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I am in my 40s, love metal and football is also boring. Is there a pattern here considering the audience of HN?

emodendroket 8y ago
I hate metal and like watching football. But I'm on the cusp of turning thirty. Perhaps you need to do a larger survey where you also collect ages.
- Baeocystin 8y ago
  Hmm. 44, love metal, enjoy football. Still kind of pissed the Chargers left San Diego, even though I live in the bay area now. (Also, even though I've been here for a long time, freeways are called the. As in I take the 101 north to San Jose. But that is a wholly separate argument. :D)
  - mar77i 8y ago
    I'm 33, love metal and what is that football thing you're talking about? Oh, we have something similar here in Europe, but I don't follow that either. Do I have to grow 40 to realize that life is unfair and finite, happiness is a choice and that I may, in fact, have my own opinion?
    - DataWorker 8y ago
      Are you the person you were at 22?
      - hdkmraf 8y ago
        Full metal-head in his 30s here, gotta admit I am a much different person and much happier now than when I was 22, sometimes I would like to go back in time and punch my younger self. The body is failing already, but the spirit is getting stronger.
        emodendroket 8y ago
        I'm also happier at this stage of my life (turning 30 this year) than in the past, but I have to wonder how much is my personality and how much is circumstance. I'm married, we have our own place to live, I have a relatively successful career, I have friends, and I can pursue my hobbies more or less freely. Those things weren't all true for me at 22.
  - centrinoblue 8y ago
    I'm with you. They will always be the 'San Diego Chargers' to me
- chrisan 8y ago
  Turning 40 in a year. I love metal and going to symphonies and I really loved the SF symphony and Metallica. I also love football, hockey, and F1, but I'm a very competitive guy and just love competition in general, like the Olympics etc. As I grew older I like these sports more as I discovered the coaching and game playing side of things. Seeing a team outplay a physically more talented team is gratifying or watching Ferarri/Redbull/anyone beat the superior silver arrows. The underdog stories are delightful to watch when they happen. Doing rec sports, board games, video games, poker, laying down more mulch when helping a friend, growing better flowers, code golf, and obviously trying to build a better product than our competitors in software. If something can be measured or has a "finish line" I want to "win" it. When I am "defeated" I want to better myself for the next time. I enjoy watching sports the same way I enjoy every tech talk by the almighty Carmack. Seeing someone at the top of their game has appeal to me
screye 8y ago
I have seen a trend in people in CS/math who love prog and related types of metal. More so than other disciplines. Another lover of metal, who only follows European football. Still in my 20s though.
- ninjamayo 8y ago
  Prog metal and death metal are my favourites. It is true, growing up in the 80s it would be inevitable but a lot of my school friends were listening to pop music. I think there is definitely a pattern with CS and metal. Not sure why.
- bmarkovic 8y ago
  Yes they do (at least in my environment) and it's extremely annoying :P Me being more of a Floyd/soul/electronica aficionado.
StevePerkins 8y ago
> I am in my 40s, love metal and football is also boring. Is there a pattern here considering the audience of HN? Some of these replies are overthinking it a bit. If you're in your 40's then you were a child of the 1980's. A time period where metal (in its various flavors) was the dominant form of young white music for those escaping country or Top-40. It was also the period of time in which the Super Bowl emerged as a true cultural phenomenon in the U.S., and the NFL began surpassing baseball in television ratings.
- VLM 8y ago
  Check the advertising stats, NFL and pro sports in general is very boomer, and ageism in SV and tech in general means relatively little overlap can be expected between NFL fans and trendy programmers. Only 9% of the NFL audience is under 18, and the average is in the 50s. Its going to be interesting both financially and culturally. For several decades football viewership average age has gone up about 6 months per 12 calendar months. NASCAR has it worse, they essentially have no youth viewers and no new viewers and their average age goes up almost exactly one year per calendar year. A lot of money and real estate is going to change hands when pro sportsball viewers literally die off. For various public financial reasons ESPN is already not long for this world, for example.

