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I don't "get" sports fans - Page 2

post #51 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:01pm
You don't have to see the people you're competing against to compete with them.
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post #52 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall View Post
But there's no human interaction involved whatsoever, you don't even see the other people going for the job.
When I interview for a job, I often don't see the other people competing for the job either. That's kind of a bizarre point, BTW.
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post #53 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InTheShadows View Post
You don't have to see the people you're competing against to compete with them.
I think I'm misconstruing competitive, I took it to mean 'head of the pack, alpha male' style behaviour.
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post #54 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall View Post
I think I'm misconstruing competitive, I took it to mean 'head of the pack, alpha male' style behaviour.
Sure, there are certain levels of competitiveness, but that doesn't mean you aren't competitive. If you weren't, you wouldn't be human.

Natural selection anyone?
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post #55 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:12pm
Whether you like sports or not they are great for everyone. If you like sports then you get to have fun watching a game, you get to enjoy bullshitting with your friends about it, and you get to have a few diversions from all the injustice and tyranny going on in the world. If you don't like sports you get to walk around with a faux sense of superiority over those who do.

Everyone gets something out of the deal. YAY!!!
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post #56 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:13pm
There's nothing inherently wrong with being Alpha, any more than there is being Beta. But if the world is a social place, which it is, people respond more to one than the other.
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post #57 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall View Post
And how is dating competitive, I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I was competing against another guy for a girls affections.
That either speaks very highly of you or very poorly of the girls you've gone out with.
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post #58 of 259
10/5/08 at 2:51pm
The person who lives under me: huge sports fan. Screams over plays, and I think rattles his possessions. Sports are an outlet for emotionality.
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post #59 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
That either speaks very highly of you or very poorly of the girls you've gone out with.
A wise man once told me that any girl I liked probably had at least a half-dozen other guys that felt the exact same way about her. In my experience, that's totally true. Romance doesn't happen in a vaccum. Girls don't magically appear and appeal to you and only you and then you fall in love and ride into the susnet and there was no effort involved.

So yeah, dating is totally a competition. If you can't see that, something's wrong.

On another note, this thread got strange really quickly.
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post #60 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
That either speaks very highly of you or very poorly of the girls you've gone out with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew S. View Post
A wise man once told me that any girl I liked probably had at least a half-dozen other guys that felt the exact same way about her. In my experience, that's totally true. Romance doesn't happen in a vaccum. Girls don't magically appear and appeal to you and only you and then you fall in love and ride into the susnet and there was no effort involved.

So yeah, dating is totally a competition. If you can't see that, something's wrong.

On another note, this thread got strange really quickly.
In my experience people tend to group up almost subconciously, I've never actively pursued a girl. Things have just evolved from a friendship or whatever, but we're getting way off course.

I think Dre hit an important point. I think Sport represents an emotional outlet for a lot of people who would feel comfortable with those emotions in any other context.
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post #61 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall View Post
I think Sport represents an emotional outlet for a lot of people who would feel comfortable with those emotions in any other context.
I feel comfortable with my emotions. I cried at the end of Bicycle Thief. But what type of emotions are you talking about, exactly? Aggressiveness (if that is an emotion)? I guess I can see that. In that case you should be thankful for sports, because with out them people would be more aggressive towards each other.
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post #62 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoNkaholic View Post
The basic conceit is you're not merely watching, you're participating. When you watch a particularly good sporting event, you make associations, with teams, with individual athletes, and when they do well, it feels as if you did well. Nuts, right? Except, it's exactly the same with film.
The whole LOTR/Prequel trilogy debate struck me as being driven by transplanted sports fans.
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post #63 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by myk View Post
Sports act as a cultural touchstone in communities.
Great point - I was just thinking about this the other day; in our current world, there are fewer and fewer cultural touchstones that bond people - there is no Ed Sullivan Show that EVERYONE watches every week, there is no Roots that draws whatever massive % of viewers, there are fewer bowling leagues, fraternal organizations are dying on the vine, etc etc.

