5 ms·

I vote with my wallet—zero spending on sports, zero time watching sports, zero betting on sports, zero reading about sports. I don’t feel like I miss out on any

I vote with my wallet—zero spending on sports, zero time watching sports, zero betting on sports, zero reading about sports. I don’t feel like I miss out on anything. If I had any interest in sports I could go play them for free, but I tend to opt for unorganized outdoor activities. It boggles the mind how much time and money people spend on this industry. That said, this is an area where antitrust enforcement would be applicable, if we ever get an admin who’s willing to engage in active trust-busting.

redwood 2mo ago
As someone who has gone back and forth over sports over the years and generally is of the anti-establishmentarian strain of thinking and inherently against sports as a general boring vanilla time sink, I do see the value of having something that folks can synchronize their time and interest to that gives joy to the masses in a shared way that is at least purely entertainment as opposed to something more heated like war.
- Barrin92 2mo ago
  >I do see the value of having something that folks can synchronize their time and interest to that gives joy to the masses As a bottom up communal activity yes, American sports is Roman bread & circuses now with their own Temu version of an emperor and his clan at the top. This is sports in the way Barron Harkonnen is throwing sports events for his nephew
- bloomingeek 2mo ago
  < entertainment as opposed to something more heated like war.> As an avid sports fan, I've always thought this. All the emotion and anguish I feel during the seasons for the teams I support is sort of cathartic. But I can't help wonder what the effect legal online gambling will have. Yes, I know gambling and sports has been around since Methuselah, but now regular "Joe's" are in the act, who would have never gambled in the past because of the legal aspect. The heated like war will most likely become heated like costly regret.
  - zmgsabst 2mo ago
    We’ve had the public gambling on sports off-and-on since Roman chariot racing. People don’t have to feel any certain way, but I find many of the comments seem detached from the fact there’s millennia of history about sports, gambling, etc; with many of the same concerns articulated by contemporary authors preceding you by that vast time. I’m just glad sports mobs don’t burn cities as often as they did in Rome — but I don’t have nearly the panic that more of the same will be the downfall of humanity or civilization.
    - expedition32 2mo ago
      Honestly I don't give a shit what sports fans do I just don't want tax payer money to go it. Build public swimming pools for kids.
ButlerianJihad 2mo ago
Ironically, anyone who lives in a state with major league sports is pouring beaucoup tax dollars into supporting them. The enormous tax breaks and bonds sold and deals made to establish and build stadiums, attract franchises, and keep them happy enough not to move on. It's staggering. There are two annual baseball events that I have usually attended in past years. I think Imma skip both of them this year. I have not enjoyed live baseball games in my adulthood. They are a circus of peak capitalist greed, centered around selling merch, cheap booze, terrible food, cheap liquor, gambling, and awful beer. Everyone who stays for at least 7 innings is staggering out, drunk as a skunk. Whether I ride the train home or I get on the roads, I'm positively surrounded by drunk zombie people. Woe betide us if the home team didn't win. I cannot seem to enjoy myself in the stands. Most other people are appallingly rude and don't care if I'm bothered by them. I went to a Spring Training game one time and I swear that I was somehow targeted by frat boys, who were so obnoxious that the family next to me just moved to another section entirely. My dad loves baseball. His Baseball Superfan spend is $0 or near it. He hasn't attended a live game since the 1980s, but he watches it all on TV. He simply isn't interested in merch or memorabilia or any of that marketing around it. He simply loves the game in its purity. Baseball has been a game of moral fiber, respectable players, and good clean fun. But it seems that activists and jerks set out to ruin the experience for people like me. I'm not having it. I'd have way more fun at a punk rock women's roller derby bout.
- lapcat 2mo ago
  > Baseball has been a game of moral fiber, respectable players Wait, when was this? I mean, Babe Ruth was infamous for drinking and womanizing.
  - 1659447091 2mo ago
    Not sure I agree with the "respectable players" part either, but for "Baseball has been a game of moral fiber" that could be in the sense that the game has a "moral" thread (one of character) running through it. There are "unwritten" rules to the game that players and fans simply follow but are free not too, if not they get corrected for violations the same way a culture/society corrects members who fall afoul of acceptable moral character or unwritten rules. Example: guy hits homerun adding to his teams 5 point lead and stands in the batters box admiring his hit before taking a slow excited jog around the bases -- thats just `rubbing it in` and unbecoming. No one who has played the game or watches regularly will blink an eye when his teammate comes up to bat and gets drilled with the baseball -- including the guy hit. There wont be a fight, he wont yell or charge at the pitcher, he will take his base and he'll take care of it in the locker room with the guy that showed up the badly losing teams pitcher. For an example of a fan violating this see Steve Bartman[0] an especially egregious violation of "unwritten" rules due to the games importance and its impact on the home team while being a home fan Other sports, this may lead to brawls or petty snipping in the media and resentment which spilled over to fans. Back when the Radiers were in Oakland and Chargers in san diego you'd want nothing to do with that unless you were looking for a fight. Same with teams in the other football sport. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident
mc32 2mo ago
People can support non-nation-wide leagues and minor league sports. There are many fly under the radar seasonal leagues. Most don’t make much money. A few do. One doesn’t have to support the huge multi-billion dollar teams.
- mapotofu 2mo ago
  Yes, they can, but what’s your point? It seems reflexive/defensive, like the parent comment was wrong for not caring, and that they could support smaller leagues… but they said they don’t. Some people don’t.
  - iamnothere 2mo ago
    Exactly, I just don’t really care about sports and find it bizarre how many people are into them. I’ve made an effort with friends who like sports, but never found it appealing. I guess it’s not for me.
whatever1 2mo ago
We also spend so many resources for producing books, movies etc. People are like that spending on useless things.
gucci-on-fleek 2mo ago
> That said, this is an area where antitrust enforcement would be applicable, if we ever get an admin who’s willing to engage in active trust-busting. Professional sports in the US are mostly exempt from antitrust law [0], so it would take a change of law rather than a change in administration for anything to happen here. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law#Pro_sports_exemptions_and_the_NFL_cartel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law#Pr...
- iamnothere 2mo ago
  I wasn’t aware of this, interesting. That’s an unusual historical quirk. Thanks for sharing.
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]

