On the subject of professional sports

[fetternity]

I'll say it right now: I have very radical views, and sometimes contradicting ones, when it comes to professional sports. But there are things to be considered because I get called a nerd, a douche or an elitist. Let's.

First off, let me state that I enjoy catching the game (if I happen to catch it) during playoffs or the Olympics. Those are the

Comments

[sesheta]

I agree with you to a certain extent. I, like you, tend only to pay attention to sports during the play offs, the Olympics, or the World Cup. I see your point about sports diverting attention and time away from more productive and important things. The same, however, could be said about watching television, going to the movies, listening to music for it's own sake, playing video games, surfing the internet... the reality is that there is an intrinsic value in things that bring enjoyment and allow people to relieve stress by simply having fun and being swept away in pageantry. That's not to say that I don't think many people take it too far. Just as some people become obsessed and addicted to video games to the expense of going for a walk outside, seeing friends, being active in social and political efforts to improve the world, or just bettering themselves at their professions. However, to condemn something as being obsolete because it doesn't "matter" in the grand scheme of things is to tread a dangerous line. What about art? Does

[fetternity]

Oh, I see the potential rebound effect, of course. I stated from the get-go that it can be a contradicting position at times :)

As in all things, it's the extremes that are regrettable, borderline detestable. I enjoy a game when I can catch one that's significant enough for me and that I don't have to get out of my way for it, but I'm not going to HAFTA watch the game, any game, because it's on at 7:30 on Thursday and to hell whether it's my son's amateur bowling league night and I have to drive him.

All entertainment is fleeting, but from a moral/ethical standpoint, sports is potentially the most obscene of all because of some values it carries, and how the fans react to it. I'm an artist and I'm not all that attracted to sports except for my sake (playing it), so I can't sing the virtues of that establishment that easily. I see it as a tool for social control.

The more things change...

[sesheta]

… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions - everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses

[...] iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli / uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim / imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se / continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, / panem et circenses. [...]

(Juvenal, Satire 10.77-81)

- Didymus

Re: The more things change...

[sesheta]

Meh, replying to my own post...

Now the argument can be made that the above quote can apply to "any" kind of entertainment. TV show cultists, Pop Idol fanbase , wargaming fluff monkeys etc, can all be just as bad as the sports cult.

- SDidymus