# Anybody else quit watching sports?



## gibbsgirl (May 1, 2013)

We used to be a sports watching family. In particular, we followed nascar and the nfl closely every season. We also watched some other pro-sports and some college sports.

A few years ago, we just started drifting away from scheduling our activities around watching games and races. Then, two years ago, we went to just catching stuff when we remembered. Last season, we watched the superbowl. That's it. 

Dad watched a few races. This year I put on Daytona for him. None of us have watched anything since.

No one seems to care. It felt like we weren't watching the sport anymore. There were too many commercials, ads during the games/races. And, we were annoyed with how many non-sport related drama news there seemed to constantly be about the athletes, owners, etc.

It's been very surreal though for me. No one here seems to give a hoot. And, everyone was like "whatever" about watching the superbowl and Daytona.

I think we might be done with this all forever??? It just doesn't feel like it used to. I was raised with daily life being planned around games and races. But, the way sports are followed and broadcast nowadays and fantasy leagues and all that has just kind of lost me. I used to love to just sit down and see what the team could do week to week against their opponents. The sports were exciting and satisfying enough, without all the extra hoopla.

Just wondering if anyone else can relate?


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Never did have the time or desire. Just not interested. Too much else to occupy my time.


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

My family have all been Nascar fans for years. We grew up with racing but in the last few years, all of us have slacked off on NASCAR. It is too commercialized and all of the manipulation is boring. My DH and Sil were Dale fans and now Dale Jr. We are Braves fans but are not watching as many games as usual now. My husband is a diehard Falcons fan and I will watch the games with him. I like college football and he does too. We watch a lot of college football and all Clemson Games and most UGA games. We had CU seasons tickets for many years. We cannot go to the games any more but they are on tv now. We used to watch a lot of college basketball but not so much anymore.


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## MoTightwad (Sep 6, 2011)

We quit watching baseball when they all went out on strike. Now the tv sits blank when any o them are on. No football here at all and the rest of the sports are just nothing. We hate ay of the commercials and it seems that is all tv is any more.


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## Shine (Feb 19, 2011)

Yeah... no longer draws me - watch some golf if I need a nap...


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Used to drive stock cars...family raced with Petty and Earnhardt and the 'Bama boys, plus local tracks...With the loss of Dale Sr, Kulwicki and Allison...I stopped watching. 
When I hung up my helmet, I stopped reading.
The only sports that interest me are the ones I partake in on a local or family level. The rest is a waste of time, at least to me.

Matt


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

DH and Dad watch football, which I don't care for at all. I am a "fair weather fan" of the Royals, started paying attention to baseball again last year and totally enjoyed their miracle string of games to get to the world series. They are playing really well again this year, I catch a game here and there. Which usually means, have the game on the tv but not sitting there watching it; use the DVR to go back and check out a play when you hear the announcer or the crowd react.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I see all sports as just children's games. I never understood the interest for adults in them? Not enough accomplishments in a persons own life so they attempt to live through the accomplishments of others? OUR team? WE won? what does that mean, you are sitting on a couch doing nothing, WE did not win those people playing did. I just always thought sports to be folly and a waste of time. I simply have never had time to attempt to live through someone else, always had too much going on I wanted to actually do. I am not sure at what point in our country growing up became a choice we did not have to make at some point in our life. I could throw the TV out the window tomorrow and never miss it. TV is not real. Come on $35 for a baseball cap just because it has a number on it or a team logo, how stupid do you have to be to spend that kind of money to provide free advertising for somebody that does not even know you exist. If it were left up to me there would not even be sports in school. After school leaques, I got no problem with. When our local school spends $300K to redo the football field, but they do not want to spend the money for a new Agri. building. How many kids will go on to have careers in sports? Almost zero. How many kids will go on to have careers in some form of agriculture? around here many. 

Sorry, I just think all sports are a total waste of time. But I got no problem with children playing sports as a way to exercise and build team building skills and learn that there are winners and losers and in the end, not everybody gets a trophy! Oh wait, now they do all get trophy's, because they are all winners right?

BTW, I did play football as a child, but when I grew up I left all that kids stuff behind me.


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## poppy (Feb 21, 2008)

Never cared for it. I enjoyed playing sports as a kid but watching professionals just isn't my thing.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

I think those of us who tended to geekhood in school have been less likely to develop an interest in sports. When you don't have any possibility of being a real competitor yourself any interest dies. (FWIW, this concept is one of the basics of Adlerian psychology and family constellations, where one child will develop a particular skill and the others diverge in predictable patterns.)

