Why don't they like sports?

[bbdad]

As far as politics is concerned, the issue of this thread is not of great significance; but I thought it would be interesting to hopefully have a discussion about it. I guess I should provide info relevant to my point of view. I’m a 60-year-old man who has never been a sports fan, but I have been working with a personal trainer at a local health club on a bodybuilding program for over two years. I work out four times a week. On “off” days I usually take a brisk, hour-long walk. The point is that I’m very active physically. I’m not a coach potato. As a matter of fact, I hardly watch any TV. Don’t have time for it. Several close friends of mine are former high-school football players, one of whom played football at SUNY in Buffalo, New York, from the fall of 1965 through the fall of 1968.

As a new member of this website, I’ve been fascinated by the rift between those DUers who are sports fans and those who say that they don’t like or even hate sports. There seems to be no communication and therefore no understanding between the two sides. Just the online equivalent of yelling, which seems to be the norm in most website forums.

One point needs to be made first. There is no point in arguing over one's preference. He likes Neapolitan ice cream, but she likes chocolate. One really cannot argue the merits of which is better. My older daughter, who graduated last year from a university in Texas with a degree in math, had enjoyed attending the football games. Even though I don't even know how the game is played, I had no problem with her being a fan.

The sports culture has been a preoccupation of mine for years. Notice that I make a distinction between a sport, especially a school sport, and the culture that is associated with it (but is not inherently a part of it). Regarding sports fans and those who don't like sports, I've noticed that there is intolerance on both sides.

One DUer said at another post, "There are ALOT of anti-sports people on DU Mostly because they think its beneath them! I get it if you don't like it, but stop with the elitist snobbery. See, I don't get how the party that prides itself on tolerance has soooo many people who spend their time belittling others...." I don't ridicule someone simply because he likes sports.

But what about the belittling of nonathletic boys who frequently are bullied simply because they have no interest in sports? I would think that liberals would be concerned about this. Masculinity is now defined solely in terms of athletic prowess. Nonathletic boys and men are viewed as effete and effeminate. The social stigmatization often begins before the boys have even reached puberty. Never mind that there have been extremely courageous men who never had any interest in sports. Ever hear of Raoul Wallenberg (not to mention many others)? Boys who have no interest in sports are often suspected of having homosexual tendencies. (Ever hear of Brian Sims or Esera Tuaolo?) I'm amazed that this lie has persisted to this day.

The following link accesses an interesting post about "sports wound" written by a clinical psychologist.

http://americanmentalhealthfoundation.org/entry.php?id=135

I've noticed that a number of the DU men were bullied by "jocks" when they were in school (a subject which, incidentally, has never been reported by the sports media -- except by the sportswriter Robert Lipsyte). Let me emphasize that I don't believe that the majority of school athletes are bullies, but there do seem to be more than enough to make a difference. Do a site search on "jock bullies" and take the time to check out the links. Some, obviously, aren't relevant to the issue (such as those mentioning "shock jocks"). These are really sad stories. Are all of these DUers lying?

Here is a sample:

I went to a southern rural football high-school. I got beat mostly because I was bad at sports. We always played competitive sports at P.E. Missing a catch or striking out nearly always got me roughed up.

There is no rationale that justifies a kid being in physical danger at school. I remember fighting with a couple of football players, I never stood a chance and all the kids stood around and watched as they pushed my face into the dirt and kicked me in the balls so hard that I threw up. The teacher did nothing because the football heroes had a game and didn't want to suspend them. I hated the bullies, the teachers, and all of kids who stood there and laughed at my humiliation. I still hate jocks.

What set them off? I said "lighten up, It's only a game." I guess I was asking for it.


I wonder if any of the DU sports fans have read any of these posts. Sad to say, I've not come across a single post by a DU sports fan expressing any sympathy to any of these guys.

