(no subject)

[trinityvixen]

Who likes sports?

Now, be honest, no sniggering or rolling eyes over me asking that question. I know many of you from alterna-hobbies, I have no clue who among you is really an athlete in disguise. This is a perfect excuse to break out the POLL:

[Poll #825840]

Why I want to know is that it's started to be football season again. Yes, the pros have been playing for a few weekends now, but it's college that worries me. Mostly, it's because I spend the next four months grinding my teeth as my uncles talk trash about FSU, University of Florida, and University of Miami when, guaranteed, only one of them ever seems to do well, and even then it still bores the crap out of me. There are e-mails about kickers and quarterbacks; guys getting into college who are too dumb to apply without it being pre-done for them with the proviso they play ball; criminals attending various schools; who owes who scotch/cigars over which team losing some game...you name it, they kvetch about it.

I'd like to get some more positive sports impressions from my friends who aren't rabid sports fanatics. Fans, sure, but fanatics, mercifully not. Why did you play? Why do you watch (if you do)? What are the attractions either way? I mean, having played, I understand the attraction of playing, but there are very few non-live events (as in, TrinityVixen has a ticket and can ogle the rear ends of a few footy players in person, live) that I've ever enjoyed sitting down and watching. My greatest triumph was delaying onset of football watching at Thanksgiving by two hours when my sister, my brother-in-law, and myself went, "Uh oh, Prizoner of Azkaban is almost over and we said they could have the TV when we were done....but what if we just restarted the movie and didn't tell them?" (and we did, and my dad commented, "Is this movie still on? It's a long movie!")

Sound off, ye friends upon my list.

Comments

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I put down skiing, although I haven't done it competitively. But it's still something I do. And there was the disastrous softball venture in sixth grade, in which I played worse than most of the fourth graders. I enjoyed it, but I really did suck.

I've watched a lot of live football, thanks to eight years of marching band and a year of being a band alum. (Ye gods, I've seen a lot of bad football.) Actually, being at a football or basketball game where you feel an actual allegience to one team and a bunch of your friends are there is pretty fun. There's the screaming part, which you just don't get enough chance to do in real life. And an odd adrenaline rush.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Oh, right, skiing. That's fun.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I don't have any actual allegiance to our Columbia football team, but it is fun trying to guess how badly they'll suck on any given day. I give it 10-to-1 odds that we win against Princeton. Because no matter how lily-white an ivy Princeton is, Columbia will still manage to suck harder at sports. At every sport. We set records for how badly we do in sports (our men's and women's basketball set a record when I was in school for neither team winning one single game). When some abberant, statistical anomaly of a fencer or swimmer goes on to win a medal (or hell, qualifies) for the World Championship or Olympics, they don't shut up about it for days. They give the athlete plaques, a banquet, a promisory note not to bug them about donating for three whole months...

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Wow, I wish I'd get that note.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, see, that's why all sorts of terrible athletes play for Columbia. Go for the brass ring, eh?

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

The only reason I watch live sporting events is for the company, really. The Princeton Band, or my dad, or perhaps a group of friends for the Columbia game.

Riflery in Boy Scouts was pretty much the only "sport" I consistantly enjoyed. Non-standard sports like pickleball, arenaball, or dodgeball were the other reasonable choices, as no one practiced them so I was on fairly even footing with the other players.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about sporting events--if you're there to be silly with friends, then it's fun. Homecoming, for example, will be fun. I get to use my recycled 2004 shirt! Woo!

I wish more people felt that way about sports--about how it not being competitive can still make it fun. I liked PE classes where we played games that were sports (as opposed to running, running, some more running, a couple of sleeping--er, yoga classes, and then running) but no one ever tried because attendance, not effort was all that mattered there.

Then again, I wouldn't have wanted to play Dodgeball against some of the people in my PE classes...

[linaerys.livejournal.com]

Huh, I married into a Gator family, so I've become able to follow football out of self-defense, but I always am knitting when a game is on, and I still refuse to get into basketball.

Football is slightly more interesting than basketball because football is based on the concept of winning ground as in a war. I like that. Basketball is dull as shit showmanship. Boring.

