Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I do not consider myself to be a sports fan. I will watch sports sometimes in order to participate in conversations with co-workers and other people but I really don't care about any teams or anything like that. However I do notice that those who identify as sports fans express extremely critical opinions when watching the games and events. Are sports fan more judgmental than the average person? Discuss.
You work with a lot of sports fans, but you don't like sports. Thus your generalization.
Actually by the number of people, sports fans at my work do not outnumber co-workers with other primary interests. However the sports talk dominates the non-work discussions.
No. Haven't you heard audiophiles discussing music ... Or some people talking about types of pizza?
You work with a lot of sports fans, but you don't like sports. Thus your generalization.
This...I think the OP probably stereotypes sports fans as a certain type of person. I'm a sports fan, but I'm also ardently into music, art.etc, sports doesn't dominate my life (unless you mean a sports fan is a sports nut you doesn't think of anything else). I'm passionate and yes sometimes biased about things like art, music, current events and to an extent sport, but a lot of it is in good fun, don't take it too seriously.
I do notice that those who identify as sports fans express extremely critical opinions when watching the games and events. Are sports fan more judgmental than the average person? Discuss.
That's what people with a common interest DO when they are with like-minded people.
Doesn't matter what the topic.
I don't think judgemental is the right word. When I'm watching my team, I am emotionally invested in seeing them win, so it can be frustrating when they are not and I can't do anything but watch the train wreck unfold. It's natural to say things in those moments, like "Why the heck is the coach calling run plays when there's only 2 minutes left??!!" but it's not really what I'd consider judgement as much as helpless frustration. But if you're not a sports fan it's hard to understand, I suppose.
My anecdotal observation is that big sports fans tend to be somewhat more traditional in their outlook on life in general than people who have less or no interest in sports. They tend to see things in more "black and white" terms, are more steadfast to traditional gender roles, are more politically conservative, etc. I haven't seen this apply to people who might watch the Super Bowl or Final Four or other sporting events here and there but have other interests they focus on as well. I'm thinking more of the people whose conversations around others are almost dominated by sports figures, their games, their lives, their performance, etc.
Just so I don't sound like I'm trying to stereotype big sports fans across the board, I offer a big disclaimer that this is purely my own experiences and observations and maybe the original poster has the same experiences? I wouldn't say that this is a certainty without seeing some sort of empirical evidence though. Maybe that's an idea for someone's sociology master's thesis.
they act as though they can perform better than a proffessional athlete in the way they talk about them. that is why i laugh at sports fans for critiquing professional athletes.
they act as though they can perform better than a proffessional athlete in the way they talk about them. that is why i laugh at sports fans for critiquing professional athletes.
So you've never had a critical opinion about a book you read? A movie you saw? A song you heard? Assuming you are not a professional in any of these fields and could not write a book, produce a movie, or compose a song better than the professionals do, what gives you the right to have an opinion about such things?
You don't always need to have the skills yourself to know when something is poorly executed.
My anecdotal observation is that big sports fans tend to be somewhat more traditional in their outlook on life in general than people who have less or no interest in sports. They tend to see things in more "black and white" terms, are more steadfast to traditional gender roles, are more politically conservative, etc. I haven't seen this apply to people who might watch the Super Bowl or Final Four or other sporting events here and there but have other interests they focus on as well. I'm thinking more of the people whose conversations around others are almost dominated by sports figures, their games, their lives, their performance, etc.
Just so I don't sound like I'm trying to stereotype big sports fans across the board, I offer a big disclaimer that this is purely my own experiences and observations and maybe the original poster has the same experiences? I wouldn't say that this is a certainty without seeing some sort of empirical evidence though. Maybe that's an idea for someone's sociology master's thesis.
Your second paragraph says you don't want to stereotype, but in the first that's exactly what you do. You see them all as blue collar beer-swilling macho guys who never had an abstract thought, but that is a stereotype. I love my Eagles and IMO football season is one of very few bright sides to winter, but I'm a 51 year old professional white collar woman who is very liberal both socially and politically. But yes, when my QB gets sacked I'm going to scream at the offensive line for not protecting him!
For the poster that said criticizing means I think I can do the job better, I also criticize political decisions, but it certainly doesn't mean I think I am qualified to be governor or Secretary of the Treasury. If it's the case that any criticism of any public figure means believing we are qualified for their job, then IMO most people are guilty of what you accuse sports fans of, including I would guess, yourself.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
