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> I can't fathom how football still exists today as a popular sport Your first three points make sense, but don't lead to this conclusion at all. People are no

> I can't fathom how football still exists today as a popular sport Your first three points make sense, but don't lead to this conclusion at all. People are not going to rationally say "football leads to traffic so I'm not going to watch it anymore." Football is entertaining, which is why it has an audience. Whether or not the negatives you outlined above are funded by the gov't is an entirely different matter.

jimbokun 11y ago
Football is very boring. I used to enjoy it, at least when the Steelers are playing. Then I got into soccer, eventually getting a more expensive cable package to watch the Premier League. Now when I watch football again, I am painfully aware of the time between plays, the incessant commercials, and now the ever increasing number of "official reviews". Seems like every 3rd or 4th play, an official has to leave the field, watch the play over and over and over and over again for 5 minutes, before announcing that, yes, they got the call right in the first place. Soccer, the action flows pretty constantly, and it's all done in under 2 hours. Watching football is a grueling, four hour commitment. There goes your Sunday afternoon (and evening, if you are enough of a glutton to stick around for Sunday Night Football). It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun. (But please don't tell anyone I said this, I live in Pittsburgh!)
- deleted 11y ago
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- ZanyProgrammer 11y ago
  Soccer flows, but still seems boring.
  - irascible 11y ago
    It's all boring... Shirling though... Now that's a sport. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gu3mbl8SAk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gu3mbl8SAk
- v64 11y ago
  > It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun. Is it really such a crazy idea that people like things that you don't? I like football and don't like soccer. Some people have fun playing Farmville. There's no objective criteria for entertainment, everyones' brain is tickled in different ways by different activities.
  - jimbokun 11y ago
    "Some people have fun playing Farmville." Do they? I had this in mind when I made that comment: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cleverest-explanation-as-to-why-zynga-is-a-multi-billion-company-you-will-ever-read-2010-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cleverest-explanation-as-... Makes an interesting argument about Farmville's success being based more on creating social obligations, than on being inherently enjoyable. I was wondering if some of football's continuing popularity also rests on social obligations, like people in your municipality talking about the team, wearing the jerseys, posting messages on social media, participating in fantasy leagues, and using support of the team as a proxy for civic pride. I suspect there are those, like yourself, who actually like watching the games. But I also suspect there are a large number of people who watch for social reasons.
    - irishcoffee 11y ago
      > I suspect there are those, like yourself, who actually like watching the games. But I also suspect there are a large number of people who watch for social reasons. I just can't be on the internet anymore without reading about 'social' anymore. People watch teen mom for 'social' reasons, or 'the bachelor' for social reasons. Top chef, hells kitchen, x-files, I can keep going. Humans are 'social' creatures by nature. Competition is human by nature. Survival of the fittest, feats of strength, preening, showing off, being knowledgeable about current events, speaking intelligently about the goings-on on the world, communication and idle chat about pop culture, thats how some people relate in their day-to-day 'shallow' interactions with others. I can't do this whole 'social' thing anymore. Its almost getting to the point where prime numbers are offensive, because they're too unique, its not fair to the other numbers. Am I alone in this? Am I just that ignorant? Sincere question, as I'm a fairly left-leaning person highly motivated to bring the 'little guy' up and make a positive impact on humanity.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun. "boring" and "fun" are subjective. That you find something boring doesn't mean that it is objectively boring and that those who find it fun have deluded themselves. It just means that people have different entertainment preferences. Which is, decidedly, not news.
- astronautjones 11y ago
  "Now when I watch football again, I am painfully aware of [...] the incessant commercials" You are not their target audience, I'm afraid
  - malz 11y ago
    I am generally unaware of the commercials, but after watching a game I always have a strange craving for Budweiser and Viagra.
- joelrunyon 11y ago
