Explain stick and ball sports to me

[cannuck]

Even the GWN media is full of reports of every stick and ball league in the US deciding to not play in some kind of protest statement.   Really?  Since playing children's games for big money is hardly the most important thing that Americans do, why does anyone (especially the media) give a damn?   I was hoping that the Wuhan Virus experience would have pulled a few million heads out of a few million asses to look around and see that the very things we as a society have come to embrace are the least productive and least important things we can do.

[Argus]

The NBA are mostly blacks. The media has managed to instill in black people the idea police are gunning them down disproportionately out of racism. It's not true but you can't expect jocks to know anything. So they get a chance to virtue signal their indignation at no cost whatsoever to themselves and without anyone daring to criticize them. Since they got the ball rolling the Milwaukee baseball team decided they wanted to join in, which meant in today's climate anyone in baseball who disagreed was racist. Think of it as a big virtue signalling exercise by wealthy men with nothing at stake.

[Michael Hardner]

2 hours ago, cannuck said:

1. Since playing children's games for big money is hardly the most important thing that Americans do, why does anyone (especially the media) give a damn?   
2. the very things we as a society have come to embrace are the least productive and least important things we can do.

1.  I guess you are trying to say that playoffs being cancelled to due to boycotts isn't news.  Ok.
2.  Wealthy Americans, especially white ones just LOVE sports.  Your Soviet take on the 'importance' of things is noted, but doesn't figure into the capitalist entertainment industry.

[WestCanMan]

1 hour ago, Michael Hardner said:

Wealthy Americans, especially white ones just LOVE sports.  Your Soviet take on the 'importance' of things is noted, but doesn't figure into the capitalist entertainment industry.

LMAO. That was so wrong on so many levels it defies description.

If you said Pro Golf you may have had a point about "rich men', not necessarily white btw, but people of all colours and classes watch sports MH. Women included.

[WestCanMan]

3 hours ago, cannuck said:

Even the GWN media is full of reports of every stick and ball league in the US deciding to not play in some kind of protest statement.   Really?  Since playing children's games for big money is hardly the most important thing that Americans do, why does anyone (especially the media) give a damn?   I was hoping that the Wuhan Virus experience would have pulled a few million heads out of a few million asses to look around and see that the very things we as a society have come to embrace are the least productive and least important things we can do.

FYI when people get off work they have hobbies. Watching movies, reading books, hiking, camping, watching sports, etc. Not many people just work, go home, eat dinner, clean up, and fall asleep 7 days a week as a matter of choice.

Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that there's something wrong with people who do. Your inability to understand that is kind of alarming.

[Michael Hardner]

21 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

LMAO. That was so wrong on so many levels it defies description.

Prove me wrong, bucko.  I know you can do your own research right ?

[WestCanMan]

5 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

Prove me wrong, bucko.  I know you can do your own research right ?

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-clippers-like-many-nba-teams-have-a-majority-minority-fan-base/

That took thirty seconds. 

When you're wrong, and you know you're wrong, why would you push the issue? 

Edited August 27, 2020 by WestCanMan

[cannuck]

7 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

FYI when people get off work they have hobbies. Watching movies, reading books, hiking, camping, watching sports, etc. Not many people just work, go home, eat dinner, clean up, and fall asleep 7 days a week as a matter of choice.

Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that there's something wrong with people who do. Your inability to understand that is kind of alarming.

You are quite right: I don't understand it.  Not a matter of liking or disliking, it is simply a mystery to me how people can have so little in their lives they can get off watching someone else have all of the fun.  I think I have figured out the media side:  it is selling "sports" as entertainment (which is really what pro sport is) that puts the butter on their bread, so they have to make news out of everything related.   But: how dribbling a basketball or passing a puck makes someone worthy of being interviewed and quoted on social issues, that really leaves me wondering.

Edited August 28, 2020 by cannuck

[Cannucklehead]

In the u.s. baseball was called their national pastime for a long time( although some will argue that its football)

Some people enjoy watching sports and some don't.  

Athletes have always been considered as role models, especially in the younger crowd.  That's why it's sad to see athletes take a downward turn (drugs,alcohol,crime, etc)

 

After earning the championship, Clay converted his religion to Islam, which instigated conflict with his boxing career. He also abandoned his name that was given to his slave ancestors and adopted Muhammad Ali. On April 28, 1967, he refused to serve in the Army during the Vietnam War, stating religious reasons that it goes against the Qur'an's teaching.

