This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more information.
When I was growing up, I was a sports fanatic. I literally had to be dragged from the street by my mom if I was in the middle of a baseball game and dinner was ready. And I lived and died by the fortunes of my teams. If my team won, all was right with the world. If my team lost, I was sullen until it won again.
But then things began to change when I found myself on the cusp of high school. It started with professional basketball. I loved the Nets and Dr. J. And I loved going to the Nassau Coliseum to watch the Nets play. But then the Nets moved to New Jersey and Dr. J was traded to Philadelphia. Professional basketball was never the same. I started watching fewer regular season games. Then I just watched the playoffs. Eventually, the only thing that held my interest was the finals. By the time I was a freshman in college, I stopped watching completely.
This same phenomenon repeated itself with the three other major sports. I would lose interest in the regular season, then the playoffs, and finally the championship round. By the time the 90s rolled around, I was done with professional baseball. By the time I relocated to Charlotte in 2006, I was done with professional hockey. And as of last year, I’ve washed my hands of professional football. I only watched one game, and that was because I went to it. My childhood buddies and I ventured up to Lambeau Field to experience a Green Bay Packer game (yes, it was a bucket list thing).
And here’s my overriding message regarding my de-sportification: it’s freakin’ awesome. You don’t need professional sports to bring joy and meaning to your life. In fact, I would venture to say that professional sports are a major impediment to a fulfilling life. When I was “into” professional sports, I was little more than a irritable, yell-at-the-television lout.
But perhaps you’re skeptical. And that’s fair. As a renowned blogger (guffaw, guffaw), it’s incumbent upon me to prove my case. Here then are ten reasons why you should abandon professional sports.
Ten Reasons Why You Should Abandon Professional Sports
It’s silly. When you think about it, professional sports are nothing but grown men running around in costumes. The least ridiculous costumes are in basketball. But even here, things can get absurd. In the 70s, shorts were tight and cut off just below the crotch. Up until recently, they were baggy and cut off at the knee. Baseball’s getting better. I never understood the stirrup, and I’m glad most players now forego them. But the armor many batters are now encasing their exposed arms in is crazy. Hockey and football costumes are highly functional but still bizarre. Imagine going to work and putting your hand in a waffle or your head in a hardened shell of plastic stuffed with foam and partially covered with metal?
It doesn’t matter. You know what you get when your team wins the championship? You get to say your team won the championship. That’s it. You still have the same crappy job and the same crappy pay.
There are too many damn commercials. Check out this clip from the first ever Monday Night Football game. It shows the first commercial break aired during the game. And what’s remarkable about it is that it occurred well into the first quarter and only consisted of one commercial. Today, regardless of the professional sport, commercial breaks not only occur more frequently but are also an insufferable slew of inane pitches that will easily consume three to four minutes of your life.
The owners don’t care about you. The Baltimore Colts left Baltimore in the middle of the night for Indianapolis. The Cleveland Browns then filled this void by moving to Baltimore and changing their name to the Ravens. The St. Louis Rams recently moved to Los Angeles, which is good because that’s where the Rams originally hailed from. And because Los Angeles is such a hotbed of football fanatics, the San Diego Chargers decided to move there too. The Oakland Raiders once moved to Los Angeles before returning to Oakland (maybe Los Angeles isn’t such a hotbed for football after all). Now they’re moving to Las Vegas. I could go on, of course. Musical-chair franchises are a feature of every major professional sport. But you get the idea. Owners care a lot more about taxpayer subsidies than they care about you. If another city offers them a better deal, they’ll abandon you, the cherished fan, in a heartbeat.
The players don’t care about you. Players are every bit as businesslike as the owners. If playing for another team will put millions more in their pockets, they’ll happily dump one set of face-painters for another. And who can blame them? They’re putting their bodies and brains at terrible risk. One horrific example of this occurred on the ice in Buffalo when an errant skate sliced across a goalie’s neck and cut his internal carotid artery. (Don’t watch if you’re squeamish. Very graphic.) So players would be foolish to not follow the money. You, in turn, should act accordingly. Understand sports are a business, and don’t get emotionally attached to any player.
It’s expensive. Were I still living on Long Island, here’s what it would cost to watch every game of my favorite New York teams and go to at least one of their home games.
$959.88 ($79.99/month) for Optimum’s Value Package, which includes ESPN, MSG, and SNY.
$146.54 to go to a Jet game (ticket + beer + hot dog + parking, gas, and tolls).
$96.81 to go to a Met game (ticket + beer + hot dog + parking and gas).
$163.41 to go to an Islander game (ticket + beer + hot dog and fries + Long Island Railroad round trip fare).
To be a “true” fan on Long Island, it would cost me $1,366.64 annually. Invest that same amount of money every year for 40 years at 8% and you would have $352,680.
How does that make you feel? Do you really want to give $352K to owners and players that don’t give a rat’s ass about you?
It’s a great time suck. From April to November, you can literally spend three hours every night watching a professional baseball game. From September to January, you can literally spend ten hours every Sunday watching professional football. Now imagine how much better your life would be if you devoted that time to making your spouse happy, or doing something with your kids, or learning a new skill?
It’s passivity run amok. Winners aren’t sitters. Winners don’t get fulfillment by watching other people pursue glory. Winners are doers. Winners are adventurers. And what muscle do you suppose is exercised when you watch hours upon hours of professional sports? Is it your get-up-and-grab-life-by-the-face muscle? Or is it your sit-on-your-ass-and-plop-Pringles-into-your-mouth muscle? Professional sports are the enemy of vigor and zeal. The more you watch them, the more your get-up-and-grab-life-by-the-face muscle will atrophy.
It’s insulting. I knew professional football had finally lost me when I tuned into a pregame show a couple of years ago and I couldn’t get over the tailored suits worn by the hosts. Really guys? You’re not hosting Masterpiece Theatre or handing out Nobel Prizes to Laureates in Sweden. You’re giving your take on a game in which huge men smash into each other at great speeds. Do you really need $2,000 suits to set the stage for such a majestic undertaking? Flannel shirts and jeans wouldn’t suffice?
To be fair, pompousness isn’t confined to NFL pregame hosts. It’s oozing out of every pore of professional sports, from the owners and league officials to the coaches, players, and announcers. And I just don’t get it.
Note to those who bring us professional sports: You’re not involved in anything regal or important. You’re not curing cancer or fixing global warming. If you all disappeared tomorrow the world would still spin on its axis. Get over yourselves.
Side note: I long for the day when the losing coach of the Super Bowl breaks script and comes to the post-game press conference in a jovial mood. When the shocked reporters question his merry attitude, he kindly retorts: “Hey, guys, loosen up. I’m disappointed with today’s outcome. But remember, we lost a game. We didn’t get blown up by a roadside bomb in Iraq.” Such an occurrence would not only be refreshing, it would inject some much needed perspective into a society driven mad by a meaningless game.
It’s unseemly. I have no problem with kids wearing football or hockey jerseys. It’s harmless fun. But adults wearing football or hockey jerseys? I don’t know. It strikes me as kind of gay. And I don’t mean that in a sexual sense. I mean it in a idolatry sense. What self-respecting adult worships another adult? Or better yet, what self-respecting adult proclaims his or her beta status by adorning a jersey with some dude’s name on it and then freaking out like a Price is Right contestant whenever his or her “hero” does something noteworthy on the field?
Final Thoughts
My favorite two lines in the song Take Me Out to the Ballgame are these:
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win, it’s a shame.
Notice how the songwriters said if your team doesn’t win it’s a shame. They didn’t say if your team doesn’t win it’s time to sack the city.
In a sane world, professional sports would be about as consequential as Hollywood movies. Nobody storms out of a movie theater and starts smashing things if Steven Spielberg’s latest contribution to cinema is a flop. Nobody gets into a fistfight over who the best director or actor is.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with sports. But if you really love something, don’t watch it, do it. Get out and toss a football. Join a softball league. Go to the driving range and hit some golf balls.
And if you’re looking for an inexpensive escape for a few hours, go to a high school football game or a minor league baseball game. Don’t let professional sports become an all-consuming affair. It’s a waste of time, money, and dignity.
Okay, groovy freedomist. That’s all I got. What say you? Did I nail the foolishness of being consumed with professional sports? Or is my anti-professional sports screed the thing that’s really foolish. Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.
I dislike
1) The Owners
2) The Commisoners
3) Vast majority of the players
and this all happened for me in the last 15 years. Sports are fun to play(obviously)
but watching today is torture.
All three reasons for the dislike are the same…They vast , vast majority are such classless fools today.
Watching sports can be a fun escape in moderation. But it’s way too expensive in person and on TV and I refuse to give my hard earned cash to billionaire owners who don’t give a damn about fans. So I look for high school or any sport league with lower demand. If I watch the higher leagues it’s only on TV and sparingly. These days I just watch the short highlights on Youtube. Less time suck, less cash. Win-win.
professional sports makes me think of a great line from a sitcom:
“you need to quit being a jerk and admit i’m good at what i do”
“oh! you misunderstood me; it’s not that you’re bad at what you do…it’s just that it’s not worth doing.”
as another article says, “pro athletes get paid to go to the gym.” it’s great that you can throw a ball at a thing. is that going to cure cancer or help 3rd world get get an education? no? then take a 5-figure salary, say “thank you, universe” and let us get on with adult stuff.
one thing you didn’t mnetion: the stadium scam. sports fans tend to lean “right” and what do the “right” whine about 24/7? taxes. what are stadiums built with? a mix of some private money and a LOT of taxpayer dollars. if someone wants to flap their faceholes about “welfare queens” then let’s start with the tom bradys and team owners of the world.
Was on Brian Tuohy’s site, and found this in his news feed (from 8/23/2023):
https://www.thefixisin.net/news-feed
Evan Turner, an NBA player, was with the Sixers in 2012 when they played the Celtics in the playoffs. Elton Brand (who was with the Sixers at the time as PF) said to Evan that they will have to win by 15 just to win by 1 because people want to see Boston and Miami, not the Sixers and Miami (because it is entertainment).
Hey there!
Just stumbled upon your article and absolutely loved it. Letting go of my love of sports has weighed heavily on my heart for about five years. As of yesterday I resolved to finally move on from it for good. No more knots in my stomach because Auburn lost the Iron Bowl. No more having to argue with people about whether or not Kirk Cousins can win the Vikings a Superbowl. Who gives a shit? I’m a free man, and I can be and do whatever I want! My happiness can come from God and by being who I am, instead of the actions of a bunch of overpaid strangers throwing a ball around thousands of miles away!
Thanks for your sharing your journey!
There is nothing wrong with enjoying sports there is a problem with making it be all and end all of your existence. This is really true when it comes to civic pride. People tend to talk about this when a local team threatens to leave there your city because they don’t have arena or if they don’t win. If that is the basis it is a superficial one.
I actually agree with most of what you said. I disagree with a couple reasons but overall I agree. I’ve enjoyed soccer and hockey my entire life, but i’m realizing now that having it affect me is really pointless. I wish sports actually meant something like they used to and I wish people didn’t lose their mind whenever the team they like loses. Nowadays I watch hockey, Formula 1, and some soccer but I don’t really let it affect me at all, it’s just entertainment and I enjoy the art of the sport, especially with soccer since I played my whole life.
