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Admiral Patrick
edited 8 months ago
I LOVE the Super Bowl. I just got my Costco run done in 45 minutes, not 2 hours!!
Also best time to go snowboarding or visit a national park
Aw, snap. Didn't even think of that. Silver lining for sure.
We went today too! We specifically planned for today knowing that most people will be at home. I do miss the parties, but such is life when you move across the country in middle age.
Hah, my wife and I just finished our Costco chicken!
Also, the NFL is a shit company.
Remember how they fucked over Kaepernick because he had the NERVE to kneel & stand up to injustice?
Also, remember how they formed a PARTNERSHIP with Musk's twitter AFTER he had shown everyone what a fascist white supremacist he is & promoted the worst people/"views"?
Fuck supporting that shit.
I quit watching the NFL a few years ago because the amount of advertising crammed into a single game is completely obscene now. I'll be mindful of your sanity and mood, and not break down how fucking over the top it is, but it's pretty much a commercials show, with some football breaks.
I'm European so I have a bias but I never understood how Americans watch a sport that stops so many times for ads. It just feels like the ads are the show and the game is the second plan.
That's actually why soccer never took off over here. The networks felt that there aren't enough breaks for commercials, so they never marketed soccer as a good sport.
I've just started binging Schitt's Creek. Couldn't work out why the episodes are only 20 minutes long, then realised why the screen goes black for a second, every 5 minutes. *WTF, these are ad breaks?!? That many?!?*
Even had one literally a minute before the end.
I just simply wouldn't watch a TV channel that had so many ad breaks. That shit just wouldn't fly where I live; why do people put up with it?!?
(Also, the repeating pattern for series - episode 1&2 - funny and interesting. Episodes 3 to 12 - generic 1970s sitcom that's 90% soap-opera filler rammed with ads, obviously. Episodes 13&14 - funny and interesting again to sell you the next series. Not worth watching after S03. This applies to every American series I've watched in the last 5 years )
I ask myself this all the time, and about way more than just broadcast television. I think the reality is that there are billions of people who will put up with a great deal if they think that's what they're supposed to do, and corporations have figured this out now that they have accurate data to track every change they make. They used to have to keep things in the realm that they thought was tolerable, since they didn't have a billion data points to check people's reactions. A miscalculation could be very costly in multiple ways, including brand image damage. Now that they have that data, they've seen that there are enough people that will tolerate just about anything if there's a shiny bow on it. They don't care that they've lost the people who won't tolerate it, because they're making more money this way than they've ever made before.
I don't understand why the ads are so absolutely boring and stupid. It's also the same ad over and over again. I mean, make an ad which is a story line which you run throughout the game. At least make people laugh.
They'd rather just pound it into your subconscious, so when you need a widget in 6 months you pick their brand without even knowing why.
Not really an unpopular opinion is it..
Yeah, even my friends who were really into sports barely watch any anymore, the superbowl generally being the first they stopped watching. Number one complaint? It's more ads than game now.
See to me and my family the ads are one of the best part, not because we want to buy any of the crap or support the companies, but some of the ads are legitimately funny, and often some new movie or show trailer is shown as well which interests us if it's something appealing.
Edit: tbf this years ads being full of "He gets us" pandering, RFK Jr bullshit, and a local Injury Attorney wearing maga bullshit, makes the ads far less enjoyable, fuck this religious and political bullshit.
i definitely know which insurance company not to patronize now.
So says everyone who watches the superbowl but isn't big into football. See also the half-time show watchers. The people I am talking about are there for the sport.
Yeah I'm not big interested football, I only played until college, play fantasy football every season for almost two decades, once had a blog about my team, but sure I'm not that big into football at all. /s
I don't understand why you have to make assumptions about me based on your personal biases? Especially when you're wrong. Also not sure why people can't just enjoy non-football things while watching football.
Not liking the commercials or the halftime show doesn't make you more of a fan than somebody else, it just makes you sound like an elitist douche buzzkill, let people like things without being a prick about it.
