Team sports, definitely. Solo sports like athletics, gymnastics, etc. not so much.All sport is tribalism, it is an almost direct replacement for war, it replaces our very basic and fundamental animal territorial instincts
Team sports, definitely. Solo sports like athletics, gymnastics, etc. not so much.All sport is tribalism, it is an almost direct replacement for war, it replaces our very basic and fundamental animal territorial instincts
In response to the poster above who finds it a tad awkward to respond to the question “which team do you support” I suggest the following reply for future engagements.
I used to go to the games a lot; I even had a season ticket, but school work and other things caught up with me. I think for now, I will only purchase tickets for singular matches.I find going to a game is the best. It could be any level you want - amateurs in the public park right through to the Premier League.
I think there may also be some games live on BBC TV in the FA Cup this weekend if you’d rather watch a game on TV.
And that’s because the questioner is vastly likely to be a fake supporter. One can only support a professional team by contributing financially and/or vocally.
Man Utd fakes are particularly fun. Just to get back on to a rail topic, when you next come across one of their zillions of fake supporters, just ask him, or possibly her, what the destinations are of the trams that stop at Old Trafford. You are remotely unlikely to get a correct answer. Just about any genuine supporter will know.
All sport is tribalism
Team sports, definitely. Solo sports like athletics, gymnastics, etc. not so much.
Now here's something. We all have different voices - so much so that when two people have similar vocal characteristics, its an unusual enough occurrence for the lesser-known person to be branded a 'soundalike'. So why do groups of chanting footie boys, at large railway stations all over the country on Saturday evenings, always sound exactly the same?
Oh, of course there are exceptions. The US collegiate sports scene is a notable exception, but there's nothing normal about US collegiate sports.Some notable exceptions to that idea. Wherever Simona Halep plays you can guarantee the presence of vociferous Romanians complete with Romanian flags and some wearing replica shirts of their national football(!) team. And US inter-collegiate sports are highly tribal with gymnastics very much a part of that.
Oh, of course there are exceptions. The US collegiate sports scene is a notable exception, but there's nothing normal about US collegiate sports.
Team sports, definitely. Solo sports like athletics, gymnastics, etc. not so much.
Both of my parents have always been into football, but personally I've never managed to find how watching some players kick a ball around keeps people amused for 90 minutes.
From memories of being (reluctantly) dragged to football matches by my parents, I usually treated each trip as a special opportunity to tuck into a burger or hotdog along with some other various snacks, whilst everyone else around me stood up and roared every so often, expressing blissful delight at something I had absolutely zero interest in.
Although of course, each to their own, as I'm sure many would find my interests just as dull. But football? It just isn't for me!
In what way is football "forced" on folk?
I almost always go to matches on my own. Absolutely love it, mainly because I don't feel a need for restraint thenFootball watching is no fun if you have no-one to share it with.
In the way it's impossible to escape it between the huge amount of coverage it get on TV, news, any form of media never mind when there's a bit football event on at which point nothing else exists in the world apart from football. Rugby occasionally comes close but far less often whereas football is just non-stop and inescapable pretty much the entire time.
Well all I'll say as a football fan is that it is very easy to escape it. The vast majority of TV channels do not cover it, many news channels have timed slots for sports news, and failing that there is an entire world out there not associated with football. Honestly, it isn't hard to find.
Well all I'll say as a football fan is that it is very easy to escape it. The vast majority of TV channels do not cover it, many news channels have timed slots for sports news, and failing that there is an entire world out there not associated with football. Honestly, it isn't hard to find.
You have to be careful on here if you ever cast Chelsea in a less than perfect light too, as I found to my cost when I opined once that John Terry was less than an admirable human being!
I don't know how off topic this is, but I'm just asking for advice on how I could get back to being engaged in football, like I was about three years ago. My interest had dropped recently due to other commitments (GCSEs, etc.), but everything has calmed down a bit, so I would like to renew my interest. Is there any best ways I can?
Fair game, I do wonder how many people are paying members of a football club.
Yep, me too.I hate it...always have. I find it duller than a burnt out candle. I cannot see why its such a draw to people.
It's as if its compulsory to like it!! Almost everyone I know likes it but I really can't see why.
As this is a rail forum, I would not take this as an accurate guide regarding the popularity of football.Quite (pleasantly)surprised at how many don't like football!
That’s everything I hate football for as well.I'm finding that my interest is waning, an amazing thing to say when I subscribe to Sky Sports and have a season ticket.
I won't be giving up the season ticket but I am finding myself less and less likely to watch live games on TV.
I don't miss not having access to the Champions League, I just don't bother with it, except for dipping into the final, now that it has to be shown for free somewhere.
I'm disillusioned with the cheating, diving and general sh*t attitude of modern day players, that and transfer fees and wages are far far far too high
I wish mine was, although I am a member.Me. My club is 100% owned by the fans.
It's not the sport it's the idiotic rivalry and behaviour it leads to in some people. But then - it's not just football...
In what way is football "forced" on folk?
Probably in the way that it's not often looked at as acceptable for blokes not to like football. Still the case in some parts of society, not so much in the age of the nerd thankfully, but there's still so much of that sort of nonsense going around.
That would drift toward the territory of basketball, where teams can expect to score roughly 100 points each (2 or 3 points at a time) yet be within a few points of each other at the end. If the teams are going to be within one score of each other at the end (as they spend much of the game trading scores), I sometimes wonder "why bother with the first three quarters: just leap straight into the final quarter?"Back to footie - it just doesn't engage me at all. Loads of games end with 0-0 draws, and that just strikes me as the dullest thing in the world. If you could guarantee fifty goals per game, I might show an interest, but it just seems slow and dull and pointless to me.
That would drift toward the territory of basketball, where teams can expect to score roughly 100 points each (2 or 3 points at a time) yet be within a few points of each other at the end. If the teams are going to be within one score of each other at the end (as they spend much of the game trading scores), I sometimes wonder "why bother with the first three quarters: just leap straight into the final quarter?"