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As someone who didn't grow up with spectator sports, can someone explain the appeal of these? Why would you want to be trapped in a loud, uncomfortable place fo

As someone who didn't grow up with spectator sports, can someone explain the appeal of these? Why would you want to be trapped in a loud, uncomfortable place for like 4 hours to watch someone do something, when you can watch the highlights for free at home a few hours later? I don't think someone could pay me to go sit through one of these (well, maaaaaaybe for $9000). What's the draw? What am I missing?

spencerflem 3y ago
Being in a crowd is energizing and fun for a lot of people
fullshark 3y ago
The adrenaline rush of participating in tribal warfare by proxy.
- esafak 3y ago
  That is, it is a social phenomenon, which is why watching it alone at home is not good a substitute. Watching it with friends is better. If you are asocial, it will seem pointless to you.
Solvency 3y ago
"As someone who didn't grow up with computers, can someone explain the appeal of spending hours alone staring at a screen? Why would you want to be isolated in a dark room for extended periods tapping on a keyboard, when you can step outside and experience real-life activities with people you share a passion with? I don't think someone could pay me to spend my free time glued to a computer (well, maaaaaaybe for $9000). What's the draw? What am I missing?" See what I did there.
- solardev 3y ago
  It's fair, but sorry, I should've been clearer... I wouldn't want to sit there and watch this on PPV either. Or stream esports from Twitch, for that matter. It's not just the indoor/outdoor or introvert/extrovert thing. I think it's the idea of passive spectating (that you pay money for) that weirds me out. Even for the things I love, I'd much rather try to do it myself (however poorly) than pay money to watch someone else do it. Am I just really unusual in that regard?
  - lupire 3y ago
    Do you also dislike reading and watching movies? Why are you reading HN instead of doing the things people are writing about? Going to a game isn't passively spectating. It's interaction with other fans, and being part of the show for the TV audience too. It's also something do out in the weather. It's a cultural artifact to observe and inspect like the Eiffel tower.
    - solardev 3y ago
      Heh, funny you mention it. I enjoy reading but I have hard time finishing anything. I have probably started a dozen books in the last year or two and finished... none of them? Same for movies, it's really hard for me to finish one instead of falling asleep or walking away. > Why are you reading HN instead of doing the things people are writing about? I'm probably one of those people who spends more time writing than reading on forums. Being longwinded like me doesn't help... sigh. But it's a way to bounce ideas back and forth between people, discuss, debate, get insulted now and then, etc :) HN is one of the more socially interactive things I do, actually. It feels like many of the IRL things I end up doing with friends are of the "let's do something individually, together" variety... like whether it's a hike or a rock climbing or karaoke or trivia games, most of it is centered around each person being in their own little world and doing their thing and only occasionally making smalltalk about nothing in particular. It's hard for me to do that for very long, vs the concentrated dose of interesting things to discuss on HN. Maybe I'm just bad at real world interactions. Good points though. Now you've got me wondering if I have some sort of adult ADD, lol. Might be worth reflecting on...
  - SirMaster 3y ago
    I don’t think it’s that unusual. I don’t care to watch any sports. Neither do my parents or my sister or her husband or his brother. Some of my friends that I can think of also don’t watch any sports.
  - telesilla 3y ago
    Have you actually tried it, with sympathetic friends? I also used to think I hated such things but when I went to an easy game (not on a super crowded day, not a critical game) I really enjoyed just the camaraderie. I can't handle large arenas when they are completely packed or there is too much tension in the crowd, so I'd recommend starting small and with a friendly game if you feel the same. Having said that, I found I absolutely hate watching baseball, golf and cricket (edit for reasons: not interested in drinking alcohol all day) but have grown to love sharing intense games like basketball, tennis and football with friends.
SirMaster 3y ago
I don’t get it either. Especially football. There’s like on average something like 11 minutes of actual gameplay and it takes like 3 hours to watch the whole game.
- HDThoreaun 3y ago
  Its not like nothing is happening during the dead ball time in football. It's easily the sport where coaching is most important. Baseball by comparison has very little down time, but the game is so boring that the entire game can feel like down time.