  Well...that's just like your opinion man... Amazed that people still think that other wide-held opinions can't be valid because one person doesn't like it. Some people say "computer stuff" is boring. Doesn't change the fact that there are entire huge communities (this being one) dedicated to it. Different people have different opinions. The inability to comprehend that says more about the person making that statement than it does about the people with a wide-held opinion.
- jarrettch 11y ago
  Soccer has it's dull games too. Watching teams park the bus or just kick the ball around to kill time. Thrilling stuff! Also, as a fan of all sports, I have to say there is probably nothing more entertaining(at least to me) than the NFL Red Zone Channel. Almost no stop in the action, skip most replays, see all the big plays, often in real time. Of course playing fantasy football plays a big part in that. Hockey is a great game to watch as well with pretty constant shots and action. Lots of people I know don't understand how I like hockey or soccer. Some can't stand football. Some like watching sports I find boring, but I don't begrudge them or declare that a sport I find boring must be boring to everyone in the world and they're all somehow brainwashed or confused.
  - douche 11y ago
    Hockey is like soccer in some ways, with the important difference that they have sane substitution rules. In hockey, you have line changes every couple minutes, so when they are out there on the ice, they are going balls-to-the-wall the majority of the time. None of this jogging around, diving, booting the ball out of bounds, conserving energy that you see in pro soccer, because the players have to play the entire game, barring one or two rare substitutions. When I played in high school, our soccer league had unlimited substitutions, and, even though the skill level was pretty low, the games were more entertaining to watch than professional soccer, because people were actually trying. You start dogging it, and you'd get the hook.
- serge2k 11y ago
  > Soccer, the action flows pretty constantly Yeah, but it's the same level of action in a single NFL play spread over an entire match.
  - jimbokun 11y ago
    OK, a lot of these criticisms are fair enough, but this one seems objectively false to me. There are constant one on one matchups of a dribbler trying to beat an attacker, or clever link up passes, or long balls contested by attackers and defenders, or, yes, shots on goal. A fair number of NFL plays are just running up the middle for 1 or 2 yards gain. So I really fail to see your point.
    - serge2k 11y ago
      My point is soccer is so boring. so very, very boring. Fun to play, terrible to watch. Football is boring too really.
- trendroid 11y ago
  All of this is totally true for cricket and even worse(8 fucking hours filled with commercials like american football). My whole country(India) has somehow convinced itself that its a lot of fun when the real reasos are that most of them aren't aware of good alternates and even if they are aware, India isn't doing well in any of those.
- ocean3 11y ago
  If you don't enjoy some sport then it can be boring. As a cricket fan that too "Test" cricket(the one which takes 5 days) to complete i find "Soccer" or Football as its know here boring. Cricket even has regular scheduled breaks for commercials. I used to love football at one time, but too many boring draws and player behavior led me away from it.
  - bigger_cheese 11y ago
    I was about to say the same thing. I'm a huge test cricket fan (only form of cricket I really like to watch). For me part of the appeal of Test Cricket (6 hours a day for 5 days) is that the Australia summer is too damn hot to do anything else. The big match (Boxing Day Test) coincides nicely with the break week many jobs have between Xmas and New Year. So the fact that you have a bunch of downtime from work combined with it being too damn hot to want to do much else makes vegging out on couch with a beer (or several) and the cricket on the box all that more appealing. I do not know a lot about American football but I recall hearing or reading somewhere that the breaks in play make it a more popular spectator sport. As it allows for discussion and analysis of the prior event in a way more freeflowing sports do not.
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  Soccer comes off as slow hockey played by people who are afraid to get hit.
- pmarreck 11y ago
  > Football is very boring. I agree! Why spend time on something that I have no effect on the outcome of? That's why I prefer gaming (especially online, against real other people). (Some people think online gaming is boring. But the fact that I do not understand how someone could possibly think that, is not an argument against their opinion.) > the action flows pretty constantly Ah, yes, those gripping 2 hour matchups ending in a score of... 2-1. :P > Pittsburgh I like Pittsburgh! I have a couple of good friends who live there.
  - jimbokun 11y ago
    I love it here, too, but not sufficiently loving the Steelers can be dangerous around here. :) (And I do love the organization and what it means to the city, just finding it harder to actually enjoy the games as much as I used to.)
awakeasleep 11y ago
It doesn't even have to be entertaining if it provides a tribal identity

