Fun Stuff > CHATTER
WE HATE SPORTS
Spluff:
--- Quote from: Hat on 29 Sep 2009, 23:28 ---Depends on whether you think we are still inherently violent animals at our core or not, really. If we are, then sports could be considered culturally cathartic for all the instincts and urges we repress. If not you could argue elevating our sportsmen to high social status encourages violent thuggish behaviour we should have gotten over as a species by now.
--- End quote ---
I'm a fan of sport, but even if it is cathartic (and if it is, you'd have to argue that you'd be better off playing it than watching it) the amount of money some sportspeople make is ludicrous. There are people make millions of dollars a week for what ultimately amounts to an hour or so of entertainment that they provide us - I don't want to be the person that constantly brings up all those starving children, but seriously, if you made golf, football, baseball and basketball all strictly amateur or cut down their wages to an amount that would give them enough money to live comfortably (ie. the kind of wage people working actual jobs get) you could buy half of Africa with what you save, and finance the re/building of a sustainable, stable economy with what you've got left*.
I'm a big fan of the strictly amateur leagues they have in Ireland - the players still get to star, they are still idolized, but they aren't being given more money than they know what to do with.
Caleb:
I swam back in high school and college. (8th place in SUNYACs!).
However I really never watched anyone swim competitively except for the Olympics.
I don't watch professional sports and I never understood why anyone does. My dad dragged me to high school basketball games when I was young and I think my dislike of spectator sports started there.
Or I am just a misanthrope at heart.
jhocking:
--- Quote from: KharBevNor on 29 Sep 2009, 22:27 ---Who else thinks that the amount of time, effort and money our society invests in some half-retarded shitheads in shorts manipulating spherical objects is sickening. Who thinks that the idea that a man who kicks a fucking ball on television can get paid as much as a brain surgeon makes in a year every month or even week to be just the most awful thing.
For bonus loony-left points, who thinks that sport is, for the ruling class, a combination of bread and circuses and the opiate of the masses. Don't worry about the fact that you were born into grinding poverty lad! There's a one in a million chance you could be a footballer! Of course, only if you practice hard and forget all that boring politics and history. Oh? That ridiculous dream never materialised? Don't worry, you can still care more about your football team than you do about who your local MP is. That is a-ok.
--- End quote ---
All of this stuff I agree with, and I used to be really anti-sports too, but at one point someone pointed out/explained to me the positive political implications of sports, how sports are a socially galvanizing force. For example, sporting teams provide a common ground that holds together communities of individuals who otherwise have no common ground whatsoever. (Years later I learned there's actually a book written around this thesis, I forget the title unfortunately.)
Of course this community building in a local area tends to come at the cost of intensifying rivalries between communities, plus the other negatives you pointed out remain true. However, reflecting on some positive points did change me from being overtly anti-sports to simply not caring about them one way or the other.
ackblom12:
I despise sports but to be fair, folks who play American Football (obviously this includes Boxing and other contact sports) professionally have a shit load of medical problems in the long term. Dozens of concussions, broken bones, nerve damage and torn ligaments means a rather short shelf life for the sport and practically being forced into total retirement afterwards unless they were huge names and can get ad or licensing deals.
Basically you're paying them ridiculous amounts of money to have an early death due to brain damage.
jhocking:
--- Quote from: David_Dovey on 29 Sep 2009, 23:35 ---What if a brain surgeon is operating on an asshole. Keep in mind that most people are assholes.
--- End quote ---
I've never thought of it that way. I like how you think.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version