In terms of meaning, the Bundesliga (soccer league in Germany) is the only sports league in the world that does it right. Those teams are legitimate clubs where fans aren’t fans, they’re actual members and vote on things that happen within the club. And each club has a direct positive impact on its local community, I’m not from Germany but i enjoy to watch their league because i know it’s legitimate and means something rather than every other league it’s simply just cheering for a name and a logo for no reason void of any meaning. Outside of the Bundesliga (because the members are the majority owners), you’re merely just a customer, and you’re right, they don’t care about you. Other than that, I enjoy F1 because I just love racing and it’s easy to watch as a neutral and not have it impact me.
Would love to hear your thoughts
I agree with you. The tragedy of modern sports is that most teams are a commodity (as you correctly pointed out) and have no local connections to the cities they “represent.” Their stadiums just happen to be in those cities. Wouldn’t it be interesting if college and pro teams had to get 50 percent of their rosters from players who were born and raised within a certain radius from the teams’ stadium? To make things fair, big city teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers would have a small radius, say 10 miles, and small city teams would have a large radius, say 200 miles. The point would be to equalize the pool of local talent available to each team. Then teams would really represent their respective cities. Fifty percent of the players would be local, and 50 percent of the players would come from the draft and trades. Thank you for stopping by, my friend. You made a lot of terrific points. I’m with you. Let’s make sports local again!
Also, Ken Reed of the League of Fans (great site, BTW) has suggested that the cities take back these sports teams from these greedy parasitical owners. They have a self-regulated monopoly system that allows them to pursue a profit at all costs agenda at fans’ expense:
https://www.leagueoffans.org/2012/03/02/packers-community-ownership-model-working-just-fine/
Glad I am not the only one. I agree with your sentiments above. Used to follow Pro sports in my youth. As I watch our local team (Carolina Panthers)implode once again all I see in the faces of the players is contemplation on how they will spend their egregious pay in the off season. Will it be Ferraris, gambling, strip clubs, impregnating multiple women? All of the above? Work too hard for my money to support this nonsense. Cheers.
Nailed it, Mike. I couldn’t agree more. Far too many of our fellow Americans are worshipping these false gods. And if they only put that devotion into their own lives, they would be so much better off. Sigh.
REMOVE ME FROM EVERY ONE OF YOUR MAILING LISTS.
DO IT YOURSELF. JUST CLICK UNSUBSCRIBE IN THE EMAIL YOU RECEIVE FROM FREEDOM IS GROOVY.
I read almost the entire article and gave you credibility until use the word “gay” and then I thought wow this guy is a loser
I hear ya, Tracy. But may I suggest that you’re suffering a little from Woke Privilege and you might need to check it? The meaning of a word sometimes evolves. Gay initially meant happy. Then it evolved a secondary meaning–homosexual men. I used it to denote wimpiness or cuckoldry. Can this not be a third meaning for the word gay? And if not, why? Who gets to decide what words mean? Do the great unwashed have a say? Or do our Woke Overlords make the rules for everyone? Thanks for stopping by, Tracy. I really appreciate the push-back. It’s not fun having to defend yourself, but it’s a critical part of the blogging process. How else, after all, am I going to improve as a writer and a person? Cheers.
The , NBA is a JOKE with 7′ tall individuals with a 12′ reach !!! Raise the hoop up another 2.5-3′!!!!!! NFL is a BIG JOKE , commit crimes and you still get your MILLION a Year Plus ,If you get suspended for 6 games , you sit at home or on the bench , with your 20million sign on bonus plus your yearly salary !!!! What a JOKE !!!! If people quit watching and going to games , quit paying HIGH PRICES ,for tickets , apparel and the sports channels , Then you would see their salaries come down to EARTH !!!! Plus most of the players are so full of themselves , sitting on that ,GREAT PEDESTAL , the idiot fans put them on , IT’S A JOKE and SO IS PROFESSIONAL SPORTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amen, brother. The base impulses of our athletes are only compounded by our idolatry.
Is it so important for kids to have physical activities.
https://www.12am.news
I think this thread is referring why pro sports is a waste of time. Kids should definitely still play sports for development and health reasons.
Exactly.
True.
Another reason to stop watching is that the games are fixed:
NBA: The MJ era was crooked. His reign over the league wasn’t on the up and up. He didn’t retire to play baseball in October 1993. He was told to step aside by David Stern and Jerry Reinsdorf because of gambling issues. After he “retired” to play baseball, the discussion of his gambling went away. Also, when NBC had the contract, I believe that the only legit champs were the 94-95 Rockets and 99 Spurs. The Bulls titles and the 00-02 Flukers’ titles should have an asterisk next to them. Since then, you have had more fixed titles (2006 Heat, 07 Spurs, etc..). In addition, I think that accused cheating ref Tim Donaghy was an official in one of San Antonio’s 07 playoff games.
NFL: I think that assorted players have fixed games over the years. However, the league wasn’t that bad until the last 20 years. They (with help from the government) aided the Patriots to nine SB’s (and they may be on the way to another. We may see a Brady-Belichick SB).
NHL: The Vegas Golden Knights’ trip to the Finals wasn’t legit, in my opinion. That was probably allowed so that another Sun Belt team wasn’t set up to fail. They probably don’t want another Phoenix.
MLB: You have the cheating Astros (who really weren’t punished), and you have the 2013 Red Sox (who were buoyed by the Boston Strong false flag that was created so they could invade homes).
Excellent points, JB. I used to be an avid hockey fan, and I’ve always thought the NHL altered the 1983-84 playoff format to stop the Islanders from winning a fifth straight Stanley Cup. Can’t have an American-based team match the record set by the vaunted Montreal Canadians–it would be a slap in the face to the honor of Canada. So, yeah, it doesn’t surprise me that other leagues do the same thing.
The playoff format was altered in 1981-82 when they changed the divisions to be more geographical. What happened with the Isles was that the Oilers finally were able to mature enough to win.
As for MJ and the Bulls, Karceno4Life did a six-part documentary on You Tube about the Bulls and their fake 90’s Dynasty (here is part 1. The link to part 2 is on the top of the right side):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ejrKdhCvyk
True. My complaint with the 1983-84 playoff format is that NHL changed the home-away format in the finals from 2-2-1-1-1 to 2-3-2. This gave the physically beat-up Islanders fewer travel days and therefore less time to recover between games. Would the standard 2-2-1-1-1 format have changed the results? Probably not. But the NHL certainly wasn’t taking any chances.
I didn’t know the NHL changed the Finals format that year (I do know that the NBA changed to 2-3-2 the next year).
It isn’t surprising, though, because they had to get their golden boy (Gretzky) a title. Back in 1969, there was a book called Hockey! The Story of the World’s Fastest Game. In that book, there are mentions of how the league kept scores close, and about how the refs are a joke:
https://www.thefixisin.net/refs-admit-nhl-is-fixed
Also, here is the part where Brian talks about how MJ was sent away for gambling:
https://www.thefixisin.net/like-mike
Cultish Idol Worship.
I think there’s something deeply pagan in the human heart that yearns for local gods to worship. The first lesson we learned from the Greeks is that such gods are petty and vindictive–unworthy of worship. (And non-existent to boot.) Thus religion upgraded from henotheism to monotheism.
This did not still the pagan impulse, so we sublimated it into Tigers, Lions, and Wolverines (good deities) and their unending struggle (jihad) against the evil deities of Indians, Browns, and Buckeyes.
Since idols must be worthy of worship, we covered up the drunken carousing of Babe Ruth, et al. and created a false facade of moral discipline based upon the discipline of athletic training. “It takes great diligent practice and dedicated training to perform the great feats of sports-ball so surely our sports idols must be diligent and dedicated. Hence, you must be a diligent and dedicated follower, little sheeple.”
This social contract is predicated upon a lie, but it’s hardly the only lie we are expected to believe. So it continues until we cannot deny many idols are merely thugs whose sportsball prowess keeps them out of prison.
The pro-sportsball corporation isn’t in the business of mythology, but winning (& selling tickets & merch). So they bail out the thugs unless the thug’s dog-fighting side-hustle hurts ticket sales.
The clash between mythos and economic cynicism gives folks like US an occasion to wake up and put away childish idols. Pick up a sportsball yourself…
steve poling recently posted…Dave Ramsey Heresy
Yes it does seem to be of the old gods type of worship deeply ingrained into the human psyche. I find great humor in how little it matters, go to another country and they don’t even play the same sport. If it really mattered every one in the world would know about it.
Do people in Germany care who wins the Super Bowl? Do Americans give a hoot about who wins the bundesliga? No and no. At best they are regionals distractions, circuses and bread beer. I cared too much for baseball and college football as a youth and I regret the insane idol worship I partook in.
The nations is in a spiritual peril and grown men prattle on about other grown men who dress up in costumes; who make millions of dollars to play children’s games.
I wonder what distinguishes a game from being a children’s game vs an adult’s game? Money? Consequences? Was WW2 an adult’s game?
It’s said that the distinction of a great football coach is that he’s smart enough to understand the game, and stupid enough to think it’s important.
I’ve found life, particularly one’s career, to have a similar requirement. I think we need to grok what’s important and move from there.
Thank you for the constructive comment, I should have phrased it better perhaps. Indeed from a certain perspective war is a game, a bloody and deadly game with serious consequences. Yet it is a game played in a similar fashion to American football. A general(quarterback) directs soldiers and makes necessary sacrifices to insure a victory.
That being said, the amount of energy directed towards sport is similar to the energy nations once expended playing the “great game.”
It seems our tribal nature gets the better of us in both cases.
Hopefully we can retain both sport and our collective sanity I shall end with a passage from Howard Cosell forgive it’s length:
“ I am writing this book because I am convinced that sports are out of whack in the American society; that the emphasis placed upon sports distorts the real values of life and often produces mass behavior patterns that are downright frightening; and that the frequently touted uplifting benefits of sports have become a murky blur in the morass of hypocrisy and contradiction that I call the Sports Syndrome.
I did not always feel this way…
In the beginning, like most people in America, I had romantic ideas about sports. I found beauty in the contests, and I really believed that the public needed the surcease that spectator sports provided from the daily travail of life. But the past fifteen years have developed vast changes in my thinking and have caused me to reach the conclusion set forth at the top of this prologue.
In that time, I have walked away from professional boxing, and I have come to have grave doubts about amateur boxing. I have walked away from professional football because of family pressures and because I no longer believed morally or ethically in the actions of the National Football League. By doing this, I gave up, literally, millions of dollars, and yet I suffered tremendous vilification in print for my action.
In that time, I came to realize, however reluctantly, that there was an inexorable force working against revelations of truth about sports in America. That force exists in the form of an unholy alliance between the three television networks and the sports print medium. It is the fundamental purpose of both, for their own reasons, to exalt sports, to regale the games, the fights, the races, whatever, to the point where these contests are indoctrinated into the public mind as virtual religious rituals.
Only rarely does one ever read or hear about how sports in the current era inextricably intertwine with the law, the politics, the sociology, the education, and the medical care of society. It is common practice now for sports franchise owners to rip off great cities in financial distress either by franchise removal or threat of franchise removal. I have seen emphasis upon sports corrupt our higher educational process, and to at least some degree, our secondary educational system….
I have observed the disgusting extent to which television will go in order to get a rating….I have covered the development of labor unions in sports, lockouts in sports, special-purpose legislation passed by the Congress for sports. And I have seen the birth of a curious new stratum in society, which Robert Lipsyte brilliantly entitled “the Jockocracy.”…
The world of sports today is endlessly complex, an ever-spinning spiral of deceit, immorality, absence of ethics, and defiance of the public interest. Yet, somewhere within all that, there continues to lurk the valid notion that there is good in sports and that the games themselves provide a necessary respite from the ills and frustrations of life itself.
