Do You Still Enjoy Sports?

[Suicane75]

Outside of my home teams I just don't care much anymore. Expansion, record bastardization, player movement. It just doesn't "move" me anymore, for lack of a better word.

Baseball- I'm a lifelong Phillies fan, my earliest memory is of sitting on my moms lap in 1980 and watching the World Series on our little black and white TV. Now? I don't even know whats going on. I check ESPN twice a week to see the standings and stat leaders but since i'm not playing fantasy this year I could honestly care less. Their is no romance in the sport anymore for me, players jump around, realignment, it all seems so fake, I just don't care about the sport anymore.

Football- I still watch and I still love the pro game but outside of the Eagles alot of it has to do gambling. I believe I still love the game but I wonder how much attention I would pay if I didn't gamble. I think alot of it has to do with the once a week, "Sunday is a holly holiday" feeling that i've had all my life, it would take alot for the NFL to fuck things up.

Hockey- I just don't care. I use to love watching the game, I still love "watching" a game, but as far as the season goes I don't care. I don't give a good damn about the new teams, I miss the old ones, probably too much to be healthy for me. I don't like the style, the rivalries no longer hold interest for me, the mix and match Stanley Cup finalists dont inspire me. I think 94 was the top of the mountain for me, it's been all down here from there.

Basketball- I guess I still like it enough but the dumb ass salaries, the 1 or 2 players per team, the lack of shooters, the realignment, the fucked up salary cap. I like nothing about the "league" I can still dig a good game am excited about the Sixers core group but again, Im just no inspired to watch or care anymore.


Intangibles- Stadium and Arena changes bother me, they shouldn't, but they do. An arena used to have an aura to it, now they're all cookie cutter crap, I couldn't tell you the names of 80% of stadiums in sports anymore, and maybe its odd, but that bothers me.

Uniforms, name changes, etc.- Wizzards? Fuck off. Bernard King was a mother fuckin Bullet, and that team should be the Bullets, fuck the Wizzards. Those Vancouver and Denver abmoninations from the 80's? They had style, I loved those uniforms, to hell with god damn Teal, shove your teal uniforms up your ass.

Expansion- I hate expansion, I fuckin hate it. When an expansion team wins a championship I feel like Mommy just brought me home a new daddy. You may get the title, but you aint my daddy, and I don't respect you because you didn't belong here to begin with because we were doing fine without you and the big paycheck you bring in you, ugly, uneeded, worthless, shit.

Im just blue.

[WrongWay]

For me it is all about Family time.

When my Family gets together for Holidays or Vacations the only thing we can agree on, or do is watch Sportson TV. When we are sitting around catching each other up on our lives we always have a game on the TV. I guess it would be too much pressure to sit around and just talk. Most of my family couldn't even name a starting player on their favorite team, but when we get together it is just relaxing to have the TV set to a sporting event. It is something you can walk in and out on, or something to drawn out your Uncle Dave as he tells you about his next great idea.

So, I guess I am saying is that I think sports on TV is a good family experience. Everyone can follow the story and you don't have to worry about offending anyone. Also, you can basically pick up and leave anytime you want, because you really don't have to see the end of the WhatEver.Com Bowl anyway.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Outside of my home teams I just don't care much anymore. Expansion, record bastardization, player movement. It just doesn't "move" me anymore, for lack of a better word.

I think I've got a milder case of the same illness, but with different symptoms.

Baseball- I still follow it about as much as ever at the major league level but I don't watch as much as I did even 3-5 years ago. I use the "Game Log" feature from MyWay.com to keep track of a lot of games that I don't bother to watch ... Interleague play pretty much killed the All-Star game for me, compared to thinking that was HUGE when I was a kid (say 30 years ago). I don't follow the minors as closely as I used to but that's more a function of less free time than anything else I think.

Football- My interest in pro football is limited to specific players (or generated by specific players, ala caring about the Colts because of Manning). I never lived & died with NFL results really but I at least could manage a rooting interest in most games, something I can't do any more. I actually enjoy college football more now than I used to,which is a mild compliment I guess probably because I've added several teams to my interest list (marry a Univ. of Tenn. grad & you'll understand). High school football has faded for me since I "retired" from doing weekly radio p-b-p, I have a lot less need-to-know
about it & the effort required to be very knowledgable every year isn't something I'm willing to do anymore.

