I don't get it.

[GrimTuesday]

I'm a "nerd", I freely admit that and I'm sure most of you guys do too, which why I'm asking you to answer a question that has been nagging at me about the subculture that I, and most if not all of you, identify with/are a part of. Why is it it that by and large, there is widespread apathy if not outright hostility towards sports. I mean, sure some times, a person just isn't interested in something, but this seems to be a culture of apathy or hostility. Its kind of funny that for a subculture that is supposedly into math and science that games like baseball aren't more popular, considering the fact that Sabermetics (a way of predicting and rating players based on objective analysis and math) is all the rage these days.

So give me an answer as to why you think this is, or hell, just tell me why you don't like sports, and maybe that will help piece together my question.

 

[shrekfan246]

Sports are what jocks nerd out about.

Nerds generally associate negative memories with jocks.

Bam.

Personally, I just don't find sports very interesting. They're boring for me to watch, I don't care about the commentary because I have little interest in the subject matter, and the games all last for so long with the same exact thing happening over and over and over again. Oh hey, a man is running down a field/court with a ball. I'll come back half an hour later, bet the same thing will still be happening!

I can understand why other people like it, but eh, not for me.

 

[Ljs1121]

Sports are what jocks nerd out about.

Nerds generally associate negative memories with jocks.

Bam.

/Thread

I'm just not that interested in sports. I'm too much of a fat slob to be able to play them well myself, so watching other people do so just kind of makes me envious.

I do try to keep up-to-date with my state's teams, though. It's kind of fun to be able to discuss the latest game with friends.

 

[DoPo]

I'm not a fan of sports because *gasp* I don't find them interesting. Which, of course, for some reason must be a different thing than all the other things I don't find interesting, like reality shows, politics, latest developments in the field of construction, and botanics just to name a few.

I mean, sure some times, a person just isn't interested in something, but this seems to be a culture of apathy or hostility.

Hostility? What are you talking about? I've yet to see any outright hostility against sports. From anyone. Sure, there have been some dislikes but not hostility, not really. And apathy? What ELSE is one supposed to feel about the subject they aren't interested in? Finally, you might find that a fair few of the people here are in fact into sports. Some even put their favourite sports teams on their avaters, others don't but still like them. I hope you're not doing a sweeping generalisation there.

 

[Nightvalien]

I think sports are great, they are just as any other game we play having rules of their own and a nice cooperative exercise to boot, what I truly hate is the people that glorify the sport and toss around billions just to have some group of guys doing something instead of investing money on more important things like education or medicine, also most athletes tend to become murderers even when they have all the money in the world, that kind of corruption and glorification really turns me off.

 

[GrimTuesday]

I'm not a fan of sports because *gasp* I don't find them interesting. Which, of course, for some reason must be a different thing than all the other things I don't find interesting, like reality shows, politics, latest developments in the field of construction, and botanics just to name a few.

I'm not saying its different than those examples you listed, but its one of those thing that the vast majority of people have a least a casual interest in sports.

I mean, sure some times, a person just isn't interested in something, but this seems to be a culture of apathy or hostility.

Hostility? What are you talking about? I've yet to see any outright hostility against sports. From anyone. Sure, there have been some dislikes but not hostility, not really. And apathy? What ELSE is one supposed to feel about the subject they aren't interested in? Finally, you might find that a fair few of the people here are in fact into sports. Some even put their favourite sports teams on their avaters, others don't but still like them. I hope you're not doing a sweeping generalisation there.

Gee, you sound awful hostile. There is definitely hostility from the nerd subculture towards sports, I've often seen people post things saying that sports are pointless or stupid or a bad thing, on this site. And I know that there are those who like sports, I have a baseball group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Escapist-Baseball-Group] with ten members, so there are a few, but they are a considerable minority within the subculture.

 

[Xarathox]

I can't watch sports on T.V. I just can't. It's boring as shit. However, I enjoy them if I'm actually at the venue. Put me in front of a T.V though and expect to me to watch... I'd rather fap to tentacle porn.

 

[DoPo]

Gee, you sound awful hostile.

That answers my question. You were unable to differentiate my confusion from hostility - that's probably why you thought there was widespread hostility towards sports, too.

 

[GrimTuesday]

Gee, you sound awful hostile.

That answers my question. You were unable to differentiate my confusion from hostility - that's probably why you thought there was widespread hostility towards sports, too.

That part was a joke, but I still maintain that there is hostility from our subculture. I'm not saying that it is majority, but rather a strong minority.