It is in that latter notion that the bulk of the American public believes, although the number of such believers decreases almost daily. They believe as they do because they have been taught to do so virtually from birth. They are taught in their homes and by the sports media people….
We are taught a series of postulates, each of which can serve as a natural concomitant for any of the others, and which, in totality, constitute the Sports Syndrome. They are:
1. The game is sacrosanct—a physical and almost religious ritual of beauty and art.
2. Only those who have played the game can understand and communicate its beauty.
3. All athletes are heroes, to the point where some are cast as surrogate parents in the American home.
4. Winning isn’t everything…it’s the only thing! (Something Vincent T. Lombardi never said!)
5. Sport is Camelot. It is not a place for truth—only for escape, for refuge from life.
6. The fan is sacred, even as sports are. He pays the freight, thus he is an entitled being. The media people tell him this every day. Therefore, once within the arena, his emotions whetted by the Sports Syndrome, the fan adopts what John Stewart Mill found to be the classic confusion in the American thought process, the confusion between Liberty and License—a natural and probable consequence of which is fan violence.
….The essential point is that sports are no longer fun and games, that they are everywhere—in people’s minds, in conversation, in the importance we attach to it—and that they can affect the basics of our lives (to wit, the part of our taxes that may be directed to supporting a sports franchise, without our ever knowing it). Once I bought the Jimmy Cannon dictum that “Sports is the Toy Department of life.” I don’t now and never will again.
The task then, as I see it, is to get a fix on sports and put it in its place, in balance with the mainstream of life, and to dispel romantic ideas about sports—ideas that exist only in a fantasy world.”
From I Never Played the Game, pages 131-132, in which Cosell explained why he left ABC’s Monday Night
I get you, the whole regular season-playoffs-only the finals. Grew up in the 70s….sportsmanship has all but left few players in all sports….NFL especially…in most recent years, players assault others, kill pregnent girlfriends, SPIT on each other, or get arrested…..when was the last time you saw a defensive guy pick up a QB he just sacked (instead of flexxing his muscles) Kids are supposed to idolize thes players??? Now talking about climate change….planes flying everywhere wasting fuel, how much carbon is emiited to air to make steel for stadiums, cement for concrete, and low and behold all the trucking needing to help in building stadiums….after all, football is played on a 150′ x 300″ GRASSY field!!!! And not to talk about carbon to get the TV crews and equipment to cover all sports. When did RPS (rock/paper/scissors) and cornhole need to be on TV????
After watching what happened in Houston a few days, It made me wonder how low we have gotten when it comes to sports fandom. It has now become a matter of life and almost death at sporting events. It sure isn’t a place to take your kids.
This isn’t the first time Dodgers fans have been involved in some sort of violence at sporting events. From the Giants fan who was left in a coma a few years ago to this in Houston, This is pure hooliganism. I am sure the million dollar athletes could care less about the fan, or the team since they’ll bow to the highest bidder.
Nailed it, Danny. Professional athletes don’t give a rip about the fans. And only mentally ill fools willingly fight for “their team.”
“Mickey Mantle? Is that what you’re upset about? Mickey Mantle makes $100,000 a year. How much does your father make? You don’t know? Well, see if your father can’t pay the rent go ask Mickey Mantle and see what he tells you. Mickey Mantle don’t care about you, so why should you care about him? Nobody cares.” My favorite quote from the Bronx tale which gave me a different outlook on sports.
Thank you, Craig. I needed that. Great freakin’ quote.
That’s a great quote. I was just saying the same thing to my wife. They don’t even know you exist and wouldn’t help YOU financially at all. Yet ppl invest so much time, $, and energy into rooting for other men playing a game. Pretty lame actually.
I stopped watching sports slowly over the last 3 years since my first(of 3) child was born. Got into woodworking and that took my life over, still have a bunch of other hobbies and love spending time with my family.
Looking back, I can’t believe I ever wasted one half a second on sports… any energy directed at sports was energy I could have used to become more proficient at literally ANYTHING.
I could go on and on about how sad people are, I could log back into my Facebook after saying good riddance 4 years ago and I guarantee you EVERYONE would be posting and complaining about a blown call or how the world is over because the Packers aren’t in the super bowl… it literally makes me ill.
I’ve already spent too much time writing this. Good article.
Thank you, Justin. I couldn’t agree more. Never mind the perpetual hand-wringing over the wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots. The real gap we should concern ourselves with is the sanity gap between the doers and the sitters. Those who sit and watch others eventually lose their minds. Think about it. Who in his right mind would don a jersey with another man’s name on it and allow his happiness to be affected by the outcome of a meaningless game? I’m with you, my friend. I’d rather be in my shop working on my welding than watching a bunch of sanctimonious nabobs running around in costumes on tv.
I stopped watching the NFL when they got Colin (Kaepernick) cancer. I didn’t watch a single MLB game when I flipped past one this year and saw a BLM logo on the field. I’m done with sports and honestly don’t miss it. I have my own life which has nothing to do with the success or failure of spoiled millionaires.
Amen. I derive more happiness from watching a high school game than watching any game on a professional level. I also derive more happiness from actually playing a sport than watching it.
So if they hadn’t made a political stance, you would still be watching? It means those stances actually helped you mature out of sports and you should support them.
I respect your opinion, but I disagree with what you said.
Likewise, my friend. We need more people like you. Just because people don’t agree on some matter doesn’t mean they have to treat each other as mortal enemies.
Ya but sports are fun and the point of life is to have fun. You get paid millions of dollars to be a sports athlete and you think that’s useless? The players do contribute to the world like Curtis Granderson set up charities and was in the MLB. You say that it’s useless to be a professional sports player cause they aren’t helping the world but then how is writing this whole website helping the world?
Excellent comment, Bru. I disagree with you on the last point, though. I never said professional athletes aren’t helping the world. They’re entertainers and human beings covet entertainment. I’m just asking my fellow Americans to be more mindful of their entertainment choices. Why get your entertainment from expensive athletes who have little regard for you and your values when you can get your entertainment from inexpensive athletes who respect you and your values?
Another point to this is, so what if they help the world or give ‘x’ to whatever charity. That’s a ton of money being given to somebody else to decide where it should go. If one cares that much about helping the world, then they should not spend time and money on sports. Instead, they should volunteer and donate to causes of their choice. Take out the middle man. lol
Yes. Second-hand charity is a bad idea. If you want to help people, don’t give money to people who may or may not help the people you want to help. Help the people you want to help yourself.
It reminds me of the film “A Bronx Tale” from 1993. The kid was a huge Yankee’s and Mickey Mantle fan who took the 1960 World Series lose hard. The main adult character in his neighborhood says to the kid “See if your father can’t pay the rent than go ask Mickey Mantle and see what he tells you. Mickey Mantle could careless about you, why care about him?” That could apply to any sports player or teams today. I was big sports fan into my early 20’s. Then gave up on it. Win or lose the players and owners go home to their wealthy lives, and in six weeks most people forget or no longer care and you spent or wasted money on championship merchandise that will sit in the closet for years. The rest of us still have bills to pay and food to put on the table. Nothing wrong with playing sports, don’t get me wrong. But people go crazy obsessed over watching and following professional sports when in the end win or lose the players and owners go back to their wealthy homes and we still have to go to our regular jobs in the morning and none of them probably could careless if you couldn’t make the rent payment next week or if you’re lost your job to layoffs. Come next season your favorite player might of even jumped to a new team for more money.
“See if your father can’t pay the rent then go ask Mickey Mantle and see what he tells you. Mickey Mantle could care less about you, why care about him?”
Great quote. And great comment. Athletes don’t care if you’re broke, can’t pay the rent, and are starving. And if they run across your wife or daughter in a bar, they’ll gladly corrupt them. But keep watching and keep buying tickets and jerseys. Our country is awash in beta males and it sickens me.
Wow, what a great take on pro sports, I couldn’t agree more. Watching one of my kids sports is so much better and no ballbaby millionaire telling me how oppressed they are…. some of them only have two vacation homes…
LOL! Imagine only having two vacation homes when the owners have a half dozen vacation homes and a couple of yachts? The sting of oppression must be unbearable.
When sports become political I turn off the TV and will not buy anything NFL. Your sport is a disgrace to our country. I have banned watching sports in my home.
I like the cut of your jib, my friend.
professional anything is horrible if they want you to join their agenda or politics. I will never support pro sports again.
Never bend the knee–whether the tyrant’s a politician, a “protester,” or a grown man in a skin-tight costume.
I agree with everything you said . Sports has become overpaid cry baby’s that doesn’t care about the game or the fans. I’m done with sports.
I love it, Jerry. Thanks for stopping by.
F sports and the disrespectful, unappreciative players.
It’s stupid how u think that all sports players are bad people. Not all sports players are the same. What ur saying is basically like saying all black people are criminals which is false
Excellent point. Not all athletes are bad. Nor are all black people or cops.
Agreed.
Agree with most of it and I too haVe abandoned all sports. Loved the LA Kings, Browns, Jeff Gordon, A’s. They all started to suck with everchanging rules that watered them down and the nail in the coffin for me was the blatant disrespect of my country.
Yep, the boys of summer have been replaced by the activists of summer. Sad.
My opinion, leave politics out of sports and all entertainment. All fanatics i know want to escape reality and enjoy a time out in life. With politics injected by athletes and management, I’m out. That includes the NA. Let’s just play and get on with our fantasy world.
Amen!
Awesome!
Thank you, sir.
I have been having my doubts about the professionalism of players. But the BLM movement and them walking out? Are you kidding me?
All i know, if i had a job paying me millions of dollars, i WOULD NOT WALK OFF MY JOB!!!!
After all, in short we the fans are financing their fat paychecks and they act like they are almost doing us a favor for playing? Really?
As of 08/26/2020 i will no longer watch any professional sports.
These players are spoiled and treating us like garbage. If we all stopped watching sports, i would love to see what they would do then. Most of them probably could not probably keep a 9 to 5 job.
Finally, i am also disappointing in the sports owners, they are the boss. What employee just walks off the job and does not get fired?
They all owe us an apology. In the meantime we should start putting together a list of more fun and maybe constructive things to do, than sitting on the couch for hours cheering on certain players so they can get millions….us….well figure it out for yourself.
Agreed. BLM is a scam. If it were BLMWWKB–black lives matter when whites kill blacks–it would be far more honest. Why anyone would subject themselves to the racism of the players and owners is a mystery to me.
Professional Bull Riders is my new sport and yes I agree they are overpaid unprofessionals. They’re not proving any point when they shut the game down.
Nice point, Joe. I’m much rather watch bull-riding than any of the four major sports.
I give up Sports and taking up fishing it’s my new sports their overpaid children
Agreed. Man-babies running around in costumes–that’s what modern-day sports boils down to.
I‘ve always been a big baseball fan. But after the big money fight the players union and owners had this year (2020), the laughable roll out of the shortened season, and their sponsoring what amounts to a Marxist movement (BLM) I think I’m done with baseball for the foreseeable future. I’m very disappointed by all of this. I felt I watched baseball at a reasonable rate and wasn’t overly obsessed but I just don’t know if I can support professional sports who are complicit in the destruction of our nation.