Here is a link to a webpage that provides another example of bullying in sports. (Yes, this happened in Great Britain; but it's still relevant.) Question: Has the issue of the bullying of nonathletic boys by athletic fellow students ever been discussed at any sports psychology or sports sociology website?

http://www.bullyonline.org/cases/case97.htm

Two friends of mine who are about my age were forced when they were in school to take sports-centered P.E., even though they were physically handicapped. Both of them were bullied relentlessly by athlete classmates, and none of the coaches cared. When one of my friends eventually retaliated against one of his bullies by slamming his head against a wall in the lockerroom, the coach punished my nonathletic friend instead of the bully because the bully was an athlete. (But at least the bullying stopped.) Should anyone be surprised that these two friends of mine have deep-rooted feelings against sports?

Victims of this sort of bullying often make the mistake of negatively stereotyping all athletes instead of recognizing that some don't even subscribe to machismo. They also wrongly transfer their resentment to the appreciation that others have for sports.

When someone makes an outrageous (yes, I did say "outrageous") statement such as "football is evil," seemingly many of the DU sports fans go ballistic. In other words, their reaction is excessive. A more rational reaction would be to just shrug it off as a comment made by a lonely crank. But the observation must be made that those who hate sports have no power (in most situations). But the sports fans do have power. For generations nonathletic boys have been bullied and humiliated in "sports only" P.E. classes that have NOT provided exercise programs for them. And as far as sports fans getting upset over a single individual saying that sports should be banned from schools, is there such a movement to remove sports as extracurricular activities from schools? Are sports threatened by such statements? Of course, not. So, why the excessive reaction?

What has exasperated me is that sports fans have ascribed the basest motives to anyone who objects to any of the excesses of the sports culture, as if no one finding fault with the sports culture could possibly have any legitimate point of view. On the other hand, those who have been hurt by the sports culture should guard against sinking to the level of those who bullied or otherwise mistreated them. There are legitimate points on both sides. The DUers who are sports fans and those who resent sports should listen to each other.

[SoxFan]

1. ...

:popcorn:

[bbdad]

30. Well, at least you didn't flame me.

:rofl:

[RagAss]

2. ....its an interest...like guns....woooooops....did I open another can of worms???

[Dawson Leery]

3. Yes you did.

There are those who will argue which group is "tougher".
The master marksmen or the athlete.

[bbdad]

6. Nope (surprise). At the risk of being banned from this website, ...

... I lost faith in gun-control laws many years ago. I believe in the right of self-defense. The police aren't always able to respond quickly.

[old mark]

10. Well, I hope you wouldn't be banned for telling the truth...I'm another older guy

who spends several mornings every week in the gym...something I never thought I'd be doing. I am amazed at the number of us geezers there every day. I do have to say that it has been very different from my experience PLAYING - or being forced to "play" team sports in school. I never liked sports as a kid, never even watched baseball on TV, but I had to "play" it in summer camp - and get mocked because I didn't know anything about it. I LOVE hiking, and canoeing and other stuff like that, even learned to shoot a .22 rifle in the Cub Scouts at age 10, but never cared for team sports till developing a liking for (gasp) pro football in my late 40's.

The gym thing seems more like an individual endeavor to me, and I really enjoy it, feel better and keep my cardiologist happy and it goes toward my goal of living as long as possible to get every nickel out of my pension from those cheap bastards I worked for.

FWIW, I have had a license to carry a firearm for almost 16 years now - I do so every day.

mark

[bbdad]

15. Even though it's arduous, I love working out ...

... at my health club. What's hilarious is that at the age of 60, I'm finally developing my physique. The mandatory sports-centered boys' P.E. of our generation was a cruel joke. I never so much as even heard the words "exercise program" or "bodybuilding" in these "physical education" (oh, yeah, sure) classes (nor from anyone else when I was a kid), despite the claim of the adults who mandated P.E. that they were concerned about students not being physically fit. Baloney! They either couldn't tell what the difference is between promoting sports and promoting physical fitness, or they just didn't care. I get more exercise in a single workout session than I ever did in an entire year of mandatory P.E.

[bbdad]

42. Is that all you've got to say?

I guess I should be thankful you didn't say more.

[bbdad]

44. You say that sports are just an interest.

I'd like to assume that you believe in freedom of choice, that one person's interest should not be imposed upon someone else who doesn't happen to share it. Therefore, following that line of logic, surely you would object to sports being forced upon nonathletic kids who have no interest in them in mandatory sports-centered P.E. classes. But, somehow, I fear that you, like many other people (including liberals who should know better), have no problem with this.