I hate metal and like watching football. But I'm on the cusp of turning thirty. Perhaps you need to do a larger survey where you also collect ages.

Baeocystin 8y ago
Hmm. 44, love metal, enjoy football. Still kind of pissed the Chargers left San Diego, even though I live in the bay area now. (Also, even though I've been here for a long time, freeways are called the. As in I take the 101 north to San Jose. But that is a wholly separate argument. :D)
- mar77i 8y ago
  I'm 33, love metal and what is that football thing you're talking about? Oh, we have something similar here in Europe, but I don't follow that either. Do I have to grow 40 to realize that life is unfair and finite, happiness is a choice and that I may, in fact, have my own opinion?
  - DataWorker 8y ago
    Are you the person you were at 22?
    - hdkmraf 8y ago
      Full metal-head in his 30s here, gotta admit I am a much different person and much happier now than when I was 22, sometimes I would like to go back in time and punch my younger self. The body is failing already, but the spirit is getting stronger.
      - emodendroket 8y ago
        I'm also happier at this stage of my life (turning 30 this year) than in the past, but I have to wonder how much is my personality and how much is circumstance. I'm married, we have our own place to live, I have a relatively successful career, I have friends, and I can pursue my hobbies more or less freely. Those things weren't all true for me at 22.
- centrinoblue 8y ago
  I'm with you. They will always be the 'San Diego Chargers' to me
chrisan 8y ago
Turning 40 in a year. I love metal and going to symphonies and I really loved the SF symphony and Metallica. I also love football, hockey, and F1, but I'm a very competitive guy and just love competition in general, like the Olympics etc. As I grew older I like these sports more as I discovered the coaching and game playing side of things. Seeing a team outplay a physically more talented team is gratifying or watching Ferarri/Redbull/anyone beat the superior silver arrows. The underdog stories are delightful to watch when they happen. Doing rec sports, board games, video games, poker, laying down more mulch when helping a friend, growing better flowers, code golf, and obviously trying to build a better product than our competitors in software. If something can be measured or has a "finish line" I want to "win" it. When I am "defeated" I want to better myself for the next time. I enjoy watching sports the same way I enjoy every tech talk by the almighty Carmack. Seeing someone at the top of their game has appeal to me

screye 8y ago

I have seen a trend in people in CS/math who love prog and related types of metal. More so than other disciplines. Another lover of metal, who only follows European football. Still in my 20s though.

ninjamayo 8y ago
Prog metal and death metal are my favourites. It is true, growing up in the 80s it would be inevitable but a lot of my school friends were listening to pop music. I think there is definitely a pattern with CS and metal. Not sure why.
bmarkovic 8y ago
Yes they do (at least in my environment) and it's extremely annoying :P Me being more of a Floyd/soul/electronica aficionado.

StevePerkins 8y ago

> I am in my 40s, love metal and football is also boring. Is there a pattern here considering the audience of HN? Some of these replies are overthinking it a bit. If you're in your 40's then you were a child of the 1980's. A time period where metal (in its various flavors) was the dominant form of young white music for those escaping country or Top-40. It was also the period of time in which the Super Bowl emerged as a true cultural phenomenon in the U.S., and the NFL began surpassing baseball in television ratings.

VLM 8y ago
Check the advertising stats, NFL and pro sports in general is very boomer, and ageism in SV and tech in general means relatively little overlap can be expected between NFL fans and trendy programmers. Only 9% of the NFL audience is under 18, and the average is in the 50s. Its going to be interesting both financially and culturally. For several decades football viewership average age has gone up about 6 months per 12 calendar months. NASCAR has it worse, they essentially have no youth viewers and no new viewers and their average age goes up almost exactly one year per calendar year. A lot of money and real estate is going to change hands when pro sportsball viewers literally die off. For various public financial reasons ESPN is already not long for this world, for example.