jimbokun 11y ago

Football is very boring. I used to enjoy it, at least when the Steelers are playing. Then I got into soccer, eventually getting a more expensive cable package to watch the Premier League. Now when I watch football again, I am painfully aware of the time between plays, the incessant commercials, and now the ever increasing number of "official reviews". Seems like every 3rd or 4th play, an official has to leave the field, watch the play over and over and over and over again for 5 minutes, before announcing that, yes, they got the call right in the first place. Soccer, the action flows pretty constantly, and it's all done in under 2 hours. Watching football is a grueling, four hour commitment. There goes your Sunday afternoon (and evening, if you are enough of a glutton to stick around for Sunday Night Football). It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun. (But please don't tell anyone I said this, I live in Pittsburgh!)

deleted 11y ago
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ZanyProgrammer 11y ago
Soccer flows, but still seems boring.
- irascible 11y ago
  It's all boring... Shirling though... Now that's a sport. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gu3mbl8SAk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gu3mbl8SAk
v64 11y ago
> It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun. Is it really such a crazy idea that people like things that you don't? I like football and don't like soccer. Some people have fun playing Farmville. There's no objective criteria for entertainment, everyones' brain is tickled in different ways by different activities.
- jimbokun 11y ago
  "Some people have fun playing Farmville." Do they? I had this in mind when I made that comment: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cleverest-explanation-as-to-why-zynga-is-a-multi-billion-company-you-will-ever-read-2010-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cleverest-explanation-as-... Makes an interesting argument about Farmville's success being based more on creating social obligations, than on being inherently enjoyable. I was wondering if some of football's continuing popularity also rests on social obligations, like people in your municipality talking about the team, wearing the jerseys, posting messages on social media, participating in fantasy leagues, and using support of the team as a proxy for civic pride. I suspect there are those, like yourself, who actually like watching the games. But I also suspect there are a large number of people who watch for social reasons.
  - irishcoffee 11y ago
    > I suspect there are those, like yourself, who actually like watching the games. But I also suspect there are a large number of people who watch for social reasons. I just can't be on the internet anymore without reading about 'social' anymore. People watch teen mom for 'social' reasons, or 'the bachelor' for social reasons. Top chef, hells kitchen, x-files, I can keep going. Humans are 'social' creatures by nature. Competition is human by nature. Survival of the fittest, feats of strength, preening, showing off, being knowledgeable about current events, speaking intelligently about the goings-on on the world, communication and idle chat about pop culture, thats how some people relate in their day-to-day 'shallow' interactions with others. I can't do this whole 'social' thing anymore. Its almost getting to the point where prime numbers are offensive, because they're too unique, its not fair to the other numbers. Am I alone in this? Am I just that ignorant? Sincere question, as I'm a fairly left-leaning person highly motivated to bring the 'little guy' up and make a positive impact on humanity.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> It's starting to all seem like Farmville. Something terribly boring, that somehow the general public has convinced itself is a lot of fun. "boring" and "fun" are subjective. That you find something boring doesn't mean that it is objectively boring and that those who find it fun have deluded themselves. It just means that people have different entertainment preferences. Which is, decidedly, not news.
astronautjones 11y ago
"Now when I watch football again, I am painfully aware of [...] the incessant commercials" You are not their target audience, I'm afraid
- malz 11y ago
  I am generally unaware of the commercials, but after watching a game I always have a strange craving for Budweiser and Viagra.
joelrunyon 11y ago
Well...that's just like your opinion man... Amazed that people still think that other wide-held opinions can't be valid because one person doesn't like it. Some people say "computer stuff" is boring. Doesn't change the fact that there are entire huge communities (this being one) dedicated to it. Different people have different opinions. The inability to comprehend that says more about the person making that statement than it does about the people with a wide-held opinion.