[SheilaT]

4. I see the issue as a fundamental cultural one.

In this country we've come from enjoying sports and respecting athletes to enshrining sports and worshipping athletes. There's no sense of proportion any more. You see it in the examples you mentioned about the bullying.

There's also the win-lose mindset, and the prevailing wisdom that winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. Scorn and derision are heaped on the losers, and that's perfectly acceptable. Is that really the way we want to be all the time?

I have long said that any country that wants to invade the U.S. should do it on a Super Bowl Sunday, preferably one in which the Redskins are playing. Much of the country shuts down for that game.

I have lived in various major metropolitan areas, and I was constantly amazed at how the Washington Post, when I lived in DC, would obsess for a week after certain games about some bad call or bad play. Like it really, really matter in the greater scheme of things.

One thing I like about living in Santa Fe, NM, is that there's no major sports team at all in the entire state. So while I'm sure plenty of people follow specific teams, there's not the common obsession or constant rehashing of a game the next day.

[bbdad]

5. SheilaT wrote: "In this country we've come from enjoying ...

... sports and respecting athletes to enshrining sports and worshipping athletes. There's no sense of proportion any more. You see it in the examples you mentioned about the bullying."

Thank you. I expected to be pilloried for my comments, even though they're respectful and quite moderate. I believe very strongly in respecting others. Believe it or not, I've always respected athletic achievement, as I would any other endeavor requiring dedication and self-discipline. But I refuse to put athletes on a pedestal and not hold them to the same standards of conduct that everyone else is expected to meet.

There are individual athletes and former athletes whom I admire. The NFL player Brady Poppinga has a strong anti-bullying message for kids. The former NFL player Joe Ehrmann, who today is a minister and a high-school football coach, teaches a message that rejects mindless machismo and is a great motivational speaker. Bob Gammage, a former leading liberal Texas Democrat (who has retired from politics) who was a college football player, has been a hero of mine for many years. Even my Republican wife voted for him each time he ran for Congress against Ron Paul, whom she considered to be an idiot. Gammage is a first-class guy. When he was running in the fall election of 1976, I drove over to his law office to drop off a $200 check for his campaign. That was all I could afford to contribute at that time. Even though I was contributing a relatively modest amount (as campaign contributions go), he came out of his office to personally greet me. He was over six feet tall and built like a brick wall. And what also impressed me was that he sent me a handwritten thank-you note in the mail, instead of the standard preprinted form (which, incidentally, wouldn't have bothered me, considering that politicians have to deal with so many people).

Then there are others whom I refuse to admire, no matter how much their fans may celebrate them. As the father of two young women, why should I admire the former New York Jets quarterback Joe Willie Namath, who announced on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson in the summer of 1970, "Women are only good for sex"? (Not a peep of protest from the audience, as I recall.) Then there are individuals with far worse records such as the former Nebraska Cornhusker and NFL player Christian Peter (interesting name), who ... well, never mind. Just look up the en.wikipedia.org article about him. I grew up with a former university football player, who once beat up a friend of mine who was so short that he was having to take growth hormone injections. How courageous was that? Even though he was a conceited bully, he was admired by most (but not all) of the local football fans and was lionized by the local sports media. Should I admire these individuals just because they excelled at a sport? It wouldn't matter to me what they excelled at doing. I still wouldn't admire them.

[old mark]

11. Very interesting point about invading the US on a Sunday....back in the pre TV

days the Japanese did just that - attacked Pearl Harbor early on a Sunday morning in December. Half the military was out on weekend passes, some were at church, and the Admiral commanding the Naval installation was playing golf at the time of the attack. In a way, it was good - kept more of them away and they were not killed.

mark

[Fumesucker]

7. Because, as you point out, a significant minority of jocks are major league assholes..

With an incredible entitlement complex and most of the non-asshole jocks either ignore the behavior of the assholes or join in out of fear that they will be targeted for the abuse if they don't. Not to mention the jockstrap sniffing sycophants who will stand around and egg on the asshole jocks in their abuse.

