It's not really a "stupid jocks" kind of thing, its more of a what hell are we spending our money on, kind of thing.
I like sports that have actual athletes not 2 ton walls of grislely meat byproduckt. I'm a big soccer fan, played it for 19 years and actively support our local team. I love Basketball, Hockey and even Tennis, in fact I love most sports up to the pro level before the money gets out of control.
Watching football actually does seriously impact peoples lives... It's money society flushes down the toilet when it continually belly aches about budget shortfalls and not having enough money for mandatory spending programs.
It's particularly disgusting in Seattle and other cities around the nation where they continually vote for higher taxes to build sports stadiums, but fix some of the other stuff... well no.
Build 2 new sports stadiums when the last one isn't paid off? Done.
Ignore a crumbling major freeway, a floating bridge, a sea wall that was last updated in the 1800's and ignore the 50 year old boats rusting away in the nations largest ferry system? Done done, done and done.
Continue to underfund public school systems that are in serious decay in favor of raising taxes to pay for another new stadium? Sure no problem how much will this one cost?
Q: So its totally fine to prop up and support a few thousand players in the NFL that happen to be 2 ton walking quadrupedal by-passes waiting to happen, but then cut medicare and Social Security?
A: Oh hell yea! gotta pay for this fat ass to slide around on turf.
Q: SO you'll help a fat guy out if he can slide into a pair of spandex and put on a helmet, but if he does that to ride the bus then screw him?
A: Sports packages don't pay for themselves!
Football is a poster child for everything that was and still is wrong with America. Fat, bloated, over spent and sinking in a quagmire of its own filth, but happy to keep on sinking as long as it has the warm glow of its closest friend... the TV.
It's crazy what we as society spend our time and money on.
If it wast football, it would be baseball, basketball, wrestling, some other ridiculous pass-time, it just happens to be that football is currently the most popular sport in america, and a huge economic power, thus it is the root of all evil. Its a sad argument to try and blame societies woes on football.
For every seattle, we have small market teams like Green Bay and Pitsburgh, with failing industrial economies, that the local NFL franchise basically is keeping afloat. Green bay's entire economic environment is based around the Packers, without which it would just be another dead industry town like Detroit. Which is a sad thing in itself, but is a far contrast to the "football is choking America" picture you're trying to paint.
Look at the ridiculous amount of money spent in europe on soccer, its the exact same situation. It is not an "america" problem, nor is it a "football" problem, so stop trying to scape goat it. And the violence often associated with south america and soccer, surely soccer is pure evil and needs to be put to a stop!
Right, because only fat people watch football. Everyone who watches soccer, baseball, hockey, these people are all as physically fit as the athletes that play the sport.
You're somehow offended that fat men can be considered athletes, and paid millions of dollars, thus everyone who watches the sport is a fat slob. Good logic.
Wholly shit, fat people are everywhere! Alert the press!
Spectators of any and every sport are fat and lazy, no exceptions.
Right, because only fat people watch football. Everyone who watches soccer, baseball, hockey, these people are all as physically fit as the athletes that play the sport.
You're somehow offended that fat men can be considered athletes, and paid millions of dollars, thus everyone who watches the sport is a fat slob. Good logic.
Wholly shit, fat people are everywhere! Alert the press!
Spectators of any and every sport are fat and lazy, no exceptions.
Yea way to miss the point... You don't see 1 ton people playing basketball, soccer, hockey or tennis. The only place where the "athlete" can easily be confused for the fans, is in football... heh
On the one hand I'm happy for Aaron Rodgers. He's turned into a badass QB who looks to be much better than Favre.
On the other hand, FUCK Green Bay. Here I was hoping they'd finally start sucking after Favre leaves so the 49ers can beat them for all the grief they gave us during the late 90s and early 00s, and they just go ahead and play even better.
Oh well, at least Wisconsin still sucks. They can't fix that with a draft.
Yea way to miss the point... You don't see 1 ton people playing basketball, soccer, hockey or tennis. The only place where the "athlete" can easily be confused for the fans, is in football... heh
Look, had you simply said "I dont like football, because it is boring, there are too many commercials, and too little action" I would not only respect your opinion, but agree with you.
However, to blame Football, of all things, for today's Social-Economic and Nutrition woes, or even to suggest that football more than any other spectator sport is representational of problems in society is simply asinine. Any and every televised sporting event is a great example of many things wrong with the human condition, that we would rather sit on our asses and watch people exercise than exercise ourselves. Football, Soccer, THE OLYMPICS, all are great examples of this.
