Why do so many people in the "geek" community dislike sports?

[hermes]

I guess the whole fictional narrative that tells people since high school are completely and solely defined by their main interest, and nothing else is relevant to define his/her personality helps...

I mean, if I base the explanation on stereotypes, it would be because geeks don't like outdoors activities (because most geeky hobbies are indoors), so their are programmed to hate and segregate everything that doesn't fit their geeky tastes.

 

[Steve Waltz]

My only problem with Sports is this...

People sitting on the couch. Now, I understand if you got a few Game-Day tickets in your hand, and you wanna know if you win anything, but just sitting there and watching it? Fuck me, man... That just goddamn bores me to tears. A hockey stick is $10. A ball is so common it's practically free. Go play the fucking game instead of sitting there, watching it.

I'm the same with videogames. Youtube wouldn't be able to hold my attention if the people playing the games weren't informative and funny.

You know, that?s the thing isn?t it. I was raised in the geek community around video games and stuff. After moving out of my parents how I found basketball and I love it to death. But I?m stuck playing NBA2K because none of my friends play basketball. In fact, nobody I know even likes basketball; I?m in the same position as the OP here. Even if I wanted to go outside and play, all I?d be doing in the end is shooting free throws until the sun sets because nobody I know cares about the sport I do.

But what makes you think that sports fans don?t do both (while they?re still young anyway). I mean, there is a huge difference between a bunch of amateurs playing basketball versus a bunch of professional doing amazing stuff. Which is the very reason I find college sports so boring. Watching James Harden drive through 5 players to pull off an And-1 is an amazing feat that no amateur can do without an insane amount of luck. And Harden can do that multiple times a game! And watching Nate Robinson jump so high to block Yao Ming? That stuff is so amazing that it?s worth watching; you?re not going to see it anywhere else unless you?re watching professionals.

 

[hermes]

I've seen this happen a million times on sites like imgur and here and across the web. Somebody wants to talk about sports but then they usually just get shut down because "hurr durr sportz r dum." I really don't understand what geeks/gamers/nerds/whatever have against sports. I'm pretty fucking geeky but I also really love sports. So, why is this?

Why don't you go to a sports themed website and talk about sports there? I visit sites like this because I want to talk and read about video games. I wouldn't go to ESPN's forum and expect to have a conversation about video games, it just wouldn't make sense. Non-sports fans will talk trash about sports normally only when it invades their space. I don't recall seeing a topic made on a video game site just to start a sports trashing party. Usually it comes from someone putting a sports reference in their signature or avatar for the purpose of eliciting a response which, of course, usually turns negative and leaves the OP with a sour taste in their mouth.

Yeah... this place is for videogames related topics only, like (checks the list of threads):
- Personal anxiety of the future
- Archery
- Weather
- Absent parenthood
- Movies
- Polygamy
- Naked friends
- etc...

As I was saying, games...

 

[CoL0sS]

Personally I've always been fine with sports, despite being mostly terrible at them. I never actively practiced any of them but I love the occasional basketball or football (soccer) game with my mates, even while I find TV broadcasts to be very boring.
What I do mind is what it does to some people. Antagonizing or downright physically assaulting people just because they support a different football club is incomprehensible to me and it really puts me off competitive sports. I've seen people unable to curb their competitive spirit or personal grievances and problems just go out of their way to provoke a fight and bust some heads, so they can later brag about it to their peers.
I am by no means implying that majority of sports fans are like this, there are rotten apples in every community as most of us know all too well.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Team sports are what is popular. In team sports, any team worth a damn is going to have a culture of individuals holding eachother accountable. In the moment this can manifest itself in aggressive ways (though more bark than bite) because there is emotional investment and adrenaline pumping. It is usually followed by more reflective constructive-feedback and bonding, especially if you do try to address the issue.

If you're a delicate type who can't handle criticism, this could give you some unpleasant experiences and bad memories.

Of course there will be people who simply don't care, or don't appreciate the mechanics and skill involved in the various games... But there's blatantly much butthurt flowing when some people open their mouths. "Sports are for stupid people" is my personal favourite.