redwood 2mo ago

As someone who has gone back and forth over sports over the years and generally is of the anti-establishmentarian strain of thinking and inherently against sports as a general boring vanilla time sink, I do see the value of having something that folks can synchronize their time and interest to that gives joy to the masses in a shared way that is at least purely entertainment as opposed to something more heated like war.

Barrin92 2mo ago
>I do see the value of having something that folks can synchronize their time and interest to that gives joy to the masses As a bottom up communal activity yes, American sports is Roman bread & circuses now with their own Temu version of an emperor and his clan at the top. This is sports in the way Barron Harkonnen is throwing sports events for his nephew
bloomingeek 2mo ago
< entertainment as opposed to something more heated like war.> As an avid sports fan, I've always thought this. All the emotion and anguish I feel during the seasons for the teams I support is sort of cathartic. But I can't help wonder what the effect legal online gambling will have. Yes, I know gambling and sports has been around since Methuselah, but now regular "Joe's" are in the act, who would have never gambled in the past because of the legal aspect. The heated like war will most likely become heated like costly regret.
- zmgsabst 2mo ago
  We’ve had the public gambling on sports off-and-on since Roman chariot racing. People don’t have to feel any certain way, but I find many of the comments seem detached from the fact there’s millennia of history about sports, gambling, etc; with many of the same concerns articulated by contemporary authors preceding you by that vast time. I’m just glad sports mobs don’t burn cities as often as they did in Rome — but I don’t have nearly the panic that more of the same will be the downfall of humanity or civilization.
  - expedition32 2mo ago
    Honestly I don't give a shit what sports fans do I just don't want tax payer money to go it. Build public swimming pools for kids.

