What’s up with people who think hating and/or not following sports is a virtue? It’s fine if you don’t care for them, but don’t expect a commendation on your intelligence and good taste because you’re “above all that.” It’s a matter of preference, not a matter of character.
I once got into a discussion about baseball with a couple of fellows within a larger group, and one fellow puffed himself up a bit and said he was proud to say that he had no idea what we were talking about. Well, suppose a couple of fellows were talking about opera, mechanical engineering, the best places to eat in Toronto, or the care and feeding of pet wallabies. I could say, in candor, that I had no knowledge of the subject and no interest in it, but why would that be something to be proud of? I don’t think you need to be embarassed, but there’s certainly nothing to be proud of.
Sports are part of our culture, and professing your pride in your lack of knowledge and interest is similar to someone boasting that they’ve never read a book or hate all forms of music. It’s their right to do ignore books and music, but that ignorance is value-neutral – it’s neither a virtue or a vice. I take no pride in my ignorance of gardening or jazz, and I figure those interests bring joy and satisfaction and perhaps even spiritual bliss to the people who enjoy them. Frankly, I respect anyone who is really interested in something, whatever it is.
Anyway, I’m sorry, for you, that you can’t share in the pure joy of something like the RedSox winning the World Series or the Packers falling behind 35-0 in the second quarter, but you seem to make up for it in the gloating, so I guess it all evens out.
Just out of curiosity, why didn’t you just post this in the first linked thread? I mean, the title was “I hate sports” and as of right now it only has two replies, so you could have gotten in on the ground floor.
:: leaves to start a thread titled “I hate people who don’t care about people who hate sports” ::
It is merely a counterpoint against those morons whose only interest is watching sport. Not those people who have interests in watching sport and also in other things, or those who actually take part in sport, which are both commendable.
I agree that the “I’m glad I don’t know what you are talking about” mentality is stupid and insulting, but I don’t think that is what the two linked threads are doing.
I made a thread being anti-sports coverage a little while ago but I can’t find it right now. My opinion still applies. People that are “into” sports feel free to talk about it in casual conversation as if you should have the same interests as you do. I like aviation. Imagine the reaction people would have if I just walked up to someone and started talking about some flight that I thought was cool. Also imagine if a spread my arms out and flew around the room making airplane sounds while I was doing it. That is the equivalent of what several baseball fans did to me talking while the Red Sox were in the world series. They talked while doing air swings.
You would be annoyed too if “opera” were a major segment of the nightly news and took up a section of the paper if you had no interest in it. Combine that with the fact that some of your favorite shows were pre-empted by opera coverage and people forced you to talk about it the next day.
I’ve often been pulled into conversations on other people’s pets, families, workout regimens, gardens, home improvements, vacations, and so on, and I generally try to be interested, since it’s all part of being a friend.
Oh yeah? Well fuck you, pal. I hate people who dislike people who hate people who don’t care about people who hate sports – especially when they are namby-pamby about it instead of just admitting it.
Well, if someone wants to open a thread on how much they hate x, I don’t see why I need to hijack it and make it a thread about hating people who hate x.
None of these were firends. They were all strangers or casual aquaintences. That is my point. One was during a job interview and I felt I had to fake interest and knowledge to have a chance at the job. I didn’t get it so I guess I didn’t do well enough. I guess I should have run around the room with my arms spread out talking about the flight characteristics of the Enola Gay.
I used to have the attitude described in the OP. I think its a perfectly understandable position, if not entirely reasonable. Really, there are so many times you can stand being called a faggot for not liking pro sports before you develop a bit of an attitude about the whole thing.