Look, had you simply said "I dont like football, because it is boring, there are too many commercials, and too little action" I would not only respect your opinion, but agree with you.
However, to blame Football, of all things, for today's Social-Economic and Nutrition woes, or even to suggest that football more than any other spectator sport is representational of problems in society is simply asinine. Any and every televised sporting event is a great example of many things wrong with the human condition, that we would rather sit on our asses and watch people exercise than exercise ourselves. Football, Soccer, THE OLYMPICS, all are great examples of this.
Heh, you're pissed because its true...
I don't actually think its boring, it has a lot in common with some games that I love. RTS and Tower Defense anyone? My dad played college football for Arizona State back before you weighed your defensive line with a truck scale. I have a friend who plays Adult Jr Football and those are some great games, not a lot of fat on the field either. At the core its a great game but ever since the Fridge I swear its totally fine to be ginormous and still be called an athlete.
I wouldn't pin all of societies problems on Football, but it does keep quite a few of them from being solved or even worked on. Your average fan will vote to raises taxes on himself to keep a beloved team around when that team will hold themselves hostage, but they won't put even a fraction of that money toward education, roads, transportation, social services or even EMS to come pick up their ass when they have a heart attack?
Everyone has to suffer because they want to escape the horrible place society has become? heh nice...
Time and time again you see colleges with athletics budgets bigger than the science and math departments of the next three schools combined. Yes please continue to put higher education at an unreachable financial level so idiot fans can root for a school they never attended and live vicariously through voluminous walls of chub, that do pretty much the same thing the fan is doing.
I agree that most sports aren't worth anyone's time once they hit the pro level. The Olympics like you pointed out are the exclamation point on the problem I'm talking about. Football would be a period, but that doesn't mean it isn't a problem...
Just somethings to chew on while you're spraying down your TV with fried pork treats as you shout commands at your favorite team =P
So your biggest problem with football is the size of the linemen and the fact that because it generates money and interest and millions of dollars through memorabilia over a science fair, and thus has bigger budgets to play with?
[E]ver since the Fridge I swear its totally fine to be ginormous and still be called an athlete.
Obviously if you're chubby you aren't an athlete even if you are much better at the sport than other people. We all know what matters is how you look, and not how well you play. Perhaps movie stars would make even better "athletes".
Obviously if you're chubby you aren't an athlete even if you are much better at the sport than other people. We all know what matters is how you look, and not how well you play. Perhaps movie stars would make even better "athletes".
I'm out of shape and I could probably make it up and down the field more times than some of the "fat-letes".
So your biggest problem with football is the size of the linemen and the fact that because it generates money and interest and millions of dollars through memorabilia over a science fair, and thus has bigger budgets to play with?
I am so lost.
I hate mondays!
Football rewards people for being fat and lazy, players and fans alike.
Maybe the obscene amount of money that gets thrown around and at the NFL could be better spent on something else? Bill Gates needs money to help eradicate Polio. I'd rather see that happen than Fergie dance in front of a dude with a light up box on his head...
Maybe America's love affair with football, actually does more to screw up and put out of reach, higher education for the majority of the population who need to be educated?
Should a coach actually make 4x more than the head of the physics dept?
I agree that Colleges and Universities should spend more on academics than sports. The basketball coach at my school was paid close to 7 figures, while the highest paid teacher made just over 100k, and he was a Nobel prize winner.(State school = public salary info)
You say i'm pissed because what i'm arguing against is true.... But then later agree with the point i was making. I'm confused. Really all i'm saying is football in itself is no greater an example of excess than other professional sports, which you claimed in your first post. Or more on point, football or televised sports are some mystical root of all our problems.
This notion that because some football players are fat, the game is worthless or somehow disgusting is just very narrow minded. The idea that these guys are somehow more prone to medical issues than your average player and are a burden on the health care system... C'mon, every athlete is going to be prone to major health issues, surgeries, knee problems, from a Olympic sprinter to an offensive lineman.
The point is, these guys have certain specific skills that they excel at, there arent many people in the world that are 350lbs can bench 250 and run a 5 second 40 yard dash. These "big fat slobs" generally are anything but. Hell i doubt very much you could run a 5 second 40 yard dash yourself. Watch this at about 0:55, i'll bet you a crisp $20 this guy could outrun both you and me: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syUNp_MLu0c[/ame]
In general terms, I will agree that universities spend much more on athletics than they should, however, athletics is one of the few areas of a university that actually generates positive income, and a large amount of it. Not to mention the huge appeal large school's athletic programs have in recruiting students.
Is there a disproportional funding problem here? Of course, should the budget for physiology classes be the same as the budget for the football program? I don't really think so.