Hockey- I'm going to be interested to see how I feel a few months from now. I've gone up & down in my NHL interest several times in my life -- loved it as a kid, lost interest as a teen, LOVED it in my early/mid 20's, lost interest in my late 20's, surged in interest big-time as it became my son's favorite spectator sport ... and then the labor dispute hit. My reaction to the salary cap & the rule changes is VERY negative & I'm really worried that those are going to keep me from being able to regain the same interest level when they return, which will be problematic if my son still loves it. I still think it's the most exciting sport to watch overall, even in the regular season.

Minor-league hockey is almost a completely different sport to me but interest has faded with the lack of a decent team in a reasonable distance. The Atlanta Knights Turner Cup run back in the 80's still ranks in my top five most exciting & enjoyable moments as a sports fan but those days are long since over. I was a 10 game a year guy for the first team in Macon several years back but had little interest in the teams that followed, since they largely sucked & the financial problems were so bad at times that you literally didn't know whether the next game would even be played. That kinda kills it for me, no point in making any emotional investment.

Basketball- Do they still play this game? That's pretty harsh coming from someone who saw 20+ Hawks games a year in person for several seasons back in the 80's. Your gripes are my gripes pretty much. My NCAA interest is down from what it used to be, but that's probably healthy (for several years, I was probably watching 15 games a week all season long).

NASCAR - I'm going to add one, since it's so high on my sports list. My interest certainly isn't gone, but it's probably down 10% or so in the past few years. I find fewer likable drivers, fewer & fewer that are "tolerable", and the venue changes haven't really impressed me much. Add the goofy new points system (vs the goofy old points system) and it's like they're doing their best to chase me away ... which, come to think of it, maybe they are. I'm aging out of their target demo I think. I still invest more time & energy into following it than any other sport & still find it on the whole to be more interesting than all except maybe baseball.

Intangibles- I feel you on the venue name thing, same here. And my reactions to those stadiums are sometimes strong ones. I despise the Georgia Dome as a venue for anything, don't like Turner Field much either. Phillips Arena is pretty spiffy I have to admit, and the minor-league Gwinnett Arena up the road is a damned fine venue. Another intangible that is a big factor for me is the people I'm likely to find sitting next to me -- baseball used to be attended by baseball fans, now it's just people trying to be seen. Hockey crowds, NHL or minors, are the ones I enjoy the most. Too many public drunks for me to enjoy college football.

Uniforms, name changes, etc.- I'm fairly neutral on most of these I think. Except the incredibly stupid ones like the Angels just pulled. Or the p.c. changes in NCAA mascots.

Expansion- Like the uniform/name thing, I'm probably more generous about expansion. I think it ruined baseball, not because of the teams themselves but because it diluted the pitching so badly. Other sports, it really hasn't bothered me much to be honest, except maybe for NASCAR where I think it's time for the fields to be reduced from 43 to about 38 for each race.

Good post Suicane, good topic IMO.

[Peregrine]

I definitely enjoy them, but my tastes have changed over the years. From when I was a kid through most of my life, I was a huge baseball fan, followed everything I could, watched games, I used to take Opening Day off from work, etc. But over the last 6-7 years I've cooled to it to the point that I don't watch games anymore, and don't really care about baseball. Not really sure why. I've replaced it by becoming a much bigger NFL fan than I used to be (I used to follow my Redskins but that was about it.) Of course besides college and pro football, and college basketball, and watching the occasional tennis or golf tournament, I don't really care about the other sports much.

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Good post Suicane, good topic IMO.

I'm sick. It's a deeper, more reflective me.

[wade moore]

(marry a Univ. of Tenn. grad & you'll understand).

Or marry someone who's family is from Knoxville.

Go Vols!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Not really affected by this bug that's going around.

NFL - I'm probably more into the NFL, specifically the Lions, then ever before. I love watching the game, I love the player movement (free agency), and especially the draft. I pretty much love all aspects of it. A lot of this, however, could be due to the fact I was in Europe for 3 years and was living in a non-US sports bubble for all that time. For whatever reason I started to follow the NFL as close as possible (mainly via the internet). I watch the NFL channel all the time, check NFL web news near hourly, and have already ordered the NFL Sunday Ticket.

College Football - I guess my interest has faded a little bit over time, but I am still afan and will still watch any "big" Michigan game.

