Anyone else hate football ? (soccer if you are american)

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Neither do I.

But in this current culture, having obsessions based on team activities seems to be socially acceptable.

However, obsessing about lone pursuits does not.


When I hear someone talk on and on to me about football, I find it irritating. As a comparison, it's about as irritating as s/he'd find me going on and on about organic chemistry (if s/he wasn't interested in science).

But because the topic of football is socially acceptable, I have to yield and let the other person talk about that.

It seems that boredom and irritation come in many varieties.

It depends on who you are and what you're into as to whether you're allowed to show boredom or not.

I don't understand sports.

I should pick a team of highly paid professionals and care whether they win or lose?

I should say "hooray we won" or feel bad because "we lost"?

Why should my ego rise or fall because what a bunch of people I never met do?

I think I found out why Aspies as a rule don't like football (as if it wasn't obvious):

"Football as a fan is a community thing, its about shared purpose and social belonging. Its tribal. I endured many years as a season ticket holder at Elland Road - surrounded by entire families, generations for whom the saturday afternoon pilgrimage was the socially binding event of the week. The modern game has of course transcended the lowly fan and is largely dictated by £$€'s - but the best supported teams remain those loyal and local to their fanbase"
http://afterthepostrock.com/forum/viewt ... 6&p=249634
(see 5th reply, by Anthony J)

It's the old "teamwork" thing. No wonder I don't do football.

What I don't understand is why some folks decide to support a team that's not based in their home area, in a place they've never been to, have no affinity with or were not born in.

It's a very strange phenomenon.
For instance, theoretically, someone in Devon could support Manchester United.

If someone decides to support his/her home town or city, then fair enough, I can understand the logic behind that.

Perhaps some people living in the areas of the country that are depleted in premier league football, feel the inexplicable need to "adopt a club" from somewhere else.

Perhaps they believe they'd feel rather silly if they didn't have a scarf to wave or team to support in the bar. Perhaps they'd feel left out.

Who knows?

I can understand if the people of "our town" cheer the local boys against the "town next door".

But why should I pick some team of professionals who are not even local against some other team of professionals?

As a rule, I am not very keen on football as I find it boring, it fails to excite me. My boyfriend feels exactly the same wat. However, for some, it's the other way round and that's fair enough. I have nothing against people who like football, it's just such a shame that many think that being a football supporter gives you the unwritten right to be a total wanker. I have no time for people who eat, sleep, drink football as these are the worst perpetrators. When a football match comes on, it's like the hypnotic toad off Futurama, only instead of people staring in silence, people turn into primates with primitive chants to support 'their team'. Many people will argue that we don't come from apes, however, watching football supporters would argue otherwise, only, in a lot of cases, the apes are better behaved.

I also hate the way people talk about their team like they participated in the match in some way - 'we won the match'. No you didn't! You were sat on your backsides watching the footballers win the match or beating someone up who supports the opposing team to make yourselves feel better! A lot of men who support football actually believe that it makes them more of a man in some way and think they are far superior to those who think that football is rubbish. If part and parcel of being a man is being chauvinistic, a tyrant and a total tosspot, then I suppose this train of thought is true. However, I will point out though that there are men out there who are able to support football and don't behave like tosspots and these are the ones that sort out the men from the boys in my opinion. It's little boys that like to fight in the playground, not men.

I also don't have a very high opinion of football players themselves. It used to be about the game for them in the past, now it's just all about the money. How is paying them the amount that they are paid justifiable in any way? And why is it that when they get drunk and beat people up quite badly or rape someone, they get a ridiculously short sentence or get off scot-free? At least you can say one thing about the fans that you can't say for the footballers themselves - they are in it for the game.

I love watching important soccer matches because they're so interesting. I like playing soccer for fun too.

As an American, I like soccer - but that's because we're not as exposed to it as much.

Baseball is quite boring for us nowadays, but it's still fun to watch every once in a while.

When I was in high school I was expected to cheer for "our team" against "those other people".

I pointed out to the teachers that I only went to this school because I lived in the district so why should I claim that "our boys" are better than "their boys".

Frankly I couldn't care less. I can understand that the people on the team would want to win but what does that have to do with me?

Pure tribal dynamics... i guess it must feel really great for an NT too be with so many othere who support your tribe, must make you feel powerful... i reckon that hysterior on mass must be very intoxicating!!??

I 'follow' a team that had nothing to do with my home town, simply becuase as a 'brand' i feel they represent things and values i believe in....

while it seems all of us here dont really get it and all have painful memorys from team and organised sports at school. But i think team sports have there place in larger society.

Does anyone here like indiviual sports?