Couldn’t agree more, my friend. I left baseball at least ten years ago. Couldn’t take a standard two-hour game morphing into a four-hour game. If I want to watch something evolve at a snail’s pace, I’ll watch chess.
I agree with everything you said. And I would add two other points. First, most sports players are way overpaid. I don’t care about economics and supply and demand. No one should get paid tens of millions a year to play sports. Period. A wealthy doctor makes $300K a year and is far more valuable to society. And secondly, the politicization of sports is the nail in the coffin for me. Take the political statements outside of the game. As with celebrities, I don’t give a rat’s ass what sports players think about political issues.
You’re a wise man, sir. Professional and college sports can go away forever and no one would be materially hurt. But if your garbage men went on strike for a month, your quality of life would suffer greatly. And you are so right about the politicization of sports. Shit on America but don’t dare say a word about China’s despicable behavior toward Hong Kong and the Uyghurs. I love how “brave” our athletes are.
Jeff, I totally agree. After listening to the bad news of covid 19, BLM, and the fake news….i work all day and look forward to coming home and catching a game.
The last thing i need to hear is politics in the beginning or during a sporting event. Maybe the team owners and all the players should change careers and become politicians. I say we give them a push towards a new career by boycotting sports.
Couldn’t help but read your article. With the current state of our country and all that is going to shit. Can’t believe sports is still talked about like it’s super important. I’m hoping it just all fails. Professional and Collegiate levels. Then maybe we as a country can start focusing on “real” issues.
Thank you, JR. Couldn’t agree more.
Pro Sports in this era. is all about money. The players use to care about there fans and showed them some respect. They are making so much money today they do not care what vulgar actions they respond on the field including disrepecting our flag. I’m done with Pro Sports. Think I’ll go catch a fish. A EX Fan
Agreed. We not only have free-agent athletes but we also have free-agent franchises. And to make matters worse, they have no problem spitting in the face of patriotic Americans. They give a big FU to America and kiss Chinese ass. It’s a disgrace.
Funny! It might not even be a choice soon! We will have to find recreation elsewhere. Just like all those cultures that never went to pro sports in the first place. But…I really loved playing in those pickup games with the neighborhood crowd.
I love it, Bill. Yes! More pickup games and less couch-potato loitering.
In my experience, avid sports fans are usually nurtured from early childhood. I don’t often see a person in their late teens or early twenties saying, “Geez! I need to obsess over something and I will make it this here Hockey Team in town.” Since it starts a lot of times in our formative years, it becomes a bad habit that’s hard to break, like lying or stealing or cheating. When I first attempted to quit smoking, my mother, who had quit, told me you are only fighting that “one” cigarette; avoid that and you got it licked. Maybe the same is true for a sports addiction… resist that “one game” every time you feel the urge. I fought that “one” smoke for three months before I remember not thinking about it anymore, onto a smoke-free life. Not sure about a sports addiction, maybe it will take an entire season of abstention… Good Luck to All!
Nailed it, D. “The chains of habit aren’t felt until they’re too strong to be broken.” Fortunately, I was able to break my sport-fan chains in my early 30s. Don’t ask me why, but it suddenly dawned on me that rooting for guys in costumes wasn’t doing anything to improve my life. And my addiction subsided in stages–just like you pointed out. First, I skipped the NBA regular season. Then I skipped the NBA playoffs. Then I moved onto baseball. After baseball came hockey. And, then, finally, I ditched regular season football and playoff football. I did watch the Super Bowl up until a few years ago. But that was mainly because I attended Super Bowl parties. Anyway, you’re a wise man, my friend. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers.
Confused and disappointed by your use of the word “gay” here. The whole line could have been omitted and still have gotten the point across.
That being said — this article was forwarded to me by a former professional sports super fan who has changed their point of view. I think you nailed it here!!! Especially the passivity run amok. That was a big reason for us.
Hey, Kaity. I’m using “gay” here in a subservient or beta sense, not in a sexual orientation sense. But I understand your confusion and disappointment. All I can say is that words evolve. Gay used to mean happy. Then its predominant meaning morphed to homosexuality. Now gay is used more and more to describe something stupid or beneath the actions of a self-respecting soul. And that’s the way gay is used here. No malice intended. Excellent comment, Kaity. Thanks for stopping by.
I absolutely agree that words evolve. It’s one of my favorite things about language— and the power it holds. And again… like you said, words evolve and the meanings change over time— I would argue that using “gay” is only truly only used to refer to sexuality, and has been for awhile now (I recognize this was first written in 2017, but I would have made the same point 3 years ago too).
Using it as a derogatory term, as you did here, is very outdated — I liken it to people who still use “the R” word. Continuing to use the term “gay“ to refer to things that are “stupid” or “beneath the actions of a self respecting soul” can be very harmful to those in the LGBTQIA+ community.
(https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-the-erotic-code/201803/thats-so-gay-is-just-so-wrong )
Again I only take issue with the fact that you could have just said “it’s stupid” and had a better impact.
Appreciate the dialogue and discourse with you! And hoping this article gains more traction and people see what an enormous drain of resources (time, money, energy) professional sports has become!
I love it, Kaity. You defended your point very well and I will no longer use “gay” to refer to “stupid.” Thank you for appealing to my reason and not stooping to name-calling. That’s very rare these days.
Totally gratuitous aside: I just wanted to add that even though you convinced me I was wrong, I still wanted to defend my word choice. And that was so, not because of ego, but because of frustration. I’m a freedomist. So I pride myself on being respectful to the inalienable rights of all and being kind to all. But I’m also a white male and I don’t see the same level of concern for my inalienable rights and my well-being coming from the Left–especially the feminist, black, and gay Left. In other words, I’m morally obligated to have their back but they’re not morally obligated to have my back. They can bandy about terms such as “white privilege” and “white supremacy” and not give a shit about the consequences for me and other white people. And if you call the Left on the harm they’re engendering with these weaponized terms, they go “boo-hoo.” Again, this is a totally gratuitous aside. I know two wrongs don’t make a right. But the lack of reciprocity coming from the Left bothers me. Am I wrong?
Thank YOU for not totally writing me off and listening to what I had to say! You’re right– people with differing views often result to name-calling and insults. I’m trying to take a more mindful and open approach where I am not reactive and take the time to thoughtfully respond.
And totally gratuitous? Nah- it’s your site you can write what you want! I disagree with some of those points– but can wholeheartedly get behind the lack of reciprocity (and can I add lack of accountability) on both sides.
Made my day, KT. I love being challenged by more intelligent and more decent people. And you definitely epitomize those qualities. Cheers.
The left has only gotten worse since this was written 3 years ago. They make up their own definitions for words, why can’t we use a word where everyone knows what it means. It’s a funny word to describe something. We shouldn’t stop saying it just bc they don’t like it. In our vocabulary it mean “sissy” or “stupid.”
That’s just gay and who cares what the LGBTQ freaks think. America going down the toilet day by day.
I was waiting and watching for my biggest beef with pro sports. It didn’t show. The entire thrust of this was the effect on one person, his tastes and needs or lack thereof. The most compelling reason I feel they should be banned is their effect on the world as a whole, particularly the environment. How much air travel say, would one pro baseball team be irresponsible for over a 168 or whatever it is game season? No it’s simply irredeemably irresponsible.
Excellent point, Gus. Never considered the environmental impact of all that travel.
Stoping all professional sports would bother many kids and people who think it’s fun to watch. It’s a form of entertainment to watch sports and it’s exercise which is healthy. People travel on business trips a lot for big businesses just like sports players do.
I only watch them today is because of I gamble on them sure I make a lot of money off it, but it has had a bad psychological effect on me.
You’re not alone, Frank. If there were no gambling and fantasy leagues, interest in professional sports would easily be reduced by 50 percent.
Your nailed some good points at the end of the day it’s a business and all they want is money just like what most people want. Just don’t pay premium prices for them and they will start to suffer and it will benefit you as well.
Exactly. Don’t feed the beast. There’s no law saying you need to purchase a premium cable channel, or a season ticket, or a team jersey. Just walk away. And then go back when a ticket costs 10 dollars, parking 3 dollars, and a hot dog 2 dollars.
Nailed it. Having three sons and being such a stupid dad thinking that I had to absolutely force them to excel in a sport did nothing but strain our relationship. Once I finally let that nonsense go what a great relationship we built and it was not around any sports teams or players. Granted we like to play games and be active for the most part and I actually was a division one college baseball player and obsessed with sports for so long. I ran a March madness gig that totally consumed me and all of those involved. Looking back now, what a waste of my time energy and money. I still absolutely love to compete but I don’t need to watch professional athletes running around in their costumes nor do I own a shirt with someone else’s name on it. Good piece buddy. Enjoy the freedom. I always wish for a day that professional Athletes would show up to play a game and there would be an empty stadium. Not that I wished a pandemic but isn’t it interesting at how much these players need people to cheer them on and idolize them. Again, such freedom I can’t explain it. By the way all three of my boys are Dean’s list in college and high honors in high school with scholarships for academics and excelling way beyond their dad ever imagined in the academic realm. So much for my sports dream, they are reaching dreams of their own and much more fulfilling
Thank you, Joe. Your comment gave me a glimmering of hope for humanity. Now we just need about 200 million more Americans to experience the epiphany that you and I experienced.
I grew up poor as fuck, so professional sports didn’t even exist for me and my family. We always thought sports was a first world problem we could not afford.
Confess your redemption all you want, I’ll be over here doing a brake job on my decade-old car so I can get to work. (Or truing-up my bike wheels. )
I love it. Thank you, GBJ. Sports are first-world problems. They’re also adolescent problems. True adults don’t worry about sports.
Your entire column is spot on. I lost many years ago myself. Another thing I hate about sports today is all the showboating athletes do on the field. I mean common, why are you celebrating getting a first down?
Agreed. To me, the greatest running back in NFL history is Earl Campbell. And you know what he did whenever he scored a touchdown? He just placed the football on the ground. No spiking, no dancing, no jumping in the stands.
To hell with the NFL.who do they think the are!taking knee on our country’s flag.i quit watching any kind of pro sports . Jim
To hell with country’s stupid flag. Time to grow up Americans. Take a look around you. See how the world is leaving you behind while you piss around making coal great again.
Now, now, Ted. Being a patriot-phobe is just as ugly as being a homophobe or an Islamophobe. Who raised you?
Agreed. I’m not watching people who defame me and my country.
hey, your sports thread is an evergreen topic. maybe another post thereon. and here is my (contrarian) suggestion: Useful Pro Sports. There are several professionals that do not wear corporate sports-team logos. We need to exercise to stay healthy and we need some professional to tell us how to do it without injury. How exactly does one do a dead lift with the legs, not the back? How exactly does one run without over-stride and heel strike? How do I rehabilitate an injury and resume training? Who do I talk to when I want to improve my PR (or is it PB?) in a 5k?
Great points as always, Mr. Poling.
Spot on!
About 24 years ago I was at work and had just finished arguing nose to nose with someone about football, god knows exactly what, and as I walked to the water fountain to get a drink the though occurred to me “Jim, those players aren’t sitting in a locker room arguing about whether you’re going to pass your latest college test (I was attending college at the time) so why the F are you giving this mental and emotional time to these overpaid idiots who could give a damn about you??