Agreed Earthquake.
My school's enrollment increased about 30% after a Cinderella trip to the final four. But then the coaches salary continues to swell as good professors are dropped from the payroll in times of economic trouble.
You're absolutely right about the sports programs generating positive income, it's just hard to watch your favorite professor lose his/her job while a mediocre coach continues to bathe in 100$ bills.
You say i'm pissed because what i'm arguing against is true.... But then later agree with the point i was making. I'm confused. Really all i'm saying is football in itself is no greater an example of excess than other professional sports, which you claimed in your first post. Or more on point, football or televised sports are some mystical root of all our problems.
This notion that because some football players are fat, the game is worthless or somehow disgusting is just very narrow minded. The idea that these guys are somehow more prone to medical issues than your average player and are a burden on the health care system... C'mon, every athlete is going to be prone to major health issues, surgeries, knee problems, from a Olympic sprinter to an offensive lineman.
You're missing what I'm saying.
Out of all the sports that rewards non-athleticism, ie be as big as humanly possible, that will still call that person an athlete, football is way up there. As far as having a counterproductive influence on society and contributing to its decline I would lump most sports in that category, football in America probably being the biggest, would probably take the most cake...
The point is, these guys have certain specific skills that they excel at, there arent many people in the world that are 350lbs can bench 250 and run a 5 second 40 yard dash. These "big fat slobs" generally are anything but. Hell i doubt very much you could run a 5 second 40 yard dash yourself.
Some of them are very athletic, some are not...
The Fridge
TONY SIRAGUSA
GILBERT "Gilbertburger" BROWN
Grady Jackson
Football, its fans and the sponsors encourages them not to be athletic but as big as humanly possible, be it muscle or fat it doesn't matter as long as it doesn't give up an inch... That shit isn't health and it's abusing these people for a very short amount of time for the enjoyment of the masses.
The message to the fat kid in jr high isn't get healthy, get educated, live a long productive life. It's eat as much as you can and get used to getting hit in the head as hard as you can so you MIGHT have a 1 in 1million shot at being the next Fridge before they throw you away at 35.
Seriously out of all the popular sports that rewards and encourages girth over actual athleticism, football is way up there, and its only gotten worse over the last 2 decades.
Mark i've noticed a common occurrence in this thread, you're constantly telling people that we are missing the point, thats not what you're saying, etc etc. At a certain point you've gotta look at yourself and see you're either jumping to a different topic every time a solid rebuttal is brought up, or you're simply communicating "your point" very poorly.
Also, these fat slobs you talk about represent what, 1% of the league? Not to mention they are hardly glorified like QBs, Wrs, RBs, etc. When was the last time you saw a kid with a Grady Jackson jersey?
On top of that, you're completely ignoring the many positive and proactive athletic education programs the NFL runs for kids, like the Punt Pass & Kick competition, and NFL Play 60.
Mark i've noticed a common occurrence in this thread, you're constantly telling people that we are missing the point, thats not what you're saying, etc etc. At a certain point you've gotta look at yourself and see you're either jumping to a different topic every time a solid rebuttal is brought up, or you're simply communicating "your point" very poorly.
Well... I've only told you, that you missed the points I was making, because you have. So when you don't read what I write and then fill in what you want to read, I shouldn't bother explaining it again and again to you?
Football out of all the popular sports, encourages people to be fat. Athletes, would-be athletes and fans alike. It's been like that since the Fridge and its only gotten worse.
The money that gets pumped into football, can go a long way in helping society in other ways, especially when its pitted against education.
Those are the points I keep making and you keep skipping over.
"oh you're just an angry nerd who hates jocks"
"oh you don't like the sport"
"oh you blame football for all of societies problems"
All BS you thought I sad, that I didn't.
So instead of saying I'm jumping all over the place how about you address those points.
Also, these fat slobs you talk about represent what, 1% of the league? Not to mention they are hardly glorified like QBs, Wrs, RBs, etc. When was the last time you saw a kid with a Grady Jackson jersey?
Burger King thought enough about GILBERT BROWN to name a cheeseburger after him "Gilbertburger". That's rewarding who with what, and encouraging what exactly? The Fridge regularly makes appearances at eating competitions? What kind of message does that send?
On top of that, you're completely ignoring the many positive and proactive athletic education programs the NFL runs for kids, like the Punt Pass & Kick competition, and NFL Play 60.
Now think of the shit we could do if all the money that floated around the NFL, went to those causes?
