Letters from 2011

23 Jan 11

Subject:

Your page is a relief...I'm not alone. I'm 27 college educated in the arts. Last term I brought up in my class how I dislike sports. That brought an onslaught of ignorant comments. Oh you just don't like sports because you never played them...and your just a liberal artistic nut. Or you just don't understand them. C'mon basing your life on guys getting paid way to much do to activities a fucking monkey could preform. These are probably the same people who go to church and base their excistance on a almighty being. These players get paid millions when there are starving families who cant afford food their kids. It makes me so fucking sick.

1 Feb 11

Subject:

Okay, we know the superbowl is coming up (yuck). I just cannot get into football, and I have to deal w/ my brother and dad, and a shitload of other boys my brother knows coming to watch this shit. I still can't figure out why someone can make millions of dollars doing this, and how fans can endlessly talk about it. Now I will confess, I don't hate all sports, I actully enjoy the olympic sports, and I enjoy basketball, even though I don't keep up w/ all the stats. But football has just always been boring to me.

Joel

7 Feb 11

Subject:

So, my fellow discerning sports despisers, the Stupor Bore has come and gone yet again, and I can proudly claim that, not only did I not witness one nanosecond of the drivel, but also I couldn’t even tell you the names of the teams boorishly bashing each other around and chasing the bladder. I dream of the day when everyone, not just those of us with our priorities straight, will ignore every single sporting event, and “athletes” will have to get a proper job, ESPN will shut down and sports fans will have to think of something intelligent to discuss.

Stephen

8 Feb 11

Subject: Right on, brother

That's a very nice sentiment. I am sure that your dreams will become reality and one day we will all be free.

Ray

9 Feb 11

Subject: Superbore

I had my normal good time ignoring the super bowl ( and all other games ) but I was amazed with how many dolts just didn't get it when I told them I don't watch / don't care / don't follow ANY of that even the slightest bit. Every time someone tried to engage me in in conversation about it, I indicated the way I wasn't into it at all...and for some reason their narrow one-track minds appeared to process it as though I told them I was just against a certain team. They'd say like, "Oh, not a Packers fan?" or "Don't like them Steelers huh?" and they'd immediately launch into hyper-enthusiastic blathering about it which I had to cut off with a raised waving palm and gruff "hey!" They simply could not imagine NOT being caught up in the whole thing at all. Imagine being so intellectually deaf...

26 Feb 11

Subject: Glad I'm not alone.

I live in Alabama and I love the beauty of south and people are very
nice. Unfortunatley, I don't like football or Nascar, I prefer music,
art, and literature. It's so bad that when it's college football
season most the state goes nuts and "they" can talk about it at work
constantly and re-play the whole game to co-workers and such. If I
talk about music, art, or some classic literature, not only do "they"
think I'm crazy, I get in trouble for talking! I hate sports and
"they" and y'all know who "they" are, get on my last nerve!!!!!
It never occurs to "them" that just maybe I think it's them that needs
a daggum shrink.....

Sent from Michele's iPhone

4 Mar 11

Subject: What's Wrong With This Article?

Roommate charged in Middle Tenn. St. player death
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – A teenager charged in the fatal stabbing of a Middle Tennessee State University basketball player is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning.
Rutherford County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lisa Marchesoni said 18-year-old Shanterrica Madden was charged with first degree murder in the death of her roommate, Tina Stewart.
The junior guard from Memphis was pronounced dead at a Murfreesboro hospital after police answering a disturbance call Wednesday night found her stabbed at her apartment.
Stewart averaged 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 28 games this season for the Blue Raiders. MTSU is the No. 1 seed from the East and scheduled to start play in the Sun Belt Conference tournament Sunday.
The MTSU Women's Basketball program, currently coached by Rick Insell, has a long record of success including a number of appearances in the NCAA and WNIT basketball tournaments dating back to the 1970s. The Blue Raiders won the Sun Belt Conference championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009, receiving the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Women's Tournament.
In 2008, the team lost in the Sun Belt Championship game, and received a bid to play in the WNIT. The MTSU Women's team has been home to the NCAA's leading scorer for the past two consecutive seasons.

Yes, it reads like the crime reporter fell asleep while writing this article and a sports fan finished it.

-Ted

6 Mar 11

Subject: Owl Kicked to Death by Soccer Player

An owl that was viciously kicked by professional soccer player Luis Moreno during a Colombian first division game died early Tuesday as a result of the brutal attack that has outraged animal rights activists.

With 20 minutes remaining in Sunday's game between Junior de Barranquilla and visiting side Deportivo Perreira, Moreno kicked the home team's mascot that had accidentally been hit by the match ball after wandering onto the field.

Teammates and opponents looked in disbelief while the Deportivo Perreira defender violently punted the stunned, helpless owl – one of many that live on the roof of Barranquilla Metropolitan Stadium and fly over the pitch before games - out of bounds. Infuriated fans showered Moreno with insults, chanting "killer, killer, killer."

Despite showing signs of improvement as late as Monday night, the bird "went into a state of shock and died," attending veterinarian Camilo Tapia told the local press, Triunfo reported.

