The Big Picture: A Nerd By Any Other Name

[Sutter Cane]

A jersey is a widely accepted piece of clothing. So wearing it is like wearing normal clothing. If your favorite character's costume is a T-shirt, then wearing it would be the same thing. No one will mind if you wear a shirt with the trekky ^ thing on it (don't eat me, not a Star Trek fan).

If you walk down the street with football gear and a Brady face mask (and it's not a football game), people will look at you funny. It's the same thing as wearing a costume to comic con.


Your logic is so flawed it's not even funny.

Actually, it's you who is missing the point that Bob is making. His entire point is that just because one is accepted doesn't make it any less nerdy than the other.

 

[Dak_N_Jaxter]

I've always seen this parallel between Geeks and Jocks.
Its why I really dislike labelling people, since everyone just has their own interests.
Although I've never thought about the mathematical side of things.

 

[TheSarcasterd]

I've never done stand-up comedy but I did write a couple of jokes in the past that I would consider using if the opportunity ever struck. And one of them is directly related to this:

Why is it that when sports fans wear a jersey and go to games and paint their faces like a bunch of savages, almost nobody says anything about it? Think about that. That's absolutely abnormal behavior.

But no...what do we all think?

"Oh, that's okay for him to do. That's called being a fan."

Yet, if I wear a Batman t-shirt when I go see a Batman movie it's

"Oh, that's okay for HIM to do. That's called being a virgin.

Yeah yeah. I won't quit my day job. I can't anyway. I'm unemployed.

 

[Thedayrecker]

When my friends talk about sports stuff (i.e. Player stats, and fantasy teams) I call them nerds. Sooooo.... yeah.

 

[Zamn]

Good video. Would have been better with reference to non-American (i.e. real) sports.

 

[Symbio Joe]

The answer to the question in the end is quite simple. Group Identity leads to who's in and who is out. Even "nerds" split dow to groups which not walk happily in hand with each other but looking down on each other. The analogies which are made between sports teams and diffrent "nerd" topics make this very clear. Twilight is like Yankees cause (insert reason). As soon as a group is formed people will tend to seem themselves in competition with other groups. So the question is not why don't we get along but why is this (sports) normal and this ("nerd culture") not. This is not a "Big Picture" it is an appeal to be less ignorant, stereotypical and xenophobic. You could've just broke it down to "we are all humans" which would be less entertaining and funny but still is the conclusion here.

 

[jonyboy13]

So basically Bob said everything that was said on Extra Credits... Great.
And that what happens when you let anybody speak his mind>>"

 

[Yankeedoodles]

bob makes a good mario
(BTW was there a screen shot for a ghostbuster cartoon in there, you know the one with th gril and the spilt chemicals)

I think that's actually Erma the TV station secretary from Teenage Mutant Teenage Turtles. Poor girl could never catch a break.

 

[HentMas]

actually that is NOT a good point
there is actually ONE MAYOR DIFFERENCE between sports fans and "geeks/nerds/watever"

the sports fans support and show appreciation for REAL PEOPLE

"Superman" is "Babe Ruth"? thats not right, superman never existed, Babe ruth on the other hand is a REAL sports hero, he DID played and showed superiority, Superman comes from the imagination of some guy

that is the Difference.

 

[Sutter Cane]

Sports people are nothing like "nerds" they go out with loads of like minded people down to the pub and watch a game.

Nerds sit in cos play clothes watching anime on the internet and masturbating furiously.

I know right? You wear sports clothing to support the efforts of REAL PEOPLE doing REAL THINGS that actually require skill and commitment, not some fictional made-up shit that was only intended to make money off basement-dwellers.

Honestly, i really really hope this isn't meant seriously. Knowing this site, i'm inclined to believe it is, but I've seen far too many people act like this in real life to write it off. I really just don't understand why people can't accept that others have different interests, and that it doesn't make someone better or worse than anyone else (Coming from someone who loves sports and nerd stuff).

 

[loomis]

Awesome video. I remember seeing an article in "the onion" I read years about a sports fanatic expressing his ignorance about various nerd subcultures only to go on about famous sports games, players, and scores.

Was called a nerd just a few weeks ago by a friend that knows more about sports then I'll ever care to.

 

[Dectilon]

I'd say the comparison requires the person to also wear a helmet or wield a bat for it to be completely fair.

I can't say I mind how things are now. I think the best you can do is to try to find a middle ground yourself rather than going to the extreme in either direction. I personally hate both extremes. I hate people who can't shut up about sports and I hate people who can't shut up about comics etc.

 

[Tomster595]

Best episode yet in my opinion. I always love to bring up the "sports nerd" argument, but Bob said it better than I ever could.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

When I can describe all the Alien and Predator movies in severe detail while some classmates havent even heard of them. (Blashpemy I tell you! These are movie classics except for AVP cause that is just shit) I often get called a nerd. But when some sports fan can name who scored this goal in 2002 agains this team he sometimes even gets complimented for such devotion.

I always saw that Hardcore Sports fans and "nerds" had a lot in commen. And I love that Bob made a full episode about this.

Also Twihards=Yankee Fans that was just so damn funny.

 

[Frankfurter4444]

I totally get what you're saying and have a pretty close concurrence to it, but a huge aspect of the difference between nerds and sports...did we decide "sports nerds" was what we'd call them?

A big difference between nerds and sports nerds is the people on the furthest outside of the prism. The hardest-core nerds are not people who should go out in public. The hardest-core sports nerds are obnoxious, yes, but are obnoxious in public. At the stadium.

To put it even more bluntly and stereotypically: There are no pocket protectors in fantasy football.

Does that mean I think these two shouldn't coexist? Hell no. I'm all about harmony. And perhaps the worst of each group could maybe pull the worst of the other group into the middle. But the worst nerds are weird in a way that most of the rest of society doesn't like while sports nerds don't have that stigma.

And this is coming from a guy who isn't a nerd or a sports nerd at all. Yet I but still have to explain to people that my Xbox can be played by people who go outside and I can cheer for a team without having my heart broken if they lose.

(Because the real problem isn't with the nerds. It is with mainstream culture's depiction of nerds.

...stupid mainstream culture)

 

[Sutter Cane]

It was serious. It's a stupid comparison. But of course, saying that a comparison isn't valid automatically means I can't accpet different people have different intersts and this makes them a worse person. That's exactly what I said.

It's really shot down by one huge problem; one is REAL.

If you can't tell the difference between a costume (imitating fiction) and a sports jersey (showing support for a group of real people) then there's something wrong with your perception of the world. The point is entirely stupid to say it's a "costume" just because it's a reproduction.

Well yes, the initial costume argument bob made was weak.You should also realize that costumes CAN be based off of of real people as well, but that's beside the point. What bothered me was how you and the person you quoted act like all people with nerdy interests (such as comics and anime and even coslay to an extent) are nothing bust basement dwellers and losers. I mean that first guy actually says

Nerds sit in cos play clothes watching anime on the it internet and masturbating furiously.

and you follow it up by calling people who like cosplay "basement dwellers". I in fact know several people that are into cosplay, and they are just as sociable as anyone else.

 

[370999]

I'm not quite sure that people who engage in the more anal side of sport ie stats and stuff, aren't regarded as nerds. I know I was when I talked about stuff that most people didn't know.

 

[Dana22]

I was called a nerd once, when I said I prefer books over TV.