  - SirMaster 3y ago
    How about comparing american football, to the football of the rest of the world?
- pests 3y ago
  In chess, the two players only are touching the pieces for maybe 100 seconds a game that can go on for hours too. So what makes chess fun to watch? It's what happens between those periods of movements. Football is a game of strategy played out by two coaches. The players are their pawns. Half the game is coming up with a plan and strategy. The other half is trying to perform that strategy. You are only paying attention to the latter half. For jocks and athletic people the latter half is interesting; I'm surprised the strategy and planning aspect isn't more acknowledged and appreciated by us nerdy types. Maybe there is a reason most of the game is not live play.
  - SirMaster 3y ago
    I don't find watching chess entertaining in the slightest either, so that example doesn't really help me. >It's what happens between those periods of movements. Commercials? Players standing around on the field, or walking to a huddle or walking back to the line?
    - pests 3y ago
nickthegreek 3y ago
I’m not a sports guy. But I did go to a big ten college, and purchased season tickets as all my buddy’s were sports dudes. There is an energy in a stadium, like there are at concerts, some churches or when hearing someone you admire give a good speech. There is something primal in the moment that I feel is baked into the human experience to varying degrees in all of us. I haven’t been to a game since then, but I do remember them fondly (I was also drunk).
- kjkjadksj 3y ago
  College football games are one of the only moments in the US where you can experience over 100,000 people screaming in unison. They don’t build any other sort of stadium or event space as large as some of these college football stadiums in terms of attendance.
  - HDThoreaun 3y ago
    Most of the 100,000+ person stadiums arent actually larger than NFL stadiums. The trick is they use bleachers which take up less space per seat, so a smaller stadium is able to fit a lot more people. I went to Michigan and now have season tickets to the Chicago bears, the big house fits 45 thousand more people, but the bears stadium feels much larger. I think everyone being so close together adds even more energy to college games.
    - pests 3y ago
      Does it maybe feel larger because there is half as many people?
    - kjkjadksj 3y ago
      Pro stadiums are often bound by capacity limits from their cities agreement with them being there. So over time they tend to replace cheap seats with more luxurious experiences and booths. Dodgers stadium is kind of notorious for this.
CapcomGo 3y ago
The first part of your sentence sums it up.
ptmcc 3y ago
It's a huge social event with a shared interest, there's energy and excitement in the shared experience, and the emotional rollercoaster that games often can be. It does seem to speak to something tribal within us humans. I'm not even a "sports guy" but going to games of most sports is often a lot of fun because it's about more than just the game. When I was a know-it-all teen/young adult I had some of that "sportsball is dumb and for idiots" mentality but as I got older I grew out of that and appreciate the simple fun of it all. Plus it's easy small talk fodder.
- foobarian 3y ago
  I wonder if it’s an evolutionary adaptation having to do with battles. I can see getting into this kind of frenzy state definitely being helpful for survival.
  - brianwawok 3y ago
    Rather save my frenzy for important stuff like tabs vs spaces
    - gred 3y ago
      Regular frenzy, or reckless rage?
      - brianwawok 3y ago
        Why not both?
  - the__alchemist 3y ago
    Sagan likened football in particular to hunting, in the prehistoric sense.
- SirMaster 3y ago
  I’m still a “sports ball” person at 36 I guess. I just don’t remotely understand or feel any connection whatsoever to anything watching any sports in person or on TV. Which is fine, I’m not complaining or anything, it’s just what it is.
sys_64738 3y ago
Ask yourself why you're passionate about the things you are. There's your answer.
- SirMaster 3y ago
  But I don’t really know “why” I’m passionate about the things I’m passionate about. I like the things I like because of how they must affect my brain, but I’m not sure exactly why they affect my brain the way that they do.
  - kjkjadksj 3y ago
    Its just from exposure. If you were exposed to as much football trivia minutae as you are with whatever hobby you like, you’d probably be able to appreciate a football game.
brvsft 3y ago
[flagged]
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  There's nothing wrong with asking others for a perspective you never had. You gotta learn somehow and "well people have different opinions and hobbies" isn't a very satisfying answer.
BobaFloutist 3y ago