According to Radio Caracol of Colombia, the exact cause of death was capture myopathy, which develops in animals that are subjected to extreme physical conditions, such as exertion, struggle and stress.

Animal cruelty laws in Colombia can punish offenders with up to three months in jail, which is the sentence many are calling for Moreno to receive.

Local activists are also urging league officials to permanently expel Moreno - who is a native of Panama - from Colombian football.

"We demand that Dimayor and Deportivo Perreira immediately sever ties with this player. No excuse is enough, it's an act that has no justification whatsoever."

Marcela Ramirez, president of Colombia's Society for the Protection of Animals, told Radio Caracol Aware that he's treading on thin ice, Moreno is apologizing to anyone that will listen to him and now claims he was actually trying to help the owl.

"It wasn't my intention to hit the animal. What I tried to do was wake it up so it could fly," Moreno said, according to Reuters.

I wish Moreno were tied to a stake so owls can peck out his eyes. Now THAT's entertainment.

-Ted

24 Mar 11

Subject: Ralph Nader

I was just reading news and found an intriguing article. It seems Ralph Nader has just come out in favor of abolishing sports scholarships and replacing them with need based financial aid. It may be the only good idea he's ever had, but I think it's a winner.

Smith

29 Mar 11

Subject: Sport Sucks

I'm a teenager in High School and all through primary school I had to endure so many stupid, brainless sport fans. Idiots who were boring plebs, uninteresting and had meaningless lives. People would always try to encourage me to play sport, they knew I didn't like it but they always wanted to change it and bring me down to there level of Immature Intelligence. I got so tired of watching people lose there minds about some stupid ball game and watch them kill off brain cells by yelling and screaming over nothing. I hated that people will just zone out when there playing sport because to them there's nothing more important at the time. Kids you think you like are nice up until they get out on the field then they become monsters.

It annoys me that people can't just think "he doesn't like sport, that's all there is to it" and leave it at that, just accept that not everybody wants to waste there time watching useless idiots on the field kicking a ball around (or whatever trash they do). It angers me people think I hate sport because I'm not good at it, I hate it for many reasons and thus why I'm am not skilled in it. I believe sport eats away at creative energy and because the mind is so focused on trying to compete all the time you lose touch with your ability to think and create. Makes sense why stupid Employed sport players never did anything wildly creative.

I hate that people make the conclusion that only nerds do not like sport. I do not think there is anything wrong with nerds and I may consider myself one to some degree but I am not interested in most of the stuff that the people call "nerds". I say to all the people out there feeling down, frustrated,angry or any pain about not liking sport, there is no shame, stay strong and remember that you are unique and you are not just another douche running on a field. Don't just sink in with the crowd, you have every right to simply say "I do not enjoy playing sport of any kind" or something like that. People may say sport will help you make friends but do you want to make friends with a bunch of soccer playing morons? People may say it will get you fit but you don't need sport for that. People may tease or bully you about it but remember, the highest they can go is kicking a ball to a net, that's there dream, your life is better and more important then those mindless jocks. You are not alone.

One day I will get out of School and I won't have to put up with this crap as much anymore and there's nobody to look down at me and tell me I should be one of those losers.

Tim

4 Apr 11

Subject: No Subject

Oh my fuckin god, the flags here in Kentucky are at half mast. Kentucky lost in the so called final four last night. Kentuckians throughout the state are on suicide watch. The jesus places are full of people today in the heart of the bible belt, weeping and snot rolling out of their eyes. Oh such depression throughout the commonwealth. Our boys played their hearts out for us and lost. I just wanna cwyyyyyy.
Fuck a bunch of double digit vicarious living sports fans. Fuck Kentucky basketball. Fuck sports.

The only way I would watch a basketball game is if the scoreboard were full of c-4.

Dave

5 Apr 11

Subject: Dave's Letter

Hello Dave!

I'm from Ohio, originally Columbus area, where the world virtually stops for
Ohio State football and basketball, so I can definitely feel your pain! :/
Amazing how people's lives can revolve around games played by 19- and
20-year-old college students, no? As for them being "our boys who played their
hearts out for us", chances are most of the players probably aren't even from
the local area -- colleges recruit players from all over the country, just to
draw national attention and TV and merchandising revenue. Yep, it's all about
the money even in college sports these days! >:(

-ChrisOH

14 Apr 11

Subject: Sports aarghh!!!

The only worthwhile sports are those from the olympics as these people are representing their country and are composed people striving to achieve potential

unlike football (soccer) players who get paid millions to kick a sphere then collect millions of pounds from manchester united then on the way home to see their slutty wives crash there ferraris and lamborghinis into lamp posts and roundabouts.

