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It is a good way to waste a lot of time. But attaching yourself to a team(IE your local team), is downright stupidity. It is a weird form of tribalism, since the players are almost-guaranteed to not actually be locals(and most of the owners/management as well).
It would be like you were rooting for mercenaries from another country, to fight against other foreign mercenaries. It might be kind of fun to watch the slow-motion replay of a big hit, but I don't see much benefit in being a fan of a foreigner.
In my view, what people really enjoy about watching sports, is talking about sports to other people. Having these silly debates about who is the best, or who is going to win. A whole lot of, "your team sucks", and your quarterback sucks, or your running back is overrated. Then bragging about how your team had the best drafting/recruiting class, or is rated higher in the AP Poll. Or your conference is the best/most-competitive conference. That your team deserves to go to the National Championship, etc.
And since sports are so common, almost all of the guys at work, or that you meet in a bar, or wherever else you go, will have an opinion(at least if you watch the popular sports). So its a good way to make small-talk. And its far less controversial than politics.
But, its still a big silly waste of time, and I think it probably makes you dumber. And the politics in the game are so horrendous that I try to avoid it.
Though, I generally will still watch the Superbowl, and other championship games, not necessarily because I really enjoy it, but because everyone else will watch it, and they will want to talk to me about it. I need to make sure I know what they're talking about, and have formed my own opinion.
As an aside.... a few years back, I bought a bunch of T-shirts that were on sale for $2 a piece, because my local team lost the championship game, and the local stores needed to get rid of their extra shirts.
They were actually pretty nice/heavy T-shirts, so I bought ten of them, even though I don't actually watch the games. But every time I would be wearing one out in public, all these guys would ask me about the team, what time the game starts, or about so-and-so from the team.
I did feel a bit embarrassed when I didn't know anything, even though I was wearing their shirt.
I completely sympathize with you here, I used to like sports myself and even got into fantasy baseball and football for the fun of it. But the fun stopped as soon as it became too expensive to sustain it. It shouldn't cost me a few hundred bucks for a family of 4 to experience a live baseball game.
Now I enjoy playing the sports more than watching it. In fact, I have all the sports channel filtered so I don't even get them anymore.
Part of the problem is knowing how much these professional athletes make, it's outrageous because we fans are the ones paying for their salary but we're not shown much love in return. Very hard to enjoy a game when you know some of these multi-millionaires are making more money per at bat than the avg American's annual salary.
This is true about writers, journalists and media associated with all things people find interesting. It snuck up and people don't usually notice until something crosses their personal line. Lot's of lines being crossed these days. Everything being political isn't an accident, it's on purpose.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
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Even as a woman I still love watching sports. But I watch differently these days. I DVR everything and avoid the net until after I watch. I can watch my fav (college basketball) in about an hour skipping through commercials, commentary, and the things like TV timeouts which have ruined the flow of the game. Doing it this way has brought back the joy of watching and takes me back to the days of being a mom being in the stands and just enjoying the game for what it is.....
Pro, big time college sports and their associated media have become obese . Most people can't remember what sport was like before ESPN, paid TV, billionaire players, super egos, and their spawn. Even much youth sport has become about the money. Nevertheless it isn't going back to the 'good old days'...so some go, watch and pay and others don't. Mostly I don't...except limited games (usually playoffs), a few favorite teams (college and a couple pro), and local sports (college and HS). I'm happy and have more time and money...
I like watching college sports. My issue isn't with the pay of professional athletes as much as with the stupid antics on and off the field, especially with NFL players. They make a tackle and its a celebration, they make a catch and it's a celebration. They could be loosing by 40 points and they are celebrating that they did their job.
I love pro basketball though. I love going to the games. Great show and a lot of fun.
Hockey is fun to watch live as well.
I was going to post this in the general sports forum, but thought it might get more traction here.
From my youth, I followed all major team and individual sports. Especially over the last decade, my interest has dwindled. I am at the point now where I am an occasional watcher of NFL, and that's all. Primarily I will watch some NFL games basically in deference to my son, who is an aspiring NY Giants fan.
I stopped following Major League Baseball after the 1994 player's strike. To be fair, the sport was not my favorite to begin with, and I could deal with divorcing myself from the game. I remember what a major irritant was for me at the time: the sports media, at the time, especially WFAN 690 in NYC was completely bias towards the players. The newspapers were rife with overwhelming player support as well. The big pain point was the players insisting that a salary cap not be instituted. However, the same sports media was incredibly critical of business at the same time, while arguing for players financial gain.
As the years have passed, there has been, in my observation, less emphasis in sports journalism placed on analysis and gameplay. Instead, the sports columns and pre-game shows have substituted vital insight with increasingly irrelevant topical material, as it relates to the game. A great deal of it could be placed in the Op/Ed section of any local or national newspaper. Combined with the increase in commercials (I see this in the NFL, and it's sad) you are left with a diluted product.
The victim of this is the fan. I liken it to spousal abuse. How much more will it take before the fan walks out the door. I think politics has sullied yet another American institution, and the sports media is the driver. This was really brought out by a piece I read today, and I thought I would share it:
I heard this piece mentioned this morning driving into work on the Jason Whitlock show, and everything became completely crystalized to me after reading it. We are so imbued with politics in this society, that sports was a haven away from the vitriol. However, it isn't that way any longer.
I miss the NFL Today when Brent Musburger, Irv Cross and Jimmy the Greek actually analyzed games. Try finding a clip on Youtube. I don't know if you can. It was a different world then with sports media. I would argue it was a superior product.
Good writeup and you are right, the product for the most part isn't as good as in the past --- I'll make an exception for the NBA (L. James, S. Curry, etc are some of the best players to have every played)- but baseball and football aren't as good as back in the day --- mainly due to dilution of the product because there are more teams now.
Funny you mentioned Jimmy The Greek because he was one of the very first victims of political correctness in the media --- he said the wrong thing, without meaning any harm, and the suits fired him.
I would probably be in the same boat as you - paying little attention to sports, if not for fantasy sports which keeps me interested. Give it a try...... I also just read your personal quote about independent people don't need politicians..... good stuff!
I completely sympathize with you here, I used to like sports myself and even got into fantasy baseball and football for the fun of it. But the fun stopped as soon as it became too expensive to sustain it. It shouldn't cost me a few hundred bucks for a family of 4 to experience a live baseball game.
Now I enjoy playing the sports more than watching it. In fact, I have all the sports channel filtered so I don't even get them anymore.
Part of the problem is knowing how much these professional athletes make, it's outrageous because we fans are the ones paying for their salary but we're not shown much love in return. Very hard to enjoy a game when you know some of these multi-millionaires are making more money per at bat than the avg American's annual salary.
You can't look at things that way. These guys are entertainers, pure and simple, and there are darn few that make it to the high level. That's why the dollars they make are so high. It's like movie stars. Do you think they should be making $10, $20 million a picture, to play pretend stuff? Of course not. But if the movie does well enough and makes enough money -- then it's fine by me.
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