Go Gators.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

My Dad works at UF. We have gator lawn ornaments. And Christmas ornaments. And knick-knacks on tables. And ties. And throw blankets.

[linaerys.livejournal.com]

My in-laws live in Gainesville and it's about the same story. And my new nephew has about 10 gator onesies. It's a sickness, I say. *g*

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Even the street signs in Gainesville are orange and blue. The trashcans say "put it in the can, Gator fan" on them.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Basketball is a game where you can watch the last two minutes to know all you need to. You'll miss a couple of dunks that were cool or a fight, maybe, but nothing you won't see in the last two minutes. Football, with its four downs and the options of passing/running plays versus a ball swapping directions every thiry seconds to one minute, does have some tactical stuff to it that can be interesting. I don't watch it often, but I'd watch football a hundred times over before I'd watch basketball once.

It's nice being in a family with mostly women. Even if my dad and brother are semi-rabid about football, and my one sister is almost a boy in that respect, we mostly drown it out by ignoring it.

Doesn't mean I don't occasionally like to be starting fights out of nowhere, and since you mentioned being a Gator-by-association, I must confess I am a 'Cane by association in a similar light (my dad has more orange and green--yuck--clothes than he's got suits for work). In the words of that creepy voice-over guy from Mortal Kombat: FIGHT!!!

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I loved college basketball. It's a lot more fun to watch live, in a group. It really moves, so there's a reason to yell and scream and clutch your head moaning a lot.

[anomilygrace.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I'm a moron and answered your poll from an RP journal. *facepalm* So Kypriothschoice? That's me. Hi.

I adore hockey, but I've never played it. Hockey's the one that I'd check "I have travelled for a game, I have refreshed ESPN for updates twice in a minute, and I'm reading the pre/post/current season rosters as I fill this out" for, but again, never played.

I'm another marching band alum so I've watched more high school football than I really ever want to think about too. High school football is fun. The crowd, the cold nights, getting nasty food from the football moms, I like it.

Other than that, I just like sports. It's the biggest thing I miss about not having cable TV. I will watch just about sport on TV, but especially tennis, soccer, football, hockey (obviously), riding, etc, etc, etc... Yeah, I'm a sports freak, I know. I like watching people perform to their utmost. I don't know...did any of that answer your question?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

That's cool, if you like it for the physical perfection aspect. I find the same thing true of the draw of the Olympics for me because that one isn't (solely) about moneymoneymoney and is more about international togetherness and friendly competition at the same time (which is why I wanted to smack the two prima-donna American speed skaters upside their fat heads last winter over their preening and jealousy exposed in front of cameras--the Italian who won the last race they were both in was so genuinely happy it made them look even worse).

Hockey is one I didn't really get excited about except to tease the bus driver I had for middle school. He was an Islanders fan for forever and it hurt him something awful when the Rangers broke their curse (he was subject to a real Rangers fan coming on the bus and tearing up his sign reading "1940" so it read '94' instead). It just was never on my radar. I wish I could have played that, too, as it might have left me a better skater (when I'm on the ice, no one is safe).

And thanks for reminding me: du-uh, tennis! Of course! Our high school was so competitive for tennis, I just didn't even think about it (whereas if you didn't drown when you hopped in the pool, you could qualify for swim team). I think you had to be ranked in the state to make tennis team...I don't think that's changed, either.

[anomilygrace.livejournal.com]

See, that's how I feel about hockey as well in parts. It's one of the few where the obsession for money comes from the owners' side not the players. So many hockey players just play for the love of the game - but then, I grew up in Detroit where hockey is a more common sport to play as a kid than soccer is. And my dad played hockey from the time he was wee up to playing for a Big Ten university. So it's rather in my blood so to speak. I have to love it. :)

I love the Olympics too and almost stuck it in my original comment except then I was all "well, obviously" ;) But I like watching the CBC coverage so much better than the American. They actually show non-premier sports and cover events that Canadians aren't necessarily big on. Especially watching the CBC during the winter Olympics. It's fabulous.