At that moment I got a drink of water and completely quit being a freaked out fanboy, never gave another damn about any sports figures (excepting pro wrestlers, at the time I needed release via stupid entertainment due to college being serious hard work and a hardcore work schedule, but that only lasted during my college years). Now, only 1 sport grabs my attention, that would be 3 lady beach volley ball during the Olympics!
I see professional sports a plague on our society, a crappy influence on our kids and can see absolutely nothing good about it regarding positively contributing to our society.
My dos centavos….
Great story, my friend. And very sobering. I had a friend one time who got the shit kicked out of him in a bar defending the honor of his beloved Boston Bruins. Human beings are a very strange species.
I am a sport fanatic and your words are ridiculous and you should be pestered until dead. You say this to my face! I should wreck your reputation as crazy odd weird gay cross dresser anti nazi goober!
Say my so called peers.
Haha! Like you, I’m a sportsphobe too. And I know my fate is destruction–digitally, socially, and professionally. How dare I renounce the bread and circuses that our overlords have worked so hard to prepare!
I absolutely 💯 agree with this post. I loved this post so much I did my own version as a piggyback to this post.
How Super Bowl Tickets Could Cost You $2 Million Dollars! Yes, I did the numbers. Numbers don’t lie. If you invest that $40,000 VIP ticket money and let it ride for 40 years with a 10% interest rate, you will have over $2 million in net worth and be a 401(k) millionaire.
For all the building wealth doubters out there, put that in your pipe and smoke it! Just don’t light it up anywhere near court side seats at the Knicks games cause it will cost you! 🤣
Greenbacks Magnet recently posted…How Buying Super Bowl Tickets Could Cost You $2 Million Dollars
“How Super Bowl Tickets Could Cost You $2 Million Dollars! Yes, I did the numbers. Numbers don’t lie. If you invest that $40,000 VIP ticket money and let it ride for 40 years with a 10% interest rate, you will have over $2 million in net worth and be a 401(k) millionaire.”
Now that is very sobering.
100% agree. Been a football fan since 1991. Wish I would have never heard of it. I’ve wasted so much time and money watching it. You pay with your money and pay with your time to watch other people chase an object while they make millions. It really is one of the dumbest things we do as a society. The real question is, why do we consider it entertaining when we are wasting so much by watching it? Why do we value it? Sure it is entertainment but why do we consider other people having fun (the athletes) while we watch them entertaining? Shouldn’t we be the ones playing and having fun? I don’t think there is anything wrong with going to an event here and there just to get out and try things or maybe it’s a tradition, but if you seem to care about the outcome of a sporting event, I think you have a problem. The outcome of a sporting event will not change your life in anyway, but if it does (you’re happy, you’re sad, mad, etc) then it’s time to reflect on what’s important in life. Kudos to the athletes for making all this money for doing absolutely nothing useful. I seriously believe they laugh every day of their lives seeing their giant bank accounts all for doing some stupid ball sport.
Joey shabadooo recently posted…Power Users Rejoice: You’ve Got SFTP and Database Access
“I don’t think there is anything wrong with going to an event here and there just to get out and try things or maybe it’s a tradition, but if you seem to care about the outcome of a sporting event, I think you have a problem.”
Lot of wisdom there, my friend.
This is brilliant and refreshing! I completely agree with EVERYTHING you wrote, and I have followed in those footsteps also. I used to be a fanatic about sports, following a bunch of teams, and I have found such freedom after I managed to forsake it entirely. I also do not engage in any television shows , especially sporting events. The amount of commercial interruptions and stupidity involved is unacceptable. The announcers and reporters are insufferable and when I still watched some games, I would ALWAYS turn the sound entirely off and wish for SPEECH – FREE broadcasts. Not only that didn’t happen, it became way worse, bringing into broadcasting the idiotic opinions and messages of every spectator through the internet. OUCH!
I AM FREE.
Couldn’t agree more. The Monday Night Football clip says it all. Only one 30-second commercial in the first half of the first quarter. And the announcers weren’t carrying on like crazed teenage girls at a Beatles concert.
I completely agree with the reasons that are laid out here. While it is possible to find a lot similar criticisms about other types of interests, but they are as extreme as the behaviour shown in professional sports. When was the last time people rioted in any city because the movie they rooted for didn’t win the Academy Awards?
“When was the last time people rioted in any city because the movie they rooted for didn’t win the Academy Awards?”
That one question highlights everything wrong with the sports craze that is gripping this nation and the world. Awesome comment, my friend.
Right on the money, meaning exactly! I have honestly felt this way most all my life. I could never find anyone to agree. Thank God for the internet!
Yep. You’re not alone, my friend.
Oh and I totally agree that a lot of “pro” sports is actually just like “pro” wrestling, it’s fixed by hook or crook. Bribery is most likely the way it’s done and also sports betting by players, owners, refs. In fact refs and calls are probably the major mechanism of fixing besides players actions. In Formula One you can easily see it w suddenly messed up pit stops at critical times, engineers can hobble cars remotely pretty easily, the whole flavio affair, they can drive the cars remotely just like planes. That missed field goal etc All those people are in it for the money, nothing more they don’t care about who wins, it’s like the mafia, they work together when the money is right and they’re all in the same business regardless of uniforms. Sad how people get into that terrible addiction.
Haha! You’re making me even more depressed.
Yeah and you can see how sports is actually a sexual thing, scoring, penetration, all baseball terms, those sexual “champagne” spraying sessions. The “greek freak”, the sick dwight howard who is by no means an aberration etc. And now you have the “fashion” show when players show up part of it and the sneakers weirdos etc and just ugh. Pretty terrible thing to let your kids emulate and see you giving respect to.
It’s pretty egregious how nascar(and all other leagues) expects you to watch a car covered in ads, ad spewing idiot announcers and THEN tons of commercials, THEY should be paying YOU to watch all their pitches. The whole superbowl ad worship, it’s very sick. Hulu live sports money grubbing commercials, so vulgar.
I also see the slavery angle of it even though the players are highly paid shills. The same people who financed and owned the slave ships also finance and own and run and comment on sports. The players are treated as meat by the billionaires who own the teams, it’s changing a bit but still largely that way. The combine comes to mind as a reminder of the “vetting” of fresh meat.
Many escape into sports fan world to avoid real life, it’s like a drug for them, yeah we’re farmed by megalomaniacs and sports is only another drug. The parasite keeps it’s host under control. Welcome to the matrix.
Agreed.
You forgot the part about how all pro and college sports are fake and scripted from start to finish.
Fake and scripted? In what sense?
Nice article. I lost interest in my 20s and 30s but have gotten back into it, somewhat. I listen to games on the radio when I’m doing something like laundry or cleaning or working. That way I get a game experience but don’t feel like I”m wasting my time glued to a tv set watching commercials.
I had the same progression. I had sports in the background while I was doing something productive. Then, at some point, having sports in the background became unbearable. I think the final straw for me was the spectacle of studio analysts in thousand-dollar suits creaming themselves over a guy throwing a touchdown pass.
This is like detox for me, a future where i’m spending Sunday, fishing, gardening, playing with my daughter. Not Having her watch her dad yell at the idiot box for 5 or 6 hours. Don’t mention the gambling.
Anyone here because of the NBA China controversy?
I like your style, my friend. Fishing, gardening, and playing with your daughter–that’s living. Watching sports is existing.
Great article! But you left out the most frustrating thing about sports to me. There are no TRUE athletes anymore! Nothing but roided up cheaters. I’m sorry to break it to you fanatics but yes, your favorite athlete and/or action movie star is a cheater. A perfect example is how Rocky 4 is a movie trying to act like Balboa was fighting some roided up Russian when in reality both Dolph and Sly do/did roids in real life. You have no idea how many Sly fans have argued with me that he is “all natural”. It’s the same with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc. I could go on forever but I think you get the point.
Back in the ‘88 World Series I had a guy from California trying to explain to me how the Oakland A’s(and just about every other professional athlete) are on performance enhancing drugs. Now I was only 9 years old then so I didn’t understand or really care what performance enhancing drugs were. That was 30+ years ago and ya know what? That man wasn’t lying!!!
Excellent points, my friend. Couldn’t agree more.
There are no TRUE athletes anymore! Nothing but roided up cheaters.
Agreed.
Where’s your proof.
Sports, AS SUCH, are pointless and are a waste of time for the spectator. The players and their employers make bundles of money, true, but that’s your money we’re talking about, and all you have to show for it is a ticket stub. Look at Olympic sports, where the power of the human body is put to the test. That can be inspiring. Better yet, get some exercise and pursue some mind-expanding activities such as art, music, literature, and philosophy. And then you’ll have something to show for your time and effort instead of a pot gut and a full ashtray and an empty case of beer on the floor.
“Better yet, get some exercise and pursue some mind-expanding activities such as art, music, literature, and philosophy. And then you’ll have something to show for your time and effort instead of a pot gut and a full ashtray and an empty case of beer on the floor.”
I love the cut of your jib, my friend.
Much like yourself, I was a big sports fan as a kid. Over the years I have fallen out of being such a big fan.
For me, the main reason I don’t follow many professional sports any longer is the costs to go see a game in person. It is ridiculous how the costs to attend a game have gotten out of control.
The only issue is the salaries team owners are paying. It’s not really even the salaries that bother me ultimately. It’s when players that get paid what they do go on strike asking for even more money.
Professional sports are no longer about the sport. It has been about the money for some time and it is now only about the money.
I prefer to see a minor league game of some kind if I go see anything. Much less expensive and the players are putting in 100% effort compared to their professional counterparts.
“For me, the main reason I don’t follow many professional sports any longer is the costs to go see a game in person. It is ridiculous how the costs to attend a game have gotten out of control.”
You mean you don’t want to spend $200 just to drink a few beers, eat a couple of hotdogs, and watch men run around in costumes for a few hours? How odd.
Thanks for saying this. My niece was a soulful, kind-hearted little angel until her parents forced her to take swimming lessons every damn day. She quickly became very moody and verbally abusive. The justifiable resentment she had towards her controlling parents was aimed at others, including me. This change threw me into a bottomless pit of depression. It felt like she had physically died. Her parents turned her into a trained seal, a trophy child they use to feed their own narcissism. I don’t know if karma exists, but I hope what they have done ends up breaking their hearts.
Thank you for sharing, James. Very sobering. Too many parents are nuts. Sports don’t matter. No child is great just because he or she is great at a sport. Likewise, no child is worthless just because he or she is pathetic when it comes to sports. If only more people had your wisdom. I hope things work out for your niece and she can find her kind heart again.
I don’t think it’s sports fault. It’s her parent’s faults. If you play a sport you like it won’t make you act like that and if you don’t like sports you can take a job in business or something else.
I agree with everything you’ve said. I loved playing sports as a kid but was bored out of my skull watching them (except demolition derbys). As I got older I became angrier and angrier at people trying to stuff sports down my throat. Just because I’m a male and I’m good at playing sports doesn’t mean that I have any interest in wasting my time watching them.
As I continued aging I became angry again as I saw people wasting tons of time, money, mental and emotional energy on sports crap. They could name a bunch of players and thier stats but couldn’t name thier Senators or even hold a logically consistant political beliefe system. Marx said tgat religion was the opiate of the masses but I maintain that today its sports.
Thank you for a great and honest post.
“Marx said that religion was the opiate of the masses but I maintain that today its sports.”
What a brilliant observation. Thank you, Loren.
