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Anyone else not understand the appeal of watching sports?


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I LOVE sports but that's pretty much because my family didn't force it upon me to play them. I decided on my own accord to go on the Basketball team because I loved watching the old NBA games when the later years of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson were coming to an end when I was 4 years old. Later in life, I discovered that I loved running, so I joined the Cross Country and Track teams. One year, I loved the snow so much that I signed up for Skiing. One year, I thought that lacrosse was cool by watching some of the games of my local Syracuse team so I went on the lacrosse team for a year.

 

Overall, what really made me join most of these sports and some clubs was through watching them on television. I find them to be completely entertaining. What's not to love about college basketball, where young blood dunk the shit out of a net and stuff someone when they block a ball that's like 3 feet above them? It's exciting!

 

But, then again, I HATE watching football, golf, and tennis on television, but that's probably because I never played nor got interested in those type of sports. Everybody has their own likes though, so meh.

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Much to my surprise, I'm not interested in any kind of sport there is. It's just boring and/or I do not enjoy it as much as other people. For example: Lithuania is really famous because of its basketball team "Žalgiris", and the majority of Lithuanians love them/the sport, but alas, I don't enjoy it so much. Sure, I can watch a game or two once in a while and I'll find it quite interesting, but every day? No thanks. I don't even know every name of the members of "Žalgiris". Same goes for gaming sports, like Starcraft tourneys, League of Legends tourneys and so on. I watch it from time to time and usually I enjoy. But after a while it becomes boring (and yeah, I barely know any team names in the LoL tourney right now).

On the other hand, I really like watching the Olimpic games. I don't know why, but it‘s the only sport(ing event) I enjoy watching for a long period of time.

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(edited)

I love watching sports, especially Football and Rugby. There's nothing quite like the atmosphere you get with watching high level play with another 50,000ish people in the same stadium as you.

 

I regularly go to Stamford Bridge where Chelsea F.C play at home and it's so much fun. There's always great atmosphere before the game and the tension before the first goal is so high. When your team scores the entire stadium erupts around you and there's something exhilarating about that.

 

On the TV, it's not as much fun but it can be an enjoyable experience in a Pub environment or with a few friends round with a few beers to go with it.

Edited by Aaramus
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One thing I could never understand is why people enjoy watching sports so much. I find watching sports to be ungodly boring, both on TV and in real life.

 

I mean, isn't the fun of athletics all in the rush of competition, self exertion, teamwork, and the joys of victory? Wouldn't people rather be doing that themselves, instead of simply watching other people play? I don't see the point in it.

 

Athletics seems like one of those things you need to be doing first hand to find the fun in it.

 

TL;DR - Sports are fun, watching them is not.

 

Allow me to introduce you to the fantastic world of mirror neurons. Mirror neurons are the ones that cause you to become hungry whenever you see someone eating, mirror neurons are the ones that makes you want to sing or dance when you watch a music clip.

 

In short, whenever you watch someone performing a certain activity, given you are also familiar with that activity, your mirror neurons will give off the same signals as if you were doing the activity yourself. I for one also do not get the appeal of sports but I really like to play basketball and that's also one of the few sports I can watch, simply because of the mirror neurons.

 

Aside from that we also have things like environment, social convention and interest.

 

So that's why watching sports can be so much fun. Given, you need a combination of the 4 mentioned above before you can enjoy watching the activity itself, just being interested is not enough. Perhaps social convention might force you to watch it but if you don't enjoy it yourself it would be useless to watch.

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I am a skateborder at heart so I think watching skate videos to get me pumped to go out and bust my ass for a few hours is cool but I can't sit down and watch a full video and not try something I saw. Even if it's been 2 years since I got on a plank

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I love to work out (swimming, tennis, running, and biking, really), but I can never get into watching them. I get really bored really fast watching television. :x

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I absolutely agree with this 100%

 

Playing sports can be incredibly fun, but watching them is just so incredibly boring to me, especially watching on TV. If I'm watching sports in person, it's more exciting.

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"Anyone Else Not Understand The Appeal Of Watching Sports?"?

 

Come on, cuh. Don't ask questions as ignorant as that :P. If yah don't understand the appeal, there's something wrong. Obviously people like it because they find it intense and interesting (Not everyone has to) to watch certain sports. There's one reason for the appeal right there!

 

As for me, I don't like watching most sports except competitive CoD sometimes, which even then, isn't that good of an example :lol:. It's something competitive nonetheless.

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I personally don't understand how -doing- sports is fun either, but that's another topic, I guess.
 
I understand rooting for someone and the rush of emotion when something significant happens. That is, when you're in a group. Having a common outcome you're all hoping for and being excited when it happens can be fun, especially while snacking and being around people you like. But this is only for critical games. Championships and whatnot. Or going to the actual event. That feeling multiplied by however many people are in the crowd is hard not to swept up in the excitement. However, I really don't understand why people watch sports by themselves, though. Having someone that they're following or things like that. And I especially don't understand people who follow sports religiously. I just don't get it. I can't say anything more than that I don't understand; I just don't.
 
Also, I will never understand what makes, specifically, football (American football) appealing to anyone. Ever.
 

Ya because being physically fit and pushing your limits is a total waste of time.  Who want's do physical activities that prevent obesity and diabetes and make friends any way?  Brohoof dude.

 

It's a waste of time for some people. Personally, if I can't do something else while I'm working out, I just don't do it, because I feel that it -is- a waste of my time. Just sitting on a bike, staring at a wall is so boring, it makes me wanna stick my fingers in my eyes, through to my brain. I mean, if that's what you like to do, go for it. For me, unless I can watch something mentally stimulating (cuz you can't do much else other than look at stuff when you're cycling) I'd just rather not. And some people would just rather not do it at all.

