Do you hate sports so much that you would not attend a game watching party?

[ThatsABigOne]

I would still go to a party for conversing with others.

MotionMan, that is very nice of you that you host parties! :thumbsup:

 

[Schadenfreude]

I don't particularly watch team sports and would generally (politely) refuse only because conversations (whether they be polite or not) tend to gravitate towards sports if we're sitting around watching sporting events.

Even if they're polite and accommodating enough to talk about something else on my account, I can generally feel the flow of the room to know that they're being accommodating so it makes me feel like I'm disrupting their "thing"/awkward, as normally the primary point of the gathering is to watch the game, not to hang out and BS (at least to the ones I've been to).

Of course, I'm assuming that the other dads are light acquaintances, not buddy-buddies w/ them. If we're fairly well acquainted and know each other well, I really don't see why not.

 

[PingSpike]

Depends. I can handle watching a football game, but I'd never go watch a baseball game. Then agian, who really has parties for baseball games anyway. I just imagine a house full of beer and cots for people to take a nap until the game is over. "Whoa, I must have fallen asleep. What happened?" "Nothing".

LOL

 

[PingSpike]

Maybe he got beat up by jocks on the football team in high school and never got over it.

 

[KaOTiK]

OP, ditch the football and just start up a NO MA*AM chapter instead. No excuse for any guy not to go then.

As for my opinion, I'm not a big sports fan, I can watch it very very casually if I have too, but I much rather do something else with my free time then pretend to give a crap about watching some rich guys playing a game.

I doubt I'd go to the party either. Since the party is center around football (regardless if it was meant too or not, from a guest perspective it is), I know I don't want to be around a bunch of sports fans where that is going to be the topic of focus mostly.

My best friend holds a super bowl party each year, he knows how I feel at sports and gives the invite out of courtesy but knows I probably wont show up. I went a few times simply out of courtesy as well, but if I have anything even remotely more appealing to do I'll that instead.

As for the person who says they can't understand people who no interest in sports. I kinda wonder the same thing about hardcore sports fans that have every piece of junk with their teams logo/name on it and how they get some emotionally invested in a game, especially one over about of people you don't actually know and don't give a crap about you.

 

[Gooberlx2]

He may just expect to be the odd man out, not knowing anything about sports or being able to contribute to the likely conversation, or somewhat introverted, or maybe he was picked on by jocks in his youth, or a combination.

I don't think it's that weird, but sure, it wasn't necessary for him to insist on how he hates sports.

 

[Apple Of Sodom]

I don't think it's that weird, but sure, it wasn't necessary for him to insist on how he hates sports.

Maybe he was trying to be subtle and let him know he doesn't like sports but would maybe come over for another reason? Maybe he is on the down-low?

"No thanks. I hate sports. That is the only reason I'm not coming over. HATE THEM! But if you had another reason for me to stop by, maybe I'd come over. I'm just saying I hate sports, but if you drilled a glory hole in your fence I would totally be there..."

 

[Lithium381]

i don't follow professional american sports. . . . i'd be hard pressed to name half of the teams in my state . . .but i'd go to the party just for the booze and the babes

 

[AstroManLuca]

Maybe he was trying to be subtle and let him know he doesn't like sports but would maybe come over for another reason? Maybe he is on the down-low?

"No thanks. I hate sports. That is the only reason I'm not coming over. HATE THEM! But if you had another reason for me to stop by, maybe I'd come over. I'm just saying I hate sports, but if you drilled a glory hole in your fence I would totally be there..."

Because harping on one point over and over again is subtle?

 

[PingSpike]

i don't follow professional american sports. . . . i'd be hard pressed to name half of the teams in my state . . .but i'd go to the party just for the booze and the babes

I thought it was established that zero babes would be present at this event.

 

[IGemini]

I've always had a problem with the concept of being a spectator. In a nutshell, I prefer doing something a little more proactive, even mentally. I don't hate sports, I'd much rather play them (except football).

I've gotten overloaded from the fundamentalist superfans. I lived near some guys who would scream and berate themselves when their favored team was losing...there's something not healthy about throwing a fit about arbitrary gameplay you have no control over. Never mind the fact that professional athletes get paid way too much to begin with.

The reason why people do any social activity is common interest. And like someone said, the conversations trend toward the activity. People can be social anytime--if the activity doesn't interest them they don't have a big reason to be there.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I sometimes go with coworkers to watch UFC, and I'm not a sports fan, and don't even know anything about UFC. But it's still a fun time.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Sometimes I don't like going to a party like this because I like sports.

I've invited people over to watch a game before, but those people know we'll be watching a game. Talking is for commercials.

I'd still go anyways though.

Edit: what LookBehindYou said.

See, this is my point. Half the people at the party are going to be this type of sports fan - which is fine, because it's a sports watching party. I'm not interested in hanging around watching a game I'm utterly uninterested in, while other guests get annoyed because I want to talk rather than watch a bunch of grown men play a game for a living.

 

[MotionMan]

You are planning a party around an event. Why not have the get together at a different time? You are making football the main event and structuring the party around it.

I wouldn't go unless I had some good friends who were going to be there, and I'm a pretty social person. It isn't just that you are watching football. You are planning the event around the sport, meaning that there will be a lot of people talking about sports, which I cannot stand.

Next time, if it really isn't about football, then don't plan the event around a football game.

