I, for one, am happy that you rose above it and became a better person than the rest of us pedestrian scum.
SNec may have missed the whole point of my post, but he’s sort of correct in “pro sports” having been around for a while. Reading about the Factions of the Hippodrome as told by Gibbon can show how incredibly ugly organized sports was more than 1000 years ago. And how there are many disturbing parallels today - in fact, one would have hoped the battles between the Blues and the Greens would have been a warning of things to come.
Yes there was no TV then, but the Hippodrome mania was extremely well-publicized by the means of the time, and was the sort of thing that absorbed the people to the point of them focusing on little else but, taking control of their cultural lives, their work, and finally even corrupting their morals so they went on to commit murder, or worse.
YES!!! Exactly! I have boycotted the local news for a long while (and have no reason to lift the boycott) because I simply reached my saturation point. If the local news wants 10 (or sometimes more) minutes of sports—if that’s what everyone else enjoys—bully for them. Really. But it’s not for me, and I’m not watching it. I check the online local paper if I need to catch up on the local news.
I used to really get irritated by the zealotry, but less so now. I just don’t look. Don’t look at the local news, try to ignore the other signs of obsession I see around me (I heard on the news, some years ago, that a some local fans were seeking therapy because the team lost some Big Game or whatever). No, I’m not making that up. I don’t believe for a second that all sports fans are that loopy—or even remotely close to it—but I don’t need to know about the ones who are over the bend.
Anyway, not knowing, not hearing about it, makes me so much happier. They can be as zealous as they want, fine with me. If it’s something they enjoy, they should enjoy it. But it’s nothing to me, so I don’t need to hear about it.
This is true and it is especially evident with “professional wrestling” and NASCAR fans. Shit, you can’t throw a rock in my town without hitting someone with a “3” on ‘em somewhere. (Hell, the husband of a co-worker actually took several days off from work because he was so upset when ol’ Dale got his ticket punched.)
Sports I play: poker (pretty good record with home games), pool (meh, haven’t played in awhile - used to do okay), bowling (on a league, average of 145 - yeah, I know…)
Like I said:
True damn story. Of course, he’s a hick :wally
One thing I do not like about sports is when they penetrate too deeply into society at large. “Three strikes and you’re out” is perfect for baseball. As a mandatory sentencing policy? Not so much.
I know you were going for home run with that point, but it’s clearly from out in left field.
buh?
Thanks cricetus for not wanting to jack up my thread on sports… it was considerate of you but hardly necessary. After all, this is the pit. 
I’ve got to run and won’t be able to get back on until after the weekend… but I so want to get back to you on this… 
Have a good weekend!
Bunt?
Really?
I have a good inside source that says the Packers WILL beat the Vickings Christmas Eve.
That “inside source” wouldn’t happen to come in a bottle, would it? :dubious:
What’s Favre’s record in domes again? Isn’t he like 2 and 53 or something. He’s always good for at least two picks in Metrodome. 
Nice job against the Eagles, by the way. Do you know why they pulled McNabb in the 3rd quarter? His arm was tired. 
I have a 401(k), thank you very much. And I read my quarterly statement front to back (so far a very depressing tale). But as I have no control over the individual stocks that comprise it (merely the stock/bond ratio), it’s not very relevant or useful for me to know what each one is up to. And I don’t recall being behind the curve on any major business story of the past five years that actually affected policy or myself personally. So, I don’t think my decision to skip the inside pages of the biz section has hurt me.
As for modern American sports being created by the media, I disagree, since we’re not talking about things like the steroid scandal or the Kobe trial, but rather just the fact that professional athletic competitions are shown on TV and get prominent play in newspapers and newscasts. Media started covering sports because that’s what people were into. And the sportscast is still tucked into the last 10 minutes of the newscast and makes no appearance whatesoever in national news programs. Many people like to believe that “the media” gathers in some room and decides what will be popular. I’m not saying that never happens (see the Kobe trial and, well, any trial) but most of the time, the media covers something because people want it covered. That’s just smart business and good responsiveness.
Of course, I think all of local news, from the top story to the sensational investigative piece to the human interest fluff piece to the sports to the weather is all a bunch of crap.
Una, I know there was more to your post than that. I just thought the comparison was invalid, that’s all.
I apologize if I misunderstood you. Since you only mentioned that one point I,m afraid that I likely drew the wrong conclusion.
Don’t strain yourself thinking too hard. You’ll end up in hospital.
Overall I don’t care too much for sports, but in the last couple years I have discovered that I really enjoy watching boxing, especially the lesser-known boxers that are not famous.
Ok I admit that was a little bit redundant. :smack:
No, it wasn’t. She quite specifically said that she disliked sports interefering with her favourite TV shows even though she never watched TV. That’s… nuts.
The NEW version of the story isn’t, and makes more sense. But the fact that a completely different person has apparenty assumed her identity is.
And this is the Pit, so get over it.
Shagnasty, I would dispute the notion that modern American sports were created by the media. Baseball predates mass media and was a well established recreational activity long before it was played professionally, and hockey was much the same in Canada. Football was a college sport; basketball, of course, was invented so men would have a non-violent sport to play at the Y. (Someone should remind Ron Artest.)
Pro sports as an organization was made to make money, but actually, many of the sports have RESISTED media exposure, stuck in the paradigm that the only way to make money was to play to a live audience. For years, Major League Baseball did not wants its game broadcast on the radio or TV, and resisted every possible change that would make it easier for people to see games on the tube. Only pro football has always embraced the media, which is why it’s now the #1 sport.
I certainly am not going to tell you that the media doesn’t hype sports up beyond any sort of reasonable level. But the media didn’t create them; most of the big sports came along before the media picked them up. The major sports have a real basis in common recreational practice and in our culture.
Because one night in Bangkok makes the tough guys tumble. There’s not much between despair and ecstasy.
You should have gone with the aviation angle, more than one boss has surprised me , either by showing up at an airshow , or nit picking something I mentioned regarding Tac/Air.
Declan