Why do so many people in the "geek" community dislike sports?
- Thread starter Kenbo Slice
- Start date
Recommended Videos
This would be my answer as well. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people who profess to hate all sports would actually thoroughly enjoy some of them if they made an attempt to get into them.BloatedGuppy said:
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a pre-party to go to for the NHL All-Star game!
I have a cousin who plays in the NHL, that is hockey for those of you who are unaware. I tried real hard to care about it and watch his games and all that, and he really is very good, hes got a Stanley cup under his belt that whole thing.
Buuuuuut..... now I just cannot be bothered anymore. It is just so boring, I really do not understand how so many people can be so obsessed with watching other people playing a game. I totally get why he loves the game, hes playing it, hes competing, and he is payed a completely ridiculous amount of money to do so.
I file it under the same category of why i don't want to watch people play video games.... equally boring.
Proud of him though, hes made a great life for himself, and now his family, and can throw a mean party.
Buuuuuut..... now I just cannot be bothered anymore. It is just so boring, I really do not understand how so many people can be so obsessed with watching other people playing a game. I totally get why he loves the game, hes playing it, hes competing, and he is payed a completely ridiculous amount of money to do so.
I file it under the same category of why i don't want to watch people play video games.... equally boring.
Proud of him though, hes made a great life for himself, and now his family, and can throw a mean party.
I used to love rock climbing and hiking but getting older found fewer and fewer friends to share this with.
I still love golf but once again, when you get older, your friends have families and kids and you lose people to do these things with.
I enjoy fantasy football and I can enjoy watching football (mostly only with other people though) since there's only 16 games which makes every game a MUST-WIN game. Also, because there's only 16 games in a regular season, this is kind of the time the married friends can allocate to personal time, while restoring their own identity and sanity.
I'm not big into sports at all, but as a single dude among the married, I'll take the bro-time where I can.
I still love golf but once again, when you get older, your friends have families and kids and you lose people to do these things with.
I enjoy fantasy football and I can enjoy watching football (mostly only with other people though) since there's only 16 games which makes every game a MUST-WIN game. Also, because there's only 16 games in a regular season, this is kind of the time the married friends can allocate to personal time, while restoring their own identity and sanity.
I'm not big into sports at all, but as a single dude among the married, I'll take the bro-time where I can.
I wouldn't say I dislike sports. I'd say I dislike certain sports.
For instance football (soccer) has never appealed to me. Maybe because it put me in hospital more times than I like to count as a kid. Also the players are pricks.
On the other hand I go rock climbing, play tennis and go to archery contests simply because I enjoy them. (Totally not because if I didn't go I'd barely be able to lift a mug.)
For instance football (soccer) has never appealed to me. Maybe because it put me in hospital more times than I like to count as a kid. Also the players are pricks.
On the other hand I go rock climbing, play tennis and go to archery contests simply because I enjoy them. (Totally not because if I didn't go I'd barely be able to lift a mug.)
Anytime I have ever attempted to play any kind of sport, I would be yelled at in testosterone fueled rages. I make a single mistake, and it's like I pressed the detonator for world wide destruction. So I stopped playing altogether.
Watching sports is boring. Yeah, go team! Make the points, do the thing!
Watching sports is boring. Yeah, go team! Make the points, do the thing!
My annoyance with sports is precisely because it's inescapable in my culture. If I'm at a frikken business luncheon, it's just expected that everyone present knows about and can intelligently discuss recent baseball or (American) football games.RedDeadFred said:
As someone both very much a geek and a sports fan, it's always something that's puzzled me a little too. Hardcore gamers and sports fans share a fair amount in common.
I'm a light sports fan, and can enjoy watching and playing them to some extent. However, any such occasions tend to get trumped by video games or internet shenanigans.
That said, I usually have at least a basic understanding of just about every sport (except cricket, like what the hell even is that), and often keep up with my favorite teams' W/L records.
Basketball is the most enjoyable for me to both play and watch, as a rather irrelevant aside. It doesn't require me to have the most goddamn perfect physique or have another person to play if all I want to do is take shots at the hoop.
