I dislike professional sports intensely, not because I think it's a waste of time, but because I think of all the money spent on professional sports which could go to educating our children or better yet, providing universal healthcare to the whole country. When my own children were in high school, the sports teams had their busses to games paid for. Those on the debate team had to pay for their own bus. In rural areas, kids miss many hours of school being bussed to games miles away. Let parents pay for school sports for their children and use the money saved to increase teacher salaries. All kinds of options for the money wasted on sports in this country, both school sports and professional sports.
Alan, sorry, catching up on comments. Thanks for writing! When I was in high school it would simply have been too far for my parents to take me until I could drive. I think the primacy of a few sports leaves out a lot of others that many could enjoy for the camaraderie and fitness. I remember that some WV schools were starting to do mountain biking!
Good article, Ed, and cleverly written as usual. I would just ask what's the big deal? I used to love playing baseball and football, and when our boys were young, I enjoyed watching them and their friends/teammates play baseball, soccer, track and cross-country. As for professional and college sports, however, I could give a rat's pertutie. With all that's going on in the world I take a certain satisfaction in not knowing or caring about big time sports, and no one has ever looked at me like I was suffering from low testosterone. I certainly have nothing against those who closely follow the teams, leagues, mascots, statistics, etc., but when brought up in casual conversation, my usual response is: "I don't follow major sports", or just "Get a life!"
Jon, my kids played a little basketball, t-ball and soccer when they were small, and girl-child danced until mid grade-school. But after that they just preferred goofing off in their own woods, hanging with friends, reading, etc. I agree with you, I just couldn't ever learn to care about any of it.
I would need this seminar! 😂 I'm athletic and played some sports in HS and college (soccer, swimming, rugby) but I have no interest in watching them. This scene resonated with me during March Madness. (Hopefully it shares here, but is Maya Rudolph trying to guess sports team names) https://x.com/LateNightSeth/status/1773442591557591167?t=Wij7AbfoUnzgQCDOOL66PQ&s=09
I can get by with a 🤷♀️ when sportsball comes up I'm conversation, but that's probably because I'm a woman. I never thought about the societal expectation that all men would be well-versed in sports, so I'm grateful for your pointing that out. And how annoying that must be for you!
Thank you Christine! At 59 I'm at peace with it. I just mumble and change the topic. Frankly, at parties I always preferred the company of women anyway. They're usually better conversationalists.
I dislike professional sports intensely, not because I think it's a waste of time, but because I think of all the money spent on professional sports which could go to educating our children or better yet, providing universal healthcare to the whole country. When my own children were in high school, the sports teams had their busses to games paid for. Those on the debate team had to pay for their own bus. In rural areas, kids miss many hours of school being bussed to games miles away. Let parents pay for school sports for their children and use the money saved to increase teacher salaries. All kinds of options for the money wasted on sports in this country, both school sports and professional sports.
Alan, sorry, catching up on comments. Thanks for writing! When I was in high school it would simply have been too far for my parents to take me until I could drive. I think the primacy of a few sports leaves out a lot of others that many could enjoy for the camaraderie and fitness. I remember that some WV schools were starting to do mountain biking!
Good article, Ed, and cleverly written as usual. I would just ask what's the big deal? I used to love playing baseball and football, and when our boys were young, I enjoyed watching them and their friends/teammates play baseball, soccer, track and cross-country. As for professional and college sports, however, I could give a rat's pertutie. With all that's going on in the world I take a certain satisfaction in not knowing or caring about big time sports, and no one has ever looked at me like I was suffering from low testosterone. I certainly have nothing against those who closely follow the teams, leagues, mascots, statistics, etc., but when brought up in casual conversation, my usual response is: "I don't follow major sports", or just "Get a life!"
Jon, my kids played a little basketball, t-ball and soccer when they were small, and girl-child danced until mid grade-school. But after that they just preferred goofing off in their own woods, hanging with friends, reading, etc. I agree with you, I just couldn't ever learn to care about any of it.
I would need this seminar! 😂 I'm athletic and played some sports in HS and college (soccer, swimming, rugby) but I have no interest in watching them. This scene resonated with me during March Madness. (Hopefully it shares here, but is Maya Rudolph trying to guess sports team names) https://x.com/LateNightSeth/status/1773442591557591167?t=Wij7AbfoUnzgQCDOOL66PQ&s=09
I can get by with a 🤷♀️ when sportsball comes up I'm conversation, but that's probably because I'm a woman. I never thought about the societal expectation that all men would be well-versed in sports, so I'm grateful for your pointing that out. And how annoying that must be for you!
Thank you Christine! At 59 I'm at peace with it. I just mumble and change the topic. Frankly, at parties I always preferred the company of women anyway. They're usually better conversationalists.