NHL - I was pretty much obsessed with hockey from age 12 - 28 or so. When I was in junior high, highschool, college, law school, I typically caught around 60+ of the Wings' regular season games on TV and all the play-off games. You throw at least 1 or 2 HNIC games each Saturday and that's a lot of hockey. During the playoffs we would have two TVs set up side-by-side. My interest started to fade a bit when I moved overseas. The Wings team was sort of becoming a bit boring and predictible and the game was almost impossible to follow. (I also started, in some way, to feel like those cool music guys do when some small band they love all of a sudden hits it big time and it just isn't right.) Granted, this didn't stop me from hitting bars at 1:00 am on a weekday to catch some games. The impending labor strike also soured me. Again, I still went to Austria (from DC) for the weekend to catch the semi-finals and finals of the World Championships in May. As it stands now, I am as excited about the NHL as I have been in a while. I think the salary cap will add a whole new wrinkle to the game and force teams (like the Wings) to focus more on drafting and player development than just trying to cover up holes with big ticket free agents. I am eager to see how teams deal with this. I am also excited about the dawning of a new era for the Wings. Since I started watching hockey the Wings have been Yzerman's team. There have been many sub-eras in the Yzerman Era (The Still Crappy Era, The Young, Exciting Up And Coming Era, the Great Offsense But Crappy Defense And Goal Tending Tim Cheveldae Era, The Almost There Era, and The Dominant Era), but Steve has always been the center piece. While I'll be crushed never to see my Favorite Athlete Of All Time(tm) play again, I'm still excited about the future. The Center Ice Package is certainly in my future.

I never really followed any other sports, so I have no view on them.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

I'm sick. It's a deeper, more reflective me.

I know. This is not how you usually "roll".

[ice4277]

Much like Jon said with baseball, I find myself keeping up with sports quite as much as I ever did, but I watch just a fraction of what I would have five or ten years ago. The only two sports that I can now truly say I can't go without are football (pro, college, and, as work necessitates, high school) and soccer (mainly European, but also, some college for work). Other than that, I will obviously read the paper every day, watch ESPNews, etc, but I'm hard-pressed to find 3 hours to sit down and watch a game.

BTW, I would have added hockey (espeically NHL playoff hockey) to the list of 'must-see' sports, but truthfully I didn't miss it at all during the lockout, so I guess I can't really put it on there any more.

[Buccaneer]

No, I cannot watch sports on TV anymore. Way too much macho, "i'm the man" crap with a stronger tendency towards agressiveness and violence. It's not just football but all of the sports, including golf and tennis as well where POWER is name of the game, not finesse and sportsmanship. I do read about the teams, follow the standings and score but cannot watch it - esp the way the networks and ESPN present them - all very loudly, very hyper and too much like a video game.

I think I just got my curmudgeon quota done for the week.

[Icy]

It happened to me with Soccer, i'm a Real Madrid fan since i was a kid, have been at their stadium some games etc but with all this Stars league crap, where the Spanish league is the most rich in the world along with Italy and England, where all the teams have tons of stars that never play as team etc have lost my interest to the point that i don't even watch any game at TV. Probably i got burned too as during past season we could watch a game everyday, cup games, league games, European league games, national team games, every day a game in TV so i got burned.

In the other hand i'm loving more and more the USA sports, like Football, my passion since some years ago. The worst thing is that i can't talk about the NFL with anybody in Spain as were are just a few fans, but lately things are getting better as we can enjoy 3 NFL games per week now in Satellite TV (2 live and one not live) and slowly the fans are increasing. I would give my arm for being able to watch the NFL TV and my leg to watch college football but right now it's not possible in Spain. I follow the college football checking websites etc, but can't watch games unless i buy old ones in DVD. I love to learn and read about college teams rivalries, history etc.

[Draft Dodger]

I used to follow baseball (and the Dodgers) religiously. 1988 was the pinnacle for me, but also sort of the epitome of why I don't follow it much anymore. I too have become turned off by all the player movement - if you have a favorite player on your favorite team (Piazza, Pedro...), chances are good he'll be on a new team within a few years (or that guy you love to hate on your rival is suddenly your star player). In '88, it was a big deal to beat Daryl Strawberry and the Mets. It was great to hate Daryl...and then a couple years later, he's a Dodger. And now I'm supposed to cheer for this fucktard? And Eric Davis too? No thanks.

The games take forever to watch, and the commercials are just ridiculous, and the announcing, overall, seems to have gotten worse. I don't want to watch a 9-7 sluggfest that takes 4 hours. I want a 2-1 game that takes 2 hours, and they just don't happen. I can count the number of postseason games I've seen in the last 5 years on two hands. I can count the number of regular season games I've seen in the last 5 years on ZERO hands.