 

[KingDragonlord]

I dislike the culture of sports more than the sports themselves.

While it's true I was bullied by "jocks" in school, it didn't happen more than any other group. Punks and even other "geeks" had a go at me just as often. Equal opportunity I suppose.

There's just something about going over to a friend's house, and being able to hear his parents (mom typically), screaming bloody murder before I even get in the house. Absolutely losing her shit at the TV screen, beer in hand. Granted this does happen in gamer culture, and it does happen online. But... well... that's not really a compelling argument.

Can't really compare someone getting in your face IRL to an angry message in a chat box or inbox. If they are in a voice chat, mute them or block them. Fact is there are tools at your disposal nearly always for dealing with this stuff online. There is no way to turn off an angry fan who is drunk when you're at a stadium. As for the culture being xenophobic or harsh to outsiders, I'd say sports forums are worse by a very large degree. Gaming is still a young medium. Sports have been around much longer, and their fans often express a zeal and zealotry most gamers could never hope to achieve.

To me, the video game community is easily the most vile and aggressive community that I have experienced. What you attribute as negative aspects to sports fans I see it as 10x worse in any gaming forum. Say what you will, but personal attacks are too casually thrown around in nearly any multiplayer video game.

Homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, death threats are way too common in video game chat rooms and with the popularity of swatting these idiots have a means to potentially kill someone that one time said something that they disagreed with.

Oh please! I don't care how bad they are, words are never as harmful as what can happen to you in the locker room after gym class. And you only get that kind of ugliness from jocks. I'll take a lifetime of net rage over 10 minutes in a locker room.

Sports bring out the very worst sort of competitiveness, aggression, thuggishness, attention grabbing, in public in real life in real and tangible ways. Just look at the top players. A bunch of hyper aggressive morons who can barely speak. Its only on the internet that you can even pretend that geek ugliness comes anything close to approaching that.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

I dislike the culture of sports more than the sports themselves.

While it's true I was bullied by "jocks" in school, it didn't happen more than any other group. Punks and even other "geeks" had a go at me just as often. Equal opportunity I suppose.

There's just something about going over to a friend's house, and being able to hear his parents (mom typically), screaming bloody murder before I even get in the house. Absolutely losing her shit at the TV screen, beer in hand. Granted this does happen in gamer culture, and it does happen online. But... well... that's not really a compelling argument.

Can't really compare someone getting in your face IRL to an angry message in a chat box or inbox. If they are in a voice chat, mute them or block them. Fact is there are tools at your disposal nearly always for dealing with this stuff online. There is no way to turn off an angry fan who is drunk when you're at a stadium. As for the culture being xenophobic or harsh to outsiders, I'd say sports forums are worse by a very large degree. Gaming is still a young medium. Sports have been around much longer, and their fans often express a zeal and zealotry most gamers could never hope to achieve.

To me, the video game community is easily the most vile and aggressive community that I have experienced. What you attribute as negative aspects to sports fans I see it as 10x worse in any gaming forum. Say what you will, but personal attacks are too casually thrown around in nearly any multiplayer video game.

Homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, death threats are way too common in video game chat rooms and with the popularity of swatting these idiots have a means to potentially kill someone that one time said something that they disagreed with.

Oh please! I don't care how bad they are, words are never as harmful as what can happen to you in the locker room after gym class. And you only get that kind of ugliness from jocks. I'll take a lifetime of net rage over 10 minutes in a locker room.

Sports bring out the very worst sort of competitiveness, aggression, thuggishness, attention grabbing, in public in real life in real and tangible ways. Just look at the top players. A bunch of hyper aggressive morons who can barely speak. Its only on the internet that you can even pretend that geek ugliness comes anything close to approaching that.

In high school I never had a bad experience in the locker room, and I've never had a bad experience with a jock. You shouldn't let how some people in a certain group affect how you view everybody. Do you think all Muslims are terrorists?