I haven't watched a single superbowl, so I don't care about whatever elitism you read into that. I also have never met a single person who feels that the commercials are an important part of the entertainment who are really into football. First time for everything. Assuming you didn't just make up shit to back an argument, you decided to have with someone about their elitism, around a subject they don't care enough about to have elitist, or gatekeeping, sentiments about.
Maybe what I said came off in a different tone to you than it did for me.
I've noticed over the last few years of watching football that they don't even care about missing actual action anymore. It used to be "Here's something cool that happened, let's take a break".
Now it's "Welcome back from the break, here's what happened while you were consuming ads, and it's time for another break"
Yes, this and the crazy stupid region, provider, service restriction nonsense, the, often large, mark-ups for sports packages, and the fact that cable was the only place you could get most games, for so long, when so few of the people my age even had cable anymore.
Heh, we'll see, I guess. I fully expected a flurry of downvotes right out of the gate, but I'm also thinking the timing may be skewing the results a bit.
It's just funny because this was up yesterday from in here
Trust me, this is not that. lol. I honest to gods thought I was going to get ripped a new one for daring to say anything bad about the Superbowl.
Around here? Doubtful.
Fair point. That's on me. I was treating it as "General Unpopular Opinion" and not "Unpopular Opinion on Lemmy". I agree there *is* a difference. lol
Two facts:
Nothing wrong with that. SB parties are fun, and I usually never turn them down (even if I don't know / care who's playing).
Except this one where I did turn down an invite so I could stay home, drink in peace, and binge watch Succession (just started season 2).
Lol. I never used to really participate in superbowl get togethers. But this year I was invited with my wife to her friends gathering. I guess it depends on how much you buy into it or if it's just a way to hang out with friends.
I don't even like owls that much
Alright that got me lol
You should though.
I've never cared much about football and it's almost impossible to live in the US without constantly having to hear about it. I have to admit I've enjoyed the fact the Taylor Swift is now being shoe horned into football and people are mad cause they don't want to hear about her. If either fell off the face of the earth I wouldn't lose a second of sleep but oh the sweet sweet irony of listening to football fans whine about having to see and hear something they don't care about shoved in their face, Oh I'm so sorry that's happening to you, whats that like? Please tell me all about it.
*Huntin’ deer, chasin’ trout*
*A bud light with the logo facin’ out*
All sports, all awards shows, all reality TV (though sometimes starting poor people (working for rich people)).
Don't forget the bullshit showings of patriotism and military recruiting.
Pretty much.
bad post, clearly a popular opinion
...and it is not even a real ball!
I'm not into sports and I have no plans to watch the Superb Owl today, but I do have a big appreciation for humans being awesome, and for that I can usually appreciate watching even if I don't care who wins.
Watching a 300lb man accelerate like a freight train or someone jump several feet into the air, twist over backwards, catch a ball and land where they meant to is definitely something I enjoy, because they do work their asses off to get that good and I can appreciate anybody's passion at that level.
That said, totally agree on the money side, it taints so many things (looking at you IOC).
Agreed. I just wish it were possible to observe that kind of spectacle without every sense being exploited to sell me crap I don't need. lol.
I dislike so many "normal" things simply because they're so over-commercialized. Sports, Christmas, Olympics, most of the internet now, etc. The old joke "well, just go live in the woods then" is starting to sound pretty appealing.
Freight trains don't accelerate well at all. They carry momentum well, which is what the linebackers send into the receiving team.
You are 100% correct, I could not have used a more incorrect turn of phrase if I tried, hahaha. I fully admit not thinking that through at all.
Take my shamefilled upvote.
That's really too bad because there's been some hot competition between two teams going on over in !superbowl@lemmy.world and you could have been enjoying it!
The players on the field have more in common than us than the billionaires who own the teams. Don't confuse them for the actual rich class. Over an average NFL career most players make less money than most people will over their career, and they leave football with severely damaged bodies and minds.
They are workers just like us, many of them go on to live in poverty, just like us. The players aren't your enemy, the owners are.