I don't mean to equate the NFL with drug lords but if a drug lord give a kid a can of soup after forcing his family to smuggle drugs... the soup doesn't make up for the bad stuff. "I'm sorry our sports team causes the education to be nearly worthless and the transpiration to be falling apart, and social services to be cut, and EMS to be seriously underfunded. But we hug kids with cancer that's gotta make ya feel good right?"
Maybe instead of a player saying "I'm sorry your dying, here's a football and remember to watch me play... ya know if you're still around..." the kid wouldn't be sick at all?
Society gets whatever it pumps its money into. Obviously given the popularity of Football, the health and well being of everyone ranks pretty low. Seems out of whack to me. To you, it seems fine I guess.
Vig convinced me. The government needs to force football organizations to give all their money to Bill Gates. Also, fat people need to be banned-- they promote laziness.
Yea yea I'm starting to take it seriously even though I was originally just trying to be funny, I don't like where this is going, and I'm starting to be an actual douche instead of just having fun.
Bagging on something people love is kind of shitty. Have your football, have fun watching it, whatever.
Just think about the social ramifications every once in a while, maybe vote yes on a school levy instead of yes on a tax increase to put a few more luxury boxes in a stadium.
I can appreciate football up to the point that the salary for one team could cure cancer, and get me a time share on mars.
and
Maybe the obscene amount of money that gets thrown around and at the NFL could be better spent on something else?
On the topic of expense and how money spent on football could be curing cancer (for example), which did you spend more of your money on in the last year: video games or cancer research? If you want to convince anyone to spend their discretionary income on noble causes rather than entertainment, lead from the front. Refuse to spend some of your money on sedentary leisure activities and give to the American Cancer Society instead. You lead and I'll follow. I propose this:
The average cost of a single game ticket to an NFL game in 2010 was $250. That could also buy about 4 console video games. If you make a donation of $250 to the American Cancer Society, get a receipt and post it here, I'll match your donation dollar for dollar and the world will be $500 closer to stopping cancer forever.
On the topic of expense and how money spent on football could be curing cancer (for example), which did you spend more of your money on in the last year: video games or cancer research? If you want to convince anyone to spend their discretionary income on noble causes rather than entertainment, lead from the front. Refuse to spend some of your money on sedentary leisure activities and give to the American Cancer Society instead. You lead and I'll follow. I propose this:
The average cost of a single game ticket to an NFL game in 2010 was $250. That could also buy about 4 console video games. If you make a donation of $250 to the American Cancer Society, get a receipt and post it here, I'll match your donation dollar for dollar and the world will be $500 closer to stopping cancer forever.
Sigh... why did you have to go there? Thread was settled, things where moving on and you had to dig up a joke post and try and treat it as serious? Well fine...
We sponsor a child in Thailand through Compassion International. If I ever lost my job and couldn't pay my bills I would make sure I fulfilled my commitment to him.
$38 bucks a month plus $10 on his birthday and $10 on Christmas plus as much love and support we can pack into as many letters as we can write. That works out to $476 a year, we've been sponsoring him since 06 I think?
I didn't buy many games this year or last year. So I think the donations to compassion actually did trump it...
You can also check out their billing info and see what their rules and caps for gifts are, if you're curious about verifying the price.
Now I don't expect you to sponsor a child, because its a long term commitment and investment in another human being half way around the globe. It's worse if you start then stop no kid wants to be jerked around like that.
I'm posting this just to defend myself because you called me on it. Normally I keep this kind of stuff private.
I'de rather be playing MMO's in my mom's basement or larping out in the woods than watch sports. LIGHTNING BOLT LIGHTNING BOLT
SPORTS ARE THE WORST
Its always funny how angry nerds get when sports are mentioned, like the fact that some people enjoy watching football seriously impacts their lives. However virtually every nerd who complains about football has some much more embarrassing hobby they are totally into.
Maybe if he didn't bother to include my name then put words in my mouth, I wouldn't of taken it as a pesonal attack. I probably should of laughed it off and let it go, much like he should of let my post go ignored.
But it got me thinking:
What does Football contribute?
Does Football actually hurt things like education?
Is this really where society needs to spend its time and money when so many larger issues are plaguing us?
Should our $$ really go toward propping up a system that abuses players and encourages them to make unhealthy choices?
Is it unreasonable to question the validity and worth of something like the superbowl? Or is everyone too much in love with it to see any possible flaws?
I guess so...
Then Verm put on his fucktard hat and wanted to call me a hypocrite... which I'm not going to laugh off or take lightly.
Is it unreasonable to question the validity and worth of something like the superbowl?