Even if they're not specifically for you, do you understand the social appeal of cons? What about large parties? A boisterous, rowdy, church? High energy lan-party, or coding jam? A concert? A club? If you do, then you understand the appeal of doing something exciting with people that share that excitement in a loud, uncomfortable place for hours, even if you don't personally find football exciting. If you don't, then you've learned something about yourself: you have an unusually low tolerance for noise and crowds, which is valuable information. There's a lot of people like you, but even more that aren't.
preommr 3y ago
Because it's what people grew up doing. Go back 50-80 years, what kind of father-son activities are available? There's a lot of snarky responses to your comment, but I do think your question has a lot of merit. Watching football/baseball/soccer/basketball isn't like watching an mma match (there's something very primal about how brutal those fights can be), nor is it like watching video games where someone has a shared connection with an activity they do frequently. And the data backs this up. Sports viewership is in decline, and there's a drop in how important sports is to each subsequent generation. And people, imo rightfully, blame things like video games, and social media. So that's my 2c, it's familiarity.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
saiya-jin 3y ago
Because you seemingly never went to such a game looking forward to it, with bunch of friends, and just yelled and drank a lot of beers. Like going to pub but way more active. I generally don't do it neither, but oh boy did you grow up in a plastic bubble? Such an experience is almost impossible to avoid literally anywhere in the world, and folks enjoy it tremendously.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  >but oh boy did you grow up in a plastic bubble? Bubble, broke, bad environment. It happens. The closest I had to that before high school (where I'd at least take a few field trips for national competitions) was playing card games or Pokemon battles or whatnot. But this was an era before people would watch other people play those things and see how much strategy building there can be in those things.
sixo 3y ago
It's an emotional experience. You cannot rationally derive human emotions, and you won't be able to rationally justify the things people have come up with to serve emotional needs (see e.g. military drills, which look nuts to observers). So you might as well take other people's preferences for activities as evidence that there is a reason to prefer them.
paulcole 3y ago
Think about your hobbies. Can you imagine how they’d be of no interest to someone with a different background than you?
amerkhalid 3y ago
I don’t care about sports much. Grew up in society where cricket is religion. I suffered through too many boring live matches at home. Never understood the appeal of live sports or watching games in person. Some teams I followed, I just looked up if they won or not, next day. Went to a random soccer match a few years ago. That was one of best experiences of my life. The energy of crowd gets you really in the game. Everything else in your life doesn’t matter for a few hours. It changed my perspective on watching sports in person. Same thing with watching sports at home or in a bar with really passionate fans is a lot fun and way better than watching it by yourself or with not very passionate fans.
stevenicr 3y ago
Being at an event is very different than watching on a screen, from a not-so-recent hockey game experience: during the breaks certain song snippets or chants caused thousands of people to stand up, move in a seemingly synchronized movements and speak / yell, sing whatever.. You may feel compelled to stand up when others stand.. to move a bit.. you feel it's normal to move and make noise, it's okay.. you expel energy.. if you go enough you learn the songs, the words, you jump at the chance to exclaim.. which is not normal in most people's day to day I think / feel.. There is an energy, and an expelling of energy in these group gatherings.. Something that is not allowed in our normal day to day - that I appreciate exists with these sporting things. I often ask, what spaces exist in our modern society where it is okay for men to (and yes others not just men) shout, cry, touch each other, to cheer, to (word for opposite of cheer? - express sadness / loss).. together or even as individuals.. Some of this can be done with associates watching the game at home / sport bar, etc to a lesser degree and depending on your local conditions - Yet there is something about being in the group place where everyone has to be a certain class to be there, and others are expressing.. I guess it's similar to some church type events, where being there can make you feel empathy easier then just watching.. I'm also wondering what other types of experiences / places / events allow for these expressions in modern day life.. perhaps there are more of these outside the US? or outside what I know to be 'normal' ? Closest I've seen is bonfire / drum circle kind of thing maybe.
