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Why Do People Love Sports?


RileytheNerdQueen
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As a nerd in a wheelchair, I just don't understand the appeal of sports in general.  What's so fun about a bunch of sweaty dudes in tight pants, smacking the shit out of each other? Well, I do see an appeal to the gay crowd (*wink wink nudge nudge*).  But what about Nascar? It's a sport where people drive insanely fast, crash, and potentially make that date with death.  Why would someone be excited about a death race?  Hell, why would someone want to watch fathers, sons, and nephews get severely concussed?  I just don't understand it!  Why do people watch that shit?  Why did the human race even invent the concept of sports?  If you like sports, that's okay. I just get seriously frustrated when I try to wrap my head around why.

Again: It's fine if you like sports. Hell, I find myself fascinated by soccer and baseball every once in a while. I'm just saying: I really don't think Nascar or the NFL are any good to begin with.  I'm curious now:  What do you guys think about sports?  I'd love to know.

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9 minutes ago, RileytheNerdQueen said:

As a nerd in a wheelchair, I just don't understand the appeal of sports in general.  What's so fun about a bunch of sweaty dudes in tight pants, smacking the shit out of each other? Well, I do see an appeal to the gay crowd (*wink wink nudge nudge*).  But what about Nascar? It's a sport where people drive insanely fast, crash, and potentially make that date with death.  Why would someone be excited about a death race?  Hell, why would someone want to watch fathers, sons, and nephews get severely concussed?  I just don't understand it!  Why do people watch that shit?  Why did the human race even invent the concept of sports?  If you like sports, that's okay. I just get seriously frustrated when I try to wrap my head around why.

You pretty much answered it yourself in the OP. Close calls with death as well as violence has been a popular spectacle since the early days of civilization and prior.

Also it's competitive. People enjoy beating others people either physically or in scores. Competition proves some folk are better than others and if you have a group you're supporting you feel a part of their success by proxy, even if that doesn't always make sense. It also brings people together and people enjoy the feeling of belonging to a group of likeminded individuals.

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I can imagine it can be somewhat gratifying to play, but I was never really into it because I'm very non-competitive and pacifistic.  It can also be pretty boring if the ball never comes your way, too.  I do enjoy sports video games, though, but you get to control the whole team in those so there's much more action.

That said, I don't really understand watching them at all, but I think Sarcastic Coffeecup really nailed it.  Also, I feel like it's something that regular people can nerd out about and get into while still being socially normal.  It's kinda like D&D for normies; There's a long history, the players have positions and detailed stats and attributes, and there's even fantasy football. xD

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Only thing that bugs me about sports is the fanaticism. Like, it gets really, really bad. People fighting , hurting each other, or even killing in the name of their team. I really resent that culture.

Boy, do we get a lot of that where I live.

Other than that, sport is pretty alright. I wish we had more variety where I live too, though. It's all about soccer, soccer, soccer.

Baseball, for example, seems pretty fun...but it's pretty much nonexistant here.

Edited by Luka
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Being a part of a team that challenges you to train your body and mind to outperform others is one of the greatest feelings in the world. You couldn't know until you actually gave it an honest go. I didn't know I'd love playing baseball and hockey so much in high school, and I am glad I had people who urged me to give them a go. Some of my best memories were when I was on those teams. 

Edited by Ieono
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I, personally, enjoy sports. But not the sports that involve a ball. I only recognize 1-on-1 Hand-to-hand combat as a true sport. (Boxing, MMA, Kickboxing, Rassling, etc.) I was never one for team competition, or just competition in general, but if it's about an individual's personal strength, wits, and skills against another individual then I'm all in.

What I don't like about sports are the fans. Especially those who go on bragging about "their team" and how they're the best when the person doing the bragging did absolutely NOTHING at all and I'm forced to sit and listen as they proceed to get defensive about it as soon as someone says something about the team that is construed as negative.

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The way I see it, Sports are a kind of pseudo-warfare in which people battle each other in relatively safe ways. Such games also encourage physical activity and the health benefits that accompany exercise. Sports fans, on the other hand, get to live vicariously through others while simultaneously enhancing their own sense of belonging.

