Why people feel it is Ok to walk up to you and talk to you about sports like it is perfectly acceptable and you should share a similar interest? This has happened to me over and over again recently and it makes me very furious. It is not as though I am not a sports fan. I like football a fairly well and baseball somewhat but only if I am going to the game.
People of other interests do not do that. You will never hear an opera aficionado make small talk and mention how incredible that high note last night was if she doesn’t know you like opera. I know many things in the areas that interest me that I don’t start mentioning casually because I would sound like a dork idiot. Why do sports have their own section in the paper? Who cares? Well obviously someone cares but it is pretty stupid to place your dreams on paid professionals that move based on business decisions.
I have no idea why people think that any sport is important at all besides throw-away entertainment. It is people paid to do a job just like any entertainer and the appropriate thing is just to enjoy the show and then go home.
In conclusion, if I see another 50+ year old man do an air swing with an imaginary baseball bat or his golf club, someone is going to get hurt.
You’re kidding yourself if you think only sports fans do this. I have been bored by people of a wide variety of interests. And if I’m bored, I tell them I do not care about their subject and that pretty much takes care of it. Maybe you could try that?
As to why there’s a sports page? It’s because a lot of people want it there and advertisers are willing to buy space there. If there were as many opera fans, then there might be an opera page.
I like baseball. I like to talk baseball with other fans. If you don’t want to talk baseball, all you have to do is say so.
I hate sports. I mean, playing them is okay, but watching them is the most boring thing imaginable.* But most people really do like them. Enough so that you can walk up to a random stranger, ask him about last night’s baseball game, and 90% of the time get a positive response. Dude, it’s people trying to be friendly with you! And this makes you mad? I’m the furthest thing from a sports fan imaginable, and when someone asks me about sports, I just say, “I don’t really follow sports.” And 99% of the time we find something else to talk about.
Now, if you want to talk about that other 1%, that’s something to rant about. But that’s a vanishingly small slice of the sportsfan pie chart.
I don’t like sports either, but I make it a point to know just enough about what’s currently going on to be able to respond to a polite inquiry (most often posed by the customers at work). When I want the conversation to end, I’ll just mention that my “favorite team” is <insert team that is currently sucking like a lightning-struck Hoover>. The person, not wanting to insult me, will say something to the effect of “well that’s nice”, and that will be the end of that.
The exception, of course, is NASCAR. When faced with a NASCAR fan, I casually mention Jeff Gordon and see how they react. If they smile, I say I’m a fan. If they make an expression like they’ve just smelled a fart, I proclaim my love for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Every NASCAR fan on Earth loves one of these drivers and hates the other. Once I find the person’s taste, I pretend to share it, which has a double benefit: the person likes me ('cause if I hate X and like Y, I must be A-OK), and the conversation ends ('cause we both agree that X obviously sucks and Y is clearly great, so why talk about it?).
This system may seem a touch cynical. That’s because it is, which goes a long way toward explaining why it works every time.
Sports is one of the sole unifying cultural forces in the United States. With today’s bitter, divisive namecalling and political shananiganing on behalf of the political fringes of our country, we need to learn about the things we share, not roll our eyes everytime we hear about it. In my personal life, I’ve even found that dificult relationships can be reinitiated by simply having a common interest in a sport. Why? Because sports exemplify cultural values that unify American’s, despite political affiliation (or other conflicts). So I don’t really get offended when somebody begins talking to me about some sporting thing I don’t understand. I listen attently to the whole story and try to relate to the drama behind it, even if it is a tad overhyped and produced.
On Sunday I was at Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game. I sat next to a guy and his wife. All three were wearing Packers jerseys. We got to talking about the Redskins/election thing. I mentioned that will be ended this year, he said he loved that it meant a Packer win and a Kerry win.
We kinda just looked at each other for a moment.
Then we started talking about Grady Jackson being back and healthy to stop the opposing run game. Never said another word about the election. Green Bay brought us back together. Besides, we knew the election wasn’t anywhere near as important as a Packers win.
People are trying to be friendly. It’s one of the few unifying topics of conversation in this country. You can talk to anyone, no matter what their race, political stance,or social standing about sports.
I have close to zero interest in and knowledge of sports, but I don’t mind if people try to talk to me about it; as other pointed out they’re just being friendly.
What I do dislike is when I’m at a bar trying to have a conversation with friends and people start bellowing at their loudest possible volume at the screen because someone is about to make a touchdown or whatever. Try to save it for the sports bars, folks.
Now that is one scary concept. I’d really like to think we have values beyond physically beating people you don’t like, and the superiority of drug users.
Because nobody really likes opera. People only go because they think “it looks good” and other people with think they have class. Everybody at any given opera is miserable.
Now, FUCK OFF! Half-time is over and I’m outta here!
P.S. Fuck Notre Dame and Fuck Tennessee for not pounding them into sausage.
Yes they do. Movies, tv shows, and music are all examples of topics people might bring up in small talk. Sports is the second easiest small talk topic, after the weather.
No, it’s not scary at all. Your completely misguided understanding of sports would make it a scary concept, but luckily your ignorance is not related to the reality Pythagras was addressing.
In the interest of fighting ignorance, some of those cultural values are teamwork; winning and losing gracefully; always giving your best effort; achieving goals through hard work, preparation, and dedication; and most importantly, how do you react to adversity? Do you give up, or do you dust yourself off and try harder?
Ha! When any of those values are seen in professional sports, I’ll retract my statement. You’d be more likely to see any of those attributes in a circle jerk than a pro ball game, no matter what the ball.
I like opera. Not because others will think I have class or because it ‘looks good’. I love listening to it. When I hear a haunting and emotional melody, it sticks with me. There’s nothing like it.
Sports, on the other hand, I couldn’t care less about. I hate most sports. My husband knows this and tries not to discuss them with me. I have become a bit of an Indians fan since moving to Ohio, but I hate the Browns still. I root for the Steelers. Okay, I only do that because it annoys him, but it’s fun:).