To be fair, the way athletes are lionized in this country can't help but go to a person's head, if you are constantly told you are better than everyone else and other people defer to you and are in awe of you it's not at all hard to internalize that treatment.

For those of us who were tormented by jocks in school watching sports can be almost physically painful, it really brings back bad memories for me and I try to avoid it as much as possible simply because of the emotional baggage that comes along with thinking about athletes and athletics.

[bbdad]

19. I'm convinced that some of the DU sports fans would mock you.

(Notice I used the word "some," not "most.") Quite likely, they would say you're jealous. Yeah, right.

Let me see now ... They would say that you were jealous of athletes because you weren't good at sports. That claim falls flat on its face because we were never interested in sports in the first place. Why would we be jealous of someone who excelled in something in which we weren't even interested? Are people who aren't interested in playing musical instruments jealous of, say, violinists? As I pointed out in the OP, one of the DU members who bash those of us who don't like sports claimed that we think sports are beneath us. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I actually admire decent athletes. It doesn't occur to this DU member that some (again, I'm not saying "most') sports fans are unreasonable themselves.

Or they might say that you were jealous of the "jocks" at your school because they got girls while you didn't get laid. One DU sports fan bragged about how he slept with girls in the back of his car when he played football in high school. Using people is admirable? If he were a father today, how would he feel if it were his daughter "getting it on" with some jerk who really didn't love her? The question I would ask of anyone who would make this accusation is, what kind of girl is likely to have sex with "jocks" in the setting of a clique-ridden high school? Are these nice girls whom you'd want to establish a long-term relationship with, or are they not that kind of girl? Now, I'm not saying that there aren't any cheerleaders who are nice girls, because I know that there are some who are nice; but I'm referring to the social climbing girls, the ones who are concerned about popularity above all else. You know, the type of girl who's pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside. The social climbing girls I knew at my high school were almost invariably shallow, superficial, and cruel. The very idea of having sex with one of them was actually repulsive to me, like having sex with Eva Braun. I never had any desire to date any of them, and the thought of being married to one of them was actually horrifying. (As it turned out, I didn't meet my future wife until seven years after I had graduated from high school. She certainly was far more desirable than any of the social climbers I knew in high school.) So, was I jealous of any of the athletes at my high school who had sex with social climbers? No, I felt sorry for them.

[annabanana]

8. Thank you for this fair and thoughtful thread.

I expect that people's experiennces differ from one region of the Country to another. It may be more pronounced in parts of the US where there are fewer venues for entertainment. If the local HS sports team is IT that would magnify the effect.

Oh, and welcome to DU.

[bbdad]

21. Thanks for the compliment and your welcome, annabanana.

I suppose you're right about people's exeriences differing from one part of the country to another. I happen to be a Texan. That says it all.

[H2O Man]

9. I suspect that it

is an individual thing. My daughters (junior high and high school) both play three sports -- soccer, basketball, and track -- and do not appear at risk of bullying behaviors. Nor are they at risk of being the victims of such behavior.

Long ago, when I was young, I couldn't sing, nor could I dance .... but I was talented enough in the boxing ring that I was known internationally in my early teens. Curious sport, boxing: the majority of participants are young men at the margins of society, who send a message -- "Don't touch me."

I grew up poor; I didn't have the luxury of new clothes, nor outfits that fit. I smelled a bit like the small farm I lived on. But my classmates didn't really pick on me. I do remember one gym teacher who did, when our size/age differences gave him the advantage over a 7th grade student. Luckily for me, and unluckily for him, my oldest brother was a professional boxer at the time. Bullies always seem to fear the ass-kicking they want to inflict upon others, and my brother sure enough inflicted one on that fellow.

It was a lesson for me. I became an "anti-bully." In training many, many amateur and professional boxers, I've never found evidence that a single one was a bully. In fact, most were, by definition, anti-bullies.

I have found that by an amazing coincidence, the most obnoxious high school athletes have the most obnoxious parents. I think that it is possible that there is some hidden connection.