Something about Dallas Cowboys owner being in a crowd protesting integration.
Wrong:
https://en.as.com/nfl/who-is-the-lowest-paid-player-in-the-nfl-is-there-a-minimum-salary-in-american-football-n-4/?outputType=amp
TLDR: Average is 2.8 million per year.
What's the difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars?
It's a billion dollars.
You've still got way more in common with the players than the owners.
i have more in common with the homeless guy on the corner than the football players tho
I said to another comment as of 2015 80% of retired players went bankrupt
They might even be that homeless guy on the corner.
I don’t feel bad for people mismanaging their millions when people are struggling to live day to day.
What's the difference between 50k a year and 2.8M a year? About 2.8M.
They still make enough in a year on average that they could do it one year and retire.
Edit: Looks like a bunch of idiots never heard of investing, 2.8m makes you enough interest that you're richer than the median and average, by quite a wide margin.
Do you think someone can retire at 25 with 2.8 million dollars? They'd have about 40k a year to live on, so I guess it'd be technically possible as long as they didn't mind moving back in with their parents, waiting for them to die and hoping the house wasn't worth enough to cause a big tax bill that year.
I'd be hard to retire (in the classical sense) at 60 with 2.8 million.
A very conservative rate of return on investments would be 5% per year. With $2.8M, 5% is $140,000/year. So, someone with $2.8M invested would, conservatively, earn $149K per year without touching the principal.
What about the rest of that article, which said the median was 860k?
They would have to risk more than 3 years of damage to even get the 40k
Ever heard of... Investing your money?
No, I don’t.
Average doesn't work so great here with those QBs at the top making $50m a year, bud
Surprisingly one of the quarterbacks playing tonight had a salary under a million. Though I expect that won't be the case for him next season after making it to the Super Bowl.
The QB is still a player on the field.
The point is that for the amount of money being generated off of them playing a sport that harms their body they aren’t being paid properly.
It’s a pretty solid comparison to the worker who gives their time and youth to be paid but typically rarely see a fraction of what they generate.
NFL players make more money usually, but the comparison is apt.
First. You still have more in common with players than owners.
Second what's the average career length of an NFL player. Last I checked it was 2.5 years, may have changed. That's 7 million over a career. Over a 50 year career, which most of us work, that's about 116. Clearly upper middle class, but not rich.
Many athletes leave the game and work labor jobs like the rest of us.
Not saying they didn't have a front loaded ahead start and also not saying they don't have an upper middle class average. All I am saying is..the owners are your real enemy. We have more in common with the players than we do with the owners. The players are not your enemy.
Yeah, at first I thought they were saying it evened out considering most people's careers are longer than an NFL player's, but even just 1 year as an NFL player nets more money than I'll ever earn in my life. Several lose it all, but that's from spending it on hookers and blow, not because they're forced to live paycheck to paycheck.
Did you read the rest? The median (which means half makes less, and half makes more is 860k.
That means if they get the crap beaten out of them, and save every single penny and don't pay takes, they would have 3.4 million.
As of 2015 80% went bankrupt
I don't do odds that bad.
A lot of them go bankrupt because they've never had money before and someone hands them three million dollars. They're rich and famous overnight, with no financial planning experience, and they party like... well they party like the ballers they are. Football and basketball players waste so much money that the word "baller" is synonymous with someone who throws a lot of money around.
But make no mistake, if someone handed you or I three million dollars, we could invest it and retire for the rest of our lives. They make a lot of money, and a lot of money all at once is worth a hell of a lot more than a lot of money spread out over a lifetime. But a lot of them make really poor financial choices too, because they're just kids.
They aren't getting that amount at once.
They get big fat paychecks when they sign their contracts. Lower paid players aren't getting $3M all at once, but they get tens of thousands of dollars all at once, and it keeps coming every week. Even the lowest paid rookie players who only get the $750,000 rookie base salary get it over 17 weeks. That's $44,117.64 every week for 17 weeks. That's a fuck ton of money all at once, especially for a kid who has never had any.
