Poll: Are Sports Pointless?

[LilithSlave]

They're as pointless as most activities. It is good to exercise and push human physical potential, though. But I don't think they're just amazing, but they are just games, like video games are. They certainly don't have any more value than video games.

Me? Personally, I'm a big fan of women's sports. I like cheering on women's athleticism. "Girl power" ...rrrr.. and that that good stuff. We deserve to be taken seriously and have more support.

 

[lacktheknack]

People come out in droves to watch them compete. Under what circumstances should the players not be paid?

They shouldn't be paid so much as they are now, but they still provide a valuable service.

 

[fenrizz]

Got to say that pro athletes are paid way to much for what they do. They are a form of entertainment and don't really add that much to society. Add actors in the mix while your at it. The grand scheme of things, making a movie can be taxing on the person, but come on. A athlete makes bank for throwing a piece of pig around a stadium, makes me sick.

That may be true, and personally believe it to be true, except for the making me sick part.

But many, many people are willing to pay to see them do their thing.
The amount of income to, say a football team, they generate in form of performance, advertising deals and so forth alone warrant pretty hefty paychecks at the top level.

In sum, or TL;DR:
Simple supply and demand.
People are willing to pay, so they deserve the money.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Thats a very far step saying just cause someone isnt paid its pointless. is an unpaid internship pointless? is unpaid charity work pointless?

more OT: I dont beleive they should be paid (since most of the big guys you see on those big name schools are there on scholarship, so their education is almost free more or less), but its far from pointless. You're getting a discount education, and if you wnat to continue you're working for a VERY high paying career after college where if you actually handle your money right you wont have to work another day in your life (especially if you get in on endorsements [cause tahts hardly work]).

snip

actually its stopping what you call a "free ride", by giving these sports people a proper degree (which they do EARN) they can go on to be productive members of society after their 3 years in the sport of their choosing (lets face it careers are short) more educated people is only GOOD for the economy.

except what happens when you have guys like Terrell Pryor didnt finish and instead opted out to the early supplementary draft?

Larry Fitzgerald went to Pitt, and he even said in 2010 he finished his degree at University of Phoenix.

Now with larry he went and finished, but lets Terrell is looking at only his HS education at Jeannette and partial university educaation. and looking at the new science on concussions, if these guys get knocked around a lot and get put out after less than 3 years, they wont be very functional in their degree profession.

 

[Joccaren]

Paying University sports players for kicking a damn ball, but not paying those who research things and uncover new data, or who create great works of art? Stupidest idea I have ever heard, and I've heard some stupid ideas.
No, they should not get paid, they get scholarships already for representing their schools in what I think of as 'advertising' for their school, they don't need to get paid for it too. If they start getting paid, there will be a lot of complaints and they will end up having to pay EVERY other type of study at the school for the hard work they put it. Congratulations, you no longer pay to go to Uni, it pays you to go!
Either that or people would start to stop studying things that will contribute more than entertainment to society, and just start going after sports instead, and the American populace will get an even greater label of stupidity from other nations.

In Short, WORST. IDEA. EVER.

 

[Space Spoons]

I think you'll find a lot of things humans do are pointless.

It doesn't make them any less worth doing.

This. If sports is a useless pursuit, so are music, art and gaming.

 

[smithy_2045]

College athletes should only be paid via scholarship.