orthoxerox 3y ago
I've been to a single football (association) game in my life and I prefer the TV version of it as well. At home I get to see the action from multiple camera angles, there's a guy who knows what's going on narrating the game for me, I can watch replays of the best moments. What can the stadium experience bring to the table that beats all that? The feeling of unity with other fans? Well, I didn't root for any team in particular, and the loud crowds of people around me only made me uncomfortable.
add-sub-mul-div 3y ago
For many it's not uncomfortable, and neither is loud any kind of a downside. Sports is unique as a form of drama in which the outcome isn't known (to anyone) in advance. (Conspiracy accusations aside.) There's a type of suspense possible with sports that doesn't exist in any other kind of entertainment. And it's not just the outcome that's unpredictable, there's random feats, drama, narratives, entertainment that can come out nowhere that no one would have ever written. A pitcher hitting a bird in mid air. A baseball bouncing off a wall, hitting the ground, then a player's thigh, then going over the wall. In the late innings of a close playoff game. The game has to be stopped while it's figured out what that means because it hasn't happened in decades, if ever. A football player running into the butt of his teammate with his face, falling down and fumbling. Many games are mundane but the exciting or funny moments arise from the vast hours and repetition, there's a lot of opportunities for the unexpected. Again, other forms of drama are more predictable not just in their outcomes but in where and when the beats will happen. That itself isn't enough on its own, you also need to care about the outcome in order for that suspense to be enjoyable. Like religion, it helps to have been indoctrinated by family or geography when you were young. I don't think I'd have been able to start caring as an adult. It's also dependable in a way your favorite shows, books, movies, musicians aren't. It's reliably been there for every year of my life, for over 35 years. That's meaningful. (Though there's the occasional strike, and some people are unlucky enough for their team to leave their city.) It's not reliably exciting, any one game can be boring, any one year (or decade) can be fruitless. But it amounts to something much more than the sum of its parts. Some fans are more drawn to the strategy and mechanics of the game, but for me it's more about the history and mythology of the team and the sport in my own life. And I haven't even touched on the social aspect, or the off-field drama that can be its own kind of meta entertainment.
__turbobrew__ 3y ago
I’m the same way. Hate crowds, hate noise, hate getting drunk. My hobby of choice is doing outdoor sports like mountain biking, trail running, hiking, camping with 1-4 friends at a time. Sportsball has basically 0 appeal to me. On the flip side I am also really into magic the gathering and I can see how others would see that is unappealing as well. Why spend thousands of dollars on cardboard? For me I think I mostly enjoy being an active participant instead of an observer, which also lends itself to not liking crowds or large groups because it is much harder to participate and usually there is a subset of people who dominate/monopolize the situation in larger groups.
lazyasciiart 3y ago
Do you go to any live events? Music? Improv?
Sparkle-san 3y ago
I completely share you sentiments. Incidentally, I'm also autistic and know many who feel the same way.
nxkeksbfbe 3y ago
viewing an nfl game in a packed stadium is the closest thing a modern human gets to being in the roman colosseum. the brutality of the nfl games creates an atmosphere that’s different from other sporting events, you’re standing up and cheering for other humans attacking each other it’s a totally different vibe compared to watching it at home
- InCityDreams 3y ago
  >brutality? Try 'calcio storico' on youtube.
iancmceachern 3y ago
I used to be like you. Then we moved into an apartment across the street from Oracle Park, where the SF giants play. Early in the season they have a sale where you can pick up $5 tickets. My wife and I try to buy tickets for one game out of each home series. A day with my wife sitting outside in the beautiful northern California weather, with beautiful views of the bay and city, drinking cold beer and eating pizza. At first I was like "why do people do this", now I'm like "why didn't I do this sooner". It's nice to sit in the park, eat a hot dog or pizza slice, drink a beer and watch some sport. Take away all the advertising and hype BS and just enjoy it for what it is at its core. Play.
- modestygrime 3y ago
  Oracle Park is kind of uniquely great, though. Amazing views and right next to public transportation. The more typical experience is something like Kauffman Stadium, where the only way to get there is by car and there is nothing to look at other than the game itself.
aaron695 3y ago
[dead]

