Detoxed myself from sports. Still love them, but don’t “need” them, especially like I used to. So many people freaking out about everything, including sports. This illogical feeding frenzy reaction by the public, wow. I mean, I’m not holding it against anyone, people react how they feel during a crisis, whether it’s real, overblown or conjured up.
It’s only been a few days and it sucks there’s no NCAA, no Knights, just no sports. And I do agree that people need some distraction from the current mayhem.
And yes, sports provides that. To some. And I’m not above this, I’ve certainly been as knee deep as anyone - sports went way beyond a distraction, way beyond being a source of pride. It became over the top fanaticism, it controlled (speaking for myself, but I know it’s happened to many) a significant portion of our lives, it’s consumed us. It’s dictated our attitude for the day, our outlook on so many things. It’s brought a ton of overvalue and over-importance to things that, quite frankly, shouldn’t be. I do not, not for a second, blame the players for how much they make. WE demand them, we need their shoes and uniforms, we NEED to see them live, we need to hear every word. And we will pay top dollar for it. Simple supply and demand. So they deserve their money, we, as a society, created their worth because we put them at a high priority.
Think about it.
Not trying to sound like Rollie, but it is just a game. It’s NOT important. Not as important as we’ve made it for so many decades.
This isn’t because of this outbreak, it’s not because the Rebels have sucked, it first REALLY hit me in ‘94 when they cancelled the series because of a labor dispute. I back burnered that, but it remained. Over the next couple decades, it gets reinforced by some event, whether it be misguided kneeling in some ulterior motive protest, 250 billion dollar contracts, $350 shoes… so yeah, I’ve detached from much of my fandom over the years. It really isn’t that important. I will always love the purity of the spirit of competition, but sports is rarely about that anymore. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want UNLV fan or Jeter fan or Tark fan or 650 consecutive games stamped on my headstone. It’s not important.
Or at least it shouldn’t be, not THIS important.
Sports certainly isn’t to blame but I feel like it’s one of a number examples where we’ve lost our way. There’s a place for it on list of priorities, but it shouldn’t be near the top. Whether it’s sports, movies, social media … obsessions over things that you have no control, over things that don’t care about your well being, over things that should exist as pleasurable distractions… it’s just not good. We’ve lost our substance, lost our way.
I hope everyone is doing ok and has some plans for this virus or worse, the reaction to the virus. I know everyone is going to have to make some sacrifices, whether big or small, but I hope everyone adjusts and finds a way to make things work until we get through this.
It won’t happen, I just don’t have that faith, but I’m hopeful this makes a good chunk of people wake up and smell the coffee, to not see things as I see them necessarily - but I’m hopeful it causes some clarity, some reassessment, even reprioritization. Everyone’s priorities vary. Find what it is that matters most, stop ignoring them, give them the attention they need and deserve. If ultimately it’s sports, so be it. Social media, politics, pop culture - it that truly is what’s most important to you, have at it and be happy. But I’m hopeful at the very least that people do use this time for some soul searching reflection and give them an opportunity for a “reset” if that’s what they need.
It’s only been a few days and it sucks there’s no NCAA, no Knights, just no sports. And I do agree that people need some distraction from the current mayhem.
And yes, sports provides that. To some. And I’m not above this, I’ve certainly been as knee deep as anyone - sports went way beyond a distraction, way beyond being a source of pride. It became over the top fanaticism, it controlled (speaking for myself, but I know it’s happened to many) a significant portion of our lives, it’s consumed us. It’s dictated our attitude for the day, our outlook on so many things. It’s brought a ton of overvalue and over-importance to things that, quite frankly, shouldn’t be. I do not, not for a second, blame the players for how much they make. WE demand them, we need their shoes and uniforms, we NEED to see them live, we need to hear every word. And we will pay top dollar for it. Simple supply and demand. So they deserve their money, we, as a society, created their worth because we put them at a high priority.
Think about it.
Not trying to sound like Rollie, but it is just a game. It’s NOT important. Not as important as we’ve made it for so many decades.
This isn’t because of this outbreak, it’s not because the Rebels have sucked, it first REALLY hit me in ‘94 when they cancelled the series because of a labor dispute. I back burnered that, but it remained. Over the next couple decades, it gets reinforced by some event, whether it be misguided kneeling in some ulterior motive protest, 250 billion dollar contracts, $350 shoes… so yeah, I’ve detached from much of my fandom over the years. It really isn’t that important. I will always love the purity of the spirit of competition, but sports is rarely about that anymore. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want UNLV fan or Jeter fan or Tark fan or 650 consecutive games stamped on my headstone. It’s not important.
Or at least it shouldn’t be, not THIS important.
Sports certainly isn’t to blame but I feel like it’s one of a number examples where we’ve lost our way. There’s a place for it on list of priorities, but it shouldn’t be near the top. Whether it’s sports, movies, social media … obsessions over things that you have no control, over things that don’t care about your well being, over things that should exist as pleasurable distractions… it’s just not good. We’ve lost our substance, lost our way.
I hope everyone is doing ok and has some plans for this virus or worse, the reaction to the virus. I know everyone is going to have to make some sacrifices, whether big or small, but I hope everyone adjusts and finds a way to make things work until we get through this.
It won’t happen, I just don’t have that faith, but I’m hopeful this makes a good chunk of people wake up and smell the coffee, to not see things as I see them necessarily - but I’m hopeful it causes some clarity, some reassessment, even reprioritization. Everyone’s priorities vary. Find what it is that matters most, stop ignoring them, give them the attention they need and deserve. If ultimately it’s sports, so be it. Social media, politics, pop culture - it that truly is what’s most important to you, have at it and be happy. But I’m hopeful at the very least that people do use this time for some soul searching reflection and give them an opportunity for a “reset” if that’s what they need.