For reference:
NFL Veteran Minimum Salary
The minimum salary for NFL players with one year of experience is $870,000. It increases with each year:
Players aren't even that rich
The superstars are, but most of the players are destroying their bodies for 2-3 year careers.
A shocking amount of them don't know how to manage that amount of money either. Most end up broke within 10 years, most are destitute by retirement. Many get caught up in the lifestyle, blow the money never thinking about once they're done, and then their careers end all of a sudden without any fanfare.
First thing I'd do if I were hired? Talk to an accountant.
If someone gave me millions at 22 I would also mismanage it.
Whenever I get signed for anything over 50k I'm talking to an accountant, or banker at the very least.
Even the players seem to embrace this as a motto around the NFL.
The career span of an NFL player is crazy short, and you're one hundred percent right, these guys are often permanently damaged from decades playing football just to get to the NFL.
Bread & Circuses
I'd argue that it also leads to an enormous amount of food being tossed out and wasted. Granted the only reason that's in mind is because I'm going to be going dumpster diving lately to try and capitalize.
Oh, for sure. Pretty much any event or holiday gathering always seems to generate a lot of food waste. At least holiday dinners tend to turn into leftovers rather than garbage (at least in my experience).
At least it brought us the Puppy Bowl. Which is also full of ads, but hey, puppies.
I'm downvoting because I agree completely.
Grown men chasing a ball bitching about how much they're paid to chase the ball.
Close. They are. They're.
I blame autocorrect
I catch a lot of flack for various opinions that I have but my unabashed disgust for organized sports seems to irk people a lot more than my disgust for religion or my pity/disdain for current republicans and extremists in general
I think it's because we are disgusted by the owners but appreciate the players. There is nothing wrong with sports at the game level. Kids playing and enjoying it. Appreciation of the dramatic storytelling unfolding in front of us is fun. But add in the corporations and commercials and it sucks a little. But that takes away from the kids on the field doing what they love and making a living doing it. I just cant fault them.
green bay owners in shambles (greenbay doesnt have a billionaire owner, its owned by a collection of people who own shares in it)
And then the NFL banned any future teams from going for the same ownership model so it's the only publicly owned NFL team
I think its about the lack of tribalism being shown
I watched the Nickelodeon one and absolutely enjoyed all the zingers from Tom Kenny as SpongeBob.
It's fun.
They didn't get any of my money. I watched the game for free and got away with it.
Did you watch any ads though?
Yup, it's Bread and Circuses all over again.
also something to note: they intentionally edge the fans constantly - the game's only an hour long. but we gotta pause play for commercials every few fucking moments, over and over again. punctuate edging with violent conflict - add in the lore/fanfic/tradition/dream job aspects - oh yeah, it keeps their attention.
all to watch grown men run around in spandex playing a children's game for millions of dollars, giving each other crippling brain and body injuries that will follow them into their graves.
Yes?
My family and I choose not to celebrate Suberbowl anymore. We don't really sports in the house and, our close friends don't sports either.
But do you athletics?
I do not, most of my motion and exercise comes from either working construction or skateboarding.
There's a reason I'm not watching it right now.
Beyond the ads football is getting so slow, even regular season games. I don't remember it taking this long to get through a game as it does now.
Today's game was so long and so boring.
I don't remember a ball or ads but I did find out the best owl.
Well, I insulated my self again this year. I wonder when I'm going to learn who won the stupid game. I don't remember who won the last one since I'm blessed with the best brain trait ever... don't remember shit if it's not important to my ADHD.
Chiefs won this one, they won last year too
Greatest argument for it is that it's an incredible display and even celebration of some truly awe inspiring and extreme feats that human bodies are capable of. I've never been able to get into favorite teams or anything, but every time I'm around somewhere a good football team/game is on, dang if I don't see some incredible things.
but I also get to eat too much food and have "an excuse"
Veing an adult will blow your mind.