spencerflem 3y ago

Being in a crowd is energizing and fun for a lot of people

fullshark 3y ago

The adrenaline rush of participating in tribal warfare by proxy.

esafak 3y ago
That is, it is a social phenomenon, which is why watching it alone at home is not good a substitute. Watching it with friends is better. If you are asocial, it will seem pointless to you.

Solvency 3y ago

"As someone who didn't grow up with computers, can someone explain the appeal of spending hours alone staring at a screen? Why would you want to be isolated in a dark room for extended periods tapping on a keyboard, when you can step outside and experience real-life activities with people you share a passion with? I don't think someone could pay me to spend my free time glued to a computer (well, maaaaaaybe for $9000). What's the draw? What am I missing?" See what I did there.

solardev 3y ago
It's fair, but sorry, I should've been clearer... I wouldn't want to sit there and watch this on PPV either. Or stream esports from Twitch, for that matter. It's not just the indoor/outdoor or introvert/extrovert thing. I think it's the idea of passive spectating (that you pay money for) that weirds me out. Even for the things I love, I'd much rather try to do it myself (however poorly) than pay money to watch someone else do it. Am I just really unusual in that regard?
- lupire 3y ago
  Do you also dislike reading and watching movies? Why are you reading HN instead of doing the things people are writing about? Going to a game isn't passively spectating. It's interaction with other fans, and being part of the show for the TV audience too. It's also something do out in the weather. It's a cultural artifact to observe and inspect like the Eiffel tower.
  - solardev 3y ago
    Heh, funny you mention it. I enjoy reading but I have hard time finishing anything. I have probably started a dozen books in the last year or two and finished... none of them? Same for movies, it's really hard for me to finish one instead of falling asleep or walking away. > Why are you reading HN instead of doing the things people are writing about? I'm probably one of those people who spends more time writing than reading on forums. Being longwinded like me doesn't help... sigh. But it's a way to bounce ideas back and forth between people, discuss, debate, get insulted now and then, etc :) HN is one of the more socially interactive things I do, actually. It feels like many of the IRL things I end up doing with friends are of the "let's do something individually, together" variety... like whether it's a hike or a rock climbing or karaoke or trivia games, most of it is centered around each person being in their own little world and doing their thing and only occasionally making smalltalk about nothing in particular. It's hard for me to do that for very long, vs the concentrated dose of interesting things to discuss on HN. Maybe I'm just bad at real world interactions. Good points though. Now you've got me wondering if I have some sort of adult ADD, lol. Might be worth reflecting on...
- SirMaster 3y ago
  I don’t think it’s that unusual. I don’t care to watch any sports. Neither do my parents or my sister or her husband or his brother. Some of my friends that I can think of also don’t watch any sports.
- telesilla 3y ago
  Have you actually tried it, with sympathetic friends? I also used to think I hated such things but when I went to an easy game (not on a super crowded day, not a critical game) I really enjoyed just the camaraderie. I can't handle large arenas when they are completely packed or there is too much tension in the crowd, so I'd recommend starting small and with a friendly game if you feel the same. Having said that, I found I absolutely hate watching baseball, golf and cricket (edit for reasons: not interested in drinking alcohol all day) but have grown to love sharing intense games like basketball, tennis and football with friends.

SirMaster 3y ago

I don’t get it either. Especially football. There’s like on average something like 11 minutes of actual gameplay and it takes like 3 hours to watch the whole game.