Me and my friends shouldnt be put down by the people who play and watch sports. just because we arent good at them as most peoples talents lie elsewhere however i like motorsports as these take precision such as 24 hour racing in which teams sort out problems and come up with solutions and both teams and drivers are knackered by the end of it. it really annoys me where people say motorsport isnt a sport its in the name dumb ass

Regards :-)=

Sam

19 Apr 11

Subject: who cares who wins

Playing and especially watching sports are the biggest wastes of time in human history. Football crap, baseball puke, basketball bean brains, golf dodos; why would anyone care who wins or what happens? Contrary to the exaggerated blubbering of the sports announcer shills, every damned game plays out about the same; boring, boring, and boring... And it goes on and on and on and on...I can't think of a more excruciatingly painful way to pass one's time... Well, a fifty year prison stretch with a head full of severe toothaches may be close. I suppose the sports dummies watch because their lives are so entirely devoid that sports are the only way they can relate to any one. It would be laughable, but really it is only sad. Think of it. These games are actually, pitifully, the highlights of their lives. There will always be those in society who are gullible and have no ability to think for themselves: the herd followers, the bandwagon riders, the lemmings. There is no doubt the sports punks have been completely brainwashed to it by societal conditioning and the media. They are weak and easily manipulated in the same way as gamblers, cult members, druggies, etc. Look at smokers.. a phenom much like the sports addict (smokies are now justly treated like lepers!). Yet, they puff away their money and health, and don't they look cool with that stupid smelly turd always hanging from their lips. Like them, the sports freaks are simply a perfect example of "monkey-see, monkey-do" behavior. But without question, the all-time grand poobahs of sports idiots are the players. They are so undeservingly exhalted and paid, and so much undue attention and faux-respect is lavished on them, that these dopes actually believe they truly are important. THEY ARE NOT!! And if they have half a brain, even they must wonder how long they can keep the charade going. What really makes me sick is the way sports are always associated with educational institutions, as if these guys are brilliant scholars. Oh yeah the tattooed sports thug is smart. He's an athlete from the University of Bullshit. Hah! Name one important discovery any of the mutants ever made...zero, just as I thought. Take one look at 'em and you can tell they are basically a side of beef with legs. Let me tell all of them the simple TRUTH, "Even if you win every whoopity-do World Series, or stupidity dumb stupid bowl, Cy Young, Hiesman, title, phony award, whatever, etc. etc., you will have accomplished absolutely, exactly NOTHING!! None of it matters. So put away your silly little gang banger costumed uniforms, and at least put yourself to some use; cook somebody a freakin burger and fries. And hurry it up. I'm hungry... you big dumb sports goof.
Signed Ron Sparticus

20 Apr 11

Subject: A theory

Hi all,

I was wondering if there is a connection between

(a) Love of sports and agression

(b) Love of sports and being crazy enough to go overseas to fight someone elses war and have your head blown off in the army

(d) Hatred of sports and being non-violent

It occurs to me that if you are easily whipped up into a sportsgasm, you could also be easily gullible enough to "do your bit" and fight in some dumb war overseas that isnt about protecting your family.

I personally find war horrific and dumb and if another war broke out, I would defend my family at our town limits in effectively an act of self defence, but there would be no way I'd go overseas - thats just over stepping the mark and pure bullying in my book. No, I'm not american, so I dont get the patriot thing. And I'm not anti-American ( in case you were wondering ). I think the US has wonderful people, as always its usually the leaders that are insufferbaly stupid. Mind you, Australi has a commie athiest as PM and the US has a marxist muslim as Prez, so....

I wonder what other non-sports fans might think and whether there is a connection between sports and agression and gullibility.

Thoughts welcome.

22 Apr 11

Subject: Reply

I hate sports but I don't think all sports lovers are the same people who would go to war, not all of them. Deep down, no matter what sports loving numskulls may act like; they are cowards, magnets that link to each other building a world based on scores, TV,money and there pathetic sport worshiping associates. Some of these people will go to war because they are brainless but the slightly more intelligent ones may see why war is the worlds most pathetic hobby. Sports lovers are violent people but no defined soldiers.

Thanks for expressing your opinion and I completely agree with you.

Tim

10 May 11

Subject: Sport Rant 2

Often through my years I have come across idiotic students who would be obsessed with sport and were so infatuated with knowing who won and who lost. This year I have to say my experiences with sport have been the worst. Since starting off high school, I have often been forced to sign up for a big competitive sport. I remember in one of my Drama classes, A substitute teacher mentioned he never went to a sporting event, specially AFL, Australian Football. That hit a gear in the head of all the sport lovers in my class and they all started complaining about how it was "Un-Australian" Not to attend sickening sport events. I love in sport obsessed Australia and the country is often saying "we love the footy" "we love sport" And it annoys me that even in this modern day, people can't accept people who do not enjoy sport. There's no news anywhere about the issue of children being forced into playing sports or not liking any sporting rituals. It's a personal choice and it's just a hobby. Other Hobbies do not get this much attention. I realize that because I have picked this lifestyle, I may have to put up with sport and it's worshipers but after School, There will be a pay off. I will be rewarded for my individuality and excel at what I am good at without sport to weigh me down. Most of the other interests people have aren't even recognized. Eg. People who good at the arts aren't equally appreciated as sport experts. If a jock sucks at a class other than sport, nobody really cares as long as he can play. However, Intelligent humans who excel at Music, Film Making, Art, Drama may still get picked on at school.

I also noticed Sport lovers constantly get injured so maybe sports aren't so Healthy afterwards if there so dangerous. There are so many things to go wrong. I never played a lot of sport and I have never broke a bone. I really appreciate the makers of this site as they have allowed sports haters to come out of the closet and feel better.