Most of my friends and co-workers are all married, so I totally get "the excuse" being a thing to look forward to. One of the perks of bachelor life is just doing what I want, and I really hate to give that up one day.
Yup. Made a spread of delicious appetizers for dinner - dips, finger foods, veggies and fruit. I'm not even watching the superbowl and yet I felt obliged to pig out.
Downvoted because I agree (this is !unpopularopinion@lemmy.world)
Fair enough, lol. But I should point out that it's Unpopular Opinion and not "Unpopular Opinion *on Lemmy*"
Everything sounds weird when you break it down to the right essentials.
Watching sequential images arranged to trick your brain into experiencing a story while you crush mutated grains between your teeth.
Manually manipulating on-screen pixels at meaningful times to change later output.
Interpreting shapes of printed ink in an attempt to replicate another person's mental patterns with the goal of experiencing a shared hallucination.
Touring elaborately-staged displays of old junk and household items, sometimes with commentary.
"Everything is weird when you think on it too overly." And as a correlary, everything is frivolous when you essentialize it too uncommonly.
Next you're gonna tell me that the Marvel movies are nothing but watching rich people pretend to be fighting each other while poorer people pay to go watch. And WWE wrestling is...well actually the same description.
They are rich because we pay (with money or ads) to watch them. We pay because they entertain us.
Yeah yeah it is all a fake conflict between millionaires orchestrated by billionaires. I still enjoy the MCU.
I just think the sport is really neat.
The ads are pretty overkill even compared to what I see here in Europe during the soccer world cup, and yeah athletes are paid ridiculous amounts, but at the end of the day it's a lot of fun to watch, at least for me. It's a battle of both wits and raw athleticism between people pushing the limits of what the human body can do. That's super cool, and all the story lines that arise or crumble from the competition are immensely entertaining to follow.
When you get down to it capitalism tarnishes everything anyway, a lot of entertainment media is very much just vehicles to sell even more shit, but they can still be enjoyable in and of themselves.
I always joked I might be able to get into [insert sport here] if I could buy it on BluRay and watch it 6 months later and not have to sit through the ads and breaks. lol
I think there's some NFL pass things that allow you to do that, actually, where you can watch everything whenever. A lot of them aren't accessible from Europe sadly, but if you're American there's plenty of options for you.
There's also sports anime lol
That's how I got introduced to American football, watching and reading Eyeshield 21, and it got me interested in seeing the real thing. Sports anime are pretty cool since they present you with a curated narrative with lots of ups and downs, and they're usually a lot harder to predict than traditional shounens, since losing doesn't doom the universe or something. They're genuinely a nice entry point to sports in my opinion, at least if you enjoy anime already.
The NFL plus subscription lets you access either the entire broadcast without commercials, an alternate version that's cut from snap to tackle (and is available pretty quick at least in the playoffs; I watched some late games in the morning before work), or the coaches film (that's slightly slower).
Overseas it's different, but last I was aware it was better and included live feeds in addition to everything else.
How do they do ads during the world cup when the game doesn't stop?
American football continuously stops allowing for seemingly infinite advertisements.
That's definitely part of it yeah, soccer is more continuous, so they can't cram ads in like they can with football. There's still a lot of it, but it's not as crazy. American football is openly about ads as much as it is about the sport, it's pretty nuts.
They put ads all over the stadium, ads on the score bug on TV, the commentators will sneak in product placement during the game, the jerseys themselves have ads on them. They find ways.
This is UnpopularOpinion, not UnpopularFacts.
It's a pretty popular opinion on this platform
You are mistaken. It's pseudo-gladiator cosplay voyeurism and there's a lot of freaks that like to watch it so it's legal.
There's better examples of that
Silver lining: There won't be very many more Superbowls!!
Life is nothing more than sleeping, shitting and dying.
You can attach that pessimism to anything... But in reality, the Superbowl is a celebration and something millions of people to look forward to. It brings a large group of people excitement and half of them happiness
Why take that away?
Why?