HDThoreaun 3y ago
Its not like nothing is happening during the dead ball time in football. It's easily the sport where coaching is most important. Baseball by comparison has very little down time, but the game is so boring that the entire game can feel like down time.
- SirMaster 3y ago
  How about comparing american football, to the football of the rest of the world?
pests 3y ago
In chess, the two players only are touching the pieces for maybe 100 seconds a game that can go on for hours too. So what makes chess fun to watch? It's what happens between those periods of movements. Football is a game of strategy played out by two coaches. The players are their pawns. Half the game is coming up with a plan and strategy. The other half is trying to perform that strategy. You are only paying attention to the latter half. For jocks and athletic people the latter half is interesting; I'm surprised the strategy and planning aspect isn't more acknowledged and appreciated by us nerdy types. Maybe there is a reason most of the game is not live play.
- SirMaster 3y ago
  I don't find watching chess entertaining in the slightest either, so that example doesn't really help me. >It's what happens between those periods of movements. Commercials? Players standing around on the field, or walking to a huddle or walking back to the line?
  - pests 3y ago

nickthegreek 3y ago

I’m not a sports guy. But I did go to a big ten college, and purchased season tickets as all my buddy’s were sports dudes. There is an energy in a stadium, like there are at concerts, some churches or when hearing someone you admire give a good speech. There is something primal in the moment that I feel is baked into the human experience to varying degrees in all of us. I haven’t been to a game since then, but I do remember them fondly (I was also drunk).

kjkjadksj 3y ago
College football games are one of the only moments in the US where you can experience over 100,000 people screaming in unison. They don’t build any other sort of stadium or event space as large as some of these college football stadiums in terms of attendance.
- HDThoreaun 3y ago
  Most of the 100,000+ person stadiums arent actually larger than NFL stadiums. The trick is they use bleachers which take up less space per seat, so a smaller stadium is able to fit a lot more people. I went to Michigan and now have season tickets to the Chicago bears, the big house fits 45 thousand more people, but the bears stadium feels much larger. I think everyone being so close together adds even more energy to college games.
  - pests 3y ago
    Does it maybe feel larger because there is half as many people?
  - kjkjadksj 3y ago
    Pro stadiums are often bound by capacity limits from their cities agreement with them being there. So over time they tend to replace cheap seats with more luxurious experiences and booths. Dodgers stadium is kind of notorious for this.

CapcomGo 3y ago

The first part of your sentence sums it up.

ptmcc 3y ago

It's a huge social event with a shared interest, there's energy and excitement in the shared experience, and the emotional rollercoaster that games often can be. It does seem to speak to something tribal within us humans. I'm not even a "sports guy" but going to games of most sports is often a lot of fun because it's about more than just the game. When I was a know-it-all teen/young adult I had some of that "sportsball is dumb and for idiots" mentality but as I got older I grew out of that and appreciate the simple fun of it all. Plus it's easy small talk fodder.

foobarian 3y ago
I wonder if it’s an evolutionary adaptation having to do with battles. I can see getting into this kind of frenzy state definitely being helpful for survival.
- brianwawok 3y ago
  Rather save my frenzy for important stuff like tabs vs spaces
  - gred 3y ago
    Regular frenzy, or reckless rage?
    - brianwawok 3y ago
      Why not both?
- the__alchemist 3y ago
  Sagan likened football in particular to hunting, in the prehistoric sense.
SirMaster 3y ago
I’m still a “sports ball” person at 36 I guess. I just don’t remotely understand or feel any connection whatsoever to anything watching any sports in person or on TV. Which is fine, I’m not complaining or anything, it’s just what it is.

sys_64738 3y ago

Ask yourself why you're passionate about the things you are. There's your answer.

SirMaster 3y ago
But I don’t really know “why” I’m passionate about the things I’m passionate about. I like the things I like because of how they must affect my brain, but I’m not sure exactly why they affect my brain the way that they do.
- kjkjadksj 3y ago
  Its just from exposure. If you were exposed to as much football trivia minutae as you are with whatever hobby you like, you’d probably be able to appreciate a football game.

brvsft 3y ago

[flagged]

johnnyanmac 3y ago
There's nothing wrong with asking others for a perspective you never had. You gotta learn somehow and "well people have different opinions and hobbies" isn't a very satisfying answer.