Tim

12 June 11

Subject: From the Guestbook

The thing I hate most about sports is the way sports fans expect the rest of us to pay for their choice of entertainment through confiscatory taxation. No I do NOT want to build the Rays another baseball stadium...we just spent billions on the nearly new one you have. No I do not want to build the Buccaneers a new football palace. This will be the third one we built to your specifications and we still have not paid off the municipal bonds from the FIRST stadium. No I do not feel a sense of civic pride that a bunch of neanderthals gather weekly to bust heads while their "fans" clog traffic lanes. Seriously, if you are going to buy facilities for ONE entertainement business with tax dollars why not buy facilities for ALL of them (equal application of the law). I am willing to bet that Joe Redner's Mons Venus nudie bar would welcome a multibillion dollar venue be built for his "sport franchise".

mbarnett

SAINT PETERSBURG', fl - Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 15:30:24 (MET)

15 June 11

Subject: Huston article (I hate sports)

I thought this was a very good piece and it reflects the way most of us feel about sports. My apologies if this has already been posted here.
-JW

Found at: hitchens says sports suck/

Written By : Warner Todd Huston

Well, Christopher Hitchens has finally written something with which I can whole heartedly sign on. In his latest Newsweek piece Hitchens decries the sham that is sports — especially international soccer tournies. He slams the supposed benefits of sports and rightly pinpoints the singular truth that sports brings out the worst in everyone.
Hitchens eviscerates the lie that sports “brings people together,” lays low the lie that sports is good in schools, and obliterates the idiotic babble that sports are in any way filled with good role models — or that they even could present good role models. I loved this delicious paragraph, delivered after delineating the “shock” that one sports dolt had when another dissed him:

On the contrary, Mr. Rossi, what we are seeing is the very essence of sportsmanship. Whether it’s the exacerbation of national rivalries that you want—as in Africa this year—or the exhibition of the most depressing traits of the human personality (guns in locker rooms, golf clubs wielded in the home, dogs maimed and tortured at stars’ homes to make them fight, dope and steroids everywhere), you need only look to the wide world of sports for the most rank and vivid examples. As George Orwell wrote in his 1945 essay “The Sporting Spirit,” after yet another outbreak of combined mayhem and chauvinism on the international soccer field, “sport is an unfailing cause of ill-will.”

I’ve said it myself a hundred times. Sports teaches nothing worth while. It teaches selfishness, it teaches that only “the star” counts for anything, and in schools the money wasted on sports benefits only the few halfwits running around in short pants on a grassy field of one sort or another. All that money wasted on sports in schools goes for the tiniest number of students and offers no benefits whatsoever to the 99% of the school body not involved in sports.
And the stupidity of the Olympics is the worst offense in all of sports. Billions of dollars wasted to NO good effect. Hitchens quotes the aforementioned Orwell on the point.

I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield. Even if one didn’t know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce it from general principles.

Hear, hear.
And as if sports didn’t degrade our nation, our very lives any worse than they already do, we had the misfortune of getting Keith Olbermann out of them. If that isn’t an indictment against sports, nothing is.

Oh, I know that my outright hostility to the brainless effort that is sports is most certainly the minority view. But that does not make me wrong. Only smarter then the rest of ya! Seriously, though, Hitchens is laser accurate with his evisceration of sports. The saddest thing of all is the fact that so many otherwise logical, sensible people have allowed the lowest expressions of society to influence them to jettison intellectual pursuits for the garbage which is sports. So sad to see an adult American male, or any other nationality for that matter, that could be using his brain for something useful stuffing his mind full of pointless, boring, and utterly irrelevant sports statistics. It is galling that such attention is wasted on this falderal.

And lastly I want to leave with this: every time I attack the foolishness that is sports, some steroid addled, meat-for-brains, sports lover will always offer the same brainless, uninformed taunt. “You were just never good enough to play sports and you’re just jealous,” they will blather. I love how this brain-dead taunt comes up every single time. So, to disabuse you knuckledragging, muscle heads — and all your over weight, balding, wish-you-weres that sit on your couch stuffing your faces every game day as you act like a ten-year-old when “we” get a homerun or a touchdown… “we” as if YOU had anything to do with it — I played all sorts of sports as a child and teen. Like every set of American parents in the 1960s and 70s, mine carted me out to one team after another for years. In fact, I generally enjoyed the games (except baseball which I hated) and was even on a few championship teams. So, no you Neanderthals, I was not unable to play the game as a kid.

Fortunately, just like Hitchens I’ve smartened up as an adult and seen through the sham that is sports. So, hooray for Christopher Hitchens. He’s at last hit upon the God’s honest truth (OK, the God crack was a slap in the midst of my praise at Hitchens the atheist, but… you know). Sports are useless, dangerous, pointless and should be eliminated from our lives.

18 June 11

Subject: You can't win 'em all

I was finishing a couple slices of pizza when all of a sudden a little league coach and a dozen kids entered the place. I could no longer concentrate on the news article I was reading thanks to the coach's booming voice.

"So kids, how'd ya like our ball game today?"

"Yaaaaaay!" came the response.

"Everyone gets a slice today!"

"Yaaaaay!"

