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If I could send messages back to my 12yo self it would be "quit pretending to give a damn about football." Football was a big deal where I grew up and I spent a

If I could send messages back to my 12yo self it would be "quit pretending to give a damn about football." Football was a big deal where I grew up and I spent a lot of time keeping up with it to "fit in." Fortunately I figured out it didn't matter by the time I got to college (which happened to be a major football university). To this day when I tell people I went to UT Austin their first response is usually "Longhorns are doing great this year aren't they?" "I have no idea" I respond. "But they have very good EE and CS departments."

QuesnayJr 6y ago
I have this problem with European and World Cup soccer. I just follow them enough to be able to briefly feign interest.
alexslobodnik 6y ago
I'd be careful with that advice. Sports are great conversation starters. People want to share what they are passionate about. I may not want to spend hours talking to them about it, but a few minutes that's fine. Who knows maybe you will learn something useful.
- gibspaulding 6y ago
  There's a great episode of The IT Crowd about this (and how it backfires horribly) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHyqjHqQLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHyqjHqQLU
- geocrasher 6y ago
  -1 Strongly Disagree. Sort of :p When somebody tries to talk sports to me, I feign stupidity but in a silly way. For example if somebody tries to talk Football (American) I say "Oh, that's that thing where sweaty guys chase each other around and people talk about it, right?" and they laugh, realize I have zero interest, and we move on to a more relevant subject. It's all in how you go about it.
  - daseiner1 6y ago
    that’s a patronizing statement that i don’t think certain kinds of people would love
    - geocrasher 6y ago
      If it's said in a kindhearted way with a twinkle in your eye, people usually get it. On the other hand, I stopped trying to please everyone years ago.
- Kednicma 6y ago
  And sports can be more than just athletics. I watch "SpeedGaming" and "Global Speedrun Association" competitions, and these have announcers, tournaments, ratings, and even sponsors.
  - andreilys 6y ago
    Football and Basketball are generally more accessible to the wider population than Speed running. Which I believe is what parent post was referring to
- Taylor_OD 6y ago
  My dad isn't into sports at all. He lives in a very sports-focused city, much more so than where he spent most of his life, so I told him my little sports trick. Sports fan: "Did you see the blank game?" Me: No but isn't what's his name doing well? 99% of the time people will fill in whoever the star player is and talk about how good they are doing or say no they were doing well but they haven't been recent. I didn't care much about sports when I moved to Chicago, which cares a lot about sports, but now I have some knowledge about all the teams and friendships with a lot of sports fans I wouldn't otherwise know well. Go Bulls.

QuesnayJr 6y ago

I have this problem with European and World Cup soccer. I just follow them enough to be able to briefly feign interest.

alexslobodnik 6y ago

I'd be careful with that advice. Sports are great conversation starters. People want to share what they are passionate about. I may not want to spend hours talking to them about it, but a few minutes that's fine. Who knows maybe you will learn something useful.

gibspaulding 6y ago
There's a great episode of The IT Crowd about this (and how it backfires horribly) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHyqjHqQLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHyqjHqQLU
geocrasher 6y ago
-1 Strongly Disagree. Sort of :p When somebody tries to talk sports to me, I feign stupidity but in a silly way. For example if somebody tries to talk Football (American) I say "Oh, that's that thing where sweaty guys chase each other around and people talk about it, right?" and they laugh, realize I have zero interest, and we move on to a more relevant subject. It's all in how you go about it.
- daseiner1 6y ago
  that’s a patronizing statement that i don’t think certain kinds of people would love
  - geocrasher 6y ago
    If it's said in a kindhearted way with a twinkle in your eye, people usually get it. On the other hand, I stopped trying to please everyone years ago.
Kednicma 6y ago
And sports can be more than just athletics. I watch "SpeedGaming" and "Global Speedrun Association" competitions, and these have announcers, tournaments, ratings, and even sponsors.
- andreilys 6y ago
  Football and Basketball are generally more accessible to the wider population than Speed running. Which I believe is what parent post was referring to
Taylor_OD 6y ago
My dad isn't into sports at all. He lives in a very sports-focused city, much more so than where he spent most of his life, so I told him my little sports trick. Sports fan: "Did you see the blank game?" Me: No but isn't what's his name doing well? 99% of the time people will fill in whoever the star player is and talk about how good they are doing or say no they were doing well but they haven't been recent. I didn't care much about sports when I moved to Chicago, which cares a lot about sports, but now I have some knowledge about all the teams and friendships with a lot of sports fans I wouldn't otherwise know well. Go Bulls.