BobaFloutist 3y ago

Even if they're not specifically for you, do you understand the social appeal of cons? What about large parties? A boisterous, rowdy, church? High energy lan-party, or coding jam? A concert? A club? If you do, then you understand the appeal of doing something exciting with people that share that excitement in a loud, uncomfortable place for hours, even if you don't personally find football exciting. If you don't, then you've learned something about yourself: you have an unusually low tolerance for noise and crowds, which is valuable information. There's a lot of people like you, but even more that aren't.

preommr 3y ago

Because it's what people grew up doing. Go back 50-80 years, what kind of father-son activities are available? There's a lot of snarky responses to your comment, but I do think your question has a lot of merit. Watching football/baseball/soccer/basketball isn't like watching an mma match (there's something very primal about how brutal those fights can be), nor is it like watching video games where someone has a shared connection with an activity they do frequently. And the data backs this up. Sports viewership is in decline, and there's a drop in how important sports is to each subsequent generation. And people, imo rightfully, blame things like video games, and social media. So that's my 2c, it's familiarity.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

saiya-jin 3y ago

Because you seemingly never went to such a game looking forward to it, with bunch of friends, and just yelled and drank a lot of beers. Like going to pub but way more active. I generally don't do it neither, but oh boy did you grow up in a plastic bubble? Such an experience is almost impossible to avoid literally anywhere in the world, and folks enjoy it tremendously.

johnnyanmac 3y ago
>but oh boy did you grow up in a plastic bubble? Bubble, broke, bad environment. It happens. The closest I had to that before high school (where I'd at least take a few field trips for national competitions) was playing card games or Pokemon battles or whatnot. But this was an era before people would watch other people play those things and see how much strategy building there can be in those things.

sixo 3y ago

It's an emotional experience. You cannot rationally derive human emotions, and you won't be able to rationally justify the things people have come up with to serve emotional needs (see e.g. military drills, which look nuts to observers). So you might as well take other people's preferences for activities as evidence that there is a reason to prefer them.

paulcole 3y ago

Think about your hobbies. Can you imagine how they’d be of no interest to someone with a different background than you?

amerkhalid 3y ago

I don’t care about sports much. Grew up in society where cricket is religion. I suffered through too many boring live matches at home. Never understood the appeal of live sports or watching games in person. Some teams I followed, I just looked up if they won or not, next day. Went to a random soccer match a few years ago. That was one of best experiences of my life. The energy of crowd gets you really in the game. Everything else in your life doesn’t matter for a few hours. It changed my perspective on watching sports in person. Same thing with watching sports at home or in a bar with really passionate fans is a lot fun and way better than watching it by yourself or with not very passionate fans.

stevenicr 3y ago

Being at an event is very different than watching on a screen, from a not-so-recent hockey game experience: during the breaks certain song snippets or chants caused thousands of people to stand up, move in a seemingly synchronized movements and speak / yell, sing whatever.. You may feel compelled to stand up when others stand.. to move a bit.. you feel it's normal to move and make noise, it's okay.. you expel energy.. if you go enough you learn the songs, the words, you jump at the chance to exclaim.. which is not normal in most people's day to day I think / feel.. There is an energy, and an expelling of energy in these group gatherings.. Something that is not allowed in our normal day to day - that I appreciate exists with these sporting things. I often ask, what spaces exist in our modern society where it is okay for men to (and yes others not just men) shout, cry, touch each other, to cheer, to (word for opposite of cheer? - express sadness / loss).. together or even as individuals.. Some of this can be done with associates watching the game at home / sport bar, etc to a lesser degree and depending on your local conditions - Yet there is something about being in the group place where everyone has to be a certain class to be there, and others are expressing.. I guess it's similar to some church type events, where being there can make you feel empathy easier then just watching.. I'm also wondering what other types of experiences / places / events allow for these expressions in modern day life.. perhaps there are more of these outside the US? or outside what I know to be 'normal' ? Closest I've seen is bonfire / drum circle kind of thing maybe.