I threw out my paper plate and plastic cup, gathered my stuff and was just about to walk out when the coach unleashed his secret weapon.

"Well, I know you love baseball. But do you love basketball?"

"Yeeeesss!" yelled the kids.

All of a sudden this 7-foot black behemoth entered the pizza shop.

"Kids, this is Bron LaBrawn star dribbler of the Philadelphia Dawdlers!"

"Hi kids...bla bla bla...I'm a millionaire....bla..bla..bla... you can be a millionaire too...bla..bla..bla"

I don't know how the other diners felt about this jock display, but I was thankful I was finishing up my meal at the time and left. I think the b-ball giant gave me a look out the corner of his eye that said where you goin, why aren't you worshiping me, do you know who I am. Or maybe it was just my imagination. When you're outnumbered, the exit is the only score I want to make.

-Ted

23 June 11

Subject: Observations

I have noticed many things about school sports and natural unnecessary competitiveness elements to what is supposed to be "all a bit of fun". High School HPE class has hardly anything to do with being healthy or getting fit, Its just the time for the jocks to shine. Its about teaching kids "sporting skills" which involve learning useless skills (hitting a ball over a net). As for the way it goes, each and everyone of a student's single failure never goes unmocked. If you hit the ball wrong, the teacher and class teases you. Its almost like they have to; like its the rules. This doesn't just happen to the less skilful kids, it happens to nearly everyone. My HPE teacher gladly forces push-ups on kids who make a mistake. Sport is all about winning to them. At every Volleyball game I have been too, kids have become angry and upset because they don't win. I have always hated how kids who have been playing a sport for years expect someone who has never even tried it to come along and do as well as them. Why must this activity be so forceful on succeeding to hit the ball straight. I doubt that sport would be nearly as bad if every kid just gave others a fare chance, instead of using the "come on!" reflex and the humiliating untruthful encouragement, just accept people are not really interested and if you understand them they have much more chance of trying there best without 30 angry kids yelling at them to "not let the team down." That is what turned me off sport, when I just gave in and gave it my very best shot, it still wasn't enough, the kids wanted me to achieve something impossible. That was when I virtually threw down the ball and swore to myself to never become one of them. I started to avoid sport and to this day, every-time I try, the exact same thing happens. Why keep at it? Im with you guys, forever.

Tim

27 July 11

Subject: This is Great

So glad I found your site. For many years in my childhood I played hockey. At first I loved the game, but gradually grew to hate it. I was an average player, nothing great but not lousy; however, that did not cut it. I was a non-entity because I wasn't a superstar or a hotdog. I became more withdrawn each year from teammates, and eventually quit by the time I was 15.

The absolute worst part about it? Hockey dads, followed closely by hockey moms. And I won't get into the horrors of the year I was a hockey referee, but needless to say, I'll never do THAT again.

Now, I watch the occasional footy or hockey game, but not often, and never in person or with any die-hard fans. I'd rather watch an episode of South Park or Law & Order. F ** k these sport idiots. I't a g .. dd .. n GAME, for s ** t's sake.

28 July 11

Subject: I've had enough

Why the hell should I have to like something because most blue collar Englishmen should like it because otherwise they might be considered gay or a geek? Yeah I'm blue collar, I tried to get into football to fit in with other guys, but now I've realised the game is a money making scam where the fans are dupes and the players, television corporations and club chairmen are laughing all the way to the bank with their obscene wages and subscription fees that seem to go up massively every year. Do I really want to walk around with a shirt with the name of a guy on the back who would probably tell me where to go in the street? Do I really want to regard football as a matter of life and death when there are vastly more important things in life? Do I really want to walk into a bar and be expected to worship Sky Sports and ESPN?

No, no and no, I've had enough of appeasing people. Yeah I might watch a bit of the World Cup, as most people do here, but to have sit and wade through each game as if it was life and death now sends me to sleep. Also since I've found a girlfriend now, who has no interest in sport and realises I only watched football to appease the football Taliban, I have one excuse to jack this off for good.

A N Englishman.

29 July 11

Subject: what game?

The following convo took place at the condo gym I was working out in.

"What time da game start?"

"I don't know."

"Your home team, da Phillies are playing, and you don't know what time da game start? Man, that's wack."

"I'm glad Ann won."

"Wachoo talkin 'bout?"

Ann from America's Next Top Model. I was rooting for her all the way. She lacked confidence and poise at the beginning of the show, but she learned the ropes of vogueing and dominating the runway. I was blown away. Don't you know she's your next top model?"

He gave me a nauseated look, walked away and said, "Whateva."

Other than that, not much happenin', but still the war goes on.

-Ted

29 July 11

Subject: Sports rights

Main headline today, BBC loses 50 per cent of the Formula 1 coverage. Oh good, no more prats racing around in stupid cars that sound like a swarm of bees when they're warmed up. Maybe we can go back to having some decent films on a Sunday.

GLENN

30 July 11

Subject: College Sports Suck

Hi Mr. or Ms.

