Jock Culture is Mandatory

[SoDesuKa]

Male-bonding may not be mandatory, but respect for jock culture is, especially among guys. I'm not a sports fan and wouldn't put the game on the television even if I were stuck in a hotel room with nothing else to do. However, I recognize how important it is to be able to talk sports.

On a Monday morning, nothing builds guy-cred like knowing who won the game, especially if it's the locals. All I have to say is, "That was some fourth quarter! What a gritty performance." And all my sins are forgiven.



How 'Bout Them Dawgs?

[Electric Monk]

1. Jokes about raping children? You went there, and now you're playing this card?

[Electric Monk]

2. Were you abused in a sports program? Something you'd like to share?

[SoDesuKa]

3. Football In Decline

The game of football will take a big hit as a result of the scandal at Penn State, but it was inevitable. It had gotten too big, to the point where it was popular only because it was popular. Now that jock culture has become associated with shameful secrecy, people who've never felt part of it are free to abandon it.



Lots of Unsold Tickets After This

[Serve The Servants]

6. Wishful thinking...

Not going to happen.

"Jock culture" is not what attracts fans.

Regional patriotism, excitement, and love of the the game itself is what attracts fans. Football in it's entirety, has one of the largest domestic fan bases of any sport, and those fans are not going anywhere as a result of the Penn State scandal.

People who who've never felt embraced by the game of football really never gave two shits about it to begin with, so this changes nothing except more people who hate football now feel it necessary to bash the sport.
Now I can understand if the Penn State athletic program takes a big hit, but the game itself is going to be fine. While you may find consensus here on DU, outside of this sphere, I'd say you were very, very wrong.

[Gman]

7. Those that feel they never fit in with a jock culture" probably feel this way

But they are very mistaken. I think they're also among those screaming the loudest right now.

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. I never fit in with jock culture, was beaten up and taunted by jocks,

was sexually abused (not to the extent of the Penn victim(s) by a former college football player...from a very young age, for years, and post #4 in this thread is all I've posted here on this subject, and aside from wishing complete healing to the victims, is likely all I will say on the subject.

Wait, I did make one other post alluding to abuse, but that's it. I don't like football, not at all, don't and won't watch it. I love the DETROIT RED WINGS and find some basketball rather fun, etc.

:shrug:

[SoDesuKa]

10. Sandusky Trial Bigger than Casey Anthony

Sandusky's trial will be bigger than the long drawn out Casey Anthony drama. You can bet that Sandusky will try anything and everything to avoid going to prison. If you think people are disgusted now, you ain't seen nothin' yet.



Just You Wait, 'Enry 'Iggins

[WinkyDink]

13. Is there a missing and murdered child somewhere I've not read of?

[Bluenorthwest]

20. The child known as Victim 2 is missing and has not been seen

since the guy who is still coaching walked away and left him to be raped. So the fate of that child is unknown, and the harsh fact is that none of the adults in that program cared to know what happened to that child, no one followed up on him at all. Left him to be raped, that much we know, and that is a definitive statement about sports culture, the coward walked away, called his daddy and then made a deal to get a gig in trade. Jock= man who walks away and lets a child be raped while he whines to his dad at age 28, dad says tell coach, coach says 'not my kid' and that is your sports culture. That's it. There is no more to it than that.
So yeah, there is a missing kid, one so far. Does that not bother you? It sure did not bother the coaches, not one of them.

[mackdaddy]

27. He will never be tried. Can you say "Ken Lay" or "DC Madam"

Some fraction of the 1% power elite is into this kind of perversion. Just Google "Franklin Scandal, 1989".


I think that "JoePa" received about what he deserved. But, I think this was never reported originally because you don't talk about the power elites little proclivities when you live at these levels.


I just wonder why this became public now since this guy has been know to be a Child Anal Rapist for at least a decade.

[SoDesuKa]

9. Anomie Quotient

Jock culture got a boost when the Navy Seals assassinated Osama bin Laden. It had been declining before then, but I'd say it's back on the decline. My own measure of the Anomie Quotient is interest in the Super Bowl. This year there were a lot more people in the supermarket than in years past, and they were more mainstream than in previous years as well. It wasn't a bad game, but people stopped watching it anyhow. The decline in Super Bowl interest reflects an overall loss of interest in Guy Things in general, and in jock culture in particular.

