re: #208 Gus 802

Yep. When I was younger I’d always open up my big mouth and say something like “oh I hate country music!” Or Disco or whatever it was that I “hated.” Later I finally realized that besides being rude it’s pointless. There’s no point in my expressing what I don’t like. I think one of the major points in life is to express what you like.

When I had a TV I went through stages of watching tennis, footballs, baseball, and once followed the Lakers during one playoff season and was thrilled with the game of basketball. Next season? Didn’t watch.

I also became a 49ers fanatic while I was living in San Francisco. I was sort of anti-footballs during my “oh I listen to Bob Dylan” stage. Then I found myself really loving the game.

First paragraph—That’s pretty much exactly like me. Also I grew up enough to realise that I might be inadvertently hurting people’s feelings by such declarations, as well as realising the sheer pointless nature of any argument.

Second two— Well, not the same teams or sports, but yeah, same. Tennis, World Cup and hockey for me.

I don’t even like football but I love the whole SuperBowl thing, same with the World Series or the Triple Crown. The social aspect of having a party or going to one and watching it. I sort of feel that way about sports generally— I like the social aspects, the yearly ritual, going to playoff or finals games with people or hosting/attending parties. And I can see that the sports themselves have some intrinsic appeal for other people. It’s also true that if you played the sport you tend to appreciate it differently than someone who merely has watched it, just as musicians appreciate music differently than those who haven’t played the instrument/any instrument. It’s in no way elitist to point out that familiarity leads to knowledge.

I think hunting for political agendas and ideologies in sports preference is as insane as looking for it in a candidate’s lettuce preference. (bonus fun fact, arugula is called ‘rocket’ in the UK, and is pretty damned common even for soccer hooligans….)