[Buccaneer]

I believe DD hit upon a good reason as well. What little I tried to watch of the NFL last season, particularly the prime time games, the number of commercial breaks were astounding to me.

I followed all of the sports avidly in the 1970s and 1980s plus a couple of years throughout the 90s (like 94 NFL, 98 MLB) so it's sad to see...but still fun to read. But if they keep giving press to the likes of T.O., Moss, et al, then I'll stop reading as well.

[MikeVick7]

For once I totally agree with Suicane on this one. I've lost a lot of love for sports over the last couple years as well.

And after reading Icy's post I think I am the American version of him. While I've lost my love for some sports here in the US, I've started to follow soccer more and more.

[Buccaneer]

I have a partial solution. Obviously they need all of those ad dollars to pay for the broadcasts (and rights). Maybe if they do away with many of the high-tech, slick graphics, high-priced announcers who bring more attention to themselves and reduce the amount of pure commercialism, then the game starts to become more of the focus. This goes with college just as much as the pros.

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

I believe DD hit upon a good reason as well. What little I tried to watch of the NFL last season, particularly the prime time games, the number of commercial breaks were astounding to me.

At least when you are watching on TV, you can change the channel. It is ridiculous how the game drags by when you are watching at the stadium and there are 3 TV timeouts during a 15-minute span.

[korme]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Wizzards? Fuck off. Bernard King was a mother fuckin Bullet

hahahah I like you

[vtbub]

I use to be an all sports fan, now I'm a baseball fan that watches or tolerates othr sports.

I'm a big Red Sox fan, so my interest hasn't waned, it's grown. Last fall was pure magic. Plus, baseball isn't a game that requires 100% of your attention, you can do other things while watching.

I like the NFL less and less. I'm not a fan of parity, and I don't do fantasy sports anymore. At somepoint, IMHO, it stopped being about the logo on the helmet and started being about the name on the back of the jersey.

The NBA is purely unwatchable, despite Tim Duncan. Hopefully LeBron will continue to develop. Too many teams. Too little talent.

I'm actually excited about hockey's return, 5-4 games are fun to watch. HNIC is great and the Habs are good.

Golf and College Hoops are things I watch on a regular basis and college football on Saturday's.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

The only sport I really are for now is Auto Racing. All others have really been blah after a while.

[mhass]

I thought it was the fact that I had kids, but some of these things I realize now are part of the reason I've quit following sports in general. I'm still addicted to football but I generally ignore everything else. If the NBA folded up and quit I wouldn't bat an eye. And baseball is such a different game with the homerum today. The only time I'd sit and watch a game now is if I were flipping through and saw Prior or Maddux pitching. Those guys are incredible to watch - otherwise, I can do without six homeruns a game and a 11-8 final.

[Karlifornia]

Here's the thing: When you're growing up, you have time to keep up with everything. I remember being on top of every little detail in the NBA, NFL, and MLB (and a little bit hockey and quite a bit in College hoops and college football). I would buy Athlon, Street & Smith's, and maybe another one that really sucked but it was a sports mag so it didn't bother me. Not one. All of those. I would read those sumbitches cover to cover 12 times before the season would start. I would scour the rosters, and imagine the rookies in their new uniforms. Anytime a trade would happen for any time I'd get excited and imagine what the new lineup is going to look like. "Tim Hardaway for Bimbo Coles and Kevin Willis? Man that sucks that Timmy's gone, but at least there's a couple new guys to check out. I have to see that game tonight". I remember when the Giants would sign some over the hill shlub for mop-up duty midway through the season, I'd be anxious to see the guy in action. So what if it's Terry Mulholland and he's 39 years old? So what if he's only going to pitch in blowouts? I wanna know what jersey number he's going to be wearing. Otherwise, my mind just feels out of order for the rest of the goddamn day!!

Where did those feelings go?

And I already knew what team they were playing, what time it was on, and the other teams entire starting lineup. I knew every single baseball and football stadium name--and not just the famous ones, either. I'm talking when either they were named after some guy your grandpa knew about, or they had some colorful name. Joe Robbie, Jack Murphy, Candlestick, The Big Sombrero, Humphrey Dome, Arrowhead, Riverfront..I could go on and on. I hate this "Monster Park, three SBC stadiums, 50% are named after banks" bullshit. It sucks. There's no emotional value there. I can't imagine having my grandkid on my knee 50 years from now, regaling him with stories about going to "Network Associates Coliseum". That sounds like some kind of fucking job expo.