orthoxerox 3y ago

I've been to a single football (association) game in my life and I prefer the TV version of it as well. At home I get to see the action from multiple camera angles, there's a guy who knows what's going on narrating the game for me, I can watch replays of the best moments. What can the stadium experience bring to the table that beats all that? The feeling of unity with other fans? Well, I didn't root for any team in particular, and the loud crowds of people around me only made me uncomfortable.

add-sub-mul-div 3y ago

For many it's not uncomfortable, and neither is loud any kind of a downside. Sports is unique as a form of drama in which the outcome isn't known (to anyone) in advance. (Conspiracy accusations aside.) There's a type of suspense possible with sports that doesn't exist in any other kind of entertainment. And it's not just the outcome that's unpredictable, there's random feats, drama, narratives, entertainment that can come out nowhere that no one would have ever written. A pitcher hitting a bird in mid air. A baseball bouncing off a wall, hitting the ground, then a player's thigh, then going over the wall. In the late innings of a close playoff game. The game has to be stopped while it's figured out what that means because it hasn't happened in decades, if ever. A football player running into the butt of his teammate with his face, falling down and fumbling. Many games are mundane but the exciting or funny moments arise from the vast hours and repetition, there's a lot of opportunities for the unexpected. Again, other forms of drama are more predictable not just in their outcomes but in where and when the beats will happen. That itself isn't enough on its own, you also need to care about the outcome in order for that suspense to be enjoyable. Like religion, it helps to have been indoctrinated by family or geography when you were young. I don't think I'd have been able to start caring as an adult. It's also dependable in a way your favorite shows, books, movies, musicians aren't. It's reliably been there for every year of my life, for over 35 years. That's meaningful. (Though there's the occasional strike, and some people are unlucky enough for their team to leave their city.) It's not reliably exciting, any one game can be boring, any one year (or decade) can be fruitless. But it amounts to something much more than the sum of its parts. Some fans are more drawn to the strategy and mechanics of the game, but for me it's more about the history and mythology of the team and the sport in my own life. And I haven't even touched on the social aspect, or the off-field drama that can be its own kind of meta entertainment.

__turbobrew__ 3y ago

I’m the same way. Hate crowds, hate noise, hate getting drunk. My hobby of choice is doing outdoor sports like mountain biking, trail running, hiking, camping with 1-4 friends at a time. Sportsball has basically 0 appeal to me. On the flip side I am also really into magic the gathering and I can see how others would see that is unappealing as well. Why spend thousands of dollars on cardboard? For me I think I mostly enjoy being an active participant instead of an observer, which also lends itself to not liking crowds or large groups because it is much harder to participate and usually there is a subset of people who dominate/monopolize the situation in larger groups.

lazyasciiart 3y ago

Do you go to any live events? Music? Improv?

Sparkle-san 3y ago

I completely share you sentiments. Incidentally, I'm also autistic and know many who feel the same way.

nxkeksbfbe 3y ago

viewing an nfl game in a packed stadium is the closest thing a modern human gets to being in the roman colosseum. the brutality of the nfl games creates an atmosphere that’s different from other sporting events, you’re standing up and cheering for other humans attacking each other it’s a totally different vibe compared to watching it at home

InCityDreams 3y ago
>brutality? Try 'calcio storico' on youtube.

iancmceachern 3y ago

I used to be like you. Then we moved into an apartment across the street from Oracle Park, where the SF giants play. Early in the season they have a sale where you can pick up $5 tickets. My wife and I try to buy tickets for one game out of each home series. A day with my wife sitting outside in the beautiful northern California weather, with beautiful views of the bay and city, drinking cold beer and eating pizza. At first I was like "why do people do this", now I'm like "why didn't I do this sooner". It's nice to sit in the park, eat a hot dog or pizza slice, drink a beer and watch some sport. Take away all the advertising and hype BS and just enjoy it for what it is at its core. Play.

modestygrime 3y ago
Oracle Park is kind of uniquely great, though. Amazing views and right next to public transportation. The more typical experience is something like Kauffman Stadium, where the only way to get there is by car and there is nothing to look at other than the game itself.

aaron695 3y ago

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