That said, I usually have at least a basic understanding of just about every sport (except cricket, like what the hell even is that), and often keep up with my favorite teams' W/L records.
Basketball is the most enjoyable for me to both play and watch, as a rather irrelevant aside. It doesn't require me to have the most goddamn perfect physique or have another person to play if all I want to do is take shots at the hoop.
When I was a young child I used to love sports, really really love em. Mainly soccer (European dude here). You could have me play 12 hours a day and I'd never get bored. As I aged a bit, around the early teens age, it just stopped being mentally stimulating enough. It was boring. I'd much rather play games instead. Be it videogames or trading card games. I always played those as a kid too but back then I was more of an action fighting style player while as I got older I got into the more slower story-driven RPG stuff (of course I still loved the action stuff too) and compared to those, soccer just fell back.
Basically, at the times when we could do soccer matches in school around all of middleschool and highschool, I would play my copy of mugen that I brought with me every time (DBZ chars) or I would play magic the gathering with a few other people, or maybe pokemon/golden sun/FFTA on my GBA. As for at home, again a lot of magic the gathering, final fantasy, the legend of dragoon. I also got into anime around that time (in Japanese with subs) so watching that was a very big part of my free time.
Sports just were not quite as interesting any more. It's not a "hate" thing but more "I don't see the appeal and I DO get how it can be fun since I played for thousands of hours" bit.
Basically, at the times when we could do soccer matches in school around all of middleschool and highschool, I would play my copy of mugen that I brought with me every time (DBZ chars) or I would play magic the gathering with a few other people, or maybe pokemon/golden sun/FFTA on my GBA. As for at home, again a lot of magic the gathering, final fantasy, the legend of dragoon. I also got into anime around that time (in Japanese with subs) so watching that was a very big part of my free time.
Sports just were not quite as interesting any more. It's not a "hate" thing but more "I don't see the appeal and I DO get how it can be fun since I played for thousands of hours" bit.
Eh, I do like sports. But I don't like watching most of them. Some extreme sports can be entertaining to watch though. As much of a nerd as I am, I was actually a pretty athletic person in basic/middle school. I played some basketball and football (european one) in my free time, and spent some years in Judo classes. It's just that I find watching them so...pointless. E-sports however...I guess I like watching them in the same way I like watching let's plays every now and then.
I don't know what you would call "the geek community". Perhaps it's because a "geek" is considered to be someone who is not into sports but prefers other, less common, hobbies in the first place?
As for gamers in general, I don't think they are necessarily uninterested in sports. I am into water sports and running for example.
As for gamers in general, I don't think they are necessarily uninterested in sports. I am into water sports and running for example.
Well, when you can figure out why such a stigma exists among sports fans against geek culture, then you'll have your answer as to why the stigma exists within geek culture[footnote]And any other entertainment culture.[/footnote] as well.Kenbo Slice said:
And really, let's be fucking real here. Everyone is a geek about something. Whether it's video games, pen-and-paper games, sports, movies, music, television, literature, opera, etc, etc. Everyone. Geeks. Out. Over. Something.
So my question is: why are you acting as though this kind of behavior is exclusive to your narrowly defined definition of geeks? How is the dislike of sports by these "geeks" any different than sports fans dislike of "geek culture"?
For someone who tends to speak out against such things as dismissive, negative stereotyping, you're doing an awful lot of dismissive, negative stereotyping.BloatedGuppy said:
Come on, Guppy. You're better than that.
And while there certainly are people that dislike sports for the reasons you've listed, it's far from the only (or even the common) reason.
While I don't try to shut down a discussion about anythin (I will rather leave the thread if I dislike the topic, no one is forcing me to stay there), I will remind people that they are on the wrong board if they start talking about sports in a gaming related board. There is always a sports board or an off-topic board for that.
As far as I dislike sports... it's boring? Most classic sports are boring to play and to watch. American football/rugby are ridiculously boring. Like, nothing happens at all. Basketball as some (as far as I'm concerned) idiotic rules and it's most of the times 1 side scores, other side scores, first side scores, other side scores and so on with the occasional miss. I don't like wasting an hour for 2 interesting moments. Football lasts 30 minutes too long, has a field that's 2 times too big, 5 more player in teams they don't need and only German teams play well and with a heart from minute 1 to minute 95. Watching Italy teams play makes me physically sick, Spanish teams are annoying because of the favoritism they get from the judges, English teams are all muscle no brain play. Other leagues aren't even aired properly.