 

[Darks63]

I don't know about the whole "geek" community, but the reason I don't dig most sports is the whole team spirit thing alludes me. I guess it makes sense since I'm a loner. The only team sport I am kinda sorta interested in is college ball.

I did like boxing back in the 90's with Tyson, Holyfield, and Lennox Lewis, however it started to get boring since alot of fights went to the judges and I hate fights that end with those corrupt bastards.

I also liked Wrestling for a time but again the storylines just got boring and the Wrestlers themselves stale. It's a shame too since I can no long follow Spoony's Wrestle Wrestle vids.

 

[KingDragonlord]

I dislike the culture of sports more than the sports themselves.

While it's true I was bullied by "jocks" in school, it didn't happen more than any other group. Punks and even other "geeks" had a go at me just as often. Equal opportunity I suppose.

There's just something about going over to a friend's house, and being able to hear his parents (mom typically), screaming bloody murder before I even get in the house. Absolutely losing her shit at the TV screen, beer in hand. Granted this does happen in gamer culture, and it does happen online. But... well... that's not really a compelling argument.

Can't really compare someone getting in your face IRL to an angry message in a chat box or inbox. If they are in a voice chat, mute them or block them. Fact is there are tools at your disposal nearly always for dealing with this stuff online. There is no way to turn off an angry fan who is drunk when you're at a stadium. As for the culture being xenophobic or harsh to outsiders, I'd say sports forums are worse by a very large degree. Gaming is still a young medium. Sports have been around much longer, and their fans often express a zeal and zealotry most gamers could never hope to achieve.

To me, the video game community is easily the most vile and aggressive community that I have experienced. What you attribute as negative aspects to sports fans I see it as 10x worse in any gaming forum. Say what you will, but personal attacks are too casually thrown around in nearly any multiplayer video game.

Homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, death threats are way too common in video game chat rooms and with the popularity of swatting these idiots have a means to potentially kill someone that one time said something that they disagreed with.

Oh please! I don't care how bad they are, words are never as harmful as what can happen to you in the locker room after gym class. And you only get that kind of ugliness from jocks. I'll take a lifetime of net rage over 10 minutes in a locker room.

Sports bring out the very worst sort of competitiveness, aggression, thuggishness, attention grabbing, in public in real life in real and tangible ways. Just look at the top players. A bunch of hyper aggressive morons who can barely speak. Its only on the internet that you can even pretend that geek ugliness comes anything close to approaching that.

In high school I never had a bad experience in the locker room, and I've never had a bad experience with a jock. You shouldn't let how some people in a certain group affect how you view everybody. Do you think all Muslims are terrorists?

And yet you have no problem with how geeks and gamers were generalized in the post I was responding too. I didn't say that all jocks are ugly just that a certain ugliness comes out of that community and that I prefer geek ugliness over jock ugliness.

 

[Verlander]

I like some. Dislike some. Pretty much the same with everything

 

[KingDragonlord]

I like some. Dislike some. Pretty much the same with everything

I've come to appreciate that watching them can be less boring than seems apparent at first blush. Most sports games have a lot of depth to be appreciated by the longtime fan, just like a good game. My brothers and father who I consider to be smart people can talk at length about the intricacies of American football and one of my favorite gamer critics, MrBTongue, did a video introducing the depth of gameplay in soccer and another comparing MMOs to NBA basketball. As in the gamer community, you don't just watch the games, you pay attention to recruiting, behind the scenes drama, roster changes, stats of other teams, etc. There's plenty to keep you engaged if you want to me. In my case, too much at this point.

That said, my past with sports, hinted at in my previous posts, kept me from appreciating that and now I'm too invested in my geekier interests to have time to invest trying to get up to speed on sports to the level where it would be fun to watch.

