[QUOTE=micahjn]
My favorite aspect of sports is the uncertainty of the result. Most other forms of passive entertainment are staged in some way. I also love how I can talk to almost any guy in Chicago, and we probably have team that we like in common. Great way to break the ice in awkward situations.
[/QUOTE]
That’s a good point. Sports is one of the only entertainments for which the ending is unknown and unpredictable…sometimes wildly so.
It’s a tribal thing. Becoming part of a larger group. Also a bit of heritage and history. I bleed Dodger Blue. I do the Dance of Joy every time TCU scores a touchdown.
[QUOTE=Blaster Master]
I must say, this bugs me as well. As much as I love our team, the 'Skins, when I realized I was saying “we won” rather than “the 'Skins won”, I thought it sounded silly. Our fandom of sports has gone a little too far when we stop thinking of ourselves as fans and start thinking of ourselves as members of the team. But it speaks strongly to one of the major points many have brought up… people WANT to belong to something, and sports teams are one of the easiest things to attach yourself to. Sport is so pervasive in our culture that its almost impossible to NOT have some basic knowledge… all you have to do is pick a team. Just about anything else requires a higher (or at least harder to obtain) base level of knowledge.
[/QUOTE]
I agree-30 years ago, sports teams meant something. now, most athletes are free agents, ready to pack up and leave for whoever gives them a larger paycheck. that is why i can’t get all that excited-especially now that there are so many foreign baseball players. i can’t really get worked up about a team whose members come from the Dominican Republic. :eek:
[QUOTE=ralph124c]
I agree-30 years ago, sports teams meant something. now, most athletes are free agents, ready to pack up and leave for whoever gives them a larger paycheck. that is why i can’t get all that excited-especially now that there are so many foreign baseball players. i can’t really get worked up about a team whose members come from the Dominican Republic. :eek:
[/QUOTE]
Why?
Really, Why?
What makes a foreign player any less worthy of your fandom or admiration than a native born player?
I do not understand this. El Duke is Cuban, he is one of the more interesting players in the last 20 years. Mo’ Rivera is the greatest closer I have ever seen, nothing thrills me more consistantly than hearing “Enter Sandman” for this player from Panama. Albert Pujols is one of the most exciting hitters in baseball, you pay extra attention when he is at the plate than most times in a ballgame. He is Dominican. Baseball has always had a lot of immigrants in it. It is part of the fabric of the game. I guess you would not have enjoyed watching Tony Lazzeri play. He was born in Italy.
The game is still the game, it has changed in many ways, but it is still baseball.
I am very happy that players like Ichiro and Matsui have come over from Japan.
Jim
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
That’s a good point. Sports is one of the only entertainments for which the ending is unknown and unpredictable…sometimes wildly so.
[/QUOTE]
Yet MMORPG players are often seen as weirdos despite the similarities.
This has got to be the 25th thread we’ve had asking this same question.
I don’t understand what’s so puzzling about it. Meaning no disrespect to Martini Endfield, who seems like a bright enough guy, it strikes me as being a phenomenally stupid question. The people who ask “why do people like sports” and sometimes just say “Liking sports is stupid” (the OP, to his credit, is the former) then rush off and engage in their own trivial pursuits, like old movies, pop music, reality TV, science fiction novels, etc. etc.
What is so hard about grasping the fact that people like to watch and follow entertaining spectacles? Is the similarity between things like sports, movies, and theatre really that hard to perceive?
I suppose you can make a distinction between fans of sports in the abstract, and fans of a particular team. People in the first group will watch basically anything, while fans in the second group will watch primarily their own team. It’s this second group that I think is more tribal, more into the bonding experience of sublimated warfare. The first group represents the aesthetic, wonky side of fandom – the people who play fantasy sports, for example, or who care deeply about sabermetrics.
Myself, I’m more a category 2. I’d be unlikely to turn on a ballgame if it features two teams I don’t care about and am not particularly familiar with. I’m not watching any of the playoffs, for example, though I surely would if Boston were playing. I might watch a bit of the Series, though. And sometimes I might watch other teams to get a sense of how Boston’s competitors stack up.
Here’s another element to the fun of watching sports – the enduring fascination of watching other people work.
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip]
Sorry, I’m afraid I don’t really follow the weather.
[/QUOTE]
So, what atmospheric conditions do you watch?
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
That’s a good point. Sports is one of the only entertainments for which the ending is unknown and unpredictable…sometimes wildly so.
[/QUOTE]
Interesting. As a non-fan one of the very things that turns me off spectator sports is their PREDICTABILITY. Yes, you don’t know WHICH team is going to win, but you know that ONE of them will … .
[QUOTE=RickJay]
What is so hard about grasping the fact that people like to watch and follow entertaining spectacles? Is the similarity between things like sports, movies, and theatre really that hard to perceive?
[/QUOTE]
But people get so excited about sports. I mean, I like books. But I’m not out there painting my face, or even buying T-shirts over it.