ButlerianJihad 2mo ago

Ironically, anyone who lives in a state with major league sports is pouring beaucoup tax dollars into supporting them. The enormous tax breaks and bonds sold and deals made to establish and build stadiums, attract franchises, and keep them happy enough not to move on. It's staggering. There are two annual baseball events that I have usually attended in past years. I think Imma skip both of them this year. I have not enjoyed live baseball games in my adulthood. They are a circus of peak capitalist greed, centered around selling merch, cheap booze, terrible food, cheap liquor, gambling, and awful beer. Everyone who stays for at least 7 innings is staggering out, drunk as a skunk. Whether I ride the train home or I get on the roads, I'm positively surrounded by drunk zombie people. Woe betide us if the home team didn't win. I cannot seem to enjoy myself in the stands. Most other people are appallingly rude and don't care if I'm bothered by them. I went to a Spring Training game one time and I swear that I was somehow targeted by frat boys, who were so obnoxious that the family next to me just moved to another section entirely. My dad loves baseball. His Baseball Superfan spend is $0 or near it. He hasn't attended a live game since the 1980s, but he watches it all on TV. He simply isn't interested in merch or memorabilia or any of that marketing around it. He simply loves the game in its purity. Baseball has been a game of moral fiber, respectable players, and good clean fun. But it seems that activists and jerks set out to ruin the experience for people like me. I'm not having it. I'd have way more fun at a punk rock women's roller derby bout.

lapcat 2mo ago
> Baseball has been a game of moral fiber, respectable players Wait, when was this? I mean, Babe Ruth was infamous for drinking and womanizing.
- 1659447091 2mo ago
  Not sure I agree with the "respectable players" part either, but for "Baseball has been a game of moral fiber" that could be in the sense that the game has a "moral" thread (one of character) running through it. There are "unwritten" rules to the game that players and fans simply follow but are free not too, if not they get corrected for violations the same way a culture/society corrects members who fall afoul of acceptable moral character or unwritten rules. Example: guy hits homerun adding to his teams 5 point lead and stands in the batters box admiring his hit before taking a slow excited jog around the bases -- thats just `rubbing it in` and unbecoming. No one who has played the game or watches regularly will blink an eye when his teammate comes up to bat and gets drilled with the baseball -- including the guy hit. There wont be a fight, he wont yell or charge at the pitcher, he will take his base and he'll take care of it in the locker room with the guy that showed up the badly losing teams pitcher. For an example of a fan violating this see Steve Bartman[0] an especially egregious violation of "unwritten" rules due to the games importance and its impact on the home team while being a home fan Other sports, this may lead to brawls or petty snipping in the media and resentment which spilled over to fans. Back when the Radiers were in Oakland and Chargers in san diego you'd want nothing to do with that unless you were looking for a fight. Same with teams in the other football sport. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident

mc32 2mo ago

People can support non-nation-wide leagues and minor league sports. There are many fly under the radar seasonal leagues. Most don’t make much money. A few do. One doesn’t have to support the huge multi-billion dollar teams.

mapotofu 2mo ago
Yes, they can, but what’s your point? It seems reflexive/defensive, like the parent comment was wrong for not caring, and that they could support smaller leagues… but they said they don’t. Some people don’t.
- iamnothere 2mo ago
  Exactly, I just don’t really care about sports and find it bizarre how many people are into them. I’ve made an effort with friends who like sports, but never found it appealing. I guess it’s not for me.

whatever1 2mo ago

We also spend so many resources for producing books, movies etc. People are like that spending on useless things.

gucci-on-fleek 2mo ago

> That said, this is an area where antitrust enforcement would be applicable, if we ever get an admin who’s willing to engage in active trust-busting. Professional sports in the US are mostly exempt from antitrust law [0], so it would take a change of law rather than a change in administration for anything to happen here. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law#Pro_sports_exemptions_and_the_NFL_cartel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law#Pr...

iamnothere 2mo ago
I wasn’t aware of this, interesting. That’s an unusual historical quirk. Thanks for sharing.

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]