One thing I think you overlooked is the ridiculousness of a “home team”. You’re lucky if 2% of the team actually was born in the city in which they play. So why do people get so nuts when “our team” wins? Why do people lose their minds about “we beat you”? It doesn’t mean our city is better than yours because our team won. It means the owners and coaches were very skillful and lucky at putting together a team of players. It doesn’t give you any status when your team beats another team. It has nothing to do with pride you should have in yourself or your city as it just happens to be where this assembly of players is based.
The last time growing up that you truly have “your” team is in high school. Everyone on the team lives in the same municipality, or they wouldn’t be at that school. In pro sports, it’s just a bunch of ringers assembled from across the USA and beyond. Most puzzling to me: “Yee-haw ‘our’ team won! Let’s get rowdy and flip over some cars!” and the opposite, “Dang, ‘our’ team lost! Let’s take out our frustration by flipping over some cars!”.
“…[I]t’s just a bunch of ringers assembled from across the USA and beyond.”
Man, I love that line. Thank you.
Great freakin’ point, Steve. Thank you. I remember a friend who came to this realization a long time ago (in the early 1980s). He was a New York Ranger fan and I was a New York Islander fan. And if the Islanders ever beat the Rangers, he would just mock my joy by saying, “Big deal. Your Canadians are better than my Canadians.”
Great article!! My sentiments almost word for word. Of course I’ve known that professional players of any sport could care less about the “fans”, but they really jumped the shark by forcing their political views on us. That did it for me – much happier now that I’ve tuned out.
Thank you, Robert. You’re 100 percent right. Allow players to shit on my flag and country and you lose my patronage–forever!
Absolutely and don’t forget concerts!
Yep, concerts are another one. Mrs. Groovy and I would go to a country music concert every now and then when the tickets were $15 to $20 dollars. But when tickets started approaching $50, $75, and $100, we said goodbye. We like country music, but not that much.
Rap music concerts are the best but don’t judge me for liking rap. I like how the songs sound but not the bad things they rap about .
Very interesting topic, thank you. Favorite line is when you write “It doesn’t matter.” No kidding it surely doesn’t. You should write a book on the topic, it would be interesting.
I tossed out Dish Network for 4 years, and when I came back I wasn’t interested in watching TV anymore. It also effected me and sports. I watched less games. I dont even watch entire games anymore, I just look at the scores or watch the end. I dont like the ups and downs of games (baseball’s ok) there is no reason for any emotional attachment.
“…[T]here is no reason for any emotional attachment.”
You’re a wise man, my friend.
I agree completely. I initially decided to stop watching the NFL temporarily during the anthem protests. After that I just became disinterested and now I don’t watch at all. I had a been a 49ers fan so when I woke up one day and realized I didn’t like hardly any of the players for my own team I had nothing left to root for. Ticket prices are staggering, the players are obnoxious self-entitled jerks and the owners are as crooked and dishonest as the mafia. I have more interest in watching CHiPs reruns than I do professional sports.
“I have more interest in watching CHiPs reruns than I do professional sports.”
LOL! Couldn’t agree more.
Best article I’ve read in a long time. You are spot on in every aspect. Kudos!
Thank you, Russ. Appreciate it.
You make sense. I’ve been looking for reasons to stop watching sports. My blood pressure raises and I get stressed out watching them. Not worth it.
Exactly. If a team losing a game is very likely to ruin your day, you’re doing something wrong.
Very similar to my timeline. Massive sports fanatic as a kid. Played football or baseball all day on non-school days. Went every weekend to Anaheim Stadium to watch the Angels when they were home. The players back then (mid 1970’s) were very friendly. The players from both teams would talk with the kids. Left most games with a ball because we go there for batting practice and they didn’t care if you leaned and grabbed one.
Then one year it changed. The players had become jerks. I began following a similar trajectory as the author, watching fewer and fewer regular season games, then just the playoffs, then just the Finals (NBA and NHL), World Series, and Super Bowl, then when the kneeling crap started I just stopped watching everything altogether. The only noticeable changes are that I am less irritable and I have several more hours per week to pursue worthwhile activities. I do not miss it and, in retrospect, having spent so time, energy, and money rooting for ungrateful jackasses (some exceptions) who often make more in a year than I have in my lifetime seems idiotic.
Thank you, Eddie. You nailed it. The last somewhat humble athletes were hockey players. NHLers were–relatively speaking–paid crap well into the 1980s. But now the average NHLer makes close to $3 million a year. Yikes.
Nice job, i reached that conclusion too after i lost my job.
Sports add nothing, provide nothing but occupying my time.
If the home team wins a championship, the players just want more money. heck if the home team is good, the players want a bundle.
Thanks
So true, Paul. Thanks for stopping by.
freaking out like a Price is Right contestant …
lololololol
this has me dying! so true. excellent piece all around.
Thank you, Melissa. It’s astonishing how someone can get so excited over someone else’s achievement.
I grew up a sports fan too, but the commercialism and the direction they are headed turned me off. Starting with baseball, Gone are the players such as Robin Yount, Mike Schmidt, Tony Gwynn, George Brett and Cal Ripken JR who spent their entire hall of fame careers with one team. Had they came up in today’s game, they’d all be wearing Yankees or Red Sox uniforms. Seems they want to take the easy route for a championship ring, just like in the NBA where players will call out their teammates, throw them under the bus and demand a trade to a contender. Reason why you have the same teams in the finals every year. I have seen how football has taken over lives, people spending their entire Sundays from the pregame shows to the post game shows drooling over football, not to mention treating the Super Bowl like its a National Holiday. Sports can be an escape, but shouldnt be a take over.
“Mickey Mantle? Is that what you’re upset about? Mickey Mantle makes $100,000 a year. How much does your father make? You don’t know? Well, see if your father can’t pay the rent go ask Mickey Mantle and see what he tells you. Mickey Mantle don’t care about you, so why should you care about him? Nobody cares” Sonny from the Bronx.
Very true about Mickey Mantle , but what’s funny is that The actor Chazz that said it and wrote a Bronx tale grew up a huge Mantle fan in the Bronx,
Hey, John. Thanks for jumping in with that very interesting anecdote.
Thank you, dickeyc. Beautifully written and I agree with you 100 percent.
Love your post Mr Groovy.
Can you please show me the math behind that statement: “if you invest $1366 every year for 40 yrs at 8% then you’d have $352k+?”
Hey, Dee. Hope all is well on your end. To see the math, check out the Dave Ramsey Investment Calculator at this link.
Dave Ramsey Investment Calculator
And enter the following information.
Your current age: 26
Retirement age: 65
Amount saved for retirement: 0
Monthly contribution: $111.83 ($1,366 divided by 12)
Annual return: 8%
With the numbers above, the investment calculator says you would have $352,495 in your investment account when you reach 65. So that’s how I came up with the numbers in my post. I’m assuming that the Dave Ramsey Investment Calculator is a legit tool. Thanks for stopping by, Dee. Let me know if you have any other questions. Peace.
Thanks for the info and kind words Mr. Groovy…
Things are swell over here… Hope you are too.
The Dave Ramsey tool yielded a $346,301 with those numbers from above (which covers a 39 year span). And around $375k after I swapped the retirement age to 66 (a 40 year span). So it’s TEEEEEEEEECHNICALLLLLY not $352k after 40 years haha. Had to get technical bout it. Sorry!
I ran the numbers too myself, and after 39 years I reached $352K, so I figure Dave Ramsey calculator considers your current age based on the actual live calendar. I could do the math but I’m not that interested hahaha.
I’m just happy we both had a final amount that was in the same ballpark.
It’s called compound interest which is earning interest on the interest earned before. A powerful concept which requires time and patience. People in our country routinely throw money away on vices and entertainment when they could be investing and making smart choices rather than making athletes, actors, and so-called musicians rich.
Haha! I was wondering about that myself. In my mind, if you start at 26, that’s year 1. 27 would be year 2, and so on and so on. That’s why I figured 26 to 65 was 40 years. Now my head is spinning.
Can you please tell me how you know I’m 26, btw?
Thanks for your time/thoughts Mr. Groovy.
Oh, man, that’s freaky. I just consider 65 the normal retirement age and went back 40 years from there. I then added one year for the reason mentioned below. You’re a riot, Dee. Let me know if you have any other questions. It’s always a pleasure hearing from you. Cheers.
When any website asks (e.g. one of these calculators) i like to provide a fake-but-close birthdate.
Remind me that if I ever write an application that stores personal data that I should randomize said data in such a way that it’s wrong, but close-enough. Suppose regulatory bodies require me to know whether someone’s over 21 or not. I ask for birthday, but store year, month, and randomize the day before storing. Likewise, SSN or Visa numbers get masked not with asterisks, but random digits for all but the last 4 digits.
I agree that pro sports can be ridiculous. As adults it’s time to put away childish things. I do however fully support the purity and valuable lessons learned from organized sports up to and including college ball. On the other hand, are grown men running around chasing a ball and being paid millions any more ridiculous than Tom Cruise being paid millions to dress up and pretend to be someone else? At least the athlete isnt playing make believe. To each his own……I guess
…and please spare us, ALL SPORTS teams, from your White House boycotting… We don’t give a shit that you don’t like our president…
“If you really love something, don’t watch it, do it…”
Spot on!
Dude you nailed it. Loved the humor too. I will admit. I love sports but am losing my patience with all the bs.
Im a Packer fan and am super close to writing them off. I was excited when DeadHeadTedThompson lost his GM job and thought that mentality was over. Boy was I wrong. We have a new GM and he went about the draft just like the last dipshit GM. Tonight thw Yankees get a call reversal and win the game against the Athletics, even though the wrong call and the refs had it right the first time.
Just seems like all the “money” teams get preferential treatment in every way.
For the first time in my life, im ditchng sports and am gonna take your advice and play some frisbee golf.
Lol. You’re not ditching anything. You’re as deep in as any diehard.
Joey shabadoooo recently posted…Power Users Rejoice: You’ve Got SFTP and Database Access
On point
Couldn’t agree more. Still trying to extract myself from the remnants of my last hold out passion – Michigan State football. Wish me luck…
Best of luck, Cubert. Die, Spartans, die!
As an MSU alumnus I cannot endorse this sentiment.
Haha! I think I should have said, “Die, Wolverines, die!”
…and as the father of a UMich alumna I cannot endorse this sentiment, either
Growing up I was a sports fanatic! I remember being so invested in my NY Knicks. I hated the Bulls so much I was practically in tears when the Knicks lost to them in the conference finals. My dad was like “calm down son” and basically listed most of what you said above. I realized a bit how crazy I was about it but I still followed sports. However, as I’ve gotten older I just don’t have time for it. It really is a time suck. I’ve got more productive things to do that interest me. I still follow the highlights sometimes though…
Haha! I have a similar story. In 1970 or 1971, the Mets had a promotion where you could enter a contest/raffle and the winner would have four Met players come over his house for dinner. I begged my father to enter and he refused. When I asked him why, he said, “Why do I want to feed those guys dinner?” I was crestfallen. He tried to explain that Met players were just people and shouldn’t be worshiped. His logic fell on deaf ears, sadly. I didn’t wake up until about twenty years later. Meh. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. I really appreciated hearing about your Knick “tragedy.”