In theory no, but to the extent to which you take it yes it is, because it's the symptom, not the disease. It's very American to treat the symptom and not the disease, but in the end that's pissing into the wind.
Ruining football for everyone won't solve any problems, it will just bore an entire nation. And the money still won't go towards curing cancer, because cancer research has a pretty crappy return on investment.
I just think we need to take care of business before we worry about entertainment. It seems like people are saying the world can go to hell as long as they have their Football?
Seems kind of backwards to me. I pay my bills first and see that everything is in order before I go searching for entertainment but I see football taking center stage in a lot of peoples lives at the expense of everything else...
Yea they suck BAD... and we have two giant publicly funded monuments to their medicority taking up our skyline.
Replace the Alaskan way viaduct? Nope.
Replace the sea wall that protects the city? Nope.
Replace the 520 floating bridge so it doesn't fall apart or traffic doesn't suck? Nope.
Replace the nations oldest and largest ferry system? Nope.
Close parks and green spaces? Yes.
Cut the social safety net? Yes.
Continue to underfund public schools by voting down levies? Yes.
Continue to underfund public EMS? Yes.
Pay for two stadiums? Sure where do I sign... kind of disgusting.
I just think we need to take care of business before we worry about entertainment it seems that everyone is more concerned with making entertainment a first priority and letting everything else go to hell, which is fine as long as they have entertainment to escape how horrible things are?
It's a free market, and people give their money out as they see fit. If you want to "fix" that problem, you need to "fix" people, which is a tall order considering we're wired for competition, be it direct or vicarious.It's a nice sentiment you have, but it isn't feasible in the slightest under our current economic system.
And besides, why cure cancer when we could put the money into military spending and have an orbital laser cannon? Helping people is overrated, killing them is where it's at.
Seems kind of backwards to me. I pay my bills first and see that everything is in order before I go searching for entertainment but I see football taking center stage in a lot of peoples lives at the expense of everything else...
Stupid people aren't going anywhere. There's a sucker born every minute, and the economy is more or less oriented towards stripping them of their money. Can't fix that without some supernaturally good education system.
It's a free market, and people give their money out as they see fit. If you want to "fix" that problem, you need to "fix" people, which is a tall order considering we're wired for competition, be it direct or vicarious.It's a nice sentiment you have, but it isn't feasible in the slightest under our current economic system.
And besides, why cure cancer when we could put the money into military spending and have an orbital laser cannon? Helping people is overrated, killing them is where it's at.
heh I agree, and one way to fix people is by challenging their ideas when they're eyeball deep in ignorant bliss...
Then Verm put on his fucktard hat and wanted to call me a hypocrite... which I'm not going to laugh off or take lightly.
Haha, really? I don't think I've ever seen you take anything lightly. That's probably why others took your 'joke' post so seriously. Anyway, if you spent more giving to charity than you did on entertainment, way to go - I think that's great.
MW: Black Ops pulled in two-thirds of a billion dollars in its first five days. That's a hundred million bucks more than the player salaries of the top four NFL team payrolls combined. Literally, just one week of sales from just one title handed Activision enough revenue to buy their own NFL franchise. And that's sales of a product that doesn't just encourage sedentary behavior but actually requires it - even football's fatties have to run and jump and tackle, but you have to plant your butt in front of TV if you want to enjoy Modern Warfare. What encourages poor health more, watching lardass Gilbert Brown glorified for playing football or a 12-hour weekend WoW raid-a-thon?
William 'Refrigerator' Perry is famous for his play for the 1985 Chicago Bears. That's also the year the NES debuted in North America. If I have to pick one form of entertainment that's been unhealthier for America since 1985, I'm not picking football.
Mark, are you just mad the teams in Seattle suck? It is understandable. I would be upset too.
Seattle was a crazy story this year, with the Seahawks being the first team in the post-merger era to have a losing record and still make the playoffs. And they didn't just make them, they beat the defending champion Saints in the first round - probably one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. The 7-9 record sucked, but Seattle fans can't be unhappy about making it to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs!
On the other hand, goddamn were the Mariners bad. One of the worst offenses in baseball history. Cy Young for King Felix was nice, though.
Replies
I like sports that have actual athletes not 2 ton walls of grislely meat byproduckt. I'm a big soccer fan, played it for 19 years and actively support our local team. I love Basketball, Hockey and even Tennis, in fact I love most sports up to the pro level before the money gets out of control.
Watching football actually does seriously impact peoples lives... It's money society flushes down the toilet when it continually belly aches about budget shortfalls and not having enough money for mandatory spending programs.
It's particularly disgusting in Seattle and other cities around the nation where they continually vote for higher taxes to build sports stadiums, but fix some of the other stuff... well no.