It's interesting to hear all you europeans and your perspective on the sport.
As an american, I love soccer (futbol, football, etc.). I used to play the game and enjoy it.
What I can't stand is the american game of football. The one with helmets and shoulder pads and so on. I think it's a ret*d excuse for a bunch of sweaty guys to bash each other.
Soccer, to me, always seemed just the slightest bit more refined than american football.
But that may be my biased perspective on all things european.
You guys seem to have it a lot more right than we do in america.

It's peculiar, but they did seem assume that kids new the rules already, as if somehow the rules were already programmed into the kid's DNA.

Anyone who didn't have these football rule programmed into them was automatically assumed to "live under a rock". It was also assumed that football should be talked about at least once a day. Perhaps some people felt they'd shrivel up if they didn't or "suffer" from "football deficiency".


One TV advert for corn snacks (junior football league sponsors), that I saw years ago depicted a boy's "medical dependency" on football. The boy was lying severely ill in bed moaning weakly: "Football...football...football...football..."

His parents look worried. The doctor tells them that only football and corn snacks will cure his illness. The doctor then prescribes a packet of fatty corn snacks to the boy to try and revive him. The boy watches football on the TV as he tries to recover.

The advert obviously worked because I still remember it to this day.

Lots of sports/sports stars used to be sponsored by food snacks containing high amounts of fat, salt and/or sugar. The irony and hypocrisy of it all isn't lost on me.
But sport is expensive...

Last edited by AmberEyes on 27 May 2009, 10:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

As an Englishman, I have toyed with the idea of "supporting" a team from a country other than England in the World Cup, though I haven't mustered up the enthusiasm to actually do that yet, as it would involve taking an interest in the game, which wouldn't be at all easy for me.

My reasons for entertaining such an idea are:

1. To avoid and counter the nationalism and patriotism inherent in sport - it seems to me arrogant and dangerous to get all proud and supportive of one's own country or region. I've even heard it said that sport is used by authorities to teach us hate and racism in order to divide and rule (as in the "circus" part of the old Roman control gambit of "bread and circuses"), though I don't suggest that this is the only reason for sport.

2. To lampoon, parody and annoy the mainstream in the event of sport causing me enough irritation to arouse my resentment (as there's always a chance it will do, perhaps by causing a favourite TV show of mine to be cancelled, or the disruption of traffic to my disadvantage, the creation of unwanted noise, or possibly even the sight of so much waste and excess in a world in which a little austerity could lead to the feeding and sheltering of everybody).

3. To underscore and celebrate the fact that I am not like everybody else, to encourage others to respect their own individuality, and to discourage the homogenous mainstream from their efforts to marginalise and walk over us.

Maybe I'll get a T-shirt that says "trash your local team" on it.


Hypno-toad will never take me alive, I swear it.

A cunning plan, however, I do foresee a problem with it.

I may not know a lot about football, but what I do know is that many players are bought in from teams abroad for extortionate amounts of money.

I also know that some players from this country have been sold abroad.

Buying and selling people?!
Swapping them around.
I don't understand it unless it's for the £s, $s etc.

Given how nationally mixed up all the teams across the globe.
And how even some managers originally came in from abroad.
I find football very confusing.

I don't know if your plan will work in this "Global Village".

Nice try though...

I love the sport. I wish I was better at playing it. I will admit however that my interest in it has waned. Football's all about glamour and money these days. The amount of money getting splashed around in the game is ridiculous. I usually only watch the important matches (for club football). Like tonight's UCL final. Which I suspect is what motivated the creation of this thread.

Most games tend to be boring, after much hours of hype. Every season maybe about 5-10 really awesome games come a long. I follow most of the European leagues including the EPL, La Liga and Serie A. The match between Liverpool and Arsenal which ended 4-4 was just breathtaking. It's unfortunate that games like these seem to be so few. Now a days I just watch the highlights.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MWvDLRfUM4[/youtube]

I do enjoy competitions involving countries however. Like The EURO's and World Cups. They're more interesting and the players are playing for something more than just money... National honour. I do know that not everyone shares my views, but that's o.k. If every game of football was as entertaining as the hype makes it out to be, it would have far more supporters.

Last edited by i_wanna_blue on 27 May 2009, 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

This reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer accidentally eats a poisonous fish and gets told that he's only got a few hours to live....when he discovers at the end of the episode that it was all a mistake, he declares that from that moment on he will live life to the full. And as the titles go up, he's in his chair glued to the baseball game on TV, and crunching his way through a huge packet of pork rings. I always took that as a warning for the weak-willed, but your advert reminds me that even a parody of unwholesome tendencies can promote the very behaviour it lampoons. Fiendish how it all works, isn't it?