They can never tell you about doing something. They can only tell you about watching something. And man can they tell you.
The following is the literal truth. I’ve routinely listened to the “sportsboys” and boss rehash the weekend’s game for 45+ minutes in the hallway. Then been scolded by the same boss for a 10 minute conversation with another coworker about camping. Actually threatened a write-up for wasting time on non-work conversations. Several years ago, my son was in his first month as an airline pilot, and I chose a route so I could ride as his passenger. While trying to tell a coworker about the trip on Monday, the office’s alpha sportsboy literally pushed between us and started relating something about the Cowboys.
In my experience the louder men talk about football, the less they actually do.
Agree with you about baseball, but I think football is almost as strategy driven, Consider that on every play, the offense has to choose between pass and run, and then whether to throw deep or shallow, to the side or over the middle. And the defense is not passive, they have to choose whether to blitz or hang back. And then you get to 4th down, and you have to decide to punt or take the risk of going for it…
That sort of thing, along with the sheer athleticism of many of the players, makes it such an entertaining game.
If I dominated the conversation, for hours on end, in my place of business no less, I’d deserve to be infantilized.
Listen carefully to the language: “I just can’t understand why we couldn’t manage to score on Eisenberg last week, but the next game against Cape Podunk should be no problem for us.” I hear teams spoken of in the first person plural by fans fairly often. If that is not a strong indicator of the social/tribal aspect of the sport, I am not sure what would be.
IIRC, there was a psychology book that pointed out how a football fan uninterruptedly explained over the course of a single sentence that we’d had a real chance of winning until they made that one foolish mistake.
Can I just say, I’ve run into a lot more “You like sportsball?” people than “You don’t like football?” people in my life. And this thread is a perfect example of it.
Er… what?
Likewise.
I’m not a die-hard fan or Sunday couch potato, but I do like when football season rolls around for the above reasons and check in on a few games each week. I don’t really chat about it with anyone, though. I look forward to two sporting events: the football season and the Tour de France. That’s about it.