We'll soon find out if the shameful sneakiness at Penn State thing adversely affects college football. Unlike other measures of anomie, this one is actually quantifiable. There's talk that Occupy LA will head to Pasadena on January 1st to Occupy the Rose Parade. That might make the event worth watching!



Anomie increasing as a function of economic unrest.

[Serve The Servants]

23. Sorry, but I'm a little confused.

Is football on the decline because the presumed growing lack of interest is piggy backing a constant breakdown in social norms, or I guess "Guy Things" as you put it? Forgive me, because I swear you wrote earlier that it was on the decline due to fallout of the Penn State scandal.

Also, how do you accurately quantify this using the anomie quotient so soon after the incident, especially if your values keep changing?

Again, forgive me. I might just be a dumb jock, and I suck at math, but something doesn't really add up here.

[SoDesuKa]

26. Existing Trend

What I'm calling anomie here is a declining interest in doing rah-rah things simply because they are expected. People were already looking for other things to do besides watch the Super Bowl game, and that was before jock culture took the big hit from the scandal at Penn State.

It hasn't been a particularly good year for anybody, and this is the year people finally took to the streets to say they're fed up. That's going to drive up the Anomie Quotient quite a bit, and what's coming out of Penn State is especially troubling. Football makes about the best case possible for jock culture, but here you've got aspects of it that by comparison make Bush's sleazy case for war look straightforward and sincere.

It's jock culture that's going to take the hit, and football is going to be affected by it. Baseball was hurt by the steroid scandal, and you're saying football's image won't be damaged by coaches buggering little boys? You're out of your mind.

[WinkyDink]

12. This is so inaccurate as to be.....words fail me. You opine, yet you admit to no clue.

Here's a clue: Next Saturday , TURN THE TV ON.

[SoDesuKa]

22. Turn the TV On?

Keeping the television OFF is very liberating; I recommend it. I'm thinking of getting rid of mine entirely. In judging the relative strength of popular issues I use my own measures. The day Casey Anthony was acquitted, strangers on the checkout line at the supermarket were discussing it. So I concluded that it was important, but for that day only.

Television people are not unbiased in reporting about the scandal at Penn State. That's the reason I go with my own measure, that of overheard conversations. People seem to be interpreting it as a blow to jock culture, but in a detached way. I think that's because jock culture does not have the appeal it once did, back when people felt like they were winning.

I could of course be entirely wrong, but so is Common Wisdom, especially when presented by television announcers. I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl to test whether people are continuing to lose interest in football. There were a lot more people doing food shopping during this year's Super Bowl than in years past, and they were more mainstream too. I call my index the Anomie Quotient, and it's certain that they don't call it that on Channel Seven.



Mad as Hell

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. Agreed.

No one has been able to say that the Penn State rioters, who acted in the manner cops are IMAGINING #Occupy as acting, are JOCKS.

Jocks. Our nation's pride, our heroes (whereas teachers should be our heroes, Vets should be our heroes, but look how much they are paid, how much opportunity they have).

I'm no fan of jock culture, although I can appreciate anyone who excels in their field. Let's just have that kind of money for rescue workers, alright?

[SoDesuKa]

5. Marlo Thomas Asks: Where Are the Women?

Actress Marlo Thomas is not one to make a heavy-handed comment about jock culture, but in her Huffington Post article she does mention it, however obliquely. This is an indication that this kind of critique is out there, namely, is there an inevitable association between male bonding and secrecy?

"Where was a single man or woman in authority (incidentally, there's been scant mention of women in the school's chain of command) who was willing to put the safety of children ahead of the false gridiron piety and morality for the TV audience watching on Saturdays."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/joe-paterno-the-clock-has_b_1086218.html

Jock Culture Is Sexist.

[Fumesucker]

14. Bernie Madoff excelled in his field..

So did John Wayne Gacy for that matter.

:evilgrin:

[WinkyDink]

11. I suppose you are unaware that many females like sports?

[Fumesucker]

15. I'm one of those that doesn't like football, I have an OP up about the reasons..

I don't have any problem with people who like sports, what I have a problem with is the evidently mindless adulation heaped upon people just because they can throw a ball further and more accurately than most people or run faster or whatever.

It's ironic that as physical prowess becomes less and less necessary for the things that most people do for a living, the celebration of physical prowess just becomes ever more over the top.

[trumad]

18. I have a problem with Liberals who try to out Liberal everyone else.

Not saying you are but boy DU sure has them.

Seriously---if we were to take on advice from some of these pretentious elitists Liberals, it would be one fucking boring life.