I have lost interest in Sports over the years for some of the reasons you mention. I will add that the overall quality of play in the different professional leagues has declined. Players change teams too frequently and there are too many teams diluting the talent pool. I’m still a die hard Chicago Bears fan, but that has been down right embarrassing the last 5 years. Tom
Hey, Tom. I loved the run the Bears had in 1985. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team dominate the rest of the league like they did. There was one drawback to that incredible season, though. Do you remember the Super Bowl Shuffle? What an abomination! And, yes, I totally neglected the watered-down talent. Eighteen to twenty teams is enough for most leagues.
As I’ve grown into a lifelong learner, I’ve found I’ve completely moved away from watching any sports and didn’t realize how little I watch (if any) until I read this post. I have so much more time to do things that I want to do and enjoy, and even my husband doesn’t consume many sports anymore either. If anything, he listens to recaps on the radio while he is woodworking in the garage, but rarely do we ever sit to watch a game anymore. It’s fantasic!
Thank you, Kate. Twenty years ago, I would have thought you were nuts. But now, like you, I’ve come to realize that a life not revolving around men in costumes is indeed “fantastic.” Thanks for stopping by, Kate. And give my regards to your husband. It sounds like his head is really screwed on right. Cheers.
I was never into sports, but some old friends and co-workers are nuts about basketball…baseball…football…who knows! Some sort of a ball. If they would only focus 10% of that attention to their questionable finances, something that actually matters, unlike sports. I’m not saying give it up but 10%! Just 10% to savings.
“If they would only focus 10% of that attention to their questionable finances, something that actually matters, unlike sports.”
This says it all, Lily. “Forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Sigh.
Sports matter too.
I agree with every single one of your reasons, but I’m still not willing to give up watching hockey. I know it’s silly, a huge time-waster, expensive, and at times ridiculously frustrating…but I love it.
Going out to a few games every year is an acceptable splurge in my books. (Says the girl who is leaving for Dallas on Friday to watch my Oilers and then the Cowboys)
How can I scorn an Edmontonite for delighting in the Oilers. Did you mourn the loss of Dave Semenko? He was one tough cookie and an integral part of the Edmonton dynasty. Enjoy the Oilers and the Cowboys this weekend. I’m sure you’ll have a blast.
I’m more of a college football fan, Mrs is more Pro.
We do love to watch, but usually it’s on more in the background as noise while we do other stuff. It definitely doesn’t rule our lives.
We did go to the Superb Owl one year.. and that was a fantastic experience.
Yes Superb Owl: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/qs3r6w/the-colbert-report-logo-restrictions-for-the-super-bowl
Nice, Mr. WoW. I wasn’t familiar with the Superb Owl. Thanks for sharing the link. And I love the point you made about sports being used a background noise. That’s what happened to me on the road to de-sportification. At some point, sports were on the television, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was reading or doing some household chore. Then it was just a short step from not even tuning in. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Only two days away from RTT!
While I do have to say that I am a sports fan, its actually been really nice this season since my team (the horrible SF Niners) hasn’t been showing up. I have had so much time and care to invest in something other than staring at a screen for 3 hours. I do have to admit that its on my bucket list to go to Lambeau field too. And I want to go when it is cold, really get the feel of the frozen tundra.
Also, you know the professional football market in LA is bad when it cost more to go to a high school game than it does to go to a Rams game (at least at the beginning of the session when they weren’t as good).
Nice chatting with you guys tonight and I’m really looking forward to the RTT!!
Hey, Mrs. WoW. For die-hard 49er fans, this season has to be brutal. They did beat the Giants, though. And even though I’m certified sports curmudgeon now, I highly recommend going to Lambeau Field if you can. It really is a nice experience. The people of Green Bay are wonderful. And, yes, I can’t wait for our Sunday RTT. It you be a blast. Talk to you soon.
I was obsessed with being invested in sports at one point. I watched a lot of games, went to them live and bought merchandise. But I came to the same conclusion as you did. The sports organizations and players don’t really care about you. They only care that you invested your hard earned money in buying their jerseys, hats, tickets and overpriced food at the stadium. I haven’t bought any team merchandise in probably ten years. If I’m wearing any, it’s only because I got it as a gift. And I only go to games if I get free tickets.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s entertaining to watch, but in terms of putting your money into it and having it as a high priority, I’m no longer part of that crowd.
Haha! I’m the same way as you. I haven’t bought merchandise in over 20 years. I would never wear a jersey again, even if it was gifted. I don’t even think I would wear a gifted hat. I do suppose I would use toilet paper if had the printed faces of owners and players on it. Hey, that’s not a bad idea. We could produce toilet paper printed with the concession prices and the arrest records of the players and sell it on Amazon. Want to start a side-hustle business with me, Kris?
Valid points, Mr. G, and for the most part I agree with you. I too grew up watching Detroit sports – The Pistons Bad Boys, Red Wings, Tigers, and Lions – and attended quite a few games over my adult years. We’ve not spent any money on sports in the last 4 or 5 years though and don’t plan to anytime soon.
My son treated us to a Tampa Bay Lighting Game for my birthday while we were in Florida a couple weeks ago though and we had a great time. Yes, the food and drinks were crazy expensive but it was a rare treat and worth the experience for the memories we created.
“Yes, the food and drinks were crazy expensive but it was a rare treat and worth the experience for the memories we created.”
Thank you, Amy. Given today’s business model for professional sports, this is the way professional sports should be consumed–infrequently and strategically.
I grew up watching football with my son and enjoyed the time we spent together. He still follows fantasy football, but with all the political BS, I have lost all interest. It has been a change for the better and I won’t be going back.
Your list is one of the better ones I have seen. Never understood why a man would wear another man’s name on his back. Ratings are taking a beating as well.
Couldn’t have said it better, Brad. The owners and players have ruined something that used to be a wonderful way for families and friends to bond. The taxpayer subsidies, the outrageous ticket and concession prices, the nauseating sense of self-importance–I don’t know a business more deserving of a stinging comeuppance than the business of professional sports. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. I really appreciate it.
I understand where you’re coming from, but I do enjoy professional sports to a limited extent. Limited in that I only follow baseball, I rarely go to games, I don’t watch all the games on TV, and my happiness isn’t dependent on “my” team’s success. I’m no longer in any shape to play, but I do enjoy watching and I’m not hurting anyone by doing it. While it may be big business, they’re not making much (if any) off of me. I enjoy the games, the traditions, and the statistics. There are people who take it all too far who could probably benefit from spending their time and money elsewhere, but there are also folks like me who consider it just an occasional bit of relaxation.
Haha! I was thinking of you, Gary, as I wrote this. And not because I consider you someone who is foolish enough to sacrifice his economic and social well-being for the sake of grown men in costumes. No, you’re far from being a sports fanatic. But I was just slightly concerned that you might take offense. Your comment thankfully allayed me fears. Thank you. You are a textbook example of how professional sports should be consumed. You use sports as a “bit of relaxation,” not as a way of bringing meaning to your life. Have you ever considered putting video course together on how to be a responsible consumer of sports?
You are so right that sports can be a huge time suck. I guess that’s their point. I’ve gone up and down in my fandom over the years. These days with a job, two kids and a blog, I just don’t have enough time.
Agreed, Jason. I don’t know how anyone in the throes of adulthood, especially those who have kids, can devote more than a couple hours per week to professional sports. Time is a finite resource. Why let it be squandered on something so frivolous? Thanks for stopping by, my friend.
I have become less and less interested in professional sports. I really do not like going to the games any longer. As you pointed out the cost is out of this world. I have to admit, I still do watch but not as much. I guess I still enjoy the game.
I do not hold this against the athletes. They are taking advantage of the opportunity to make a living at playing a game and they try to get the most they can before the window closes on their career (one injury away). With that said, the money they get is ridiculous. The money is the carrot that has created a youth sports culture that is full of false hopes as well.
Watching the way some of these knuckleheads behave in pro sports is disheartening. There actions are then mimicked by the kids in youth sports. I wish some of the pro athletes were more responsible with their behavior. They seem to forget there are kids watching or they just don’t care.
Oh boy, this is a topic that can get pretty deep…..college sports? Can you say FBI probe?
Thanks for the post Mr. G!
Thank you, Fiways and Biways. Your comment packs a lot of wisdom. And you are so right about college sports. It’s a farce, a scam, and a detriment to the true mission of college. I have a dream that one day all college sports will disappear and the NFL and NBA will have to start their own minor leagues. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. I really appreciate it.
The only reason for an adult to follow pro sports is to have something to discuss with your barber when you ”run out of chat.” But then maybe when you do, you can ask his opinion on Vanguard and have a much more profitable chat.
“The only reason for an adult to follow pro sports is to have something to discuss with your barber when you ‘run out of chat.’”
LOL! Best damn comment of the year, my friend.
Garrett can attest this time and it’s one of the reasons why I cut his hair now. HA! j/k He never had anything to chat about with the barber and now that I shave his head, he doesn’t have any reason to go and sit there quietly. 😉
I’d like to hear your thoughts about music as well. What do you think about concerts? albums? merch?
Haha! I’m rapidly following Garrett, so I don’t go to a barber either. I just run a Braun hair clipper over my head every couple of weeks. No sense wasting money on a stylist. He or she won’t do any better with my remaining follicles than a Braun. As far as music goes? I don’t find it as troublesome/wasteful as professional sports. But it’s getting close. Mrs. Groovy and I used to go to one or two concerts a year. But then the ticket prices started getting a little crazy too. We worked around this by buying the $10 lawn tickets at the PNC Music Pavilion here in Charlotte. Merchandise and concessions are just as outrageous. So we would limit ourselves to sharing one $10 beer. We haven’t bought a CD/album in years. Do they still sell CDs? So I guess my bottom line is this: music can become as detrimental as professional sports, but the affronts of the music industry pale in comparison to the affronts of the sports industry. You don’t have to buy a Personal Seat License, for instance, to buy a ticket to a summer concert series at a particular venue. Thanks for stopping by, Claudia. And great question about music. It really made me think.
Lawn tickets are a great frugal hack. Instead of buying drinks at the show we went to this month, we went to a bar around the corner after the show and I got my pint. HA! 🙂 We’re not so into the merch or purchasing music, either. Pandora, FTW!
Love it, Claudia. Going to the bar after the show or having a few beers in the parking lot before the show is a great frugal concert hack as well.
I agree with a lot of this, but also find some value in enjoying sports.
I agree that it is silly and doesn’t really matter and neither the owners nor the players really care about any particular fan base. But it can still be enjoyable. I read novels regularly and watch movies from time to time. All the same factors apply, but it’s just fun, which is worth something.
Being able to talk about the sporting current events is also great for starting to build relationships. Mr. PIE and I talked about the Patriots when we first met. People see my Red Sox hat down here in DC and strike up conversations. I got an internship largely because I was conversant enough with my interviewer’s favorite team that he took a liking to me. Sports talk can be a great networking tool.
So I agree with a lot of your points and I agree that a lot of people end up spending far too much time and money on sports, but I don’t think I’d go as far as you on this topic.
Hey, Matt. Excellent point. Sports are a great ice breaker. And I love that you’re a Sox fan. Here’s one for you. My mom is from Boston and I knew her side of the family were Sox fans. But I had no idea how intense their love of the Sox was. So for Christmas 1986, my brother and I made Christmas t-shirts for the family celebrating the Mets victory over the Sox in the World Series and Bill Buckner’s historic error. My cousins didn’t talk to me for a year! Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Great comment as always.
Ha love the silly comment. It really is when you break it down, but for many it’s a family tradition. On Sunday’s since I was a child I’d watch the Eagles (yes them) and it’s been in my family for generations. Silly to sit in front of TV and applaud or scream but hey, let’s enjoy a little!
