Sports... is watching them a waste of time or beneficial?

[mmartin2009]

With the Super Bowl coming up I thought this would be a timely post. Is watching sports (not doing them) a good way to spend your time? Or is it waste like most TV watching?
And what about going to see a sport event live? Is it similar to seeing another live performance?
To me it feels like such a waste to sit on your ass, eat crap, and watch other people doing really great things. You can spend time with friends having a conversation or bonding in some other deep way.
Can someone please explain (if it's even possible) the benefit of watching sports? Don't even get me started on Fantasy teams or stalking teams and stats.

[supertom]

i love watching sports, its like watching a movie without a script

[mmartin2009]

lol isn't life like that? The movie-without-a-script that's passing you by while you watch and live something else?

[supertom]

i like having no control for 90mins and having total devotion to my team. I don't think like has those really intense moments apart from sex.

[Curtis2011]

I didn't used to like sports at all. Then I got to college, and actually had a team to root for, along with team spirit and all that jazz.

Some sports I enjoy watching:

1. Football - Mostly just my college team play but also others.
2. Basketball - Only if I am at the game. It is too boring on tv.
3. Women's Volleyball - Okay, maybe my raging hormones make me a little bit biased, but what man can not enjoy watching tall beautiful women in short-shorts jump around for an hour?
4. Women's Basketball - It is so weird watching the difference between women's and men's basketball. I like men's better, but women's is still entertaining.

[Gene]

Sports for me is sometimes interesting but mostly I am not a fan and do not schedule my time in order to watch them. I probably would not miss most of the sports shows and games on TV if they mysteriously vanished.

[alsy]

Beneficial or not?
I do not see there being a universal yes or no. I think it is more an individual matter. I believe the value is in what it creates as an experience for the person who does value it.

I prefer to be a participator rather than a spectator. I ceased following/ watching, and barracking for teams during my teenage years. I stopped watching after acknowledging that it did not really enjoy it, and that i did not see any value for myself.

Although i have enjoyed seeing on a one off infrequent basis; new / odd sports, or sometimes the more dynamic self enjoyable adventure type sports. I have not thought about why before, but i guess being empathic (feeling other peoples emotions), may have connected me with the feeling of aliveness of the people who participate and relate to the adventure sports.

I was rock climbing quite a few years ago, and that was very enjoyable. I watched some videos of people rock climbing. The value for me was the pleasure of seeing the mountains, rocks, and forests in the background. It connected me with those things. It kept me in touch with climbing, and seeing technical manoeuvres from more experienced climbers. In that case, it opens one to what is possible.

In the case of my friend, he is an absolutely mad sports fanatic. He follows several sports, but has a main sport he devotes more of his time to. He is knowledgeable on many detailed statistics and has memory of details of ( i believe very close to) whole games going back some decades.
.......The value i recognise in his life is many fold for him. I do not love it, so it holds little value for me.
1. It creates a very strong social connection with other people. Weather they are known, or meeting for the first time.
2. Although he experiences roller coaster emotions, it seems to be a way that allows the passage of a range of emotions. It is his way of creating passion and heightening life within him.

I use to put down the idea of being a sports spectator. I found it wasted energy, and that in a way that is difficult to explain exactly, it affected the quality of my friendship with the sports mad friend. One that improved after i accepted his particular form of passion and experience of life.


It seems like you know one aspect of life that does not work for you, and thus do not waste it with that. That is a good thing.

[David Hooper]

It's a way for men to bond in a safe way, without getting too personal or deep. It's also a great distraction from having to deal with things as sports are on 24/7.

If men really cared about getting "benefits" from sports, they'd have better results actually playing them than watching. People don't want the entire experience of good and bad though; they just want the shiny outside. That's why porn is so popular.

[Ravmar]

I tend to avoid sports because they reinforce a competitive mindset. We have the technological know-how to end poverty, and set up a world where 6 billion people live better lives than Bill Gates. First we have to nix the societal habits of the past, including competition.

[David Hooper]

Originally Posted by Ravmar

I tend to avoid sports because they reinforce a competitive mindset. We have the technological know-how to end poverty, and set up a world where 6 billion people live better lives than Bill Gates. First we have to nix the societal habits of the past, including competition.

Please explain...

The way I see it, competition makes people better. It's also as much biological as it is societal.

Certainly, there are people who go overboard with it, just like there are those who go overboard with anything. There are some great things that have come from being competitive though.

[mmartin2009]

Actually ALL animals avoid direct competition and conflict at all costs. Animals will fight if they feel threatened or if a mother feels her baby is threatened. They don't just go after each other for sport (pun intended). There is inhernint competition for food and mates and space and such but no other animals besides humans seek out battles and violence. It makes perfect sense, why risk injury or death because of boredom or fun?
Animals in nature also do more living than most humans too, without creating unnecessary drama, stress, and extreme emotions.

[Ravmar]

Originally Posted by David Hooper

Please explain...

The way I see it, competition makes people better. It's also as much biological as it is societal.