I found your website on Google after searching for "improving college sports". You're website is not only completely uninformative, but it doesn't even show any evidence for what it claims. It appears that you put quite a lot of stock into the "People who can throw 90mph make too much money" argument. That is an inherently flawed argument, depending on your belief in capitalism. Unfortunately, people that can throw 90mph along with a curve than breaks 8 inches are far less common than people who are excellent teachers. I agree that teachers are for more beneficial to the benefit of our future. Unfortunately, that's not the way our system works. Sadly, rare talent breeds more money than essential talent

Chris

31 July 11

Subject:

I like staying active and fit, but I have no interest in watching sports. I know exactly why I hate sports fans. I don't make up theories about intelligence or testosterone. I hate sports fans because there were two children in my family, two boys. My father loved sports, and so did my brother. My father tried to force me to like sports and totally ignored my interests -- avid scifi and comedy fan, at the time. For years afterward, I lost interest in my original hobbies, while my brother and father remained impassioned sports fans. The point is, when you neglect something, it turns cold and dark.

1 Aug 11

Subject: SO TRUE

SPORTS ,

I WAS PLEASED TO HAVE FOUND YOUR SITE , THANKS FOR REMINDING ME THAT I AM NOT ALONE !

I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST SPORTS , BUT PERSONALLY , I FIND IT TO BE THE MOST BORING THING IN THE WORLD . EVERY GAME TURNS OUT THE SAME . ONE TEAM WINS & ONE TEAM LOSES . I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE DOES WHAT SO WHY WOULD I WANT TO WATCH . EVEN IF I DID CARE , IT WOULD BE A WASTE OF TIME TO TAKE HOURS FINDING OUT THE ANSWER TO A QUESTION THAT I CAN LOOK UP ONLINE OR READ IN THE PAPER IN A FEW SECONDS THE NEXT DAY .

THE WORST PART OF THIS IS THE WAY THE GAMES ARE BROADCAST WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT EVERYONE IS A FAN . WE HAVE A RADIO STATION THAT PROMISES "SMOOTH JAZZ ALL WEEKEND LONG". I ENJOY THE JAZZ WHILE WORKING IN MY SHOP . THEN THEY PRE-EMPT THE MUSIC FOR A CHARLOTTE BOBCATS OR CAROLINA PANTHERS OR HURRICANES GAME FOR HOURS .

SOMETIMES THEY PRE-EMPT PROGRAMMING WHEN THERE IS NO GAME ! THEY HAVE COACHES SHOWS & TRAINING CAMP UPDATES WHERE THEY GO ON & ON INTERVIEWING ALL THE NEW PLAYERS & STAFF FOR THE TEAM .

I HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT THE ONLY THING MORE BORING THAN GOLF IS GOLF ON TV BUT THIS GIVES GOLF ON TV A RUN FOR IT's MONEY .

UNC JUST FIRED THEIR FOOTBALL COACH . WHILE I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME, I GUESS THAT IS A NEWSWORTHY EVENT . FOR SOME REASON, THEY GO ON & ON ABOUT IT LIKE IT IS THE ONLY EVENT ! DOES IT REALLY WARRANT A SPECIAL MUCH LESS ONGOING PROGRAMMING AS THEY SEARCH FOR A NEW COACH WITH ALL OF THE FANFARE OF AMERICAN IDOL ? WHEN THEY FIND ONE , I WON'T KNOW HIS NAME TWO MINUTES AFTER THEY TELL ME .

WHEN SPORTS NEWS COMES ON , I CHANGE THE CHANNEL , ONLY TO FIND THE OTHER CHANNELS ARE IN CAHOOTS & BROADCAST THEIR SPORTS NEWS SIMULTANEOUSLY .

THE IRONY OF ALL THIS IS THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE A HOST OF SPORTS SPECIFIC RADIO & TELEVISION SHOWS WHERE FANS CAN ENJOY ALL SPORTS ALL THE TIME WITHOUT INFLICTING ANY OF THIS ON THE REST OF SOCIETY . NO SUCH LUCK . THEY JUST DON'T SEEM CONTENT WITH A DOZEN SPORTS RADIO STATIONS & ESPN 1 THROUGH 16 .

THAT IS MY RANT . I HAVE FOUND THAT COMPLAINING DOES NOT HELP BUT IT DOES SOMETIMES MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER .

AS ALWAYS , -DAVID BROWER-

1 Aug 11

Subject: Five days to the start of the season

And I don't give a damn. On Saturday, instead of getting pysched up for the start of nine months of overpaid berks kicking a ball around, I shall be at a car show, which will cost me nothing and which will be far more entertaining than watching football for 90 minutes. Last week I attended a Volkswagen camper exhibition ( traditional air cooled ones) and a medieval afternoon at a medieval castle with my girlfriend. What a blessed relief from team sports and the " sport" which was on offer at the castle, men playing medieval knights and hitting each other with imitation medieval weapons, was vastly more entertaining than most modern sports. However, to the football mafia such activites would be heresy on a Saturday.
AN Englishman.