 

[Asita]

What, like actively dislike? I don't actively dislike them. Heck, I respect the physical prowess required for them. I just don't find them entertaining. I don't see my attitude towards them as functionally different than how I generally don't care to see war movies and find youtube videos about friends playing Brawl a lot more entertaining than Brawl tournaments. Some things catch my interest, some things don't, just as it is for every person on the planet. In my case it just turns out that sports generally fall in my 'not interested' pool. That's about the long and short of it.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

I dislike the culture of sports more than the sports themselves.

While it's true I was bullied by "jocks" in school, it didn't happen more than any other group. Punks and even other "geeks" had a go at me just as often. Equal opportunity I suppose.

There's just something about going over to a friend's house, and being able to hear his parents (mom typically), screaming bloody murder before I even get in the house. Absolutely losing her shit at the TV screen, beer in hand. Granted this does happen in gamer culture, and it does happen online. But... well... that's not really a compelling argument.

Can't really compare someone getting in your face IRL to an angry message in a chat box or inbox. If they are in a voice chat, mute them or block them. Fact is there are tools at your disposal nearly always for dealing with this stuff online. There is no way to turn off an angry fan who is drunk when you're at a stadium. As for the culture being xenophobic or harsh to outsiders, I'd say sports forums are worse by a very large degree. Gaming is still a young medium. Sports have been around much longer, and their fans often express a zeal and zealotry most gamers could never hope to achieve.

To me, the video game community is easily the most vile and aggressive community that I have experienced. What you attribute as negative aspects to sports fans I see it as 10x worse in any gaming forum. Say what you will, but personal attacks are too casually thrown around in nearly any multiplayer video game.

Homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, death threats are way too common in video game chat rooms and with the popularity of swatting these idiots have a means to potentially kill someone that one time said something that they disagreed with.

Oh please! I don't care how bad they are, words are never as harmful as what can happen to you in the locker room after gym class. And you only get that kind of ugliness from jocks. I'll take a lifetime of net rage over 10 minutes in a locker room.

Sports bring out the very worst sort of competitiveness, aggression, thuggishness, attention grabbing, in public in real life in real and tangible ways. Just look at the top players. A bunch of hyper aggressive morons who can barely speak. Its only on the internet that you can even pretend that geek ugliness comes anything close to approaching that.

In high school I never had a bad experience in the locker room, and I've never had a bad experience with a jock. You shouldn't let how some people in a certain group affect how you view everybody. Do you think all Muslims are terrorists?

And yet you have no problem with how geeks and gamers were generalized in the post I was responding too. I didn't say that all jocks are ugly just that a certain ugliness comes out of that community and that I prefer geek ugliness over jock ugliness.

I didn't say all geeks and gamers. But if this thread is anything to go by I'm not wrong.

 

[Slenn]

I remember a Facebook post I made recently about Howl's moving castle, a great movie that I just watched. One of my friends was then commenting "ISU's playing Kansas!" This was referring to a college football game between ISU, the school I currently go to, and KU, the college of the town where I grew up most of my life. I didn't make a response to it at all, simply because I just didn't give a crap about sports, AND the comment was on something completely unrelated to sports.

I tried baseball, and I didn't like it because I didn't like the outdoor environment under the sun and heat for so long.
I tried soccer, and I didn't like it because our team lost all the time and I never felt motivated.
I tried science, and I really liked it because it felt like a good challenge for my brain.
I tried physics, and I substantially liked it because I like the natural world and I liked science.

From that grew boredom of sports and a love of the sciences. Simple as that.

 

[cikame]

I have an instant opinion when it comes to fans of popular sports, i was bullied my entire childhood by people who like football (in the UK... so Soccer), they were ugly ugly people, from ugly families, i grow up and i see football fans having fights in the streets, causing riots, footballers cheating on their wives, raping women, being racist. Because of this i very quickly and easily assume most fans of those types of sports are bad people, and i'm usually right.

I do like watching Snooker and Tennis because the players are very talented, professional Tennis players have insane amounts of stamina, but i don't pay attention to the names or celebrities because i like what they are doing more than the people involved.

I literally hate every single thing about football, it has crafted the most disgusting social groups the world has ever seen, the fact that the players are held up as role models and paid millions is nauseating.