How about: Taxpayers paying to build stadiums that they cannot afford to buy seats in just so an already disgustingly profitable private company can have a huge subsidy?
At no point in my post was I disparaging anyone who enjoyed it. You do you, friend. I was just giving my unpopular opinion on why I don't care for it.
oh yeah, I'm just responding to it?
but, when you cut down shit to something like "Star Trek is just a bunch of rich people role playing for nerds" or something... I do think there is subtle disparagement, right? Doesn't mean it's wrong to have an opinion.
You're right. He is disparaging the Superbowl by using the words "nothing more than". It implies that the Superbowl is low, base, and common (which is generally true). But it also implies that he's above that; he's better and more intelligent because he doesn't watch it.
"Pro athletes are richer than the average person" isn't an unpopular opinion. "Championship ads are expensive" isn't unpopular either. His real opinion is "I don't like the Superbowl and that makes me special." That's not unpopular, it's just boring and false.
maybe OP is a lions fan and is pissed they choked in the playoffs
Bread and circuses.
Ayyy that's a good fucking reply.
If circuses weren't important people wouldn't be complaining about the Netflix crackdown.
There's a pretty long list of reasons why professional sports, and especially the NFL, shouldn't exist. All I can do is not contribute. If trogs want to waste their money muh teeem, I guess I don't give a shit anymore.
Do you believe entertainment shouldn't exist?
Would be cool if it wasn't any rapists. Would be cool if there weren't brain injuries on live TV every season. Would be cool if the 750 mil public subsity Vegas spent on the sb stadium went to a more underserved community.
Some of those catches are fire, though. Worth it.
You know what they say about opinions…
It’s true.
At some point, though, you just let it go. It’s just easier that way. Watch it, don’t, like it, don’t, none of that changes what it is. And, presuming CTEs still wipe out 90% of players in the future, it won’t be around forever.
I don't think this opinion is unpopular (or at least not any more unpopular than not watching sports in general). But expressing it like it is unpopular is.
It's certainly unpopular in the real world (or at least in my neck of the woods). People need to remember this community is "Unpopular Opinions" and not "Unpopular Opinions *on Lemmy*"
Is it more unpopular than not liking or watching sports in general?
That's why I was saying, what is unpopular is probably saying it like it is unpopular or unique. There's a reason why jokes and alternative events like the Superb Owl and Puppy Bowl are popular.
I've been saying this for over 20 years now, and it's only gotten worse. The money wasted on one superb owl could fix homelessness, but please, let's keep paying exorbitant sums of money to watch men with literal brain damage move ball good.
The video game Red Dead Redemption 2 cost somewhere around $400 million.
Stadium cost 750 mil
And yet I'd rather see RDR2 not released than homeless on the streets
This is the most Lemmy ass thread imaginable.
A bunch of wannabe hipsters thinking that they're so enlightened. Because being against the grain is the height of personality.
but only one of those groups has a massive backing from the worlds biggest corporations. our safe space doesn't come with private jets filled with hookers and cocaine.
but go head, they need you to defend them here, someone has to.
Imagine thinking that's a valid response to what I said.
you expect to much, from your own first comment.
What groups? Not everything is an "us Vs them" scenario. What did I say that'll make you think that?
How is this relevant. Except for proving my point that's your a bunch of wannabe hipsters circlejerking each other about how against the grain you are.
What?
And how am I defending them? Whoever "they" are. Because you haven't said that.
I can only imagine your brain is so rotted by the constant "us Vs them" thinking, that anyone who doesn't fall neatly into your camp, must obviously be supporting the other side.
Apparently it takes a real personality to stop watching advertisements. To even know it's possible let alone how to.
Complaining about advertising. Another one for the bingo sheet.
(Apologies for advertising bingo)
I'm not complaining because I usually don't have to except in a rare occasion I have to watch YouTube for something and even then...
...and even *then* I'm griping about the false concept of a soul of google for which, sure, that's a facet but just a minor such for the absolute worst thing to ever to exist as the will of the ignorant billions of people lurching through their choice of slavery not even aware of it existing to their worst kind of exploitation of of them and their real soul.