For me, sports was coupled with stinking towels, a sweaty locker room with institutional tile, jocks who had less intelligence than their straps, and a coach that I had no reason to respect. I did develop a liking for downhill skiing and a passing interest in short track stock car racing, but those were rarely well covered. 

As time went on, I saw less and less in sports that attracted me. Big money, big egos and gains measured in hundredths of a second indicate a pastime that has reached the end point of development. As someone who is a creator, that is a death knell to my interest. I remember the days when soap box derby racing was literally kludged together scrap materials put on a standard set of wheels and pushed downhill. To me, that idea was great fun. When adults got seriously involved and streamlining and incremental gains (and cheating) got involved I lost all interest.

The commercialization of sports on tv and the maximizing of profits turned me off to the point that IF I wanted to watch something I would set the tivo and wait at least 90 minutes, so that I could skip commercials and time-outs and just watch the event.

You can only burden the donkey that is the consumer with so much baggage before he kicks it off and goes elsewhere. Cable tv in particular has not yet learned that lesson, and advertisers don't care as long as they get their message out.


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## Scott SW Ohio (Sep 20, 2003)

We attend one or two Cincinnati Reds home games in an average season. There's plenty of commercialism at the ball park too, but I still really enjoy a live game once in a while. We go seldom enough that it's a special, fun experience to share with friends. Since we no longer have a TV I don't have an opinion about watching games that way. 

As a kid growing up in central lower Michigan I was a Tigers fan. I played Little League baseball (second base - weak throwing arm) and our coach drove us in to Detroit once a season to see a game. We looked forward to that game day more than Christmas - it was the highlight of our year, yokel kids out in the sticks suddenly whisked into the big city, to the friendly confines of old Tiger Stadium. We'd be herded along by the adults, tromping about a mile thru the concrete jungle from our parking spot in some vacant lot, then up the ramps and into the stadium to emerge in the stands where we beheld the brilliant green field, mowed into diamond shapes, a breathtaking sight, and equally bright organ music filling the air and vibrating right through you. 

And then there was the game, and keeping a scorecard, and buying one hot dog and one Pepsi because that was all we could afford so we made them last for about six innings. And usually one kid would buy a Tiger Yearbook and we would pass it around for the entire game, checking out the lifetime statistics of our favorite players (mine was Al Kaline, but he was everyone's favorite - secretly I admired Don Wert for his good glove and tenacity in somehow staying in the majors with about a .172 batting average, and I cheered loudest for him when he came to the plate). 

We were sharp-eyed and opinionated youngsters and could call balls and strikes from our restricted view seats behind a post in dead center field. "The Wave" didn't exist yet, so we were limited to yelling "Charge!" when prompted by the organist, or beating our seats up and down in noisy rhythm to ignite a late-inning rally. 

I was substantially disillusioned by the various players' strikes over the years, along with the whole free agency thing, and lost touch with baseball, and now I couldn't name a dozen current big leaguers. But still I like to sit in the stands on the occasional warm summer afternoon and have a hot dog and a Pepsi and cheer on the home team, whoever the heck they are.


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## gibbsgirl (May 1, 2013)

Haven't been to a mlb game in over a decade. gonna take the kids to one this summer, so they can get to see one. it's costing us a pretty penny. I couldn't imagine going a lot like we did when I was a kid. even the nose-bleed seats are pricey.

fell out with baseball mostly, shortly after the strike in the 1990s, too.

our kids have participated in sports for years. but, we pared it down to just one sports instead of three. it still takes up a lot of time almost year round though.

one of our older boy's is doing well. no a superstar, but better than average, and he's on a pretty successful team.

he has one year left before high school. we're seriously debating if we should stop then or not. don't want to short change him from the childhood experience or good things that could come out of it. but, we're thinking that by 9th grade, it's time to tell him he needs to stay in shape, but kid sports are for kids, and he needs to move forward with more adult activities and hobbies that will teach him things he can use as an adult. 

seems like a better direction to guide him in than just "chasing the dream". cause at what point do you drop out and grow up? I know some people make it to college, pros, etc. but, most don't. and, for all the talk and writing about how-to (fill in the blank) with kids sports, I still have yet to come across significant discussion about how to "make a graceful exit and close out your youth sports career".