Build 2 new sports stadiums when the last one isn't paid off? Done.
Ignore a crumbling major freeway, a floating bridge, a sea wall that was last updated in the 1800's and ignore the 50 year old boats rusting away in the nations largest ferry system? Done done, done and done.
Continue to underfund public school systems that are in serious decay in favor of raising taxes to pay for another new stadium? Sure no problem how much will this one cost?
Q: So its totally fine to prop up and support a few thousand players in the NFL that happen to be 2 ton walking quadrupedal by-passes waiting to happen, but then cut medicare and Social Security?
A: Oh hell yea! gotta pay for this fat ass to slide around on turf.
Q: SO you'll help a fat guy out if he can slide into a pair of spandex and put on a helmet, but if he does that to ride the bus then screw him?
A: Sports packages don't pay for themselves!
Football is a poster child for everything that was and still is wrong with America. Fat, bloated, over spent and sinking in a quagmire of its own filth, but happy to keep on sinking as long as it has the warm glow of its closest friend... the TV.
It's crazy what we as society spend our time and money on.
If it wast football, it would be baseball, basketball, wrestling, some other ridiculous pass-time, it just happens to be that football is currently the most popular sport in america, and a huge economic power, thus it is the root of all evil. Its a sad argument to try and blame societies woes on football.
For every seattle, we have small market teams like Green Bay and Pitsburgh, with failing industrial economies, that the local NFL franchise basically is keeping afloat. Green bay's entire economic environment is based around the Packers, without which it would just be another dead industry town like Detroit. Which is a sad thing in itself, but is a far contrast to the "football is choking America" picture you're trying to paint.
Look at the ridiculous amount of money spent in europe on soccer, its the exact same situation. It is not an "america" problem, nor is it a "football" problem, so stop trying to scape goat it. And the violence often associated with south america and soccer, surely soccer is pure evil and needs to be put to a stop!
0:50 and yes yes it is.
On a seperate note, I watched the Puppy Bowl, touchdowns were made but no winner was announced at the end.. I doubt the legitimacy of the Puppy Bowl.
Oh it definitely is, which makes it all the more ironic when nerds complain about it.
You're somehow offended that fat men can be considered athletes, and paid millions of dollars, thus everyone who watches the sport is a fat slob. Good logic.
Wholly shit, fat people are everywhere! Alert the press!
Spectators of any and every sport are fat and lazy, no exceptions.
Yes, I will admit to that
On the other hand, FUCK Green Bay. Here I was hoping they'd finally start sucking after Favre leaves so the 49ers can beat them for all the grief they gave us during the late 90s and early 00s, and they just go ahead and play even better.
Oh well, at least Wisconsin still sucks. They can't fix that with a draft.
Look, had you simply said "I dont like football, because it is boring, there are too many commercials, and too little action" I would not only respect your opinion, but agree with you.
However, to blame Football, of all things, for today's Social-Economic and Nutrition woes, or even to suggest that football more than any other spectator sport is representational of problems in society is simply asinine. Any and every televised sporting event is a great example of many things wrong with the human condition, that we would rather sit on our asses and watch people exercise than exercise ourselves. Football, Soccer, THE OLYMPICS, all are great examples of this.
I don't actually think its boring, it has a lot in common with some games that I love. RTS and Tower Defense anyone? My dad played college football for Arizona State back before you weighed your defensive line with a truck scale. I have a friend who plays Adult Jr Football and those are some great games, not a lot of fat on the field either. At the core its a great game but ever since the Fridge I swear its totally fine to be ginormous and still be called an athlete.
I wouldn't pin all of societies problems on Football, but it does keep quite a few of them from being solved or even worked on. Your average fan will vote to raises taxes on himself to keep a beloved team around when that team will hold themselves hostage, but they won't put even a fraction of that money toward education, roads, transportation, social services or even EMS to come pick up their ass when they have a heart attack?
Everyone has to suffer because they want to escape the horrible place society has become? heh nice...
Time and time again you see colleges with athletics budgets bigger than the science and math departments of the next three schools combined. Yes please continue to put higher education at an unreachable financial level so idiot fans can root for a school they never attended and live vicariously through voluminous walls of chub, that do pretty much the same thing the fan is doing.
I agree that most sports aren't worth anyone's time once they hit the pro level. The Olympics like you pointed out are the exclamation point on the problem I'm talking about. Football would be a period, but that doesn't mean it isn't a problem...
Just somethings to chew on while you're spraying down your TV with fried pork treats as you shout commands at your favorite team =P
I am so lost.