 

[Pete Oddly]

I find a lot of people in this thread are posting with their reasons for not liking sports. However; there is a key difference between simply not liking sports and having an active animosity towards them and people involved with them.

Personally, I don't like many sports either. I like watching hockey, I like playing darts (though it's not really a sport, honestly), and I LOVE watching MMA (though that has more to do with my savage lust for watching people beat the tar out of each other rather than the sport itself), but I'm not a sports fan, in general.

However; nor do I hold any sort of grudge against jocks. Fandom in one thing does not mean you must automatically be at odds with fandom of something else. This is a high school mentality, and rightly belongs in that immature headspace we all used to occupy in our youth. When this sort of animosity (from either "side") bleeds into adulthood, it simply shows how little growing up the person in question has done.

That's the way I see it, anyway.

 

[Methodia Chicken]

Personally sports themselves aren't the problem, it's professional sports.
I am perfectly happy to watch local games involving my friends/family or get my ass handed to me playing them casually (somehow 6 totally uncoordinated geeky people playing with 2-4 very good geeky people is a lot of fun?)

It's when watching professional games becomes a thing that I immediately switch off, it's super hard to care or build a narrative or connection to anything going on, besides "I like that rich man's group of pet rich men better" (not to mention professional athletes have a weird habit of being horrible human beings).
I'm just being bored in a room with a bunch of super excited people that I think Garfunkel and Oats sum up my feelings on quite well.

besides the Olympics where I always get super patriotic and also love all the silly/epic events like marathons and horsey-dancing.

 

[renegade7]

I think most of it is holdovers from back when there was a huge distinction between "nerds" and "jocks". Nowadays, the "geek" or "gamer" identities are so nebulous that it's pointless trying to define who belongs to which label. I say this because I've found it very rare to actually see someone of the "gamer/geek" persuasion to have any active dislike or disdain for sports and the people who play them.

As for why comparatively few of them seem to be interested in sports, I would say that's simply because if their interests were in sports they would be spending more time on that. Team sports are a very time-consuming interest what with competitions and daily practice. So if you're the more introverted, indoors-y type you're not going to be as interested in sports and not going to get as much exposure to sports, and if you're the opposite then you're not going to have as much interest in video games.

Or maybe, if I was feeling less charitable, I'd put it up as one of the aspects of the elitism that sometimes rears its head in the gamer community coming from the same impulses that lead to the Console Wars ("I'm existentially invested in my chosen device for playing video games so the decision of another person to not acknowledge my clear superiority makes me feel deeply threatened and insulted!") or rants about how some game series is becoming "too casual" for their refined pallets.

 

[sageoftruth]

For me, it's because I live in Boston. The train station I take to get to and from work is also a stadium. In Boston, there is no middle ground for sports. If you're not a fan, then you won't be able to put up with the crap those drunken fans put you through. Is there a sports game playing tonight? If there is, all the fans rejoice and all the non-fans go "Crap! There's another sports game tonight! There goes my night." I find myself grinding my teeth every time I see someone wearing a sports jersey.

On the other hand, I do enjoy playing sports, as long as it doesn't get too competitive. I play them to have fun and won't put up with someone ruining the experience just because winning is so darn important. Doesn't mean I won't try hard. I just care more about doing well individually and as a team player than I do about winning. That's why I quit playing on teams back in high school. That may also be a part of why I'm turned off to watching sports really. At professional sports, it's all about winning. When I deign to watch a game, I'm there to see impressive feats from both sides, but everyone around me just wants Team A to beat Team B. Such a turn-off.

 

[mitchell271]

Superiority complex?

The sports guys that I make fun of fall into 2 categories: the super egotistical ones and the ones that play fantasy sports but make fun of D&D.
The most arrogant people I've ever met have all been rowers and lacrosse players. I used to row, not all of us are like that, but goddamn some of them are horrible people that think they're God's gift to Earth. The fantasy sports guys is pretty obvious, they're just playing D&D, just with real people instead of elves.