And no one can genuinely dislike popular shit just because it doesn't appeal to them or anything. No one ever thinks for themselves.
There's a difference between disliking something because it doesn't appeal to you. And actively having disdain for something that doesn't appeal to you.
Personally, I have disdain against the super bowl because it costs us taxes that could be going to much more productive things for society. I think it would be fine if we didn't spend so much money on it, and I have nothing against people who enjoy it.
You could argue the revenue brought in from hosting the super bowl replaces the tax money spent on it by the host city, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The NFL pockets most of the revenue, and the host city, itself, often loses the tax money it invested.
I don't think tax money should be involved. The NFL should cover the costs, as they make an insane amount of profit from it.
No, there literally is not. You can grumble all you want, the rest of us have more important things to worry about than the Super Bowl.
Clearly not if you're here.
Advertisers are the best at spreading word.
It's probably why award shows (which are also smothered with ads) get so much publicity.
Professional sports are entertaining for many people. As are other forms of entertainment also full of ads and rich people doing silly things. But, I agree that the Super Bowl is over the top obnoxious. As much as I usually like watching football, I tend to avoid the Super Bowl unless one of my favorite teams is playing, which, unfortunately, is rare.
Let people enjoy things. You don't have to engage with it if you don't want to.
let people dislike things. you don't have to engage with them if you don't want to
The act of disliking something vocally is an act in trying to ruin that thing for the people that enjoy it. Disliking things is not a hobby, they are not the same thing. Not to mention the attitude of disliking is extremely negative. If that's your take on life, then you suck.
That's a lot of insult and aggression. Why can't you just let people have opinions?
I don't mind people not liking sports the same way I'm happy if someone enjoys Post Malone music or Woody Allen movies even though they're terrible to me. I do get annoyed with people who make not liking sports a huge part of their personality though. Those who hear a conversation between others who are interested in a game and just have roll their eyes and make a comment involving the word, "sports ball".
How is it any different that grown men with obligations standing around at work, not working, regurgitating stats they heard on Sports Center that morning and arguing over which guy they like on the team, as if they have any stake whatsoever in either team?
Some people like things, some people don't. It's just petty and frankly childish to have that "my team can beat your team" mentality because let's face it, it's just a grown up version of "my daddy can beat up your daddy."
I've pointed out to people before that being super into sports statistics is a socially acceptable form of an autism style hyper fixation, and it angers *everyone*.
You're not wrong.
Gym fixation too, have a pet theory on that
OMG you are totally right!!!
The replies about the stats goes so well with my thought on this.
If I was to talk about some other topic as much as people talk about sports ball stuff, I'd get crap for it.
If I don't want to talk about sports ball crap, I get crap for it.
It's a weird double standard sometimes. Maybe because sports are so prevalent and common?
It's because in this country, toxic masculinity dictates that the only acceptable way to relate to another guy is by talking about sports. Imagine having such a fragile ego that the only way you know how to talk to another man is to take turns reciting what you heard on ESPN. Otherwise you might get called gay, which to them is some kind of insult to their masculinity.
Meanwhile, they're getting an attitude with each other about a game where the guys pat each other on the ass after a good play.
But it's such a masculine pat, not even a pat, a hit, a slap! A hard, masculine manly slap.
There's a Key and Peele skip coming to mind...
Found it. Slap-Ass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-uIwpo0dCU)
Edit, and yes, I agree to an extent. I don't think previous generations of men were taught healthy ideas about emotions, feeling, etc. Anger is generally accepted, sadness, hurt, etc are not. They are just translated to anger to be accepted. I think the general problem is starting to be acknowledged. Maybe not fixed, but there's a start maybe.
How would you constructively mentor someone who you think was rased that way? Assuming you had the kind of relationship that allowed it?
I've had these kind of talks with people before. You ever made progress with giving someone more options?
I'll discuss the latest Rick and Morty with my friends. At least sports are "real". Who won was actually played by real people that affects their lives (the players are rich but they gain fame and a cash bonus for winning).