I remember the big games actually being EVENTS. Everyone would be talking about the NBA Finals. Magic vs. Bird, Jordan vs. anyone. It was great. The Super Bowl is really the only thing like that anymore. Even the World Series is only watched by fans of the participating teams. Subway Series? Nobody watched it outside of New York. Why the fuck not? Two teams in the same city going at for 7 games...for the World Championship? The Evil Yankees are playing? Are you kidding me? How could nobody want to watch that? AND I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA!

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by RadioFriendlyUnitShifter

Here's the thing: When you're growing up, you have time to keep up with everything. I remember being on top of every little detail in the NBA, NFL, and MLB (and a little bit hockey and quite a bit in College hoops and college football). I would buy Athlon, Street & Smith's, and maybe another one that really sucked but it was a sports mag so it didn't bother me. Not one. All of those. I would read those sumbitches cover to cover 12 times before the season would start. I would scour the rosters, and imagine the rookies in their new uniforms. Anytime a trade would happen for any time I'd get excited and imagine what the new lineup is going to look like. "Tim Hardaway for Bimbo Coles and Kevin Willis? Man that sucks that Timmy's gone, but at least there's a couple new guys to check out. I have to see that game tonight". I remember when the Giants would sign some over the hill shlub for mop-up duty midway through the season, I'd be anxious to see the guy in action. So what if it's Terry Mulholland and he's 39 years old? So what if he's only going to pitch in blowouts? I wanna know what jersey number he's going to be wearing. Otherwise, my mind just feels out of order for the rest of the goddamn day!!

Where did those feelings go?

And I already knew what team they were playing, what time it was on, and the other teams entire starting lineup. I knew every single baseball and football stadium name--and not just the famous ones, either. I'm talking when either they were named after some guy your grandpa knew about, or they had some colorful name. Joe Robbie, Jack Murphy, Candlestick, The Big Sombrero, Humphrey Dome, Arrowhead, Riverfront..I could go on and on. I hate this "Monster Park, three SBC stadiums, 50% are named after banks" bullshit. It sucks. There's no emotional value there. I can't imagine having my grandkid on my knee 50 years from now, regaling him with stories about going to "Network Associates Coliseum". That sounds like some kind of fucking job expo.

I remember the big games actually being EVENTS. Everyone would be talking about the NBA Finals. Magic vs. Bird, Jordan vs. anyone. It was great. The Super Bowl is really the only thing like that anymore. Even the World Series is only watched by fans of the participating teams. Subway Series? Nobody watched it outside of New York. Why the fuck not? Two teams in the same city going at for 7 games...for the World Championship? The Evil Yankees are playing? Are you kidding me? How could nobody want to watch that? AND I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA!

Well said. It really revokes memories of my childhood as well. Its a shame, when you really think about it. Wish life could be that simple again sometimes.

**Edit**

I also am starting to feel the same way about video games as well too. I have more fun coming here talking about stuff than actually sitting down and playing it. Maybe its just getting harder and harder to devote countless hours to playing a dynasty, etc. I can remember manually entering each and every team into "The SportingNews Baseball" for my PC probably around 1990 or so.

[Radii]

Its strange, college basketball is my first love, and I still love basketball more than any other sport, but I find myself unable to watch the random ESPN 8pm game if it doesn't involve two ACC teams anymore. I watch every UNC game I can and if I'm at home on saturday or sunday afternoon most likely have whatever ACC game I can find, but I used to watch as much basketball as possible.

I'm probably more of an avid NFL watcher now. Sundays are football days, end of story. I may be helpnig to clean the house, cub scouts may take up 1 hour of sunday aftenroon, but football will be on all day, I will religiously read all the writeups on all the games monday morning when I first get into work, and I wait for TMQ like my kid waits for Santa Claus.

Baseball - There were years where I would watch 162 cubs games a year if possible(or more if they made the playof.... HAHAHA just kidding about that, but I always imagined what it would be like to watch the Cubs in the playoffs). Those days are gone. If the Red Sox or Yankees are on, I turn the channel automatically. If either of htem are in the world series, I won't watch a minute of it. I could probably stomach about 25 Cubs games a year(I've seen about 7 so far this year).