Certainly, there are people who go overboard with it, just like there are those who go overboard with anything. There are some great things that have come from being competitive though.

I'm not so sure it's biological. We are pretty closely related to Bonobos.

There are other ways to grow besides entering a game where in order to win, someone else must lose. Attempting to climb a mountain, for example.

I thought about this issue while driving the L.A. freeways. So many of the traffic jams occur because people are fighting for their place. If more people would back off and let others in when someone needed to change lanes, the system would run more smoothly.

[The Rock]

Originally Posted by mmartin2009

Actually ALL animals avoid direct competition and conflict at all costs. Animals will fight if they feel threatened or if a mother feels her baby is threatened. They don't just go after each other for sport (pun intended). There is inhernint competition for food and mates and space and such but no other animals besides humans seek out battles and violence. It makes perfect sense, why risk injury or death because of boredom or fun?
Animals in nature also do more living than most humans too, without creating unnecessary drama, stress, and extreme emotions.

Really?

Most animals out there compete for food, territory, and mates. Competition over these three is direct competition.

Also, while it may appear at first that humans "seek" battles or war just for the heck of it, but if you actually look closely, wars are fought mostly to gain power and to expand influence. It's basically the same as animals competing for territory. And humans aren't the only ones to wage war, ants invade other colonies en mass too...

I also should mention that there are several predators that are known to kill more prey than they can consume, which could be seen as "sport killing" perhaps.

You also think sports is violent. Now American Football might be, but tennis and golf are certainly not.

[Ravmar]

Perhaps I would have been better off to say "excessive competition" instead of just "competition". Either way it is so prevalent in society you don't really need to defend it. (Yet!) It's time to give more cooperation a chance. Yes, competition happens among animals too, but nature programs tend to over-emphasize it. I've been out in nature lots of times, and I've almost never witnessed an animal attacking another. Not denying it happens, just saying it's not as frequent as we tend to think.

By the way, Erin has a nice article on this subject:
Up Against the Ropes: A social psychology experiment

[Excellent Lodestar]

Congrats,mmartin2009--sounds like you have a feminine essence


David Dieda explains:
"Most sports provide this masculine thrill of release from constraint into freedom.
In football, for instance, the team with the ball is constrained by the other team that is lined up in front and ready to block them. The challenge is to break through the line and carry the ball to freedom. People with masculine essences become insanely emotional during this ritual of challenge and release from constraint into freedom. And if the freedom is achieved, men will shout and cheer, as if their deepest heart desire has occurred—and it has. This breakthrough into freedom,however it occurs, is the main motive of the masculine. All masculine goals—at work, on the meditation cushion, or on the football field—are directed toward more freedom".

This explains why the feminine doesn't "get" sports. and that's perfectly fine. Frankly, I'm a little amused(OK,weirded out) when a woman is REALLY into sports
The Feminine wants to be filled,where as the masculine seeks freedom. The masculine wants to feel the bliss of a life lived at the edge, and if he doesn't have the balls to do it himself, he'll watch it on TV, in sporting events and cop shows...

Now, where's my remote?!...It's game time! \m/

[mmartin2009]

I guess I wish more people had the courage to DO something instead of just watching... sigh.

[Ravmar]

Originally Posted by Excellent Lodestar

"masculine thrill of release from constraint into freedom."

Wow. That's a fascinating point of view. That explains why I want to promote a world of 6 billion billionaires.
(and I mean through growth, not inflation)

[dulaney0330]

Im from Pittsburgh and Im a huge Steelers and Penguins fan and each year, I eagerly await all their games.

It's a form of entertainment, like a movie, and its exciting and enriching to rejoice and mourn with the wins and losses.

I never had the skill of eye-hand coordination and I dislike playing sports. The next best thing is watching the greates athletes playing one another

[brendannz]

I love watching sports..

Positive aspects of sports. Having role models, celebrating their victories, or having the loyalty to stick with them when they're not winning.

Socially; it's a great way of bonding with others. I deliberately don't get Sky TV, so I encourage myself to go to the sports bar on my own, and I've made new friends at the sports bar..

I honestly think that meeting up with your friends to watch sports is a much more social activity than meeting up to go to a movie..

Entertainment; It provides the surprise element, with it being live. So if there's a scripted movie, you know they're just actors, but when you watch sports it's live motion, and you may witness history..

Negative aspects;

Wasting time sitting on your ass, instead of actually exercising yourself.

Looking up to heroes for their physical prowess rather than intelligence..

[Ximen]

I only watch Real Madrid Vs. Barcelona matches!

[Excellent Lodestar]

Originally Posted by Ximen

I only watch Real Madrid Vs. Barcelona matches!

YEAH!!!!! Intensity?....much? LOL

[Ximen]

Originally Posted by Excellent Lodestar

YEAH!!!!! Intensity?....much? LOL

Yup, El Clasico rocks, I like to watch some fierce rivalry in football, and boy is it top-notch football!