But yes, not necessarily physical perfection - though that's part of it - but the mental discipline it takes to be good at a sport at any level let alone a top level. And the interaction of a team when all the players are clicking. That's where it's at.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I love a good team story, which is why I found the women's soccer and softball teams so impressive. A lot more togetherness than showcased in other sports, and really, really good matches besides. But then I have a bias, as my sisters play softball at fairly competitive levels :)

Ugh, American broadcasting of the Olympics? I hate it. I wish CBC were an alternative, but my folks keep it on NBC or CBS or whoever gets it each year, and my own cable I don't think offers that option. But really? I was so pissed this last time. Whenever a non-American person messed up something in, say, figure skating, they were "struggling;" but when an American did almost the same thing, it was "fighting for it." As in, you're only ever really in trouble if you're not an American. ::grinds teeth::

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

Now you see, teams I was a part of usually had nothing to do with school =-þ Don't much enjoy watching most sports (exceptions being ice skating, gymnastics, and martial arts). Now there have been a bunch of wacky sports I've been a part of over the years (blind man's bluff, sharks and minnows, etc), man of which are variations of other games.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I never sat and watched martial arts until I watched a sparring session in my women's seminar for karate. It was interesting, but a lot less exciting than I expected. Surely, it's different on the black belt like 1000th Dan level, but still...

Where else did you do sports, then?

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

Competitive swimming program outside of school which geared kids up for meets. Also did some free sparing (both weapons and unarmed) with people I knew. Even help coordinate the martial arts section of a annual performance for one of the clubs in college.

Now if you want to geek it up a bit I was also in a Battletech (as in sitting in pods) clan for a while (with teneda). Not exactly a sport but it was competitive. Never made master level sadly =-( At least I was known as the pilot with the immortal vulture ^_^

Watching students spar is quite different than watching real competitive matches. Just drop by a tournament sometime. Sure you will see a lot of flash, but you get those gems of a match where you are trying to find who has what kind of opening =-O Good memories.

[cbreakr.livejournal.com]

I was never part of an official athletic team after junior high, but I would join in pick-up games of basketball, play that crazy Stuyvesant Stephanloft, and practice Kenjitsu wth friends through college. I don't have the time for that these days (plus my shoulder wouldn't hold up too well), but I still stay active by having a gym membership and running with my roomates from time to time. I relate very strongly to physicality.

I'll watch sporting events because the intricacy of motion and perception involved on the part of the players is fascinating. I can remember the scattered years of being in good shape, especially as a runner, and the amazing feeling of every part of my body moving together towards one goal (I once called this proprioceptive joy). It's a fundamentally different feeling from everything else and the only way I can describe it is "right". I can feel that coming off of the athletes while watching games, I can remember how good it feels.

On a broader sociological level, watching people make strong and effective actions in tight circumstances has an inspirational quality to it. Athletes' actions aren't ultimately important (though considering the effect of sports on so many people around the world, it's more important than it may seem), and their actions are obfuscated behind systems of rules, but they still have the same basic alpha quality which people respond to. Again vicariously, there's nothing quite like taking over an entire situation, I remember how good it feels.

Most games will be boring as dirt b/c everyone involved is phoning it in. At that point it becomes about collecting numbers and waiting, and 'll change the channel.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Coming to a game with that kind of expectation is exceptional and good for you, but I really cannot believe that that is the motivation behind the folks walking around in the Yankees gear who still bear grudges against Boston et al. They seem content to mock players who do seem to be phoning it in most of the time and insist that even when they do that and win that they're playing hard. I don't understand sports as obsession, I guess. I understand obsession, so I can understand it being hard to describe, and maybe that's why I just can't penetrate this realm of obsession specifically.

[(Anonymous)]

I think what those obsessed fans feel is an accentuated but less self-aware version of what I described. Idol worship accompanied by layers of societal build-up and repetition of the same themes/ideas/etc essentially turns it into an addiction with all of its highs and crashes.

I blame a lot of it on sportcasting, especially ESPN. As a network, if your only content is sports then you have no choice but to add filler for time - commentary, opinion, replay and rehash, and add drama and importance and a supernatural quality so that people come back.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Amen. Just that: amen, brother.

And it gets exponentially worse as you add ESPN channels...