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## gapeach (Dec 23, 2011)

Roadking said:


> Used to drive stock cars...family raced with Petty and Earnhardt and the 'Bama boys, plus local tracks...With the loss of Dale Sr, Kulwicki and Allison...I stopped watching.
> When I hung up my helmet, I stopped reading.
> The only sports that interest me are the ones I partake in on a local or family level. The rest is a waste of time, at least to me.
> 
> Matt


Interesting! Did you ever race at Greenville/Pickens Speedway? We grew up watching Richard Petty,Ralph Earnhardt, David Childress, and the Allisons. My DH was in a pit crew for one of his racing friends. Butch Lindley was my best friend's brother, and he raced for Bobby Allison, hit the wall in VA, never recovered and lived 6 yrs in a coma. Racing was a lot of fun. My husband was in and out of the Goodwrench shops when he was working so a loyal Dale E. fan and still DJr fan. SIL too. We followed it for a very long time. the whole family.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

When family or friends play I attend.. cheap entertainment and bonding.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

Shot clock in basketball took ball handling skill out of the game and changed it from a game of strategy to one where you just threw up the ball as much a possible and if you missed you hoped your tall guy was taller than their tall guy. Three point line just added to it. 

Baseball was bad enough to watch before they started all the interleage junk. You have two or three guys doing something while the rest just wait for something to happen so they can do something. Then there's the doping. . . The wife likes to listen to games but she's a Cubs and Indians fan so she clearly has a masochistic streak in her.

Football used to be a tough game now days I'm surprised they don't postpone games when it rains. Oh the weather here is hot/cold/rainy/etc lets play indoors. Plus it was bad enough when if you accidentally sneezed on a punter you drew a flag. Now I'm not even sure why quarterbacks don't wear tutus instead of pads because its almost illegal to even touch one on the field. Can you see one of those guys running an option where he might actually have to be hit? 

NASCAR has became a joke. When was the last time you saw a "stock" car on the track? The only difference is the stickers they put on them. Cars are too fast so let's put restrictor plates on them so not only do they all look the same but they all have the same acceleration and top speed. Then we can watch what is effectively a 150mph traffic jam and the winner will be the one with the fastest pit stops and/or doesn't get caught up in the monster wreck on the last lap.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

When I was a kid dad would take all his kids, and any neighborhood kids, to the Twins games on a knothole day. This was a day when kids got in really cheap, like a buck each. Dad would spring for a pop and a hot dog each, again cheap. I really enjoyed those outings and followed MLB as an adult.

Now the price of tickets has gone through the roof and food is insane. I won't go to a MLB game anymore. Most of the games are broadcast on cable, which I don't have, so I don't even watch them anymore. 

The other reason I no longer watch them is the salaries have gone way out of sight. It used to be that players played the game because they enjoyed it. Now they have huge egos and play because they can't turn down the money.

The other major league sports are the same only worse. NFL tickets are beyond what I can afford. In addition season ticket holders have to pay an additional one time fee between $300 and $10000, over and above the admission prices, for each seat in the new stadium. 

The only pro games I have been to recently are the St. Paul Saints. Ticket are cheap and food is reasonable. They have kids races and shoot T shirts into the stands with an air cannon. The team mascot is a pig who runs loose on the field sometimes. Lots more fun than a Twins game and way cheaper.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Only sports I watch on the boob tube are an occasional horse race or maybe a pro rodeo if I don't have anything better to do.

I didn't even know who that Brady guy being ripped apart on the news had something to do with the flat football in that game awhile back until GF explained it to me a day or two back as we were watching the news together.

When I watch televised news I usually have a couple newspapers in my lap to read during what I consider the boring segments and the only reason I even open the sports section of my paper is to read the local obituaries on the next to the last page before putting it in the stack of paper I line the dogs potty pans with unless I see a picture of a racehorse as I am thumbing to the list of local daisy pusher uppers. :shrug:


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Peach, family ran the Busch Grand National series and NASCAR Modifieds...never heard of Pickens speedway...Charlotte, Daytona, Talladega, The Rock, Pocono, etc.
Local Tracks were Flemington, Brigeport, East Windsor, Bethelehem, etc. in PA and NJ,

Matt


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Shrek said:


> Only sports I watch on the boob tube are an occasional horse race or maybe a pro rodeo if I don't have anything better to do.
> 
> I didn't even know who that Brady guy being ripped apart on the news had something to do with the flat football in that game awhile back until GF explained it to me a day or two back as we were watching the news together.
> 
> When I watch televised news I usually have a couple newspapers in my lap to read during what I consider the boring segments and the only reason I even open the sports section of my paper is to read the local obituaries on the next to the last page before putting it in the stack of paper I line the dogs potty pans with unless I see a picture of a racehorse as I am thumbing to the list of local daisy pusher uppers. :shrug:


I used to follow the horse races. It was about as close as I ever came to liking "sports". But there wasn't much of a following among my friends and it wasn't something I really enjoyed as much on my own. So I haven't paid attention to even that for close to a decade.

