Do "Nerds" Not Enjoy Sports, Or Just Not Mainstream Ones?

[Bigsmith]

I don't like watching sport, I think the whole multi-billion pound industry that's been built around people watching people kick a ball into a net is just silly. It's not just that, I hate the sheer amount of money being thrown around just so they can have a person that can kick a ball into a net better then the next person.

I have had people complaining that we could do X with the same amount of money we spent on the Olympic openings. Well what could we do if the Football industry put more money back into the pot, they certainly haven't been effected by the economic climate.

So it's not that I dislike sport; it's closer to me not liking the industry that's been built around it.

Oh, I also detest the serious 'fans'.

Would I have looked this deep into something if I wasn't a 'nerd'? Probably not. So you could say that I hate it because I chose to look beyond the game because I'm more intelligent then the STEREOTYPICAL football fan.

(Only using football as an example.)

At the same time, I don't mind casually playing Cricket.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

I like most sports, just not watching them. It's difficult to think of an activity that would bore me more than watching a sports game. Heck, I've gotten more amusement out of watching the fireplace channel. Considerably more. I just don't understand how people can get that into them, or invested in a team that was geographically assigned for them to like.

Playing sports however? I absolutely love. I used to climb competitively and went to 3 national competitions, and it's up there in my favorite activities to do. Ultimate frisbee, track events, pole vaulting, gymnastics, volleyball, there's probably more sports I enjoy playing than ones I don't. Football and Hockey are probably my least favorite. Although that may have something to do with the fact that most of the people I know who played them were completely invested in the sport to the degree that there was little else to discuss with them.

 

[Johnny Impact]

Don't like sports of any type. Don't like them in any way, shape, or form. I wouldn't even spare the thought it takes to dislike them if they weren't fucking everywhere in our culture.

I wanted to buy new shorts this summer but couldn't. In two stores there wasn't a single pair -- not one pair -- that didn't have a sports team logo or athletic company logo on it. I will not, repeat NOT, pay money for anything with a giant Nike swoosh on it, never mind a team insignia.

I do find occasional moments of laughter when people say stupid things about sports. This kid at my work says things like, "Coach was saying our new receiver is blah blah blah...."

Oh really? "Coach was saying"? Always makes me want to reply, "Get this straight, monkey-boy: you are fat, arrogant, lazy, pasty-white suburban trash. You lack even a single molecule of athletic ability. I've seen you try to move. It was like watching a pregnant hippo struggle up the riverbank. You are not on that team. You are not on any team. You have never been near a team. Don't say 'Coach said' like he's your coach, or 'our receiver' like you work with him every day. He isn't, and you don't. Go join your dad on the couch, inhale your extra-cheesy nachos, and criticize players for missing plays you wouldn't on the best day of your nonexistent life have had a prayer of completing yourself." [/rant]

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Don't like sports of any type. Don't like them in any way, shape, or form. I wouldn't even spare the thought it takes to dislike them if they weren't fucking everywhere in our culture.

I wanted to buy new shorts this summer but couldn't. In two stores there wasn't a single pair -- not one pair -- that didn't have a sports team logo or athletic company logo on it. I will not, repeat NOT, pay money for anything with a giant Nike swoosh on it, never mind a team insignia.

I do find occasional moments of laughter when people say stupid things about sports. This kid at my work says things like, "Coach was saying our new receiver is blah blah blah...."

Oh really? "Coach was saying"? Always makes me want to reply, "Get this straight, monkey-boy: you are fat, arrogant, lazy, pasty-white suburban trash. You lack even a single molecule of athletic ability. I've seen you try to move. It was like watching a pregnant hippo struggle up the riverbank. You are not on that team. You are not on any team. You have never been near a team. Don't say 'Coach said' like he's your coach, or 'our receiver' like you work with him every day. He isn't, and you don't. Go join your dad on the couch, inhale your extra-cheesy nachos, and criticize players for missing plays you wouldn't on the best day of your nonexistent life have had a prayer of completing yourself." [/rant]

What are you taking as sports? Because the term tends to be pretty inclusive. As your post is right now it sounds like you dislike any sort of physical activity for enjoyment.

 

[Dimitriov]

I am, by most measures, pretty nerdy.

I like turn based strategy games, discussing etymology, reading Tolkien, and quoting Star Wars from memory... all of it.


I am also Canadian and a fan of Hockey. So yeah.

If it's worth anything to you I do think that baseball, soccer, and basketball are all pretty crap, and that you would have to be kind of slow to enjoy watching them.

But again I am Canadian. Seriously though, all those sports are PAINFULLY boring to watch (though in fairness actually playing them can be fun).

 

[Syzygy23]

I love fencing, but nobody televises it or organizes large, national competitive leagues for it.

And that's why God hates us.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I consider myself a huge nerd, even though I don't look like one. I enjoy NBA a lot. And ever since I moved to Europe I started to enjoy football a lot. I even adopted the correct term as you can see. I evolved.