There is a huge percentage of the dads who like football and everyone, even those I KNOW don't like sports who attend anyway, have a great time. It is the perfect event for this group.

I just found it odd that this one dad was so adamant about not watching sports.

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

Maybe you should change the event to an outing at the MOMA, if that makes him more comfortable?

This is my way to get the dads together around something that I enjoy. I guess if it was important enough for him to socialize with the dads, which we are rarely able to do as a group, he could try planning something like this around something he would enjoy.

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

Well there are better things to do this day and age so blame the internet / porn. 😀

Plus what kind of hours does he work as this could be hard asking a guy to do that if he works a lot and wants to do better things on his day off?

There is a difference between saying "I dedicate all my free time to being with my daughters" and saying, emphatically, "I do not like sports."

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

It's weird that people don't like the stuff that you like, huh?
Shocking...

Yes, it is, but, that is not the point.

Like I said, if the situation was reversed and he was putting on an opera watching party, I would still go for the company and food. I think it would be odd to say, "I don't like opera, so I am not coming to the party."

MotionMan

 

[nageov3t]

if one of my friends was hosting a sports-related party, I'd show up just to hang out with my friends.

but if we're talking like some random coworker or acquaintance, no... I'd probably take a pass on it.

 

[MotionMan]

if one of my friends was hosting a sports-related party, I'd show up just to hang out with my friends.

but if we're talking like some random coworker or acquaintance, no... I'd probably take a pass on it.

These are the dads of kids who will be together with your daughter in school for the next 7 years (having been together for 6 already for most of them).

These are the dads of your daughter's best friend, teammate and probably future first boyfriend.

Personally, I make every effort to get to know such people as well as possible.

MotionMan

 

[nageov3t]

These are the dads of kids who will be together with your daughter in school for the next 7 years (having been together for 6 already for most of them).

These are the dads of your daughter's best friend, teammate and probably future first boyfriend.

Personally, I make every effort to get to know such people as well as possible.

MotionMan

well yeah, but I'm an anti-social sociopath 😛

 

[AstroManLuca]

I sometimes go with coworkers to watch UFC, and I'm not a sports fan, and don't even know anything about UFC. But it's still a fun time.

Actually that's a perfect example for me. UFC is the one sport that I would definitely not watch even in the context of a social event. I like football and I'm neutral on basketball, baseball, and hockey, but if someone invited me to any of those sports, I'd go. UFC, though, I really hate and I wouldn't hesitate to decline an invitation.

Even still, I wouldn't make such a big deal about not liking UFC. Probably just say no thanks, it isn't my thing, maybe we could do something else sometime.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

As for the person who says they can't understand people who no interest in sports. I kinda wonder the same thing about hardcore sports fans that have every piece of junk with their teams logo/name on it and how they get some emotionally invested in a game, especially one over about of people you don't actually know and don't give a crap about you.

You don't have to be a hardcore fan, but sports is just like any other form of entertainment. Watching a football game for 2 hours is really not much different than watching a movie for 2 hours, except that while you may know how a movie ends, sports can often go down to the wire and have an exciting finish.

I find it funny when people say things like "I don't feel the need to watch a bunch of rich people play a game." Do those same people say the same thing when they watch movies? Because pro athletes and movie stars are the same thing -- entertainers, except the A list entertainers generally make more money.

I knew I'd get flamed (I assume you're talking about me, though many said similar things) when I said it, but again, I don't care -- I still think it is strange for a man to show no interest in sports at all. And I'm not talking about sitting in front of a TV watching a sport, either -- I'm talking about the guy who wouldn't know what to do with a bat, football, etc. if you handed it to him.

 

[MotionMan]

I knew I'd get flamed when I said it, but again, I don't care -- I still think it is strange for a man to show no interest in sports at all. And I'm not talking about sitting in front of a TV watching a sport, either -- I'm talking about the guys who wouldn't know what to do with a bat, football, etc. if you handed it to him.

When I was in grammar school, I played the clarinet. I was very good at it. I was first chair in my school and in my district. But I hated it with a passion and rarely practiced. I even did a solo at the Cow Palace for the All Nor Cal concert by sight-reading because I refused to practice. Finally, when I graduated from grammar school, my parents allowed me to quit.

I wonder if any people who say they hate sports were ever any good at sports, but still did not like them. I find that most people who hate watching sports were never any good at them (which makes some sense, but, IMO, taints their opinions).

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I wonder if any people who say they hate sports were ever any good at sports, but still did not like them. I find that most people who hate watching sports were never any good at them (which makes some sense, but, IMO, taints their opinions).

And to take that a step further, maybe it has to do more with the younger demographic here. When I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, you went outside and rode around on your bike, played football/basketball, and did all sorts of outdoor activities. Sure, we had video games and played with Star Wars figures and stuff like that, but a huge percentage of our time was spent running around outside and playing games. I guess maybe the younger generations didn't play outside as much and therefore, maybe didn't get into sports the way we did as kids.

 

[MotionMan]

And to take that a step further, maybe it has to do more with the younger demographic here. When I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, you went outside and rode around on your bike, played football/basketball, and did all sorts of outdoor activities. Sure, we had video games and played with Star Wars figures and stuff like that, but a huge percentage of our time was spent running around outside and playing games. I guess maybe the younger generations didn't play outside as much and therefore, maybe didn't get into sports the way we did as kids.

Not a bad point.

Damn whipper-snappers!

MotionMan