I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong...no Vietcong ever called me nigger. – Muhammad Ali

He then became an icon of not only the civil rights struggle, but also the anti-Vietnam War movement. However he was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and stripped of his championship. It was not until a lawsuit in 1970 that Ali redeemed his title. 

[Iceni warrior]

An explanation of the greatest stick and ball sport for you.

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Hope that helps.

[WestCanMan]

13 hours ago, cannuck said:

You are quite right: I don't understand it.  Not a matter of liking or disliking, it is simply a mystery to me how people can have so little in their lives they can get off watching someone else have all of the fun.  I think I have figured out the media side:  it is selling "sports" as entertainment (which is really what pro sport is) that puts the butter on their bread, so they have to make news out of everything related.   But: how dribbling a basketball or passing a puck makes someone worthy of being interviewed and quoted on social issues, that really leaves me wondering.

TBH, part of what used to make sports such a big deal to me was the fact that there wasn’t much else to see or do 40+ years ago. 
 

When I was a kid growing up in rural Alberta I had 3 channels on tv, no computers/smartphones etc, no vcr to choose my own movies on, etc. 
 

The tv channels only had children’s programs on on Saturday morning, Disney was on Sunday evening, and outside of that there was adult programming and sports. 
 

I played a lot of sports, and I personally enjoyed seeing those sports played at a professional level. 
 

After the two NHL lockout seasons I was forced to find other things to do and hockey, my favourite televised sport by far, is now just a curiosity for me. I don’t even watch all the Oilers’ playoff games. 

 

My son doesn’t watch any sports at all, even though he plays Rep-level sports himself. When he’s not playing with friends he has movies to watch, cartoons, tv, video games, etc. 
 

Now that pro athletes are becoming political figures and kneeling during the anthems, calling off games and entire seasons for their own childish reasons, sports is dying out even more. 
 

I think that pro sports are on a real decline now. There’s a really good chance that salaries peaked in 2019. 
 

If I owned an NBA team I’d think hard about telling my players to step on the court or quit altogether, and offer them free agency as an enticement. 
 

I quit watching the Jays, I’m sure that a lot of people will quit the NBA too. 

[WestCanMan]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-players-kneel-season-opener-national-anthem/
 

I really liked the new, young Jays team, but I’ll never cheer for them again. They could win 5 WS in a row, I don’t give a rip. 

[OftenWrong]

17 hours ago, cannuck said:

You are quite right: I don't understand it.  Not a matter of liking or disliking, it is simply a mystery to me how people can have so little in their lives they can get off watching someone else have all of the fun.  I think I have figured out the media side:  it is selling "sports" as entertainment (which is really what pro sport is) that puts the butter on their bread, so they have to make news out of everything related.   But: how dribbling a basketball or passing a puck makes someone worthy of being interviewed and quoted on social issues, that really leaves me wondering.

My pref is to participate and I play regularly, or did before the BS lockdown came our way.

I do enjoy watching sports a little, exciting final games or boxing matches are my favs. What I appreciate is the complete absence of politics in the sport. That is how it has to be, imo.

What we see today is complete totalitarianism of the state wanting to show its hand and guide us in our opinions, every step of the way through life all the way from cradle to grave, womb to tomb. That is what I object too

Edited August 28, 2020 by OftenWrong
sp

[WestCanMan]

18 hours ago, cannuck said:

You are quite right: I don't understand it.  Not a matter of liking or disliking, it is simply a mystery to me how people can have so little in their lives they can get off watching someone else have all of the fun.  I think I have figured out the media side:  it is selling "sports" as entertainment (which is really what pro sport is) that puts the butter on their bread, so they have to make news out of everything related.   But: how dribbling a basketball or passing a puck makes someone worthy of being interviewed and quoted on social issues, that really leaves me wondering.

What kinds of things do you do aside from work Cannuck?

Is your every waking moment spent serving the public's best interests? Do you have no hobbies or interests of your own?

[Moonlight Graham]

Not playing sports saves blacks people's lives and makes cops not shoot them.  This is simple logic.

[ironstone]

Grossly overpaid professional athletes have the right to use their elevated positions to voice their opinions,right or wrong. I am exercising my right to tune out the world of professional sports. I learned that I'm not missing anything special. Baseball is a sport where it's possible to play an entire game and not break a sweat(like golf). NBA,NHL,NFL,no thanks,don't care anymore or was never interested to begin with.How about the hypocrisy of one Lebron James? He cries about the treatment of blacks in the US but willfully ignores what China is doing in Hong Kong. Money from the growing NBA/Chinese market and Lebron's greed overshadows the rights of the Chinese people.