Sports is one of the few events that people in a community can commiserate over.....the Brewers making their first playoff appearance in 26 years has been HUGE here, even casual/non-fans are excited about it for the most part; the same thing happened when GB came wandering out of the desert of suckitude after 25 years. It's an interesting phenomenon.
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post #64 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:36pm
The Colts are getting beat by Houston right now. At this point, I'm not really getting being a sports fan either.
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post #65 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Dellamorte View Post
Then again, I can't think of a romantic comedy that is less predictable than a sports game.
Eh, of course it's in some sense predictable because it's binary - one team will win, one will lose.

But just as the end of a romcom (or perhaps more to the point, a sports movie) is predictable, when one is done well it's inherently enjoyable. Nothing is more eye-gougingly painful than two bad teams playing.
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post #66 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:37pm
I haven't quite figured out if this is a good or bad thing, but another great thing about sports: rivalries. Now, the players have an idea about it, but being professionals, they simply go out and do the best job they can against any and all opponents. But the fans...that's where it can get both exciting or really annoying. Some of the best times you can have is watching two storied teams going at it. There are emotional highs you get so few other places, where every pitch, throw or slapshot means the world and every fan, no matter their allegiance, goes through a rollercoaster of emotions for three hours.

Plus, it's great to have some friendly-ribbing with friends and co-workers, for instance, I'll ask myk 'How are the Yankee hot dogs right now?' and may get an annoyed reaction, but that doesn't mean I can't hold a civilized conversation with him, even if he is a god damn Yankees fan.
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post #67 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:51pm
For me it has nothing to do with competitiveness or a sense of community/group identification. I also don't think I'm better than sports fans. I just don't care about sports. I get bored within the first 5 minutes because from my perspective it seems like the same thing over and over again for a couple hours or however long games last.
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post #68 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:53pm
Can I ask you guys something that aren't much into sports? Did you guys play sports as kids?
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post #69 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InTheShadows View Post
Can I ask you guys something that aren't much into sports? Did you guys play sports as kids?
Soccer. Tried basketball and volleyball once.
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post #70 of 259
10/5/08 at 3:59pm
Gotcha.

No offense or anything, but rec soccer was always the sport that parents put their kids in because they couldn't do much else other than kick a soccer ball in a forward direction. The parents thought it was healthy for them to get out and attempt to run around for a few hours, but really the kid didn't want to be there and his teammates didn't want him there either, so I can see hating sports if you're one of those kids.

These were the kids that couldn't hit a slow pitch softball if their lives depended on it.
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post #71 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:01pm
I played baseball, soccer and a little hockey competitively or on the school team. I still occasionally play a little basketball and football if that's what the social circle's doing.

I just don't care for watching sports, it's just not my bag I guess. Still not something to be discounted.
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post #72 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InTheShadows View Post
Gotcha.

No offense or anything, but rec soccer was always the sport that parents put their kids in because they couldn't do much else other than kick a soccer ball in a forward direction. The parents thought it was healthy for them to get out and attempt to run around for a few hours, but really the kid didn't want to be there and his teammates didn't want him there either, so I can see hating sports if you're one of those kids.

These were the kids that couldn't hit a slow pitch softball if their lives depended on it.
Oh ya, I forgot I played baseball for two seasons too lol. And I'm the one who initiated the soccer sign-up. I also did not mention karate (which I still do) because I don't consider that a sport.
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post #73 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jakespeare View Post
I just don't care for watching sports, it's just not my bag I guess. Still not something to be discounted.
Exactly. It just doesn't do anything for me. Doesn't mean anything about anyone else though; let the sports fans have their sports. Whatev.
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post #74 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InTheShadows View Post
Can I ask you guys something that aren't much into sports? Did you guys play sports as kids?
Rugby, Cricket and Soccer. I was actually the captain of a Rugby team when I was younger. Still wasn't all that competitive though, because we mostly played with our friends or whatever.
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post #75 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus-7 View Post
A lot of sports fans don't get why we'd obsess over films. A lot of gearheads don't understand why so and so has interest in whatever he/she enjoys.
Good point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
Juliet's never going to wake up in time to tell Romeo she's okay, but the Giants just might beat the Patriots.
Also a good one.

Quote:
Originally Posted by InTheShadows View Post
Can I ask you guys something that aren't much into sports? Did you guys play sports as kids?
Never on my own, or in an informal setting. My folks put me in little-league baseball twice, soccer once. I guess I thought of it as some kind of class-- in each case I remember showing up and thinking, 'Wait, the other kids already know how to do this?' There wasn't much commercial TV in our house.

