What do you like and dislike most about sports in general?

[jimmymc]

Without getting political, I need someone to explain to me why people who spend their days moaning about the one percent, who claim that life isn't fair and that everything is corrupt, still so willingly pay thousands of dollar per year on tickets and high cost cable packages and add ons to watch football and basketball. I mean, aren't these some of the very people they purport to dislike? Wouldn't it make more sense to vote with their wallet and not watch the overpaid people who get paid for so very little (compared to a teacher, fireman, rescue worker, septic tank cleaner, road paver, etc.)? It makes no sense to me, so if anyone can explain it, please do.

This is kind of me, and I can explain why. Most professional athletes do not come from money; they come from lower to middle class families. Especially in the NFL and NBA, where a lot of players come from poverty conditions. That upbringing tends to mean the players are generous and buy houses/cars for their friends and families, start charities, and are generally good people. Plus the average pro career in those sports is 2 to 3 years near league minimum salary. Guys make tens of millions a year are the exception and the top percentage of all pro athletes, let alone the general public. And while league minimum is a great salary for a few years, those people are still middle class and will need to work normal jobs for the rest of their lives after sports. You won't be set for life. Many might become high school or travel coaches, but that doesn't exactly pay well.

If there's anyone I hate, it's the team owners. For them, sports teams are pure profit, and 99% of the time when things like union negotiations, strikes, or lockouts are going on, I will support the players. Owners are also the ones who push (lobby/bribe) politicians to pay for their stadiums while the team gets to keep the profits, and they also enforce salary caps in leagues that have them. They're also the ones who pay minor league baseball players $15k a year while making them travel in crappy busses and share 4 to a motel room.

 

[ShelbyWagon]

This is kind of me, and I can explain why. Most professional athletes do not come from money; they come from lower to middle class families. Especially in the NFL and NBA, where a lot of players come from poverty conditions. That upbringing tends to mean the players are generous and buy houses/cars for their friends and families, start charities, and are generally good people. Plus the average pro career in those sports is 2 to 3 years near league minimum salary. Guys make tens of millions a year are the exception and the top percentage of all pro athletes, let alone the general public. And while league minimum is a great salary for a few years, those people are still middle class and will need to work normal jobs for the rest of their lives after sports. You won't be set for life. Many might become high school or travel coaches, but that doesn't exactly pay well.

If there's anyone I hate, it's the team owners. For them, sports teams are pure profit, and 99% of the time when things like union negotiations, strikes, or lockouts are going on, I will support the players. Owners are also the ones who push (lobby/bribe) politicians to pay for their stadiums while the team gets to keep the profits, and they also enforce salary caps in leagues that have them. They're also the ones who pay minor league baseball players $15k a year while making them travel in crappy busses and share 4 to a motel room.

This, 100%. People like to focus on the athletes making millions and fail to realize those athletes are closer to us "normal" folks than they are the obscenely wealthy owners. I definitely struggle with the fact that my sport viewing supports wealth-hoarding billionaires, but I don't feel bad for supporting athletes that I like just because they make more than I do. The ones I support give back a lot to their communities and fans.

 

[Kennywood]

#1 Dislike - Disrespect for our country and its institutions (especially the police)

#2 Dislike - Social justice issues during sporting events. If an athlete wants to do that, do it on their own time.

#3 Dislike - Non-enforcement of rules. My primary example is the NBA. If you're not going to call traveling, hanging on the rim, etc., do away with the rules.

I've totally given up on watching professional sports of all types.

 

[Dizzy Lizzie]

Sports Betting. I feel like gambling has taken over sports especially football. Now only certain teams can win the championships because money.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I like when sports are light and played for fun.

I dislike pretty much anything in the extreme, though, so the billions made by the owners, the players risking brain injuries, the rabid fans (I mean like when things get violent) ...all of those parts turn me off.

 

[declansdad]

In pro sports I don't begrudge the players getting paid, they are not the people who made the decision to pay these amounts. What I don't like is when the athletes say they need that money so their family can live

What I like about all sports in that they are entertainment. What I don't like about sports in the over-involved parents who stick their noses where they have no business. Parents are one of the biggest reasons youth sports have issues

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Like: The Gambling especially Fantasy
Dislike: The Gambling especially Fantasy

 

[LuvOrlando]

I never know what I am looking at and am always looking at the wrong thing, I would sort of like a funny and entertaining podcast done by a female comic that isn't taking the whole thing too seriously that I could listen to during a game that would teach me in a lighthearted way. All the sports stuff is sooooooooo serious, I just wanna be informed enough to enjoy it as I sit with other people who are fans, I am not ever going to be a diehard so being taught that way is just irksome.