Swimming is only fun to do it yourself. Pool/snooker are as well. Darts? Boring to watch, too bad to play. Golf? Might as well overdose on sleeping pills.
I don't see any fun in them, and when there is some fun, it's usually an hour of boredom with 5 minutes of fun. Even anime sports with the magic and "skill" can get boring. Real life sports... nope.
Also geeks disliking sports is kinda given depending on your definition. For a lot of people geek means "likes games/sci-fi/fantasy and dislikes sports". So your questions is basically "why does a group which dislikes sports dislike sports?" Why do sports fans like sport? And I dislike the tone of some of the comments trying to paint "geeks" as the only bullies and in fact, implying that every "geek" is a nasty person. Especially since those same people are so much against stereotyping people and are fighting for "social justice".
EDIT: Oh, and the fact that it's expected from everyone to follow sports and getting weird looks when I say I don't follow sports certainly isn't helping.
As far as I dislike sports... it's boring? Most classic sports are boring to play and to watch. American football/rugby are ridiculously boring. Like, nothing happens at all. Basketball as some (as far as I'm concerned) idiotic rules and it's most of the times 1 side scores, other side scores, first side scores, other side scores and so on with the occasional miss. I don't like wasting an hour for 2 interesting moments. Football lasts 30 minutes too long, has a field that's 2 times too big, 5 more player in teams they don't need and only German teams play well and with a heart from minute 1 to minute 95. Watching Italy teams play makes me physically sick, Spanish teams are annoying because of the favoritism they get from the judges, English teams are all muscle no brain play. Other leagues aren't even aired properly.
Swimming is only fun to do it yourself. Pool/snooker are as well. Darts? Boring to watch, too bad to play. Golf? Might as well overdose on sleeping pills.
I don't see any fun in them, and when there is some fun, it's usually an hour of boredom with 5 minutes of fun. Even anime sports with the magic and "skill" can get boring. Real life sports... nope.
Also geeks disliking sports is kinda given depending on your definition. For a lot of people geek means "likes games/sci-fi/fantasy and dislikes sports". So your questions is basically "why does a group which dislikes sports dislike sports?" Why do sports fans like sport? And I dislike the tone of some of the comments trying to paint "geeks" as the only bullies and in fact, implying that every "geek" is a nasty person. Especially since those same people are so much against stereotyping people and are fighting for "social justice".
EDIT: Oh, and the fact that it's expected from everyone to follow sports and getting weird looks when I say I don't follow sports certainly isn't helping.
I enjoy playing soccer (although I'm average at best) and love hill climbing and cycling.
Actually sitting down and watching a full sports game I'm not a fan of. I can watch tennis, and used to enjoy watching snooker, but actually keeping track of a football team;- all their game results, the number, health, and continued performance of every single player, their manager, potential signings, group positions, etc. etc. etc. - That's too much effort for something I'm just not emotionally invested in.
My work friends know all of this information about every team in the Premier League off by heart and will spend several hours each week watching games on TV, listening to games on the radio, and reading about games and controversies online.
Their knowledge of sports is as geeky and intensive as my knowledge of videogames and sci-fi stuff. I don't hate them for it, even when I'm obliged to participate in the ritual Monday morning match analysis (apparently I said I supported Liverpool once, so I now must take ownership of every crappy performance they give like it's a personal shameful failing of my own).
I don't mind it, I'm just not into it, the same way I'm sure my work colleagues wouldn't want to spend a Saturday afternoon watching Children of Dune clips on Youtube and building Minecraft castles
Actually sitting down and watching a full sports game I'm not a fan of. I can watch tennis, and used to enjoy watching snooker, but actually keeping track of a football team;- all their game results, the number, health, and continued performance of every single player, their manager, potential signings, group positions, etc. etc. etc. - That's too much effort for something I'm just not emotionally invested in.