At one time, I had even worked out some pretty basic money management so that I could put in some very small wagers and expect to at least break even, sometimes have dinner on the track, just small stuff. Quit doing all of that, too, as people around me weren't comfortable with me "gambling". (I always found it interesting that people would spend $200 to go to a sporting event of some kind with no hope of ever seeing that $200 again while I could go to a day at the races, spend $30 and sometimes leave with more than I came with,... but "I" was the one being looked down upon as being wasteful of money... still puzzles me. But hey, maybe other people really do have gambling problems when put in those situations. I didn't want to encourage anyone else to develop a gambling addiction, for sure.)


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## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

I watched NASCAR when the teams drove or trailered the car that they were going to race to the race. Now that was racing. Didn't have a yellow flag every time a piece of paper blew onto the track, watched NFL before there were players running down field with dreadlocks flapping from under their helmet, watched golf until cameras seemed to only concentrate on one or two players, never have cared for baseball, kinda like watching grass grow, now I watch the occasional UFC fight and that's pretty much it. I think Super Bowl 10 was the last Super Bowl that I watched.

.


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## Truckinguy (Mar 8, 2008)

Most of us here grew up playing hockey since we could hold a stick, playing in the street or on ponds and rinks as often as we could. A lot of adults still play hockey in various leagues, including quite a few women I know who play in women's leagues. I played regularly up until about three years ago, I'm a goalie and played ice, ball and roller hockey, lots of fun and great for fitness. I hope I can get back into it again.

There are lots of NHL fans here who follow their teams faithfully. We are faithful but disillusioned Toronto Maple Leaf fans although there are Montreal (booo!), Detroit and Calgary fans among my friends. When I lived in Toronto I had cable and for years quite a few people would come to my house and watch pretty much every game each year, wearing our jerseys and stressing out about each goal, for or against. I"m living in the country now and only have over the air signal. I can only get Saturday night games so I"m not up as much as I like to be on stats and stuff but I still have my Leaf jerseys draped over the back of the couch.

I've never really been a baseball fan although I've been to a few Blue Jay games lately with my Mom and a couple of others. It's a great event to go to, the atmosphere is exciting and it's a nice day outing to spend time with people. Otherwise I kind of find the game itself boring.

I like football but prefer the CFL over the NFL. It just seems to be a bit of a quicker game with the bigger field and the atmosphere seems a little more personalized than the huge commercialized NFL, plus the players don't make a lot of money so I think they might play a little more for the love of the game.

I'm kind of warming up to basketball as I learn the rules and watch a couple of games here and there. Still not a big fan.

I've never really been a big car racing fan but my Dad was. He followed car racing of various types since the 50's and in his later years I would watch a race with him from time to time. I wasn't really into racing but it meant a lot to him so I tried to be a little knowledgeable and talk to him about it. Now he's gone I'm glad I shared those experiences with him. I don't follow any racing now myself.

I don't get most of the channels that the games are on so I can't watch them anyway and refuse to pay for specialty channels that make you pay for the channel and still show commercials. I'm also pretty busy on my little homestead so there's not the time available that I used to have.


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

We used to watch the Braves back in the 90s and early 2000s, but drifted away as our favorite players moved on/retired.

I have NO PATIENCE for football whatsoever...move an inch, stop the clock, reset everybody on the field, start the clock...repeat. I have watched precisely ONE football game all the way through and that was a couple of years ago when Alabama made that bonehead move in the last few seconds of the game and lost.

To me, car racing is on par with golf and tennis (and watching paint dry), and I DESPISE basketball...I'd rather eat dirt than have to watch even a minute of it.

I do like to watch gymnastics during the Olympics, though, so there IS a sport I like! http://www.homesteadingtoday.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## LT2108 (May 28, 2014)

I can't get away from Sports 

Especially since I have Cavalier fever !


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