[Fumesucker]

21. In a lot of our minds jock culture is thoroughly intertwined with wingnutism, to coin a phrase..

At sixty one I'm the only adult that will go and ride bikes with my three grandkids, the rest of them are sitting on their butts watching football or baseball or basketball or NASCAR, no other adult in my grandkids life has ever taken them to the bike trail and ridden with them.

I actually participate in a sport, it's not an organized one but that doesn't make it any less of a sport.

My HS football playing, weight pumping grandnephew was dumbfounded when he couldn't keep up with me on the bike trail, he took off and left me in the dust for about the first ten minutes or so but I eventually passed him winded and gasping for air, it was fun to give him a cheery wave and a "are you OK?"..

Of course if he knew how to properly utilize the gears and pace himself he could beat me easily but he doesn't have a clue about that.

[Odin2005]

30. I'm of the working poor, not a "pretentious elitist".

Nice try, though.

[trumad]

31. didnt say you were

Now did I?

[SoDesuKa]

16. Many Females Like Sports

Many females do indeed like sports. However, I don't know how many females are enthusiastic about jock culture, a central tenet of which is No Girls Allowed. Football is very gender-segregated, an aspect that makes it somewhat anachronistic, in my judgement. I haven't been able to figure out what's keeping it up, because even baseball, the Great American Game, goes through periods of popularity and unpopularity.

Penn State would like a quick conviction in the People v. Sandusky case, but that's not in Sandusky's interest at all. Too many convicts would like nothing better than to cut him open. We can expect that his lawyers will be as ruthless as they are pricey. And remember, this trial will drag out for months and months.



Everybody said Strauss-Kahn was guilty.

[Fumesucker]

19. Frankly I'll be near-shocked if he ever goes to trial..

The judge who released Sandusky without him putting up a cent is a volunteer at Sandusky's charity.

Judges should avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest, this judge does not pass that test.

[hack89]

25. There is a thriving womens jock culture in my area

due to the many local colleges. Our area hosts girls soccer, lacrosse, hockey and rugby tournaments - spend any time at one of them and it would be impossible to denies a girls jock culture.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Sorry, it is not mandantory and it is that sort of aggression that

makes the sports culture so unappealing to the majority of people. American Football culture is of course limited to this one nation, and is not international, thus for many of us, utterly useless in terms of 'chit chat.
The game itself is dull it is the culture around it that is for tired old ninnies who have to live life once removed. The bullyism, the adoration of money and wealth and power, the cheating, the drug taking, every few days another 'superstar' uses another slur loudly and in public. In lower levels, the 'athletes' bully their classmates, and are allowed to because as we see, the coaches do as they wish with their 'players' and so the bully culture is part and parcel of sports culture. They hate to have women around, they despise gay people, they dig rapists and dog killers, they love, just love, to find out the horrible things their 'heroes' do and then claim they are 'redeemed' so it is now ok to cheer for a guy who does vile things.
And dear OP, 'jock culture' is what the athletes have. You fans have 'sports fan culture' as you are not 'jocks' and can not play the game as the pros do. Your culture is a fandom, much like fandoms around soap operas, from the outside the whole thing looks silly. It is Beibermania, it is nothing more than fandom. Being a fan of ballet does not make you a part of that culture, it makes you a fan of that culture's product, same for sports. A sports fan is not a 'jock' they are a fan, they are not doers, they are watchers, they are not part of they are observers of athletic culture.
Your theory that it is mandatory to be a fanboy drooling over 'jocks' is absurd, as many of us do not need to sublimate our desires. Sports fans do need to sublimate their desires.

[SoDesuKa]

24. Regular Joe-ism

It helps my guy-cred if I know who won the big game that I didn't bother watching. All I have to do to earn points is say, "Wow! That was some runback!" and I'm good for a whole week.

It may be, as you imply, a complete sell-out. But this is a simple way of connecting. "Gosh! That game had me guessing until the very end!"



Product shipped may not be as pictured.

[Fumesucker]

28. Maybe some of us don't *want* to connect to shallow assholes whose whole purpose in life..

Revolves around a kid's game played by physiological freaks?

[Odin2005]

29. This guy thinks that the "Jock Culture" people can go fuck themselves.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

32. “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

[seabeyond]

33. i use to think.... a man is always going to be a boy, use to be cute. last decade

i dont allow it at all. be a grown up, damn it. lol