5 ms·

Yeah, I noticed this too about sportball people - they’re generally out of shape and not actually athletic (I’m fit and active in several outdoor sports). I jus

Yeah, I noticed this too about sportball people - they’re generally out of shape and not actually athletic (I’m fit and active in several outdoor sports). I just find watching or talking about sports excruciatingly boring. To me it’s the same thing as pornography, watching other people who are really good at it while you are a bystander, but your brain gets the physiological and-psychological signal that you’re actually part of the action. Though I don’t recommend the latter as a potential topic of conversation.

jeltz 1y ago
I don't have the same experience at all. The people who I know and have met which enjoy watching sports come at all levels of fitness. I am not that interested myself but quite many of the members of my running club enjoy watching sports and some of them can run 3 hour marathons. And if you have ever met football ultras most of them are very fit.
- solardev 1y ago
  What are football ultras?
  - piltdownman 1y ago
    Somewhere between dedicated fans of (often working class) European Football teams and paramilitary organisations. Green Street starring Elijah Wood is a film accessible to overseas audiences detailing the cultural phenomenon n the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultras In Europe however, Italy in particular, organised crime is embedded in the structure - e.g. Gennaro Di Tommaso aka "The C0rpse", the leader of Napoli's ultras whose approval is needed before a match can take place https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/curva-nostra-mob-infiltration-soccer-ultras-spreads-across-italy-2024-12-18/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/curva-nostra-mob-infilt...
  - BaseBaal 1y ago
    Extremely fanatic soccer "fans", aka hooligans. Basically just an excuse to be antisocial.
  - SSLy 1y ago
    the mob that pretends to be the core fans.
- cpursley 1y ago
  Are you coming from UK or US perspective? Never heard the term Ultra.
ryandrake 1y ago
This may be a more recent thing, but I find a lot of the "sportsball" conversations are actually just slightly disguised conversations about gambling. Everyone is on Draft Kings and when they talk about this guy's stats or that team's past, or this game's expected score, they're just talking about betting and stuff. I don't think a lot of the sportsball people are even really fans of the sport, they're just looking at stats and betting.
- JohnBooty 1y ago
  As somebody who enjoys both watching and playing sports, I agree and I think that sports betting is so gross and harmful. I have a question, though. What's up with the "sportsball" thing? I mean, I'm very familiar with it. It just seems like it's always been used as a mildly derogatory term by people who really dislike sports and sports fans. What does it mean to you? No wrong answers.
  - ryandrake 1y ago
    I don't know. OP used the word and I just repeated it. I figure it's a generic term for the kinds of ball sports that popular culture follows and/or bets on: Baseball, Basketball, Football and so on.
  - projectazorian 1y ago
    > It just seems like it's always been used as a mildly derogatory term by people who really dislike sports and sports fans. Yeah, actually saying 'sportsball' in conversation in a non-ironic way is an excellent way to signal that you have poor social skills. No need to yuck someone's yum.
    - JohnBooty 1y ago
      That's certainly been my experience. I've never heard it used in a way that wasn't a mild yucking of somebody else's yum.
JohnBooty 1y ago
Yeah, it's funny. I find a lot of sedentary sports-enjoyment (particularly fantasy sports) to be way "nerdier" than stereotypically nerdy stuff like D&D. That said, the sports fans I know really are quite the wide spectrum when it comes to their actual sports/exercise participation. Lot of very active people.

jeltz 1y ago

I don't have the same experience at all. The people who I know and have met which enjoy watching sports come at all levels of fitness. I am not that interested myself but quite many of the members of my running club enjoy watching sports and some of them can run 3 hour marathons. And if you have ever met football ultras most of them are very fit.

solardev 1y ago
What are football ultras?
- piltdownman 1y ago
  Somewhere between dedicated fans of (often working class) European Football teams and paramilitary organisations. Green Street starring Elijah Wood is a film accessible to overseas audiences detailing the cultural phenomenon n the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultras In Europe however, Italy in particular, organised crime is embedded in the structure - e.g. Gennaro Di Tommaso aka "The C0rpse", the leader of Napoli's ultras whose approval is needed before a match can take place https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/curva-nostra-mob-infiltration-soccer-ultras-spreads-across-italy-2024-12-18/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/curva-nostra-mob-infilt...
- BaseBaal 1y ago
  Extremely fanatic soccer "fans", aka hooligans. Basically just an excuse to be antisocial.
- SSLy 1y ago
  the mob that pretends to be the core fans.
cpursley 1y ago
Are you coming from UK or US perspective? Never heard the term Ultra.

ryandrake 1y ago

This may be a more recent thing, but I find a lot of the "sportsball" conversations are actually just slightly disguised conversations about gambling. Everyone is on Draft Kings and when they talk about this guy's stats or that team's past, or this game's expected score, they're just talking about betting and stuff. I don't think a lot of the sportsball people are even really fans of the sport, they're just looking at stats and betting.

JohnBooty 1y ago
As somebody who enjoys both watching and playing sports, I agree and I think that sports betting is so gross and harmful. I have a question, though. What's up with the "sportsball" thing? I mean, I'm very familiar with it. It just seems like it's always been used as a mildly derogatory term by people who really dislike sports and sports fans. What does it mean to you? No wrong answers.
- ryandrake 1y ago
  I don't know. OP used the word and I just repeated it. I figure it's a generic term for the kinds of ball sports that popular culture follows and/or bets on: Baseball, Basketball, Football and so on.
- projectazorian 1y ago
  > It just seems like it's always been used as a mildly derogatory term by people who really dislike sports and sports fans. Yeah, actually saying 'sportsball' in conversation in a non-ironic way is an excellent way to signal that you have poor social skills. No need to yuck someone's yum.
  - JohnBooty 1y ago
    That's certainly been my experience. I've never heard it used in a way that wasn't a mild yucking of somebody else's yum.

JohnBooty 1y ago

Yeah, it's funny. I find a lot of sedentary sports-enjoyment (particularly fantasy sports) to be way "nerdier" than stereotypically nerdy stuff like D&D. That said, the sports fans I know really are quite the wide spectrum when it comes to their actual sports/exercise participation. Lot of very active people.