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Well, I'm a big baseball/(American) Football fan, so allow me to step in here...

 

I think that there's three elements at play:

 

1) Identification. the players on the field are not you, but they represent you, in a sense. People want to identify with themselves and feel like they're part of a team, part of a community. that's why fans say, "we won" or "we lost", rather than "they won" or "they lost". People relate to teams, and it's in a very primal way that's not based entirely on winning and losing (Otherwise, the Chicago Cubs wouldn't have any fans; instead they have one of the largest fanbases in the sport)You find something in that team to latch onto (usually your city/state, but it could be other elements) And from that point on, they're basically a part of you.

 

2) The spectacle. People like to see great athletic achievement. It's nothing more than an appreciation of what the human body can do. Nothing beats a well played game where the competitors on both sides are doing their absolute best.

 

3) The suspense. Watching a really competitive sports game is like watching watching a really exciting psychological thriller. In a tight, well played game that goes back and forth, each team is trying to outsmart/out-anticipate the other side. Anything can happen that can change teh game at any given point. You don't know how things are going to turn out. Even if it's not a close game, anything can happen.

 

To put it in an analogy, it's like this. Remember return of Harmony, when the Elements were defeated, the Mane Six were discorded, and twilight all but gave up? But then she found that spark that inspired her in the returned letters from Celelstia, building back momentum and confidence for our heroes, and the elements came back together and defeated Discord? Remember how thrilling and awesome that felt?

 

that's the *same* feeling I get when I watch one of my favorite teams come from behind to win a big game.

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Its fun to see the skills of the players and teams.  Although, I don't follow them religiously or anything.  The thing I don't understand is why the dedication to your cities team?  Practically none of the players from any team are actually from that city or even that state, so it makes no sense to root for a home team.  

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I agree playing sports can be fun be I don't really see the appeal of watching them either but whatever floats your boat I suppose. The only sport that I actually enjoy watching is wrestling I know some of the dialogue is stupid and yes fake but some of it can be entertaining and the matches are always fun to watch. I especially enjoyed the recent match between John Cena and CM Punk, Cena had a lot of guts to put his WWE championship opportunity on the line to prove he can beat CM Punk but he did it.

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Its fun to see the skills of the players and teams.  Although, I don't follow them religiously or anything.  The thing I don't understand is why the dedication to your cities team?  Practically none of the players from any team are actually from that city or even that state, so it makes no sense to root for a home team.  

 

Because it's not about the players, it's about the team itself.  As long as he's wearing your team's uniform, he's "your guy".  As Jerry Seinfeld once said, you root for the laundry. 

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Personally, I prefer to play rather than watch. But I do like watching people excel at things I can't do, so if I can understand what it takes to do something, and I know I can't do it, and I know the person being watched is *really* good at it, I can spend a few minutes watching them do that.

 

And once those few minutes are over, I get bored and go off to do something myself. *shrug*

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(edited)

For me, it's usually picking a side rooting for them to see who will win is what make sports entertaining. While I agree that sports isn't the greatest thing ever like a good majority of the world says, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy watching the final minutes of a very close match between the 2 teams.

 

For me it really depends on what your interested in. I think both Basketball and American Football are boring and incredibly overhyped here in the States, but I enjoy fighting sports, from UFC to the painfully fake stuff like WWE(don't judge me). I'd much rather se two dudes beat the living tar out of each other than watch two teams passing balls 

 

.....and I sorta have a soft spot for soccer

Edited by Megas75
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I totally agree. Watching sports is super boring. I can't stand it... at all. And even there (at the actual sport event) I get so bored I bring my phone or a gaming device. But however, playing a sport is grand fun.

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The thing I don't understand is why the dedication to your cities team?  Practically none of the players from any team are actually from that city or even that state, so it makes no sense to root for a home team.  

 

That doesn't make any sense, especially under NCAA. If the players are going to a certain university (I'll just use Syracuse for an example) and are committed into playing for their basketball program, then why does it matter where they're from? If they have great talent and they play for YOUR community for at least 4 years, they will leave some form of impact with the area's people. We have a few Canadians on the team, some foreign exchange athletes, and only 2 of our current players (Brandon Triche and DeJuan Coleman) are from the area (and not even in the CITY of Syracuse, but in the suburb of Jamesville-DeWitt). But, fans treat them with the highest regards because they play with heart and they have solid dedication to their team. Even if they aren't from the area, they want to please their fans and to make an impression on other areas.

 

Take Carmelo Anthony for example. He only played one year in Syracuse and was originally from Brooklyn. After he was part of the 2003 Championship Team, he went straight to the NBA. But we have had parks, athletic centers, and courts named after him because he was a big part of Syracuse culture.

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@@AegisReflector

 

If a somalian sprint runner joined the US olympic team do they represent america?   Like someone a few posts earlier said quoting seinfeld, you're rooting for the laundry.

 

Teams are supposed to be divided by regions, that's why it matters.  If you can import players from anywhere then calling the team representative of a single city is completely ridiculous.

 

And like I said, I like to watch the players and I admire their skill and ability, all I'm saying is that rooting for a specific team is meaningless

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this made me laugh. although i dont know why. I play sports but watching them is just a waste of time. I could never get into being a fan boy for sports teams. It made no sense to me. I'm not on the team. me watching them does not make them better or worse. I was forced to watch a couple football and baseball matches. It was not entertaining at all. Right now im currently looking at people who watch sports in a psychological manner to find out what really makes them so drawn to it.

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To me, sports is about passion, adrenaline and love for your team. There is nothing that can match the feeling of my favorite scoring a goal in the absolute last minute (football//soccer in this case)

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