And yes, I’m similarly consternated by the (ahem) diverse and interesting individuals who dress up in costume and line up a day in advance to watch the first showing of a movie.
[QUOTE=begbert2]
But people get so excited about sports. I mean, I like books. But I’m not out there painting my face, or even buying T-shirts over it.
And yes, I’m similarly consternated by the (ahem) diverse and interesting individuals who dress up in costume and line up a day in advance to watch the first showing of a movie.
[/QUOTE]
So what do you buy T-shirts for. Do you buy T-shirts for anything?
Are you just someone that does not where T-shirts?
Very few fans paint their faces, it would be safe to ignore this subset.
Is there any event that you get caught up in? How about music and concerts?
Do you also not understand buying a Pink Floyd shirt or Blacked Eye Peas?
Jim
[QUOTE=What Exit?]
So what do you buy T-shirts for. Do you buy T-shirts for anything?
Are you just someone that does not where T-shirts?
Very few fans paint their faces, it would be safe to ignore this subset.
Is there any event that you get caught up in? How about music and concerts?
Do you also not understand buying a Pink Floyd shirt or Blacked Eye Peas?
Jim
[/QUOTE]
In actuality all my shirts are solid blue. Well, that’s not strictly true. I have a red one and a black one, but those were gifts, and I don’t wear them in public. (To my credit, not all of my shirts are the same shade of blue.)
I’ve been interested in various movies, books, computer games, etcetera, but not enough for them to impact the way I present myself.
[QUOTE=begbert2]
In actuality all my shirts are solid blue. Well, that’s not strictly true. I have a red one and a black one, but those were gifts, and I don’t wear them in public. (To my credit, not all of my shirts are the same shade of blue.)
I’ve been interested in various movies, books, computer games, etcetera, but not enough for them to impact the way I present myself.
[/QUOTE]
So you have almost no reference for any sort of fandom it sounds like.
I can understand why you do not understand others interest to the point of fandom, but I have no clue how to explain it.
I am a Yankee Fanatic, I have owned dozens of concert shirts and I even attended a Star Trek Convention once. I will regurgitate Monty Python references at the drop of the hat and my location field includes a reference to Middle-Earth.
I guess I am a fan of many things, I am enthusiastic about life and my interests. Heck, I even bought a Straight Dope Coffee Mug.
Jim
[QUOTE=RickJay]
This has got to be the 25th thread we’ve had asking this same question.
I don’t understand what’s so puzzling about it. Meaning no disrespect to Martini Endfield, who seems like a bright enough guy, it strikes me as being a phenomenally stupid question. The people who ask “why do people like sports” and sometimes just say “Liking sports is stupid” (the OP, to his credit, is the former) then rush off and engage in their own trivial pursuits, like old movies, pop music, reality TV, science fiction novels, etc. etc.
What is so hard about grasping the fact that people like to watch and follow entertaining spectacles? Is the similarity between things like sports, movies, and theatre really that hard to perceive?
[/QUOTE]
Sports are different from just about any other recreational activity or pursuit, though.
Sports has its own schedule that people reorganize their lives around. I’ve seen people go through contortions to reschedule weddings, rearrange complicated travel plans, take days off work, hunt down TVs in the middle of the night in foreign countries, all for a sporting event. And I’m not talking World Cup Final or Game 7 of the World Series. I’m talking Next Week’s Regular Season Football Match.
Other interests or pursuits rarely ever demand such regularly scheduled time commitments. Sure, I’ve known people who’s traveled obscene distances for a Rolling Stones concert. But that’s a one-time event. With sports it’s dozens of games a year, every year, without fail. There are some friends I know I have to write off for huge swaths of time because their free time is devoted almost exclusively to season tickets, weekly matches, etc. I’ve known my share of football widows who are abandoned by husbands who Can’t Miss the Thursday night/all day Saturday/all day Sunday/Monday night football continuum. Not one single game (without pouting like a baby or acting like a martyr).
Say what you want about fans of other entertainment, but you’ll rarely see such avid devotion and extraordinary time commitments spent on Film Festivals, Book Clubs, or Flower Shows.
Anything can be taken to a bizarre or “unnatural” extreme, but if you were to talk about how much time you devote to Dog Pagaents or Star Trek or Ultimate Frisbee the way others devote to Football (to list but one example), you’d be called a nut. But when it comes to Sports, you’ve just got team spirit or civic pride or whatnot. And let’s be honest–the fan bases of Basketball, Football, and Baseball aren’t mutually exclusive, which means you have some people who devote themselves to one season after another after another, religiously, year after year, without fail. That is not analogous to anything, really–especially nothing else that’s purely spectator-oriented (as opposed to gardening or marathon running or something more actively participatory).
I recently saw Invincible and the father of Mark Wahlberg talked about how through all the years of his shitty job and meagre econcomic status and the death of his wife and his future that offered very little hope for change, the one thing that kept him going was the memory of a single play in a single Philadelphia Eagles game back when he was a kid.
