# sports pre-empting regular programming **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667 "2004-12-08T02:21:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/41 "2004-12-08T17:57:30Z")
Personally, I don’t mind all the sports on TV. It’s scheduled, and though I may not like not seeing my favorite show this week, I can deal with it. I’ve been warned in advance What I hate is that I have never, ever seen a game end when it’s supossed to. It always goes at least 10 minutes over (speaking mostly about baseball here, though other sports are just as guilty). I either miss the beginning of the show that was _suppossed_ to be shown right after the game, or it gets preempted entirely. Geesh, you guys know that the game is going to last more than three hours, it always lasts longer. Tack on an extra half hour or whatever, and fill the extra time with talking heads. Don’t make me think I’ll get to see the Simpsons when that’s not going to happen. And my personal favorite incident was when a show I wanted to watch (can’t remember what show now, but I wanted to see it pretty bad) was scheduled right after a hockey game. Game went over. I waited, annoyed. It went about 15-20 minutes past the allotted time (the show coming on after was an hour long, so it still wasn’t half over yet). At this time, I’m like, ‘About time, I hope I didn’t miss anything too exciting.’ And for the next 40-45 minutes, I got to listen to the after-game show, talking about mundane stuff I really did not care about, instead of whatever it was I was trying to watch. I can deal with sports pre-empting normal television _if its mentioned on the schedule_. So, no, I don’t have a problem with the Olympics, in fact thats that only time I watch sports on television. I just hate that half hour after the game is supossed to end when you’re not sure how much of the next show you’re going to get to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/42 "2004-12-08T18:10:05Z")
> [@beergeek279](#): > > I watch sports (football and especially hockey if it ever gets back) and if it makes me a drunken, inbred Neanderthal, then so be it. The nice thing about those making an argument such as this is that, given their intelligence and thirst for thought-provoking activities, they must have stacks of books lying about that they would rather be reading anyway. As a fan of a few televisions shows (yet a big sports fan), I can empathize to a degree. To those arguing that sports are boring, I am sure that you recognize that this is a matter of taste. There is nothing more exciting and dramatic than watching a sporting event when you really care about the teams or players involved. If you have no allegiances nor interest, sure it could be boring. But, as others have pointed out, the same can be said of any television program, book, movie, piece of music… If you don’t like it, spending time looking at it will not be pleasurable. The thing that sports offers that little else on television can is the spontaneity and unpredictability of real life. Nothing is scripted, nothing has been edited to influence your emotions. Whatever happens is up to those involved. It’s the best reality television you’ll ever find. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/43 "2004-12-08T18:11:49Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > The Miracle on Ice gave Americans back our sense of self respect. Ah, yes. I remember when I was so ashamed to be an American that I developed a faux-European accent, began wearing a monocle, and kept sneaking over the borders into Mexico and Canada to escape my hated, plagued homeland. Then came **The Miracle on Ice**! _Huzzah!_ At last, I could cast off my monocle, wrap myself in the red white & blue again and proudly proclaim “I Am An American!” [Does anyone else here know what the fuck the Miracle on Ice is? Is it like a Cosmopolitan on the rocks?] ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/44 "2004-12-08T18:15:50Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > If it’s OK for Futurama and Malcolm in the Middle fans to miss their shows, it’s OK for sports fans to miss theirs. Fair enough. Guess the answer is to inconvenience the fewest number of people possible. Let’s compare ratings between football and Futurama or Malcolm. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/45 "2004-12-08T18:34:49Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Holy christ, what a load of whiners. You all realize that all your favorite network TV shows are repeated, right? Either later that night, at which time you can set your VCRs or Tivos, or endlessly during the summer. > > I can’t think of a single sporting event that has ever been replayed in its entirety. Talking about your fuckin’ whiners. You do know you can watch Sportscenter and get a recap of the 2 minutes of play that actually mattered in a football game and let the other programming run on it’s scheduled time? And as mentioned before, The Amazing Race has never rerun, nor has Kingdom Hospital, nor certain other series/specials. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/46 "2004-12-08T18:52:36Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > [Does anyone else here know what the fuck the Miracle on Ice is? Is it like a Cosmopolitan on the rocks?] The Miracle on Ice was the US winning the Olympic Men’s Hockey gold medal in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games (quibble: is the Mirable them winning the gold, or beating the Soviets in the semifinal game?). The “restoring America’s pride” argument generally has to do with that game being a tonic to the embarrassment of the Iranian hostage crisis. And while **Ellis Dee** is clearly exaggerating somewhat, I would bet that more Americans know what the Miracle on Ice is than can point to Mexico or Canada on a map. Not saying that’s right… ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/47 "2004-12-08T18:56:16Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > [Does anyone else here know what the fuck the Miracle on Ice is? Is it like a Cosmopolitan on the rocks?] Even for non-sports fans, the 1980 US Hockey Team’s gold medal victory (and particularly their victory over the dominant Soviet team in the second to last round) was a source of great pride during very difficult times. As much as one might dislike sports, it is hard to understand disparaging _that_ event. Being ignorant of it, well, perhaps you are too young. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/48 "2004-12-08T19:04:20Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Being ignorant of it, well, perhaps you are too young. Aren’t you sweet. Nope, sporting events are simply not on my radar. “Sports people” don’t seem to understand that not everyone gives a damn about sports. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/49 "2004-12-08T19:17:57Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > So let me see if I understand this argument properly. Many of you are annoyed with the fact that _your_ shows are _delayed_, so your solution to this problem is to _remove_ part of _other people’s_ shows? Does that sum it up about right? > > How about instead of that, the Amazing Race gets broadcast at a fixed time, no matter what, but it gets cut before the ending? Would that be better, or is it only okay when it happens to programming you personally don’t like? OK, let’s have one rule for all. Your sports runs over its alloted timeslot, the end gets cut off. My movie runs over its alloted timeslot, the end gets cut off. 100% pure fairness. > [@](#): > > I’m just trying to gauge the amount of self-centeredness actually being espoused in this thread. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/50 "2004-12-08T20:34:30Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Aren’t you sweet. > > Nope, sporting events are simply not on my radar. “Sports people” don’t seem to understand that not everyone gives a damn about sports. Assuming this is sarcasm, I do apologize if any of my statement was offensive. I used the term “ignorant” to mean “unaware of.” You implied that you were unaware of what Miracle on Ice refers to. Just to follow up, however, it is my impression that the Olympic Games are of interest to more than just “sports people,” and that the major events of the cold war were something that people other than just “sports people” gave a damn about. There is no particular reason to be aggressive about your lack of knowledge, and no reason to pretend that sports have not had cultural, social and political effects outside of the spectators and fans of the sport for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/51 "2004-12-08T20:35:26Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Ah, yes. I remember when I was so ashamed to be an American that I developed a faux-European accent, began wearing a monocle, and kept sneaking over the borders into Mexico and Canada to escape my hated, plagued homeland. > > Then came **The Miracle on Ice**! _Huzzah!_ At last, I could cast off my monocle, wrap myself in the red white & blue again and proudly proclaim “I Am An American!” > > [Does anyone else here know what the fuck the Miracle on Ice is? Is it like a Cosmopolitan on the rocks?] Oh great, now there’s Mountain Dew in my keyboard. Listen, nobody said sports fans are Neanderthals or uncultured or anything like that. Different folks, different strokes. It just upsets me that one of the only shows I watch (Malcolm) is pre-empted not by a game (because the game itself is usually over by 7:30) but by talking about a game after it’s already over. Sometimes the post-game analysis is twenty minutes long. Do you really need to hear twenty minutes of wrap-up, after watching a three hour game that’s been commented on throughout? Do they really get good ratings on the wrap-up? It’s just reiterating stuff that you’ve already seen. I think most people would just turn off the game after they know the final score. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/52 "2004-12-08T20:48:06Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > OK, let’s have one rule for all. Your sports runs over its alloted timeslot, the end gets cut off. My movie runs over its alloted timeslot, the end gets cut off. 100% pure fairness. Darn tootin’! And to keep with the fairness, we’ll use your movie’s cinematic run-time as the allotted length. They put some commercials in there? Bummer. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/53 "2004-12-08T20:53:17Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Darn tootin’! And to keep with the fairness, we’ll use your movie’s cinematic run-time as the allotted length. They put some commercials in there? Bummer. Nope. We’ll use the time alloted by the preparers of the TV schedules in both cases. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/54 "2004-12-08T20:55:05Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > The OP was complaining about missing The Amazing Race, not a single episode of which has ever been replayed. I don’t know about your market, but in mine, last season, TAR was being replayed on Saturday afternoons or some such time. I know because there were episodes I watched twice. So, sorry. I guess to my mind, if there were really that many people that wanted to watch Futurama or whatever in its entirety all the time, the networks would air it that way. Instead, they’ve decided that football and other sports are where the money is. It sucks to be in the minority sometimes, but we all end up there on various issues. This one just happens to be yours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/55 "2004-12-08T20:56:55Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > As an added bonus, scripted entertainment has no element of the unknown. What a bizarre thing to say. Do you really believe this? You’ve never been surprised by a TV show, movie, book, or stage play? > [@](#): > > Do you watch the Olympics? Would you have the same complaints about Futurama being delayed for the Olympics? Yes. I don’t like sports. Making the sporting event bigger doesn’t make it any less dull. > [@](#): > > So everyone in this thread hates the Olympics, huh? All those children’s games interrupting the nightly sitcoms and whatnot. In all seriousness, sports have intrinsic _value_. Horsecrap. Sports have no intrinsic value at all. They have enormous subjective value, in that millions of people enjoy them