 

[Goofguy]

I like sports but it depends. It depends on whether I'm watching them or playing them. I friggin love the latter and only ever like the former if it's live at the arena. Even then, it loses my interest near the end.

I used to be a huge sports fan but it started getting to a point of obsession. I'd watch my home team's games and get sweaty palms with my heart pounding if it's a do or die game. I'd physically get stressed out about it while watching, very unhealthy. All that being said, I love playing me a good old soccer, squash or ball hockey match. Just don't ask me to sit around and watch someone else play.

 

[Launcelot111]

One of the nerdier couples I've ever met have devised a way using dice to play their own games of fantasy baseball and are currently playing out the entire 1949 Chicago Cubs season, and many of the biggest baseball fans I've ever met were intense board gamers or Warhammer gamers or whatever. I've met plenty of stereotypical nerds who couldn't care less about sports, but I think that a culture of hostility is less accurate than simply different strokes for different folks.

I'd also like to point out the goddamn Cameron Crazies for a counterpoint. Damn every single one of them to Hell, but they are 95% nerds and they love their Duke basketball.

 

[Squilookle]

I find sports generally to be pretty dull, in that they're not more like Gladiator... or Unreal Tournament.

 

[Vault101]

part of it is also the mainstreamness of sports EVERYONE liked sports and its considered weird not to like them (well not really but generally speaking)

 

[tippy2k2]

I've always thought that the hostility towards sports by nerds has been the loud minority. Nerds who like sports don't need to shout from the rooftops about how much they love sports but for some reason nerds who don't like sports feel like they have to (they feel it builds nerd cred maybe?).

Now, this is terribly unscientific but I'm going to point to these two threads as proof:

Exhibit A: Nerds playing or watching sports [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.393588-Do-Nerds-Not-Enjoy-Sports-Or-Just-Not-Mainstream-Ones?page=1]

A ton of responses of Escapist members talking about the sports that they love (playing or watching). There are some negatives in there but a quick glance indicates that the majority are pro-sports.

Exhibit B: My own thread about playing video game sports [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.399942-Poll-Sport-games?page=1]

The numbers go slightly against sport video games (77 for sport games versus 106 for no sport games) but there is certainly enough people who play video game sports to state that there is a nice foundation of a fan-base there.

Just a loud minority out-shouting the silent majority.

 

[Candidus]

I'm interested in e-sports, but not at all interested in football, rugby, tennis, cricket, sprinting or any other in-person sport you might care to mention. I don't want to participate because I don't like being relied on in a team (and I'd always rather be playing videogames), and I don't want to watch because... because why?

The only things I do physically are traversing and fighting. I haven't been in a proper fight since 2011, and I'd rather climb and traverse casually while out with my dog than do it in an organised fashion with other people shitting it all up.

 

[Rawberry101]

I along with a few of my friends are 'sports nerds'. We play (but not at an especially high level) many sports and geek out over them. Having never really been bullied by 'jocks' I don't have bad memories about them aside from my favorite teams losing, which can be worse somehow. Yeah I don't see how people can be too bitter over them, they're a form of entertainment and as long as people keep that in perspective sports aren't really bad for anybody. Maybe just uninteresting for people with different tastes.

 

[Yopaz]

I think the problem here is that you don't really differentiate between hostility and dislike. Sports suck = dislike. Athletes should be killed = hostility.

Personally I don't watch sports with the exception of skiing (when it's on anyway, I don't actively look it up) and the Olympics every 4th year (I look it up, watch 3 different live streams simultaneously and pay close attention to airing schedules) because most sports don't interest me.

I have no hostility towards sports with the exception of biking which will run for several hours every day for a month. Even the evening news wont cover anything but the stupid bike race. I can ignore other sports I don't like because I don't have to hear about it, but with Tour De France it's all shoved down my throat and it interrupts the few good shows that would run in its place.

 

[AVeryClassyCat]

Most of the beloved mainstream sports aren't really that interesting to me. I was never accustomed to watching them, nor do I have the kind of team affinity that seems to make the sports experience for people who watch them so much more engaging. I will admit though that watching two really good basketball teams playing against each other can be really exciting (there was a particular Duke V. Boston College game that I saw once when trying to appreciate sports that was thoroughly awesome).

I love watching analysis of chess games, though the live commentary usually pales in comparison to a well annotated video that explores variations and deviation from book lines. So in that sense I could be considered a sports guy though I'm sure that's (quite) a bit of a stretch.