oh HELL no, the Browncoats are clearly Cleveland fans, the Raiders fans are simply mocking the "Dawg Pound".MovieBob said:
As a side note, my Brownies won last weekend.
The Big Picture: A Nerd By Any Other Name
- Thread starter MovieBob
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As a side note, my Brownies won last weekend.
The funny thing is, I always describe myself as a sports nerd (among other "nerdoms" I belong to). Now, of coarse I'm a fan of Olympic sports, which is a much more cult following that, say, NHL hockey or even NCAA Softball (how many people here follow Biathlon? 'cause I do...), but oddly enough I derive much the same kind of entertainment from debating Olympics bidding that I get from debating about video games.
If it's any consolation, you're not the only person ever to have noticed this, Bob. My art lecturer's general philosphy on the matter is, "Everyone's a geek about something."
Example? My mum's not what would be called the nerdy type - she's far from being socially awkward and has only marginal knowledge of typical nerd culture iconography (she did at least enjoy Iron Man enough to make references to it days afterwards, though, and got kicks out of a couple of movies by a certain "one-man-studio"), but what does she do in her spare time? Catalogue, collect and organize the hell out of old-timey music for her freelance DJ business in which she encourages audience participation with costumes, some of which are of her own creation. And it works.
Everyone loves collecting things physical and intellectual, everyone loves costumes: Everyone's a geek about something, indeed. And there's no shame in that.
Example? My mum's not what would be called the nerdy type - she's far from being socially awkward and has only marginal knowledge of typical nerd culture iconography (she did at least enjoy Iron Man enough to make references to it days afterwards, though, and got kicks out of a couple of movies by a certain "one-man-studio"), but what does she do in her spare time? Catalogue, collect and organize the hell out of old-timey music for her freelance DJ business in which she encourages audience participation with costumes, some of which are of her own creation. And it works.
Everyone loves collecting things physical and intellectual, everyone loves costumes: Everyone's a geek about something, indeed. And there's no shame in that.
I guess it's that everlasting social stigma of nerds that applies.
See, sportsfans are more physically fit, so when "steretypical" nerds call them out as equals, they shove them into the lockers, thus the stronger disproves the weaker and so it has remained.
Now, as both a nerd in the "classical" view, and a sportsnerd, I totally get the approach Bob's making in the video, and I've given it some thought myself in the past. There really is no difference, whatsoever.
So to break this news to the jocks, all nerds must hit the gym A.S.A.P., get strong and kick those nonbelievers into their own lockers!
See, sportsfans are more physically fit, so when "steretypical" nerds call them out as equals, they shove them into the lockers, thus the stronger disproves the weaker and so it has remained.
Now, as both a nerd in the "classical" view, and a sportsnerd, I totally get the approach Bob's making in the video, and I've given it some thought myself in the past. There really is no difference, whatsoever.
So to break this news to the jocks, all nerds must hit the gym A.S.A.P., get strong and kick those nonbelievers into their own lockers!
Excellent video Bob, probably the best Big Picture episode yet.
I think the only reason that I don't personally get along with sports fans as well as other nerds is because they think that it's perfectly normal and acceptable to do all of the nerdish stuff in regards to their sport and popular culture totally supports that supposition. Now, there's nothing wrong with that at all, but secretly I kind of resent them for it. It just feels unfair that they can talk about the strategic benefits of offensive line formations at a party but if I tried to discuss the same thing in regards to Starcraft I get weird looks.
To be fair though, this isn't just something sports fans do. Nerds pretty often condescend to other nerds in pretty much the same way. People who play FPSes do it to RPG fans, people who read Marvel or DC do it to each other, people who play TF2 do it to people who play WoW, people who like anime do it to fans of western animation, etc.
I realize I'm part of the problem since I do admit to resenting sports fans, but I wish we could all get along.