As for me, I'd rather play than watch somebody else, and my sports tend to be solitary (skiing, bicycling, surfing etc.), done for exercise and endorphins rather than competition.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with liking sports, and they can be fun at times, but it would be nice if the pro-sports folks weren't so pushy about it. Can you imagine constantly pushing/cajoling/coercing your family/friends/coworkers/etc. to do furry fandom stuff? Telling your kids that it will build their character, and maybe forcing them to fursuit when they have no interest in it and would rather be somewhere else? If joining a team or playing games was always optional, that would be great, but it bothers me that kids don't always have a say in the matter.

When my parents made me play sports, they certainly meant well, but I think that mostly wasted time that I could have spent reading, exploring, or being a better student. But I digress...

Edited by Xaende
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Most sports bore me to death. Sports fans are some of the worst people to have to be around and the day I never have to hear screaming and chest-pounding/table smacking/etc. at the TV again will really be the day.

With that being said, I do enjoy going to the occasional evening baseball game or watching boxing. Now boxing, there's a sport that's cool as shit and yet it's somehow so much less popular.

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because they're fun to play and occasionally fun to watch. I used to play basketball in grade school but then I quit when I started middle school. I don't really care that much for sports anymore but I'll occasionally go to a baseball game because they're surprisingly fun.

true some of the fans can get really passionate about their teams or whatever but I've seen so many people throw fits over which fictional characters are banging each other

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My entirely all-too-simplified view is that sports came about cuz there was nothing better to do in the primitive days of old, and humans kinda gravitate toward competition etc. Now we have the Internet for entertainment, and vidya games for competition, but people still sportz because of all the years of being told that running and sweating is cooool and shit. 

Personally, I'd rather play video games. It's the superior sport. Why exhaust yourself to have fun and challenge your skills, when you can relax on a couch in peace with da plumbers??

image.gif.1e05af09ca557fb04470684cb37655

ya, it's not a hard choice. 

I should be sleepin

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Sports are a thing that I can appreciate as a medium (Physical and mental training, competition, coordination. It's like large-scale chess, except people are violently running into each other.),
but it's something that also bores the piss out of me to watch.

I'm sure it's a lot more fun in its execution,
and it was, the few times that I have been engaged in things that fall under the classification of "sport."

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The best thing about sports in my opinion is the competition and self improvement, which you cannot experience by merely watching sports. You must be the one doing sports.

Also, some of the sport fans are downright obnoxious, justifying their own actions in the name of sports and their favorite teams

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As far as watching sports goes, I used to think it was a huge waste of time until I began watching competitive SSBM. It was originally so that I could learn matchups and pick up strategies and stuff, but pretty soon I fell in love with smash as a spectator sport. Sports and video games are similar in that they're both systems with an arbitrary goal or function. The difference of course is that in sports you can do anything except what is expressly forbidden by the rules of the system, and in video games you can't do anything except what is expressly allowed by the system. Sports fanatics aren't as dumb as they let on, apart from the comradery and excitement that comes from rooting for your home team, it's also fascinating and inspiring to see your favorite system be manipulated at the highest level, a skill that you are unlikely to achieve in your lifetime. You'd be amazed at the intricate and oftentimes encyclopedic knowledge that sports fans possess for their sport of choice and all of the teams and players who play it.It's the same for myself and melee, I understand it on such a deep level that 90% of the things I notice would probably be lost on a casual onlooker. The strategies, the mindgames, the technical feats, when people are playing well it's truly a thing of beauty.I imagine it's the same for soccer, football, or anything else. Smash is just the first thing that was able to grab my attention long enough to ignite my passion for it.

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Just now, #00Buck said:

Can you come to our next meet up?

I do not live in the land of burger but yes

with the help of bicycles, motorised carts, or with a retarded friend pushing something with wheels, jousting can be fun but highly irresponsible and not worth attempting outside of a handful of times

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Just now, Sir Gibby said:

I do not live in the land of burger but yes

with the help of bicycles, motorised carts, or with a retarded friend pushing something with wheels, jousting can be fun but highly irresponsible and not worth attempting outside of a handful of times

Ever jousted with doildos? 

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On 21/02/2016 at 7:51 PM, RileytheNerdQueen said:

What's so fun about a bunch of sweaty dudes in tight pants, smacking the shit out of each other? Well, I do see an appeal to the gay crowd (*wink wink nudge nudge*)

I must admit I detest sports in general, though rugby has a little merit, thick/well built stocky men, often hairy wearing tight clothing... its rather nice :3 least gives the TV a second glance if it happens to be on.

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