Excellent point, Todd. Sports can be a wonderful thing. One of my favorite memories of my grandfather was watching the Sunday games with him. So I got to give the NFL props for that. The key is to think of sports as an escape from life that should only occasionally be enjoyed. Once it becomes all-consuming, you’re sunk. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. It’s always great hearing from someone who is part of a fan base that pelted Santa Claus with snowballs on Christmas day.
I was just like you Mr. Groovy. Growing up in Queens, we rooted for the Knicks and Jets. In the ABA, we rooted for the Nets and Dr. J. I even went to an ABA finals game that the Nets won, at the Nassau Coliseum.
As I grew older (maybe wiser) I realized that pro sports was just a big business. I too lost interest and maybe just watch the Super Bowl, mainly cause that is what everyone does and I don’t want to feel left out.
I think the last time I saw Dr. J play at the Coliseum he scored 63 points. I forget who the opponent was that night, but I remember Artis Gilmore being on the team. You must have had a blast at the Finals. How I miss I miss the red, white, and blue basketballs. Great memories. Thanks for stopping by, Frank. You made my day, my friend.
I hate watching sports on TV, it’s a big waste of time. Some people watch sports every night Monday to Friday and all weekend Saturday and Sunday. Some are even obsessed with the commercial that they watch them on YouTube all day long.
However, I do enjoy watching a game live a couple of times a year or so and our 1 year old enjoys the gifts and attention she gets with her cute little jerseys 🙂
How I Paid Off My $40K Student Loans Before Graduating Plus other kickass student debt payoff stories from other money nerds
https://99to1percent.com/paid-40k-student-loans-graduating/
I love it, Ms99to1. Nothing wrong with watching an occasional game. Moderation toward modest vices is the secret sauce of life.
Btw, I still have my awesome collection of football cards from the 70’s. Some real winners in there (Gayle Sayers, Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw). I wonder how much I could sell that pile for. For sentimental reasons, I think I’ll keep it. Great memories of my younger years.
That’s great, Fritz. Why do players of that era seem to be more honorable? Were they? Or were most of their ignoble deeds ignored by the press?
We’ve run similar paths, my friend. In 1972, the kicker Chester Marcol was drafted by the Green Bay Packers from tiny Hillsdale College (where my Dad was a prof, and my childhood was spent at the Field House). I USED TO CATCH THIS GUY’S KICKS during practice and run the balls back to him. He was my hero. My Dad and I watched every Packers game on the tiny (12”?) new color tv in his study. In 1973, he was named Rookie Of The Year. (I may be off by a year, pulling this from memory, and I was only ~10 yrs old at the time!).
Little did I know that would be the Apex of my sports fanaticism. Sadly, Chester has struggled since leaving the NFL, as I suspect many players have.
Now, I didn’t even know the Rams were leaving St Louis (or have they left already?). Who knew? Who cares? I’ve got better things to do with my life now.
I’m a better man without sports. Somewhere on my journey to adulthood, I lost 100% Of my interest. The National Anthem antics have sealed my fate for the rest of my life.
As I said, we’ve walked similar paths. Great post.
What a great story, Frtiz. Sports are definitely more compelling when you actually know one of the players. My cousin plays minor-league baseball and I love going to his games when his team is playing in NC or SC. In fact, I’ve boldly proclaimed that I will only go to a major league game if it’s a game he’s playing in. Oh, and I looked up Chester’s story on Wikipedia. Pretty remarkable. Born in Poland and NFL rookie of the year. How many people can say that! It’s also good to see he may have conquered his post-career demons. Thanks for sharing, my friend. It’s always great hearing from a fellow traveler.
As a Packers fan gotta disagree with you on the owners comment hahaha but yeah I get what you mean 🙂
I enjoy the socializing when watching football, but football is the only sport I’ll watch. This year though it’s really become the chore…just not feeling it.
So true, Dave. My buds and I did a bucket list trip to Green Bay last year. It was one of the best experiences of my life. But to tell you the truth, no one really cared about the game. Most of us would have been happy to stay in the parking lot and tailgate than go into the stadium. So there is definitely a wonderful socializing aspect to sports–especially football. The trick is to capture the socializing while avoiding excessive costs. Do that and sports are an awesome form of entertainment. Thanks for stopping by, my friend.
I’m a diehard Green Bay Packers fan and I will try to take time to watch them when they’re on tv since we live in East TN where they aren’t on national tv that much. Usually, I just watch the highlights on NFL.com on Monday morning because I would rather spend time with the family, build something in the garage, or make money.
Besides the humongous taxpayer subsidies for professional and college teams (plus the college boosters from private benefactors), I do think professional sports is an “opium for the masses.”
I can’t tell you more than 5 starting players for my team, but, people who do fantasy football, etc can tell you every player for every team and what they eat for breakfast in the morning.
Thankfully we live in a society where we can have hobbies, but, if these people focused more on the impact of real-life instead of who wins or loses, I just wonder how much better their life (plus the country and world could be).
I think the same thing about those who obsess over People magazine and the latest Hollywood films.
Movies and sports are entertainment and nothing else. They don’t affect my life outside three hours each week and my job doesn’t depend on them. If the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NCAA were to close shop today, I would find something else to do and talk about.
Having attended a college that hasn’t had a winning football season in over 30 consecutive years and to see all the money that is still poured into the program has left a bad taste in my mind.
Needless to say, I don’t donate money to my alma mater because I don’t want to indirectly subsidize the athletics program. If I do donate, it’s for restricted merit-based uses.
I hear ya, Josh. Colleges should get out of the sports business. It’s a huge money suck and doesn’t align with the true mission of higher education. Unfortunately, you and I are freaks when it comes to this topic. Sigh.
I’m right there with you, my friend. I used to be a huge, die-hard New York Islander fan. Now I can’t name five players on the team. It’s basically the same with every other team I idolized. I couldn’t name five New York Mets. I couldn’t name five New Jersey Nets. And I might be able to name five Dallas Cowboys–but it would be a struggle. And here’s the truly amazing thing about my transition from sports fanatic to sports dabbler. I’ve never been happier. There is indeed life after sports. Would be that more Americans came to this realization.
You know it’s possible to be a sports fanatic and have a life at the same time? You can like sports and watch it a lot and be successful.
Excellent article. I too was a big fan for a long time until I realized all the things you just detailed.
Hey, Robert. For the longest time, I knew who played in every Super Bowl and what the final score was. Now I have a hard time recalling who played in the Super Bowl two years ago. And, you know, ever since I began to lose interest in sports, my life started getting better. Coincidence? Thanks for stopping by, my friend. I appreciate it.
I used to care a great deal about sports…college sports. And I enjoyed the Hornets when Charlotte first got a team (Muggsy Bogues!) and I still like to watch an occasional NFL game.
But it’s not the passion it used to be. My life is too busy, and my child doesn’t particularly enjoy watching. So mostly, I do other things with my time unless I’m over at my inlaws’ house.
So I get no longer wanting to follow professional sports. I understand strongly disagreeing with the way it’s subsidized by taxpayers, the way it’s marketed and priced, or even the way it’s glorified in our American culture.
But why pick on those who love it? Until recently, love for a particular sport or team transcended political affiliation, class, and race in a way few other things do in our country. For the most part, following a pro sports team is harmless fun.
And, not everyone who loves sports can play them. Somehow I don’t see my 83-year-old father-in-law playing football and basketball, do you?
There is something artistic and soul-satisfying to watching someone with truly exceptional athletic talent and skills compete against someone else with equal talents. The Ancient Greeks recognized it with the Olympics, and while we’ve gotten away from the amateur ideals, many still love watching the best compete in sports. For many sports, watching the most spectacular athletes and athletic feats means watching professionals.
So, love pro sports if you want to, or love opera and ballet, or love reality TV, or love crafting or even picking up trash. (grins) But don’t make fun or disparage others who love different things than you do just because you’ve moved on to a new love.
Fair point, Emily. I got to do better with my qualifications. So, yes, I don’t expect seniors to be playing flag football or rollerblading. At some point in life, if perfectly okay to do far more watching than doing. For anyone under 60, though, the thrust of my argument holds–especially in light of our country’s fiscal woes and the coming onslaught of automation. If professional sports keeps you from securing your future, something’s wrong. In other words, living vicariously through others is perfectly okay in moderation. Living vicariously through others is not okay, however, if it precludes you from saving for retirement, advancing your career, or becoming a better spouse or parent. But then again, maybe I’m nuts. Maybe spending a lot of money on people who don’t respect or like you is perfectly rational. Thanks for stopping by, Emily. Your sober analysis is always welcome here.
Agree. Anytime I talk about cutting cable with someone that hasn’t yet, they say something like
“we we going to, but…(insert sports team)”
Way too much of the weekend is burned up with watching instead of doing IMHO.
Thank you, Mike! I’ve come across this sad phenomenon as well. And I just don’t get it. I want to shout, “Snap out of it. Those guys don’t give a crap about you.” But I always bite my tongue. Perhaps with time my sports-crazed friends and family will come to realize what a waste it is to burn away a weekend “watching instead of doing.” Great comment, my friend.
Great post Mr. G.
Even if you don’t watch, big sports can still cost you money. The stadiums are multi-million dollar projects, and often mostly paid for by tax dollars.
Similar big money is being spent by colleges. Some college teams might bring in money, but many stadiums are paid for with student tuition which was given to them by government loans and grants.
Excellent point, Mr. JumpStart. That’s another reason why I detest professional sports–taxpayer subsidies for billionaire owners and millionaire players.
“Notice how the songwriters said if your team doesn’t win it’s a shame. They didn’t say if your team doesn’t win it’s time to sack the city.”
AMEN. I used to be a sports fanatic too. My peeps and I would head to Chicago every year from Mpls to take in a Cubbies game. I’ve even got a great pic of Harry Caray trying to grope me and a friend as we posed for a pic with him. Yeah, it was acceptable back then.
I’ve slowly lost my interest in professional sports as the players have become more and more pompous. This national anthem dis was the last straw for me. I am SO done.
Haha! If Harry were still alive you could sue his wrinkly old butt. And you are so right about rampant fanaticism when it comes to sports. About twenty years ago a friend of mine’s brother got the crap kicked out of him in a bar defending the honor of his hockey team, the Boston Bruins, against a bunch of New York Ranger fans. Meh. This poor sap took a brutal beating for guys he didn’t even know. Even worse, there were people who thought it was perfectly acceptable to assault him because he liked a different team. Pathetic.
P.S. I forgot to mention that you’re absolutely right about the anthem dis. Twice the number of whites are shot and killed every year by police than blacks. Most of the police shootings involving blacks are justified. And those that aren’t justified are rarely a clear case of racial animus. Cops, after all, aren’t X-Men. They can’t read minds. They do make mistakes. But because a handful of cops make mistakes or commit crimes, all cops suck and all of America sucks. Talk about bigotry.
AMEN!!! You are SO right. I see it often in my major metro city. SO sick and tired of it.
I never understood the deep love of sports. To tie so much of your persona into something you have no control over never made sense. I like going to games for the social aspect and will watch tv sports for the same reason, but that’s about it.
Agreed, DDD. And what really kills me is that professional sports are pretty boring–especially baseball. In baseball, ninety percent of the time it’s just two guys having a catch, the pitcher and the catcher. And people lose their minds over this stuff? Sigh.