7 Aug 11

Subject: In for the long haul

Nine months of the football season, plus the European Championships, to go. I notice all the town centre pubs are advertising the games on their billboards and advertising the fact they have bigger televisions than anyone else. No doubt anyone who wants a quiet drink or wants a quiet date will be overwhelmed by a huge television blasting out some game and a load of young men in football shirts swearing and shouting and making conversation impossible. Gone are the days in many English pubs when the television was only switched on occasionally, entertainment was provided by a juke box or a singer/comedian, now entertainment is football and the Super League and non fans are looked on with suspicion. Hey, what you not interested in the match for, you a poof( homosexual) or something. This match is really important for the country. Oh yeah, a bunch of overpaid idiots are so important that England might collapse if they lose.

Mercifully I will be with my girlfriend this weekend and we will be making a point of avoiding any pub that has Sky Sports Shown Here on the door. I was a fan for a while, but now realise that most team sports( except the very English and gentlemanly game of cricket) attract boorish and dull fans who can't accept anything else and would run a mile if you suggested they did something cultured or intelligent than watch a load of overpaid no marks chase a ball.
AN Englishman.

18 Aug 11

Subject: Here we go again

I have the misfortune of living in Wisconsin, where the Badgers and the Packers are king, football is a religion, and Vince Lomardi is God. This year the University of Wisconsin appeared in the Rose Bowl and the Packers played in the Super Bowl. The state media went absolutely nuts about the state's two major football teams. (That's North American football to you non-Americans.)

My local newspaper, which I believe is typical of the state's media, covered the fortunes of the teams obsessively from day one starting in the summer, well before season's beginning.. Coverage of both teams grew as the season progressed and as they rose higher in the standings. When the Badgers won the league championship and it was announced they would appear in the Rose Bowl, excitement rose to a fever pitch. The local paper carried stories about the Badgers in every edition, often on the front page, Badgers merchandise appeared in every store, Badgers flags appeared on cars, and people starting wearing Badgers clothing. People talked compulsively about the team as the day of the Big Game finally approached. I hate sports, especially football, but it was hard to resist the excitement. I didn't watch the game. And afterwards, there was all the talk about the outcome accompanied by post-game analysies in the media, etc.

I watched with trepidation the ascent of the Packers as the NFL (National Football League) season moved toward its end and it became apparent that the Packers would appear in the championship game of one of the league's two constituent conferences. As the day of the Big Game approached, the media again went way overboard with their coverage, Packers merchandise appeared in ALL the stores, and everybody was talking about football. Unfortunately, the Packers won, and it was on to the Super Bowl, the game that decides the league championship. The local paper, which always covers sports relentlessly, pulled out all the stops. It featured multiple Packers stories in every edition on the front page and in all sections of the paper. Packers stories doiminated the sports pages and the paper printed daily hagiographies of individual players. Cars and houses sported Badgers AND Packers pennants and absolutely everybody donned Packers clothing. The excitement in the air made that which occurred during the run-up to Rose Bowl seemed almost soporific, as the day of yet another Big Game approached. There was NO escape. It was exactly like living in a totalitarian state. On game day, everything in the state came to stand-still. Again, I didn't watch the game. In fact, I don't even watch TV, as I find it shallow and over-commercialized. And afterwards, again, dominating the media and among the populace, the endless talk and post-mortem analyses.

Now, in August, the local paper is already running multiple stories about the Badgers and the Packers, wondering if it they CAN DO IT AGAIN. I dread the coming of another football season.

I destest how sports have come to dominate our society. UW-Madison has a giant 85,000-seat football, a 15,000- or 25,000-seat basketball arena, and numerous other large sports venues. The state's high schools play their state championship games at UW-Madison. I am sure it's the same in other states.

A full-size football field, complete with press box, etc., sits next to one of my town's public schools and all these schools have large pools and fieldhouses for the playing of varsity sports. Again. as in other states. A small local private college features an Olympic-size swimming pool, apparently used solely for competition.

No one questions how any of this fits in with the educational mission of the state's high schools or universities.

The local paper and government also sponsor large, outdoor sports events which lead to street and road closures several times each summer, causing grumbling by local residents. The same paper also regularly takes a conservative, pro-business editorial line. It frequently extolls the alleged benefits of sports and competion and features between 30 and 40 pages of sports coverage every week of the year.

Sports fit in well with conservative ideology with its emphasis on the free market, hierarchy, conformity, and authoritarianism. Sports work to undercut collective action (except as part of a team whose obect is to win) and even destroys basic morality. "Winning isn't the most important thing. It's the only thing."

Besides promoting competition, the media tend to promote patriotism and the military. There was one other society that worshipped the soldier and the athlete. That society was Nazi Germany.

Dennis

24 Aug 11

Subject:

I came across this website from a friend who, unlike myself, does not enjoy watching or playing any form of sports. After reading all of the letters sent in 2011, I must say I am pretty disgusted at the amount hateful and vicious responses that you claim to write off as "intelligent conversation".

The majority of these letters seem to be written by hypocrites, referring to people who play or enjoy sports with words such as "brainless","boring", "meaningless", "unintelligent", etc.

Dom

25 Aug 11

Subject: Complete Letter

First I would like to apologize for the first letter. It was sent to you unfinished. This is my complete e-mail.

I'm beginning to notice a trend in each and every one of these letters. Each individual seems to be angered by the fact that some sports fans attempt to push their interests onto others and "bully" those who are uninterested. I notice many users hate being classified as "nerds" or "losers", for not being interested. However at the same time, these are the same people who classifying the players as "unintelligent",and "brainless", players who they have most likely never met.