I hate mondays!
Obviously if you're chubby you aren't an athlete even if you are much better at the sport than other people. We all know what matters is how you look, and not how well you play. Perhaps movie stars would make even better "athletes".
Football rewards people for being fat and lazy, players and fans alike.
Maybe the obscene amount of money that gets thrown around and at the NFL could be better spent on something else? Bill Gates needs money to help eradicate Polio. I'd rather see that happen than Fergie dance in front of a dude with a light up box on his head...
Maybe America's love affair with football, actually does more to screw up and put out of reach, higher education for the majority of the population who need to be educated?
Should a coach actually make 4x more than the head of the physics dept?
Some things just seem out of whack...
However, I enjoy watching NFL games.
This notion that because some football players are fat, the game is worthless or somehow disgusting is just very narrow minded. The idea that these guys are somehow more prone to medical issues than your average player and are a burden on the health care system... C'mon, every athlete is going to be prone to major health issues, surgeries, knee problems, from a Olympic sprinter to an offensive lineman.
The point is, these guys have certain specific skills that they excel at, there arent many people in the world that are 350lbs can bench 250 and run a 5 second 40 yard dash. These "big fat slobs" generally are anything but. Hell i doubt very much you could run a 5 second 40 yard dash yourself. Watch this at about 0:55, i'll bet you a crisp $20 this guy could outrun both you and me: [ame]
Is there a disproportional funding problem here? Of course, should the budget for physiology classes be the same as the budget for the football program? I don't really think so.
My school's enrollment increased about 30% after a Cinderella trip to the final four. But then the coaches salary continues to swell as good professors are dropped from the payroll in times of economic trouble.
You're absolutely right about the sports programs generating positive income, it's just hard to watch your favorite professor lose his/her job while a mediocre coach continues to bathe in 100$ bills.
You're missing what I'm saying.
Out of all the sports that rewards non-athleticism, ie be as big as humanly possible, that will still call that person an athlete, football is way up there. As far as having a counterproductive influence on society and contributing to its decline I would lump most sports in that category, football in America probably being the biggest, would probably take the most cake...
Some of them are very athletic, some are not...
The Fridge
TONY SIRAGUSA
GILBERT "Gilbertburger" BROWN
Grady Jackson
Football, its fans and the sponsors encourages them not to be athletic but as big as humanly possible, be it muscle or fat it doesn't matter as long as it doesn't give up an inch... That shit isn't health and it's abusing these people for a very short amount of time for the enjoyment of the masses.
The message to the fat kid in jr high isn't get healthy, get educated, live a long productive life. It's eat as much as you can and get used to getting hit in the head as hard as you can so you MIGHT have a 1 in 1million shot at being the next Fridge before they throw you away at 35.
Seriously out of all the popular sports that rewards and encourages girth over actual athleticism, football is way up there, and its only gotten worse over the last 2 decades.
On top of that, you're completely ignoring the many positive and proactive athletic education programs the NFL runs for kids, like the Punt Pass & Kick competition, and NFL Play 60.
Those are the points I keep making and you keep skipping over.
"oh you're just an angry nerd who hates jocks"
"oh you don't like the sport"
"oh you blame football for all of societies problems"
All BS you thought I sad, that I didn't.
So instead of saying I'm jumping all over the place how about you address those points.
Now think of the shit we could do if all the money that floated around the NFL, went to those causes?
I don't mean to equate the NFL with drug lords but if a drug lord give a kid a can of soup after forcing his family to smuggle drugs... the soup doesn't make up for the bad stuff. "I'm sorry our sports team causes the education to be nearly worthless and the transpiration to be falling apart, and social services to be cut, and EMS to be seriously underfunded. But we hug kids with cancer that's gotta make ya feel good right?"
Maybe instead of a player saying "I'm sorry your dying, here's a football and remember to watch me play... ya know if you're still around..." the kid wouldn't be sick at all?
Society gets whatever it pumps its money into. Obviously given the popularity of Football, the health and well being of everyone ranks pretty low. Seems out of whack to me. To you, it seems fine I guess.
Bagging on something people love is kind of shitty. Have your football, have fun watching it, whatever.
Just think about the social ramifications every once in a while, maybe vote yes on a school levy instead of yes on a tax increase to put a few more luxury boxes in a stadium.