to the point that they will frequently riot when their favorite team wins, but they have absolutely zero intrinsic value. Mind you, the same applies to any other programming on TV. > [@](#): > > The Miracle on Ice gave Americans back our sense of self respect. When the hostages were freed from Iran, the state department showed them a video catching them up on the year they missed. It ended with the Miracle on Ice. The hostages had tears in their eyes recounting how it had restored their faith in their country to see that, and they knew nothing about hockey. Name me any other form of entertainment that could have managed that. That’s one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever heard. “I’ve spent years in a rotting hellhole with a gun to my head while my alternatingly impotent and apathetic government did nothing to help me, but that’s all okay because some Americans can skate real good.” Jesus. Can someone explain how that makes any kind of rational sense? > [@](#): > > Like it or not, sports is the one and only unifying, emotional commonality we have in this country. Again, self evident bullshit, as evidenced by the people in this very thread who _don’t like sports_. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/56 "2004-12-08T20:57:31Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > Sometimes the post-game analysis is twenty minutes long. Do you really need to hear twenty minutes of wrap-up, after watching a three hour game that’s been commented on throughout? Do they really get good ratings on the wrap-up? It’s just reiterating stuff that you’ve already seen. I think most people would just turn off the game after they know the final score. There’s usually more than one game playing at a time, so they do a brief synopsis of every game that was played. And yes, I do need to see that. Here’s another really good idea: why don’t you find a way for Futurama and Malcolm in the Middle to make as much money as NFL games do. Then maybe they’ll think twice about preempting them. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/57 "2004-12-08T21:03:47Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > And yes, I do need to see that. Well, you don’t need to see it. You want to see it. Just like I want to watch my shows. What you watch isn’t any more “important” than what I watch, even if it does make more money. It’s all just TV. I get that more people like football than Futurama. I’m resigned to that. Us televisual minorities just like to bitch sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linus_Van_Pelt)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/58 "2004-12-08T21:48:39Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Aren’t you sweet. > > Nope, sporting events are simply not on my radar. “Sports people” don’t seem to understand that not everyone gives a damn about sports. For many people, I suspect that it’s not so much that sports fans don’t understand when non-sports fans don’t care about sports, but that they’re somewhat surprised that you’ve never heard about an event that crossed the boundry of sport and entered into the general culture, especially given the cold-war climate of the time. Sort of like someone who was around in the seventies saying, “Jaws? It’s a movie you say? Sorry, never heard of it. I don’t much care for movies” or someone saying, “Woodstock? Oh, it was a concert? I don’t really pay much attention to popular music.” The idea isn’t unbelievable, but it is surprising. (I was going to use Star Wars instead of Jaws, but there are degrees of cultural phenomena and Star Wars is probably an extreme example) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/59 "2004-12-08T22:31:27Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > The OP was complaining about missing The Amazing Race, not a single episode of which has ever been replayed. > [@TommyTutone](#): > > And as mentioned before, The Amazing Race has never rerun, nor has Kingdom Hospital, nor certain other series/specials. I refer you to the OP: > [@longhair75](#): > > …calling the station resulted in the information that the network show that is on now everywhere else will be run at 3:00 am. Now, I can accept the frustration from those who complain about some local sporting event – like high school sports – preempting other programs. Such events don’t really have a large following, I’ll certainly admit. But a lot of the folks in this thread are apparently outraged that NFL football, or the MLB playoffs, could dare put off some sitcom or reality show. Worse yet, some of those folks say that sports fans can watch ESPN to see the “good parts” of what we might have missed. Well, what would you say if I suggested that you get your lazy asses over to Cafe Society, where every twist and turn of damn near every reality show is dissected beginning moments after the show airs? Yeah, it’d sound pretty damn stupid. So, set your VCRs and Tivos to record the program when it is rebroadcast later that night, or the show will almost certainly be replayed within a couple of months. I repeat again, sports fans don’t have that luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667/60 "2004-12-08T22:37:58Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Assuming this is sarcasm, I do apologize if any of my statement was offensive. I used the term “ignorant” to mean “unaware of.” You implied that you were unaware of what Miracle on Ice refers to. > > Just to follow up, however, it is my impression that the Olympic Games are of interest to more than just “sports people,” and that the major events of the cold war were something that people other than just “sports people” gave a damn about. No, the “aren’t you sweet” was for calling me young, not ignorant. I suppose I saw or heard the phrase “_Miracle on Ice!_” back in, what was it, 1980? And then promptly forgot about it, as _I don’t care about sports._ And no, I don’t watch the Olympics, or even pay attention to the results. I just. don’t. _care_. Jesus, I don’t demand y’all remember where you were the day you heard Bette Davis died, or quote from _Madame X_ on demand! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-pre-empting-regular-programming/278667.md?page=4)