I think the only reason that I don't personally get along with sports fans as well as other nerds is because they think that it's perfectly normal and acceptable to do all of the nerdish stuff in regards to their sport and popular culture totally supports that supposition. Now, there's nothing wrong with that at all, but secretly I kind of resent them for it. It just feels unfair that they can talk about the strategic benefits of offensive line formations at a party but if I tried to discuss the same thing in regards to Starcraft I get weird looks.
To be fair though, this isn't just something sports fans do. Nerds pretty often condescend to other nerds in pretty much the same way. People who play FPSes do it to RPG fans, people who read Marvel or DC do it to each other, people who play TF2 do it to people who play WoW, people who like anime do it to fans of western animation, etc.
I realize I'm part of the problem since I do admit to resenting sports fans, but I wish we could all get along.
We are people still waiting for Robert Jordan to finish his series.HankMan said:
(okay, so he is dead and his series is being finished... but the joke still stands)
Ditto.Mr.Squishy said:
He's a Pats fan.
Sports nerd
"Regular" nerd
OT: This is very true. It was always funny watching guys in my dorm go all fangirl crazy with certain college games but criticize others when they got excited about "nerd" stuff.
I think the point you made in the first half was undermined by the point you made in the second half. If you consider sports fans, its clear that the content of the interest does matter.
You can find people with that level of devotion in all fields, yet most people wouldn't refer to them as nerds. I know more about music than I do about comics, I have hundreds of CDs and I read music reviews or articles on an almost daily basis. On the other hand, I have read perhaps 10 graphic novels and 10 sci-fi novels (ie. more than most people, but hardly a large amount), and most people consider that way nerdier than anything music related.
I'm also not sure if it has anything to do with ease of entry. Science fiction isn't difficult to get into. Most of the classics are standalone (ie. require no background knowledge) and the prose style is generally no harder than in any other genre.
You can find people with that level of devotion in all fields, yet most people wouldn't refer to them as nerds. I know more about music than I do about comics, I have hundreds of CDs and I read music reviews or articles on an almost daily basis. On the other hand, I have read perhaps 10 graphic novels and 10 sci-fi novels (ie. more than most people, but hardly a large amount), and most people consider that way nerdier than anything music related.
I'm also not sure if it has anything to do with ease of entry. Science fiction isn't difficult to get into. Most of the classics are standalone (ie. require no background knowledge) and the prose style is generally no harder than in any other genre.
I think he's more referring to the sport fans that only watch the sports and don't really play them... You know, the actual fun part of sports. In any case, the epitome of both sides are bat shit fucking crazy.Leximodicon said:
I have always hated it when a sports fan refers to the team they're supporting as "we". You don't play in the God damn team. You have no influence on the team. They don't even know you. I'm a Valve fan, but when they release a game, I don't say "We just released a game!" Why? Because if I did, I'd sound like a fucking idiot. Guess what you sound like when doing that with sport teams?!*
*The answer is "fucking idiots."
I too, hope for this utopia that you speak of. For i am a rare-breed of nerd-jock, that is, someone with the hobbies of a nerd but enjoys and regularly partakes in sports and/or sporting events.
Totally agree. When I mention my RPG habits to my roommates and they don't get it, I explain it in terms of fantasy football (which they've indulged in).
I think it has a little more to do with the "value" of sports to a school as opposed to classically nerdy things. If there were big, socially popular stages where nerds could show off their respective knowledge/talents and school built teams and competed, then your average nerd would probably get as much clout as any other sports fan. Then the nerdy team(s), especially if they're winning and bringing recognition(and maybe funding) to your school/city, would get the same "value" as jocks.Leximodicon said:
Basically, if those Starcraft competitions in Korea or the various FPS competitions you see here were expanded to have a team from almost every school in the country, and then you found a way to make competition out of the other nerdy pastimes you might get what Bob was talking about.
Also, once again I'm reminded of the flip flopping definition of nerd and geek, mainly since the last time I heard someone trying to define it used sports geek, which is basically who Bob was talking about here. I'm not sure how socially awkward sports nuts are since I don't know any, but then again I don't know how many people you have to be awkward around to count as socially awkward either.