There are so many better things to do with our spare time than watch over-rated and over-hyped professional sports.

[cannuck]

On 8/28/2020 at 1:32 PM, WestCanMan said:

What kinds of things do you do aside from work Cannuck?

Is your every waking moment spent serving the public's best interests? Do you have no hobbies or interests of your own?

I have business in several countries and a farm of my own, plus farming with my friend.  Our hobbies are all motorsport related - but we DO them, not watch other people doing so.  My children and now my grandchildren take up 100% of my hobby time, as well as some of my business time.

[WestCanMan]

On 8/30/2020 at 5:43 AM, cannuck said:

I have business in several countries and a farm of my own, plus farming with my friend.  Our hobbies are all motorsport related - but we DO them, not watch other people doing so.  My children and now my grandchildren take up 100% of my hobby time, as well as some of my business time.

Motorsports is probably the most expensive hobby there is. I don't know anything that even compares. 

It's also the least watchable, so I don't blame you for not watching.

[cannuck]

7 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Motorsports is probably the most expensive hobby there is. I don't know anything that even compares. 

It's also the least watchable, so I don't blame you for not watching.

CAN be very expensive, but not necessary to be silly if you choose the right kind and classes (or want to attract sponsors).   Best bud does polo and make my hobbies seem very cheap (and relatively speaking they are).

[SpankyMcFarland]

19 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Motorsports is probably the most expensive hobby there is. I don't know anything that even compares. 

It's also the least watchable, so I don't blame you for not watching.

Basically, it’s watching traffic. Sports other people enjoy often look silly. 

 

[OftenWrong]

Plus you dont burn lots of fossil fuels, when playing stick and ball sports.

We dont drive our quads over little baby birds nests while ripping through wild habitat.

We just go to a rink.

[-TSS-]

In the spring when the virus interrupted all the North-American professional sports leagues as well as the European soccer leagues it was easy to see that you really don't need those for anything at all. The multimillion owners of the sports clubs may disagree but let them disagree as much as they want, that doesn't change the fact.

They say that people need bread and circus but circus is always inferior to bread.

[Hastur]

I'll take a crack at explaining why so many people are fascinated by sports and also why it's currently loosing relevance and seems to be in a self harm phase.

We all like a Grand Narrative. We are drawn to it because it gives us meaning. For a Grand narrative to grab hold it needs Logos, Mythos and Pathos

Sport, when it is at its best, is a perfect blend of Logos, Mythos and Pathos. 

Logos are the rules of game, the stats and the usual tactics and techniques employed.

Mythos is the long narrative  with the history of the sport/teams/people. The ups and downs of the careers of teams and players.

Pathos is the animalistic passion. The Dionysian element. The sheer joy at scoring. Both by the audience and the players. The raw outrage, the fights, blood and guts.

When we have these three in balance we get the perfect Grand Narrative that people recognize as meaningful. 

The problem with a lot of sports these days is there isn't enough Pathos. The temperance ladies have gotten a hold and are trying to take away the "bad behavior".

There has also been a direct attack on the Logos. Rules are being changed to make sports more safe.

Maybe there is less room for competitive team sports in our new brave snowflake safe societies. The post modernists don't like the Grand Narrative and nothing is more post-modern than "There is no winner, everybody gets a price".

 

[-TSS-]

Could you imagine that the USA received two medals at the olympics? That would be totally unacceptable. Or China. If China received only two medals at the olympics their sport-bosses would be sent to labour-camps. If either the USA or China received only two medals at the olympics that would be viewed as a total humiliation.

However, a huge country India did just that at the 2016 olympics. A silver medal and a bronze-medal. All in all India have received 28 medals over the years at olympics. The USA and China get more than that even at one olympics.

However, that doesn't seem to bother India at all, which is admirable. This boasting about sport-success is very silly. Sports and politics mix, it would be naive to think otherwise. Therefore even more admirable for India.

[Argus]

Since we're instinctively tribal in nature, but aren't supposed to attach any sense of care or possession or belonging to our nation or its people any more many substitute sports for it. They can cheer their sports team in their mock wars with other cities and divert their nationalistic and tribal energies into that in a way the nose-in-the-air scolders of society can leave them alone about. Mostly.