 

[Tanakh]

I'm pondering this question as I listen to my oldest brother clearly enjoying (American) football, a sport which I am bored to tears by 99% of the time.
I never walked into school or work and said "Hey guys, how bout them Giants?". Growing up in a rural town, pretty much all anyone talked about was sports, so I was usually quiet and off in my own world for these talks.

But that's not to say I don't like sports. I prefer rugby to football, hockey to baseball, and MMA to basketball. When the World Championships for judo comes on, I watch with rapt attention.

So what do you guys think? Do us "nerds" not like sports, or do we just like different ones?

I would be tempted to revoke your nerd credentials because that is a hasty generalization fallacy. That is, in your experience nerds dont like sports, but in mine i can name dozens of math, physic, biology, comp science and other nerd careers that love mainstream sports... actually i would think most of them do.

I am however be more interested in asking "why do you think you are a nerd?" and pitching you football based on that.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I just find it pointless and boring to watch I think the amounts people get paid for it is shameful too. I bet the Human race is the only one in the galaxy who gives more money to a footballer than a nurse or a fireman.

I think most nerds are introverts too. Saying; 'Hello would you like to work on a team and perform in front of lots of people you don't know' is tantamount to saying 'Hi there would you liked to be stabbed in the eye with this rusty spoon.'

When people say 'The Giants have won' I like to think Asgard has fallen to Loki's tricks yet again. It's more fun that way.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Some nerds do like sports, but I think it's fair to say that most nerds hate the average sports fan. This would probably put most nerds off of sports. The same way LoL fans put people off the actual game.

 

[Insanity72]

I like Blood Bowl....does that count? (For those who don't know, it's a cross between american football, Warhammer Fantasy and turn based strategy, where you are almost as likely to kill your opponent as knock them down to the ground.)

 

[Johnny Impact]

What are you taking as sports? Because the term tends to be pretty inclusive. As your post is right now it sounds like you dislike any sort of physical activity for enjoyment.

Any physical activity that 1) is highly competitive, 2) is done "professionally," and 3) is followed by large numbers of people as if it actually mattered.

Baseball and (American) football are the worst, because they have by far the largest fanbase here. It's not even the sports themselves, I could care less what two groups of dudes in tight pants do with (or to) each other on some field a thousand miles away. It's got less than nothing to do with me.

What does bother me is the rabid commercialization and incessant fan chatter. You seriously cannot go five minutes without hearing about either baseball or football where I live. My state doesn't even have its own teams, but that doesn't seem to matter.

Soccer, hockey, basketball, and golf get honorable mention. Nowhere near the fanbase, but they qualify.

The only sport I have ever enjoyed is volleyball, and I'm not very good at it.

I'm not against physical activity. I walk 3 1/2 miles around the local boulevard fairly often. I have climbed five mountains. I like canoeing. I flirted with running but it flashed a wedding band at me.

 

[Astoria]

I love love love the AFL. Grand final day is like a religious day in my house. I also like the cricket and V8s but I'm the only nerd I know who enjoys any sports whatsoever. I makes me sad

 

[GrimTuesday]

I've never understood the aversion to sports within the nerd/geek subculture. I mean I see it as just another thing to geek out with. I love looking at the stats of my favorite baseball players, and comparing them to what ever team they happen to be playing. I love looking at the different possible trades the teams I support might be able to do, and hypothisise which would be more beneficial.

I personally enjoy [American] Football, baseball, wrestling (real wrestling, none of that fake shit), and hockey. My teams are the Mariners, and the Seahawks, and I'm trying to decide on a hockey team. I like Vancouver, in part because geographically, they are the closest, but they have been quite good the last few years, and suddenly becoming a fan would seem like I was bandwagoning them.

Also, MMA and hockey are both mainstream, so don't act like you're somehow different than everyone else.

Don't cheer for the Canucks. Wait till someone takes out the kneecaps of the drama queens known as the Sedin brothers. Then they might be tolerable...

Sorry, Blackhawks fan. Tired of them doing their best Premier League impersonation everytime someone brushes them.

I think its between the Canucks because of the proximity to me, and the Coyotes, in part because they are one of the teams that might move to Seattle.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I just find it pointless and boring to watch I think the amounts people get paid for it is shameful too. I bet the Human race is the only one in the galaxy who gives more money to a footballer than a nurse or a fireman.

Quick question: Does it bother you how much Bill Gates makes? Or the CEO of a fortune 500 company? Or an employee with Google (average salary, $153,000 according to Yahoo News)?

Players get paid with the amount of people that come through the gate and from merchandise sales. Not a single dime gets according them from taxpayers. They make what we pay to see them voluntarily. It is the ultimate form of a roadside lemonade stand.

No because they actually do something worthwhile for humanity (Google is kind of important) not kick a ball around for an hour which it just inane. I have the same problem with actors getting paid more, and being more famous, than writers.

Humanity is bloody stupid sometimes.

 

[RivFader86]

I like some sports i played Rugby for about 2 years and do Muay Thai now for 4 years but other than MMA i don't watch sports just gets boring (just like i get bored watching ESL or so...watching others play is just no fun)