[bbdad]

24. I've noticed that different sports have different cultures ...

... associated with them. This may surprise readers of my comments; but if I had a teenage son who wanted to play football in high school, I would support him (with reservations). But if I found out that he was bullying weaker kids at school, I'd fall upon him like a ton of bricks. I think some kids should participate in sports while other kids should not be forced to participate in sports. Like you say, it's an individual thing.

The problem with one or more of the most popular school sports is that they have a negative culture of machismo associated with them. A childhood friend of mine, two years younger than I, who played football in high school (and is still a big fan) recently told me that most of his teammates looked down on all the nonathletic guys at their school as supposedly being inferior to them. Is this admirable? (I guess the "Righteous Gentile" Raoul Wallenberg really was a wimp, since he didn't like competitive team sports.) I also recently read an interesting post at another website that had been posted by a high-school football player at a parochial school who said that most of his teammates viewed all the nonathletic guys at their high school as "fags." To his credit, he said that he spoke out against their comments. Is it any wonder that such a pathetic attitude can lead to bullying? Some people fail to realize that respect is a two-way street.

Incidentally, this same childhood friend told me that one of his coaches in high school had taught him how to deliberately inflict pain upon other players. My friend told me that he actually began to enjoy hurting other players. A few of his teammates told him that he shouldn't be doing that. He experienced guilt after he graduated from high school and deeply resented that coach.

Funny; but even though I grew up in an affluent setting, I wish that I had been raised on a farm so that I would have done physical labor. Even though I never had an interest in sports when I was a boy, I still was ashamed of being physically weak; but I honestly didn't know what I could do about it, being as ignorant as I was. Bodybuilding would have been great for me when I was a teenager. Bullies seem to target those whom they perceive as not having self-confidence (which certainly was true of me), which is not to say that I'm blaming the victim (an attitude that I thoroughly detest). I'm just stating a fact.

I'm quite impressed with your accomplishments as a boxer in your youth. I wish that I had also been taught how to box. If I had been taught how to box, I would have invited any of my bullies to meet me after school. In one of my site searches, I came across your post in which you mentioned your gym teacher messing with you and how your brother had something to say about it. I thought your story was great. I have no doubt that many boxers would be "anti-bullies." Doesn't surprise me at all. I've also learned that many men who take up bodybuilding were bullied when they were kids.

I agree with you about parenting. A very good friend of mine (someone other than the guy I mentioned above) who played football in high school was raised by a father and stepmother who were decent, morally upstanding folks. He's a rugged guy, but he's also quite gentle and empathetic. He never bullied anyone as he was growing up.

[H2O Man]

35. I've been helping

my wife prepare to make a presentation for other "department heads" in psychiatric social work, as mandated by the state. Her focus is risk-factors for teens, in terms of depression and substance abuse. Last night, I was discussing your OP and this thread ....and the role that bullying plays in making the school setting hell for some kids.

My approach to social work was rooted in "family systems." Wegscheider's 1981 model for identifying the roles in families dealing with alcoholism can be expanded to apply for the dynamics in most dysfunctional family units. By no coincidence, many/most high school football players who are the most influential in terms of influencing their teammates' behaviors tend to be "family heroes."

Again by no coincidence, a "family hero" seeks self-validation from the feed-back they get from others -- on the field, for example, from their coach, parents, teammates, and fans. But it is not internalized in the sense of an emotionally mature teen. This, of course, is a failure of growth: almost all junior/senior high school athletes have this process at ages 13-15; at 15 to 17, they begin to develop the sense of self-validation internally and from others; then, by 18 to 19, it is internal, with others providing the icing on that cake.

Far too few high school coaches understand this -- which is why we see many behaving like jackasses, yelling at a 14-year old as if he/she were a college student. Yet these coaches are nothing if not frustrated "family heroes," unable to compete at the level they had hoped to at the high school/college level, and seeking the respect of others -- including the kids and community -- by imitating a college coach. They are akin to Elvis imitators.

These are the kids who are most likely to bully others, and the adults who allow that sick behavior. Their victims pay the price. The school is, in fact, a large "family system," and the exact same dysfunctions play out there.

