In an attempt to no longer hijack Warbler's thread about college bowl playoffs (was that right?), I've noticed in my time here that we have members who are sports fanatics and members who... really just don't get all the hype. Rather than turn every new sports-based topic into that, I thought it would be better for us all to just dive into a new thread and discuss the matter here. Maybe it'll be fun. So with that said, I'll start with Warbler's last post on the subject, as I think he said some pretty interesting things I would like to address.
I don't what to say. To me, watching sports is fun. When you are talking about a team sport, the team represents some entity, be it a city, a highschool, a college, or even a nation(the Olympics). Its really not about pride in the 18-22 year olds, its about pride in what they represent. When they win, your city/school/country wins, you win. When they lose, you lose. When you cheer on a team for your whole life, after your father and grandfather did as well, you tend to get attached to the team. You tend to live and die by them(not literally, but figuratively). When the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, my family opened champagne to celebrate. When they lost in 1993 via Mitch William's pitch to Joe bleeping Carter, believe it or not, I cried. It can get to you. Can it go too far? you bet. A example of this would be the people in Texas who treat highschool football like its the NFL, and put way too much pressure on the kids. It sounds like your problems aren't will football per say, but with all sports.
First of all, it's interesting to get this insight. I'd like to go on record as a general nonsporter that I didn't create this thread to go, "Oh, wow, look at those stupid sports fans. Why do they take such stupid things so seriously?" I'm genuinely interested in the perspective and analysis of the culture, even if I'm not interested in the culture itself.
So from there, it's pretty cool to hear families passing down traditions and having fun and being emotionally invested in something.
At the same time, I'd hate to pick apart the wording (for fear of getting into semantics), but Warb described things so interestingly, I have to ask about them. "When they win... you win. When they lose... you lose." Why? Okay, I kinda get this. Like if we were to get an awesome OT release, we'd feel like we won. When Lucasfilm pisses on our side of the fandom, it feels like we lose. I do kinda get that. But how do sports teams represent me like a government entity represents me? Where exactly does that come from? If I lived in Marin County, could I say that George Lucas represents me without getting laughed at? Probably not. So why am I being told that, if I live in this town, this sports team represents me? What do I win when they win? What do I lose when they lose? Unlike an awesome release of the OT, if City Name Animal team wins or loses a game, what does it matter? They'll just play another one in a week. When you say it's pride in what they represent, what exactly do you mean? Again, are you saying they represent me/my town/my family? Again, how? By that logic, couldn't a really popular anime club do the same thing? I mean, it is all the same thing, so I suppose my big question is... out of all hobbies, interests, games... why are sports treated as something so important?
Oh, and just so you know, I don't have a "problem" with sports. I've never been a huge follower of them, but I don't dislike them. I never played an official team growing up, but I would play football, baseball, basketball with friends growing up. It was a game, just like any other game. I even have a couple of sports-induced scars on my body (one from football, one from basketball), so I'm not unfamiliar with the games or the enjoyment one can receive from partaking in them. But I can just take it or leave it. It's never had a big impact on me. Like I said in the other thread, I didn't start to get annoyed with it until I got into college, and the obsession with it just became impossible to ignore/tolerate. And it was at that point, even though I had only been marginally interested before, that I began to try to assess what the big deal was and found myself stymied.
In general, that's all I have to say right now. I hope this can actually yield some discussion and not, "Well, if you don't get it, you don't get it." I'd like to hear people's stories, their perspectives, from both sides.