Interesting thing about this thread is how the discussion shifted to the nature of 'competition'. I agree, everybody's competitive in some way or another. What I don't get is how it's considered competitive to watch somebody else compete. Unless you personally get something out of it. So, follow-up question: How many of you gamble on sporting events?
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post #76 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead View Post
So, follow-up question: How many of you gamble on sporting events?
Every Sunday on the over/under. Makes the games where I don't care about either team that much more interesting.
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post #77 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:38pm
I suck at gambling on sporting events, so I don't do it. Unless you consider fantasy football gambling.
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post #78 of 259
10/5/08 at 4:39pm
Being from Chicago and living nowhere near there makes me a bigger fan of the Bears or Cubs. Sitting around the office bs'ing over last weeks games is something anyone can get involved in. When I lived overseas and was homesick nothing worked better than listening to the local sports radio over the internet and watching the game. It made me feel like I wasn't 6000 miles way from my family or friends and helps establish an identity to others.
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post #79 of 259
10/5/08 at 6:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post
Whether you like sports or not they are great for everyone. If you like sports then you get to have fun watching a game, you get to enjoy bullshitting with your friends about it, and you get to have a few diversions from all the injustice and tyranny going on in the world. If you don't like sports you get to walk around with a faux sense of superiority over those who do.

Everyone gets something out of the deal. YAY!!!
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post #80 of 259
10/5/08 at 6:27pm
But....didn't Pittsburgh lose?

Still hurts, I know.
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post #81 of 259
10/5/08 at 6:27pm
I would pay to see a Hockey Vs Cancer match. But which side to root for?
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post #82 of 259
10/5/08 at 6:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InTheShadows View Post
But....didn't Pittsburgh lose?

Still hurts, I know.
They lost, nowhere near as bad as the Devils. Didn't you guys drop out on the first or second round? Ouch.

See Patrick, that was fun. Sometimes it's fun to have fun.
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post #83 of 259
10/5/08 at 6:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott View Post
They lost, nowhere near as bad as the Devils. Didn't you guys drop out on the first or second round? Ouch.
Yea....well, dammit. I wish NJ had more than just a hockey team to pin their hopes on.

Even though the Giants/Jets are technically in Jersey.

Edit: I invest myself into a sports team the same way I would do any good show. I want every episode to be a good one, and by that I mean I want my team to win. There's a story that unfolds every season, just like a show. Bottom line: It's fun.
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post #84 of 259
10/5/08 at 6:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott View Post
They lost, nowhere near as bad as the Devils. Didn't you guys drop out on the first or second round? Ouch.

See Patrick, that was fun. Sometimes it's fun to have fun.
Hahaha. Lord Stanley's cup likes us.
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post #85 of 259
10/5/08 at 6:48pm
I always think there's something wrong with people who are one-dimensional enough to not understand (or never have played any) sports. It's all about moderation. Sports and physical activity alongside games of every kind are wonderfully enjoyable both to play, practice, watch and follow. Being 100% into film and music is far less healthy.
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post #86 of 259
10/5/08 at 7:00pm
I really only get into sports for the "big" events. Soccer; only when the World Cup is on. American football, barely only for the Super Bowl if it involves the Bucs.

As a kid I used to follow the "big" events for baseball and boxing, but no more. I really can't get into it.

My involvement with sports today is actually playing with my kids, currently soccer and a bit of basketball. Playing of course, is much more enjoyable to me than watching other people do it at this point.
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post #87 of 259
10/5/08 at 7:41pm
My wife works for the NFL. (By contrast, I don't know all the rules of football and was recently marveling at the digitally superimposed lines they now add to the field.) Whenever she puts me on hold, I get to hear this. So I guess I appreciate football a little.
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post #88 of 259
10/5/08 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
By contrast, I don't know all the rules of football and was recently marveling at the digitally superimposed lines they now add to the field.
Wow, it must have been a while since you've seen a game.
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post #89 of 259
10/5/08 at 7:50pm
Probably a decade? Yeah, not sure. She went to the Super Bowl for work and all my friends were marveling at me opting to not spend another 1500 (flight, hotel, ticket) to go with her.
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post #90 of 259
10/5/08 at 8:04pm
I never really followed or practiced any kind of sport myself (in a formal setting, anyway), but I can certainly see the appeal. If I'm somehow made to watch a football match, for instance, my mind will automatically tag one of the teams as "the one I'd like to win" for no real reason and I'll start to hype myself into it.
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post #91 of 259
10/5/08 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by InTheShadows View Post
Can I ask you guys something that aren't much into sports? Did you guys play sports as kids?
I played soccer and basketball at the Y when I was young, and played little league until around 6th grade. It was alright, but I was never very competitive. Or good, for that matter.