[bbdad]

37. I've never understood the psychology behind bullying ...

... in sports. I recently came across a sports psychology forum that was concerned about school coaches bullying student athletes and athletes bullying other athletes. But no mention at all was made of athletic boys bullying nonathletic boys. That says a lot.

[miscsoc]

12. a lot of us were just really crappy at sports

and are sort of bitter about it. i don't think many people genuinely disapprove of sports deep down.

i can see the appeal of football, the artistry and physical accomplishment of the players, but i can't watch it because i was frankly awful at it and watching it just reminds me of all those dreadful rainy afternoons on the playing fields frantically running away from the ball so i didn't have to kick it and make a fool of myself.

i was never even really bullied for it, just sort of vaguely mocked. there wasn't a u.s. style school athlete cult or anything. actually my p.e. teacher eventually gave up on me and just let me wander around the edge of the pitch reading when we played team games. that was fine.

[pipi_k]

14. I hear ya....

I just generally sucked at gym class entirely. Everything.


I never liked playing sports, either, like field hockey or basketball, because it hurt being one of the last ones to be chosen for a team.


Actually, with basketball and field hockey, there were issues involved. I was always taught that taking shit away from other people was rude, and we were also accidentally taught not to touch others.

so contact sports were sort of....trying.

It was real hard to let go of that old "don't make contact with people and NEVER take stuff away from them" mindset instilled when I was a small child.

And that sort of thing just doesn't make one a good basketball or field hockey player...

I guess it's sort of sad and funny at the same time....


Anyway, I love football. One of my favorite things is seeing a QB fire a rocket down the field that gets caught by what looks like an act of magic. :)

[bbdad]

29. You're right. Actually, in a way, I'm not "anti-sports."

I don't have a problem with people watching or playing ball games; and I don't think most "anti-sports" people do, either. That would be silly. What I do have a problem with is the culture that is associated with certain sports, but is not inherently a part of them. I'm convinced that this culture denigrates nonathletic boys and men as supposedly being inferior. (For example, isn't it interesting that a boy who throws a baseball poorly is said to "throw like a girl"? I wonder how female athletes feel about such talk -- let alone the boys who are, in effect, told that they are effeminate simply because they're not good at any sport.) I was never bitter about not being good at any sport, because I never had an interest in sports. What bothered me was having sports forced upon me (and all of the other nonathletic boys of my generation) against my will in mandatory P.E. classes, which were totally useless to nonathletic kids who needed to get on some sort of exercise program.

I wouldn't dream of taking school sports away from the kids who want to participate in them. I recognize that some kids can actually benefit from particpating in sports; but I don't accept the view of some coaches that athletes are a better class of people than nonathletes, anymore than I believe that nonathletes are a better class of people than athletes. I favor the retention of the traditional sports-centered P.E. for the school athletes and those students who want to participate in sports as an ELECTIVE, which means that I'm totally opposed to nonathletic kids being forced to take such P.E. classes. There is absolutely no rationale for forcing nonathletic kids to participate in sports. (If they want to participate in sports, that is their right.) Either nonathletic kids should be provided with genuine fitness classes, instead of being subjected to the institutionalized bullying that so often has been mandatory sports-centered P.E.; or they should be left alone. I have this to say to all those who profess a concern for obese children and those who are otherwise not physically fit -- while, at the same time, not the least bit interested in promoting the reform of mandatory "physical education": Send them to a health club or gym (such as the one where I work out), if you're so concerned about them.

[bbdad]

36. Why should any boy be made to feel bitter ...

... just because he's not good at a sport? This is ludicrous. And your P.E. experience reinforces my view that forcing nonathletic boys to play sports in mandatory P.E. is absolutely wrong. No doubt many of the DU sports fans who have read my comments just don't get it and/or think I'm a terrible person. Their attention is focused on the game while my attention is focused on what happens off the playing field when the game is over, and for that reason we'll just continue to talk past each other. The sports-centered approach does not help nonathletic kids to get into shape. It has the opposite effect. Many of them are discouraged from being physically active at all. I've posted a link to an article about PE4Life, an innovative program that actually provides exercise programs for all students. It really works. It actually promotes physical fitness. Those who have deluded themselves into thinking that the solution to childhood obesity is to force nonathletic kids to play sports in sports-centered P.E. classes should reconsider their wrongheaded views and take a look at this program, which even had the unintended effect of reducing bullying in a school district where it was implemented. People who believe in forcing sports upon obese children don't even know what type of exercise is most effective in bringing about weight loss. Frankly, they seem to be willfully ignorant. Forcing fat kids to play sports does not work. (And, no, I've never been overweight in my life.)