jarrettch 11y ago
Soccer has it's dull games too. Watching teams park the bus or just kick the ball around to kill time. Thrilling stuff! Also, as a fan of all sports, I have to say there is probably nothing more entertaining(at least to me) than the NFL Red Zone Channel. Almost no stop in the action, skip most replays, see all the big plays, often in real time. Of course playing fantasy football plays a big part in that. Hockey is a great game to watch as well with pretty constant shots and action. Lots of people I know don't understand how I like hockey or soccer. Some can't stand football. Some like watching sports I find boring, but I don't begrudge them or declare that a sport I find boring must be boring to everyone in the world and they're all somehow brainwashed or confused.
- douche 11y ago
  Hockey is like soccer in some ways, with the important difference that they have sane substitution rules. In hockey, you have line changes every couple minutes, so when they are out there on the ice, they are going balls-to-the-wall the majority of the time. None of this jogging around, diving, booting the ball out of bounds, conserving energy that you see in pro soccer, because the players have to play the entire game, barring one or two rare substitutions. When I played in high school, our soccer league had unlimited substitutions, and, even though the skill level was pretty low, the games were more entertaining to watch than professional soccer, because people were actually trying. You start dogging it, and you'd get the hook.
serge2k 11y ago
> Soccer, the action flows pretty constantly Yeah, but it's the same level of action in a single NFL play spread over an entire match.
- jimbokun 11y ago
  OK, a lot of these criticisms are fair enough, but this one seems objectively false to me. There are constant one on one matchups of a dribbler trying to beat an attacker, or clever link up passes, or long balls contested by attackers and defenders, or, yes, shots on goal. A fair number of NFL plays are just running up the middle for 1 or 2 yards gain. So I really fail to see your point.
  - serge2k 11y ago
    My point is soccer is so boring. so very, very boring. Fun to play, terrible to watch. Football is boring too really.
trendroid 11y ago
All of this is totally true for cricket and even worse(8 fucking hours filled with commercials like american football). My whole country(India) has somehow convinced itself that its a lot of fun when the real reasos are that most of them aren't aware of good alternates and even if they are aware, India isn't doing well in any of those.
ocean3 11y ago
If you don't enjoy some sport then it can be boring. As a cricket fan that too "Test" cricket(the one which takes 5 days) to complete i find "Soccer" or Football as its know here boring. Cricket even has regular scheduled breaks for commercials. I used to love football at one time, but too many boring draws and player behavior led me away from it.
- bigger_cheese 11y ago
  I was about to say the same thing. I'm a huge test cricket fan (only form of cricket I really like to watch). For me part of the appeal of Test Cricket (6 hours a day for 5 days) is that the Australia summer is too damn hot to do anything else. The big match (Boxing Day Test) coincides nicely with the break week many jobs have between Xmas and New Year. So the fact that you have a bunch of downtime from work combined with it being too damn hot to want to do much else makes vegging out on couch with a beer (or several) and the cricket on the box all that more appealing. I do not know a lot about American football but I recall hearing or reading somewhere that the breaks in play make it a more popular spectator sport. As it allows for discussion and analysis of the prior event in a way more freeflowing sports do not.
oldmanjay 11y ago
Soccer comes off as slow hockey played by people who are afraid to get hit.
pmarreck 11y ago
> Football is very boring. I agree! Why spend time on something that I have no effect on the outcome of? That's why I prefer gaming (especially online, against real other people). (Some people think online gaming is boring. But the fact that I do not understand how someone could possibly think that, is not an argument against their opinion.) > the action flows pretty constantly Ah, yes, those gripping 2 hour matchups ending in a score of... 2-1. :P > Pittsburgh I like Pittsburgh! I have a couple of good friends who live there.
- jimbokun 11y ago
  I love it here, too, but not sufficiently loving the Steelers can be dangerous around here. :) (And I do love the organization and what it means to the city, just finding it harder to actually enjoy the games as much as I used to.)

awakeasleep 11y ago

It doesn't even have to be entertaining if it provides a tribal identity