Sport - what's the attraction?

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PaulB

Active Member
I'd argue that what has 'got us here' is just as much about cooperation and collaboration, and capacity to look after the less able.

Great to get out on the bike when there's a cup final of some sort on the telly :okay:

No, what got YOU here! You had more competition than you'll ever have in your entire existence but look, you beat millions and millions of others to reach the egg. Competition is imprinted into your DNA code.

Although sport is about much more than the Premier League (but I have good reason to follow it) probably what clipped my ticket was when my mother would come home after shopping on FA Cup final day full of scorn and contempt for all the 'men' who were meekly following their wives in the shops while the nation's biggest sporting event was unfolding on our TVs. Ah, them were the days!
 
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LCpl Boiled Egg

LCpl Boiled Egg

Regular
I pity you. No, seriously, I genuinely feel sorry for you. If you can forget camaraderie, the rush of a great win (and we've had LOADS), the competitiveness, the loyalty, then what is there?

It's OK, you don't have to. I'm quite happy with the loyalty and camaraderie of others (some of whom also don't like sport). If you do feel sorry for me, thank you for caring, and I mean that in all seriousness.
 

PaulB

Active Member
It's OK, you don't have to. I'm quite happy with the loyalty and camaraderie of others (some of whom also don't like sport). If you do feel sorry for me, thank you for caring, and I mean that in all seriousness.
No, sorry, pity is an over-reaction:blush:. I do feel you're missing out on a HUGE amount though.
 

icowden

Legendary Member
How do you think YOU got here? You got here because of competitiveness. It runs through your very DNA and is our defining characteristic.

Whilst that is true, I think different people react in very different ways to "sport". Quite often for the less neurotypical of us (I count myself in that number) find it frightening, difficult and upsetting. If you aren't the sort of child that can run up to a ball and kick it in the right direction (I still can't do that now at the age of 47 without a great deal of thought) you get excluded very easily - and quite often you really didn't want to be included in the first place.

As I said in t'other post, I think things have changed a lot and where you have a school that can be supportive of the students it makes a big difference. For me, it was something to be survived. I despised the shouting, the rough and tumble, the forced association with the bullies. I'd much rather have been in a warm library.

I still don't enjoy group sports. I like a cycle with a like minded group of people, preferably mixed and not too blokey.
But that's just me. Everyone is different and we should remember that.
 
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LCpl Boiled Egg

LCpl Boiled Egg

Regular
I've just remembered - at high school I used to enjoy playing basketball. I was told that if you wanted to get on the school team you had to go to the practice sessions. I wasn't very tall at the time but I gave it my all and went to every one.

When it came to picking the team I wasn't included, not even as a substitute, but the coach managed to find room for some taller kids that had never gone to the practices. I never bothered going again. So much for loyalty, team spirit, sportsmanship, honour etc.
 

mudsticks

Squire
No, what got YOU here! You had more competition than you'll ever have in your entire existence but look, you beat millions and millions of others to reach the egg. Competition is imprinted into your DNA code.

Although sport is about much more than the Premier League (but I have good reason to follow it) probably what clipped my ticket was when my mother would come home after shopping on FA Cup final day full of scorn and contempt for all the 'men' who were meekly following their wives in the shops while the nation's biggest sporting event was unfolding on our TVs. Ah, them were the days!

I agree there is an element of competition in most walks of life.
And that can be healthy, inspiring and enjoyable, up to a point..

But a bit like untramelled capitalism, beyond a certain point it becomes very unhealthy.

Over used resources and exploitation, have massively damaged people and places in all that process of endless competition , with not much consideration for the consequences.

As a yoga teacher I see people in in their later years who have badly damaged their bodies for the longer term by overusing them in the short term pursuit of 'sporting glory'.

We can help and undo some of it but knackered knees and backs etc take a lot of work to even get them reasonably functional again.

Like all these things, there's a balance to be struck.

The overarching drive to win at all, or any cost isn't something to be encouraged imo, the costs are too high..

My bf does most of the shopping, but then he's not much interested in organised sport either..

Maybe the supposedly 'meek' men didn't like footie neither.. ??

Strange that your mum should have 'poured scorn' on them for spending time with their wives.. Maybe there was a bit more context to it ,than that .,??

*Struck lucky there eh?? :rolleyes:
 

MrGrumpy

Regular
I've just remembered - at high school I used to enjoy playing basketball. I was told that if you wanted to get on the school team you had to go to the practice sessions. I wasn't very tall at the time but I gave it my all and went to every one.

When it came to picking the team I wasn't included, not even as a substitute, but the coach managed to find room for some taller kids that had never gone to the practices. I never bothered going again. So much for loyalty, team spirit, sportsmanship, honour etc.

That’s a poor coach !
 

icowden

Legendary Member
My bf does most of the shopping, but then he's not much interested in organised sport either..
Maybe the supposedly 'meek' men didn't like footie neither.. ??

I always remember my friends bemusement that I didn't watch the Euro 96 semi-final (didn't even know it was on or a thing) and instead remarked upon the supermarket being amazingly and wonderfully quiet. Honestly, if you are not a football fan, the time of a big game is worth knowing as you can get so much else done!
 

PaulB

Active Member
I always remember my friends bemusement that I didn't watch the Euro 96 semi-final (didn't even know it was on or a thing) and instead remarked upon the supermarket being amazingly and wonderfully quiet. Honestly, if you are not a football fan, the time of a big game is worth knowing as you can get so much else done!
Other sports are available.
 

Ian H

Guru
Cycling can sometimes be a sport. Any cyclists on here?
Of course, but it's not a 'sport' for me
Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't
24-2009.jpg slbike.jpg
 

Rusty Nails

Country Member
I'm quite surprised that people have no interest in any sport at all though.
I'm not. There is no formula for what people should like.

I know my life would not have been what it was if I did not play and enjoy sport through most of it, and I have enjoyed, and still do enjoy, my life. It may have been even better, or worse without competitive sport, but there is no way of knowing so nothing to be concerned about.

So I have aching knees and back, but so do many people who have done little or no exercise/sport, or work in some physically hard jobs.

This is one of those weird discussions where there are no rights/wrongs and one approach is not intrinsically better than the other. As long as it hurts nobody, what is right for you is right.
 

PaulB

Active Member
Maybe we should have started by defining 'sport'.

I kind of regard it as a competitive endeavour of some sort.

And beyond

"I will get up you, you barstewarding big hill"

Personally there's no trouncing to be done where cycling is concerned..
Poker's a competitive endeavour. Is that a sport? I think not. Darts? A big no for me. Formula 1? Snooker? Well, interestingly, both require stamina and fitness so that MAY count. I know Ronnie O'Sullivan runs for an athletic club and competes for them on the road and in cross-country events. Jensen Button was a top competitor at the Triathlon and he would say that enabled him to perform better behind the wheel.

The world would be a MUCH poorer place without competitive sport but of course, it was inevitable it would come about and be admired by most people on our planet. The Romans and ancient Greeks gave it to the world and we should thank them for it.
 
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