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-22-fall-2002/personal-best

[bbdad]

38. Actually, I must say that forcing nonathletic kids ...

... to play sports (instead of providing genuine physical fitness programs for them) is a RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN position.

[tilsammans]

39. IMO, . . .

. . . there should be two tracks of phys ed class: One for those who want to play competitive sports, and one for those interested in fitness only.

[bbdad]

40. Exactly! That's my position.

As I've already said elsewhere in this thread, I get more exercise in a single workout session with my personal trainer at the local health club than I ever did in a single year of mandatory sports-centered P.E.

[SoxFan]

13. Whatevah

I know I watched a hell of a football game between Boise State and Virginia Tech last night. The Revs comeback against the Sounders on Saturday was pretty awesome, too.

[bbdad]

16. *yawn*

I'm (sincerely) glad you enjoyed the game. "To each his own."

[Upton]

18. That was a good game last night wasn't it.?

the new uniforms were a site to behold too..

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. Hell, I only caught a recap of the scoring, and I thought it was a hell of a game.

[SoxFan]

31. The recap of East Carolina and Tulsa...

...was more exciting than 99% of the full games I've ever seen!

[CBR]

32. My husband is heartbroken. He is a Hokie Fanatic!

I am watching Venus play the US Open right now, getting ready to switch to the Phillies game.

I love sports. I am ready for Thursday night!

[bbdad]

41. Yeah, whatevah.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. “Eternal boyhood is the dream of a depressing percentage of American males

“Eternal boyhood is the dream of a depressing percentage of American males, and the locker room is the temple where they worship arrested development.“ Russell Baker

[SoxFan]

33. Eternal boyhood trumps pompous cynicism in my book.

YMMV

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Fil5Ndv6DaM/StvDz0nttUI/AAAAAAAAAnU/-1rpbiFgsXY/s320/smManchester+Monarchs+JDG_2559.jpg

[CBR]

34. What about us women sports fans? Eternal girlhood?

:eyes:

[Ron Green]

20. My main gripe about SPORTSBIZ (which is what many people object to)

is that the corporate continuum of pro sports, TV, branding, shitty beer, celebrity worship and AM radio serves to keep so many American males from talking to each other about things that need talking about.

[Arugula Latte]

23. Right. There is entirely too much time devoted to sports.

So many other things should garner coverage, and yet they don't, because some team did something with some ball (*yawn*).

It's annoying.

[Quantess]

22. I was bullied a little bit by "jock" girls in junior high PE class.

I wasn't really good at sports, and it was very stressful to be yelled at every day. But I bet most of them are now overweight couch potatoes who gave up physical activity as so many adults do. I'm the one who is slim and athletic now, because I stuck with running.

[HughBeaumont]

26. I don't mind sports.

It's the players I can't stand.

How does the bumper sticker go, "I like God, it's his fan club I can't stand".

[TwilightGardener]

27. I don't find watching sports interesting. At all. At any level--pro, high school, etc.

I don't care who's ahead, who's a star, who sucks, who's over an injury... There's nothing that makes me want to drive a phillips-head screwdriver through my eye faster than when my son puts ESPN on--Jesus, the endless bullshit drivel about NOTHING IMPORTANT!! I have nothing against people who play sports (I like to play some sports, on a backyard/vacant-field level), or people who watch sports--just find sports extremely boring as entertainment and as a topic of conversation, unless I'm actually playing. I'm sure a lot of people would find my hobbies boring.

[Codeine]

28. I wasn't really a sports fan until high school

when I discovered I had a natural affinity for tennis. I ignored all team sports until I discovered soccer as an adult, and now I'm a rabid fan.