On the topic of expense and how money spent on football could be curing cancer (for example), which did you spend more of your money on in the last year: video games or cancer research? If you want to convince anyone to spend their discretionary income on noble causes rather than entertainment, lead from the front. Refuse to spend some of your money on sedentary leisure activities and give to the American Cancer Society instead. You lead and I'll follow. I propose this:
The average cost of a single game ticket to an NFL game in 2010 was $250. That could also buy about 4 console video games. If you make a donation of $250 to the American Cancer Society, get a receipt and post it here, I'll match your donation dollar for dollar and the world will be $500 closer to stopping cancer forever.
We sponsor a child in Thailand through Compassion International. If I ever lost my job and couldn't pay my bills I would make sure I fulfilled my commitment to him.
$38 bucks a month plus $10 on his birthday and $10 on Christmas plus as much love and support we can pack into as many letters as we can write. That works out to $476 a year, we've been sponsoring him since 06 I think?
I didn't buy many games this year or last year. So I think the donations to compassion actually did trump it...
You can also check out their billing info and see what their rules and caps for gifts are, if you're curious about verifying the price.
Now I don't expect you to sponsor a child, because its a long term commitment and investment in another human being half way around the globe. It's worse if you start then stop no kid wants to be jerked around like that.
I'm posting this just to defend myself because you called me on it. Normally I keep this kind of stuff private.
But it got me thinking:
What does Football contribute?
Does Football actually hurt things like education?
Is this really where society needs to spend its time and money when so many larger issues are plaguing us?
Should our $$ really go toward propping up a system that abuses players and encourages them to make unhealthy choices?
Is it unreasonable to question the validity and worth of something like the superbowl? Or is everyone too much in love with it to see any possible flaws?
I guess so...
Then Verm put on his fucktard hat and wanted to call me a hypocrite... which I'm not going to laugh off or take lightly.
In theory no, but to the extent to which you take it yes it is, because it's the symptom, not the disease. It's very American to treat the symptom and not the disease, but in the end that's pissing into the wind.
Ruining football for everyone won't solve any problems, it will just bore an entire nation. And the money still won't go towards curing cancer, because cancer research has a pretty crappy return on investment.
Commence derailing of derailing.
Seems kind of backwards to me. I pay my bills first and see that everything is in order before I go searching for entertainment but I see football taking center stage in a lot of peoples lives at the expense of everything else...
Yea that goes for games too.
Replace the Alaskan way viaduct? Nope.
Replace the sea wall that protects the city? Nope.
Replace the 520 floating bridge so it doesn't fall apart or traffic doesn't suck? Nope.
Replace the nations oldest and largest ferry system? Nope.
Close parks and green spaces? Yes.
Cut the social safety net? Yes.
Continue to underfund public schools by voting down levies? Yes.
Continue to underfund public EMS? Yes.
Pay for two stadiums? Sure where do I sign... kind of disgusting.
It's a free market, and people give their money out as they see fit. If you want to "fix" that problem, you need to "fix" people, which is a tall order considering we're wired for competition, be it direct or vicarious.It's a nice sentiment you have, but it isn't feasible in the slightest under our current economic system.
And besides, why cure cancer when we could put the money into military spending and have an orbital laser cannon? Helping people is overrated, killing them is where it's at.
Stupid people aren't going anywhere. There's a sucker born every minute, and the economy is more or less oriented towards stripping them of their money. Can't fix that without some supernaturally good education system.
Haha, really? I don't think I've ever seen you take anything lightly. That's probably why others took your 'joke' post so seriously. Anyway, if you spent more giving to charity than you did on entertainment, way to go - I think that's great.
MW: Black Ops pulled in two-thirds of a billion dollars in its first five days. That's a hundred million bucks more than the player salaries of the top four NFL team payrolls combined. Literally, just one week of sales from just one title handed Activision enough revenue to buy their own NFL franchise. And that's sales of a product that doesn't just encourage sedentary behavior but actually requires it - even football's fatties have to run and jump and tackle, but you have to plant your butt in front of TV if you want to enjoy Modern Warfare. What encourages poor health more, watching lardass Gilbert Brown glorified for playing football or a 12-hour weekend WoW raid-a-thon?
William 'Refrigerator' Perry is famous for his play for the 1985 Chicago Bears. That's also the year the NES debuted in North America. If I have to pick one form of entertainment that's been unhealthier for America since 1985, I'm not picking football.
Seattle was a crazy story this year, with the Seahawks being the first team in the post-merger era to have a losing record and still make the playoffs. And they didn't just make them, they beat the defending champion Saints in the first round - probably one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. The 7-9 record sucked, but Seattle fans can't be unhappy about making it to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs!
On the other hand, goddamn were the Mariners bad. One of the worst offenses in baseball history. Cy Young for King Felix was nice, though.
Actually that's a prime way to get yourself hated and killed.