Meanwhile Rick Sanchez finding the alternate Rick who killed his wife was scripted to be entertaining.
It's a distraction served to the working class by the ruling class so we dont spend time thinking about how badly theyre robbing us and how badly theyre destroying the planet and how soft and fleshy their necks are.
I hate this mentality, this weird "THEY WANT IS DISTRACTED" mentality. In reality, it's a product that they make money on. It's a business. It's not some arm of a conspiracy or secret society designed to subjugate the masses. It's just entertainment. While it might serve as a distraction as an outcome, its not like its the point, this type of dialouge is pointless
"Paid for by the emperor, the games were used to keep the poor and unemployed entertained and occupied. The emperor hoped to distract the poor from their poverty in the hopes that they would not revolt."
There are very similar undertones when compared to the Colosseum games in Rome.
But the emperor isn't paying for this circus. The plebs are. The Superbowl is not a loss-leader to keep the poors from rising up, it's a profitable enterprise that keeps generating wealth. The money is what keeps it going, not some plan to keep people down.
I fucking wish it were bread and circuses. Except instead of bread I'll accept healthcare, and instead of circuses we get cable news.
Lemmy keeps me distracted. It is therefore part of the conspiracy.
Clueless European here: is Superbowl something like Champions League?
It’s like the final of champions league
It’s basically a grand final for the US’s American Football Season. I “think” teams in one league play each other whilst teams in the other league do the same. The respective top team from each league play each other in a super final.
A man from England told me this, when talking about the difference between Rugby and American Football. Rugby is a thug sport played by gentlemen. Football is a gentleman's sport played by thugs.
This is a very well known phrase in England, but it refers to football (soccer) and rugby. I have never heard this in reference to American football and cannot even imagine how the meaning would translate.
The meaning of it comes from football being a supposedly gentle game of skill, but played and loved by the common people and with a long history of bad behaviour on and off the pitch, versus rugby being a rough, bruising, injury riddled sport that was played by aristocratic rich kids in private schools who are all excellent young men destined for greatness.
Of course this is mostly oversimplified bollocks, but with just enough truth behind it to make it funny.
I think you confused football with Amerixan football. It is referring to what you would call soccer.
Nope. This was a comment from a Brit when we were discussing the difference between Rugby and American football. I found it an apt description at the time.
Feels… vaguely racist.
Maybe not even vaguely. Like I really cannot think of what the distinguishing line between “rugby players” and “American football players” is that would make one group ‘thugs’ other than “one of them is predominantly black”
I read it as American vs British, disregarding race.
He was describing American football players/teams as thugs. It is not meant with race in mind at all. For a little context there was some big argument going on the TV and the American team was throwing a hissy fit and screaming at the officials.
Edit, to add: Rugby can be quite violent, but the players have some respect for the game and officials. I don't really follow sports, but I found Rugby fascinating when I was over there! What a neat game.
Put them in an enclosed space and let the poors sit above and laugh at them, and you might have won over the Lemmings as fans!
That's not an opinion. It's a reductionist description, a mere list of facts.
Hurr hurr I don't like sports ball. Insufferable.
Professional sports are watched by brainwashed fuckwits.
Dear sir or madam:
Some crackpot has written me an abusive message, and it seems they used your account to send it. I'm replying to you as a courtesy in case you wish to take action against this lunatic.
Cheers.
I can't help but notice I have witnessed the most refined troll destruction of all time!
Congratulations, sir, for I'm honestly impressed with your skills.
For the sake of clarity, I am not sarcastic, and I am not the person you respond to.
Happy to have met you,
Allero
Ha, thanks. I so wish I could take credit for it, but it's adapted from something Gyles Brandreth once said. It was, supposedly, his standard response to abusive letters he would receive while he was an MP.
In addendum to my previous correspondence, I would advise changing your Lemmy password and perhaps even running an antivirus scan; some lunatic seems to be running amok under your credentials.