On the plus side, most of the answers in this thread make a lot of sense and even though I'm not into professional sports, I now understand much better all the elements that go towards as incredibly huge as it is.

On the other hand, it's annoying as fuck being asked everyday by someone or another if I'm a Cubs or a Sox fan. Now I just say I'm an Expos fan.
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post #92 of 259
10/5/08 at 9:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
Now I just say I'm an Expos fan.
That's actually pretty funny (if you're doing it intentionally). I was never that big into watching sports until I was in my 20s. I liked playing football and basketball when I was a kid, but watching it on tv bored me once I got into my teenage years. When I was 21, however, I started tending bar in a slow-ass restaurant where we weren't allowed any volume on the tv's, and baseball became one of the only things that could keep my interest without listening to it. Shortly there-after, the Ravens started doing great, and the social aspect of watching games started getting really fun. I still love going to watch the O's play at Camden Yards, even if we're one of the worst baseball teams in the league, and I love watching Ravens games on Sunday, whether I'm home, or out with friends. It's fun to cheer someone on.
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post #93 of 259
10/5/08 at 9:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
Now I just say I'm an Expos fan.
Ok, that's hilarious, but you know that team doesn't exist anymore right?
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post #94 of 259
10/6/08 at 12:07am
My family never gave a shit about sports unless we participated in them. One of my sisters does volleyball and I've picked up swimming on a recreational basis. But to sit and listen to co-workers chew over professional sports bores the shit out of me.
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post #95 of 259
10/6/08 at 1:19am
Having lived in Boston sports got a lot more interesting and fun to follow (all we had as kids were the poor old Hartford Whalers), but the REAL fun is in the rioting.

Ah, there she is, especially note at 1:13 when the cameraman gets shot with the rubber bullet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eW_3wCPzxo
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post #96 of 259
10/6/08 at 1:38am
That presents an interesting question. Did half the state of CT support NY teams while the other half supported Boston's teams or was it default Boston because it was New England? Cuz I always figured Rhode Island default to Boston.
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post #97 of 259
10/6/08 at 1:40am
Rhode Island definitely defaults to Boston. But Southern Connecticut is a discordant melange.
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post #98 of 259
10/6/08 at 3:46am
Connecticut is truly a battleground between Boston and NYC, and while I'd assume the closer you get to New York the more Yankees fans you find and visa versa with Boston, it does get far more complicated than that and actually can even break down upon ethnic lines. For example, the town of Enfield is right on the Massachusetts border but is besotted with such a vast population of Italians as to have it's own Little Italy that it's a Yankees stronghold, whereas the town next door is more balanced out with Irish and Swissers, who make said town go Sox and take the Italian kids who live there along with them.

By the way, any other New England Chewers have any experience or knowledge of Swissers? I don't think I've been able to find a single reference to them online but they're legion in that section of CT.
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post #99 of 259
10/6/08 at 3:52am
I don't get how people follow teams. It makes no sense to me. I get following players or coaches or something, but 'teams?' It's like being a huge fan of Sony movies only.
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post #100 of 259
10/6/08 at 4:17am
I was going to mention the same thing. The only sport I was ever into watching was boxing, and there, I was rooting for the guy I thought was the best fighter, because I admired his skill. Rooting for the geographical location they represent is just strange, particularly now, when players are traded off left and right. "The team", in any real sense, doesn't exist. It's an ever-rotating group of people of varying skill who may or may not hail from that area.

And why are some sports fans so incredibly insulted by the idea of somebody who doesn't follow sports, anyway? It seems a little religious.
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