My work friends know all of this information about every team in the Premier League off by heart and will spend several hours each week watching games on TV, listening to games on the radio, and reading about games and controversies online.
Their knowledge of sports is as geeky and intensive as my knowledge of videogames and sci-fi stuff. I don't hate them for it, even when I'm obliged to participate in the ritual Monday morning match analysis (apparently I said I supported Liverpool once, so I now must take ownership of every crappy performance they give like it's a personal shameful failing of my own).
I don't mind it, I'm just not into it, the same way I'm sure my work colleagues wouldn't want to spend a Saturday afternoon watching Children of Dune clips on Youtube and building Minecraft castles
Personally, it's because I've never been a fan of heavy physical exertion, even when I was a kid. I do like watching sports like football and baseball, though. And I don't mind activities like yoga or swimming, hell, I should really get back into some martial arts...
How so? How is this dismissive? Or negative? It's explanatory.Vigormortis said:
Are you under the impression that there are noble, commendable reasons for someone to seethe with hostility towards the recreational past-time of other people? I'd love to hear what they are.
Did you do a poll? How does one determine what is common, and what is not? I never claimed the reasons I listed were exhaustive, only that they are observable in "a lot of" situations.Vigormortis said:
I've been a sports fan since the late 90's, and a gaming fan/nerd culture enthusiast even longer than that. I was into stuff like pen and paper role-playing back when nerd culture was looked at like a communicable disease rather than one of if not THE predominant enthusiast culture. I had fuckin' Kara-Tur maps on my bedroom walls. And I lived in a small town that was all about loggin' and brewin', where the 15 year olds had full beards and straying from the consensus masculine ideal was "gay". My best friend was jumped and beaten in an alley for not being "manly" enough. And despite this, the amount of rancor and xenophobia I've observed in the "geek community" outstrips what I've seen from sports fans or "jocks" by an order of magnitude so large the latter barely registers. Some of the worst human beings I've ever known were "geeks". And they felt entitled to their hostile, shitty attitudes and hostile, shitty behavior because they self-identified as downtrodden.
Completely anecdotal, naturally, and I do not suffer from the delusion that my life experience = everyone's life experience, but I find the "poor, besieged nerds" narrative more than a little facile.
I don't think that generalisation holds true at all. Most people I know who are relatively nerdy still enjoy sports, and the sportsmen still enjoy video games.
In my experience, sporting clubs are more inviting than most gaming communities, especially if you're shit. The gaming community is just toxic, and turns everything into pointless rivalries and fights.
In my experience, sporting clubs are more inviting than most gaming communities, especially if you're shit. The gaming community is just toxic, and turns everything into pointless rivalries and fights.
I wonder how much of the divide is an American culture thing. Through public school we take all growing adolescents and cram them into their own separate ecosystem. On top of that in the US sports like Football and Basketball are strongly tied to the local high school team, then to college, then onto the pro leagues. It's an institution that makes the star athletes all important in the high school/college ecosystem, and you get that 'jock' culture out of it.
In Canada on the other hand, our main sport hockey is not tied into the school system. In your typical youth league teams are based on municipal zones, and for kids that show promise as professionals we have the 3 major junior leagues. with about 20 teams each, for 16-20 year olds who get paid a small amount and those still in high school if they're from out of town live with billets. High schools will still have team sports with regional & provincial tournaments but no hockey they're more for fun and aren't really celebrated. End result is you don't really get a celebrated 'jock culture' in schools up here.
I'm not really sure what it's like in Europe, how they get that culture that creates football hooligans!
In Canada on the other hand, our main sport hockey is not tied into the school system. In your typical youth league teams are based on municipal zones, and for kids that show promise as professionals we have the 3 major junior leagues. with about 20 teams each, for 16-20 year olds who get paid a small amount and those still in high school if they're from out of town live with billets. High schools will still have team sports with regional & provincial tournaments but no hockey they're more for fun and aren't really celebrated. End result is you don't really get a celebrated 'jock culture' in schools up here.
I'm not really sure what it's like in Europe, how they get that culture that creates football hooligans!