It was a very moving scene and I didn’t doubt for a second that there are a lot of people who would completely relate to his perspective, but the whole thing to me was totally unworldly. I Just. Didn’t. Get It.
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
Sports are different from just about any other recreational activity or pursuit, though.
…snip…
And let’s be honest–the fan bases of Basketball, Football, and Baseball aren’t mutually exclusive, which means you have some people who devote themselves to one season after another after another, religiously, year after year, without fail.
…snip…
I Just. Didn’t. Get It.
[/QUOTE]
You are right, sports does cause far more people to act like fanatics than other interests. This is valid. Probably begs the turn-about question of what causes some people to have no interest in sports when so many people do have a strong interest?
You described my bother in the middle passage, thankfully he is a confirmed bachelor and therefore does not have a sports widow.
You are correct, You just didn’t get it. Field of dreams would be wasted on you also it sounds like or even Bad News Bears, the original.
Jim
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
Sports are different from just about any other recreational activity or pursuit, though.
…snip…
And let’s be honest–the fan bases of Basketball, Football, and Baseball aren’t mutually exclusive, which means you have some people who devote themselves to one season after another after another, religiously, year after year, without fail.
…snip…
I Just. Didn’t. Get It.
[/QUOTE]
You are right, sports does cause far more people to act like fanatics than other interests. This is valid. Probably begs the turn-about question of what causes some people to have no interest in sports when so many people do have a strong interest?
You described my bother in the middle passage, thankfully he is a confirmed bachelor and therefore does not have a sports widow.
You are correct, You just didn’t get it. Field of dreams would be wasted on you also it sounds like or even Bad News Bears, the original.
Jim
[QUOTE=What Exit?]
You are right, sports does cause far more people to act like fanatics than other interests. This is valid. Probably begs the turn-about question of what causes some people to have no interest in sports when so many people do have a strong interest? …
You are correct, You just didn’t get it. Field of dreams would be wasted on you also it sounds like or even Bad News Bears, the original.
Jim
[/QUOTE]
My aren’t you presumptuous. I love The Bad News Bears, Bull Durham, When We Were Kings and other sports films (though FoD uses sentimentality as a crutch, not a tool). And nowhere in my post did I indicate I have “no interest” in sports. I, for one, am very glad the Padres are in the playoffs (and sad that the Chargers lost).
But I can have a passing interest in sports without being fanatical. Plenty of people can. Sports Obsessives are in a completely different “league” than other fans of other media or diversions, though. I can understand enjoying games and even having a passionate allegiance to a team. But contorting your life so as not to miss a game? Prioritizing your life and schedule around a franchise? Singling out a sporting event as a single motivating force in your life? That’s where the “Dude, it’s only a game” impulse kicks in with me.
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
My aren’t you presumptuous. I love The Bad News Bears, Bull Durham, When We Were Kings and other sports films (though FoD uses sentimentality as a crutch, not a tool). And nowhere in my post did I indicate I have “no interest” in sports. I, for one, am very glad the Padres are in the playoffs (and sad that the Chargers lost).
But I can have a passing interest in sports without being fanatical. Plenty of people can. Sports Obsessives are in a completely different “league” than other fans of other media or diversions, though. I can understand enjoying games and even having a passionate allegiance to a team. But contorting your life so as not to miss a game? Prioritizing your life and schedule around a franchise? Singling out a sporting event as a single motivating force in your life? That’s where the “Dude, it’s only a game” impulse kicks in with me.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I mis-interpreted your last post. I can’t explain the fans that will arrange their weddings around a sporting event, but I am still surprised that you find something as common as buying T-shirts related to teams as odd.
You know I could not tell from your post you rooted even lightly for a sports team. It appeared you did not.
Jim
Another guy who doesn’t understand sports here. Except fer Martini Enfield, you’re all a bunch of irrational weirdos.
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
But I can have a passing interest in sports without being fanatical. Plenty of people can. Sports Obsessives are in a completely different “league” than other fans of other media or diversions, though.
[/QUOTE]
Exactly how many sports fans are “sports obsessives,” though? I don’t personally know a single one.
I think my record speaks for itself it terms of how much I love baseball, but I sure as shit would not reschedule a wedding because I had Jays tickets. I live in a country that loves hockey more than Americans, on the whole, love ANY sport, but I’ve never met any hockey fans who treat it with the irrational, obsessive, “Fever Pitch” stupidity you describe. Not a single one. I know a lot of guys who really, really love their hockey, but not that much.
I know folks like that are out there, sure. There’s always nutbars. But they are simply not very commonplace. The majority of people who attend professional sporting events are casual fans.
I also know that when “Rent” was playing in Toronto, there were twentysomethings who called themselves “Rentheads” and went almost every night, worshipping a second-rate musical show. You say rock concerts are a one time thing, but that’s just not true at all; you’ve got your Deadheads, your Phish nuts, and your audiophiles who go to 47 Pearl Jam concerts in an effort to collect as many bootleg tapes as possible.
And one more word: Trekkies.
Really, which of their weirdo groups are weirder than the others?