Another trend on this site seems to revolve around the argument of these players being overpaid. Well if these players are so "brainless", and "unintelligent", then why are they signing 100 million dollar contracts while the majority of citizens have a hard time even finding a job in today's economy? The amount of jealousy and hate in these letters is ridiculous, if you dont like sports then simply do not watch them. Why go through so much time and effort to create a website to bash the fans/players? The players have done no harm to you themselves, yet every comment left here classifies them negatively. Do you see any websites in which sports fans make fun of people who do not enjoy sports? The answer is no(at least to my knowledge, if you care to prove me wrong go ahead).

I also find it laughable that people such as Tim, seem to attribute sports to violence and bullying. How many times do you see athletes go and kill others who do not enjoy sports? I cannot recall any incidents, however I do recall an incident in 1999 in which two anti social students went on a rampage killing many innocent people, including many "white cap students". For those of you not familiar, the jocks at Columbine High School often wore white caps in honor of their schools team, and the two students who went on the rampage purposely targeted them. To me it seems there is more anger directed at sports fans, then anger from sports fans to those who do not enjoy sports. However this site attempts to turn that around, and often blame bullying on sports.

The truth is, bullying is caused by more powerful students preying on weaker students. Sports only comes into play because stronger students tend to take sports, thus allowing a small amount student athletes to take advantage of their strength and bully others. Removing sports wont have any affect because even without them, some students will simply always be more confident and stronger then others.

I'm not trying to insult you, or your community. However if you really want an informative website, then remove all these hateful letters insulting others. Post mature letters, that give arguments as to why sports are hurting society. Not hypocritical and childish thoughts in which their only argument is "sports are stupid and boring". Your website has the right idea, but the amount of childish behavior you allow on here is ruining any credibility you have.

Best Wishes,
Dom

28 Aug 11

Subject: Response to Dom's letter

Hi Dom, I understand your angle on the website and the community here, that the constant ranting and anger towards sport fans is childish and Un-needed. However, I believe that people who have spent years being rejected for they're sporting abilities tend to build up anger and may be infuriated by the lack of activity going on to combat such madness. I did not mention murder as a possible outcome for a sport fans vs non-sport fan conflict. i am very well aware of the Columbine incident but it is true that the two boys were in a very poor emotional state at the time and overreacted to a frightening degree to their jock-based hate. I do not think sport is the absolute reason for bullying but I do believe that the existence of compulsory sport in schools increases the amount of bullying and while this is not always based on sporting ability, many times it is and violent sport fans may choose to pick on people at these events (not always non athletic people) because of the kind of people who are at schools today.

It is factual i am not being bullied in H.P.E class but the occasional giggle or teasing will arise. My opinions have formed more hearing and watching sport bullies make they're disturbing comments based on students weight and sport skills) I do find H.P.E class quite traumatic at times but I do not think it will effect me for the rest of my life because I plan to get on with my life when i have the opportunity to be relieved from compulsory sport.

You must experience sport bullying yourself to understand where I'm coming from. I determined to change the way things are, I have created a website against school sport aiming to support people who must experience such non-sense. I appreciate Dom's input to this site.

Tim

30 Aug 11

Subject: Sports

In a free society if someone wants to play or watch team sports, that's their choice, however, those of us who don't want to shouldn't be categorised as gay or weird. Also many people now, including some sports fans, are waking up to the fact that the obscene wages players receive and the whole money making charade modern sports have become is too much to bear.

In Italy, which has massive economic problems, the country's Serie A footballers have gone on strike because the government has introduced a modest tax increase on top earners. In a country where the majority of people earn less than $ 30,000 a year and where unemployment is rife in places, guys who can command $ 300,000 A WEEK and who will still keep the bulk of their income after the tax changes going on strike must look really sick. However, maybe Italy, which has had serious problems relating to fan violence in football, will realise that the once noble European game of football has become a sham where making money is all and where violence at games is a problem. Similarly in Britain our top footballers and their huge wage demands and tax evasion schemes are making people sick, even in a football heartland like Newcastle people are becoming tired of all the overkill with money in the sport.

Maybe if games like football went back to how they were fifty years ago, when players had their wages capped to little more than what the fans earned and the game was confined to a Saturday afternoon with minimal television coverage, then it would earn my respect again and would go back to what it was created to be: an affordable distraction on a Saturday afternoon while the rest of the week was given over to other activities.

AN ENGLISHMAN

18 Sep 11

Subject: My thoughts

I must warn, this email became longer than I originally intended. I apologize for the ranting, but it was long overdue.

I originally found this website some time ago as a sort of practical joke on my then-husband. He had asked me to set ESPN as his web homepage, which I did. However, many things angered me since then (which led to my desire to seek some sort of trivial revenge) and I would just like to share a few.

I was lying in bed one night next to him while he was absorbed in whichever game happened to be on television at the time (seems to me he would watch ANYTHING…was not picky as to which team or even which sport he was watching and one would have thought he had money riding on it). I had recently had epidural injections in my back and was still in severe pain and was moaning and groaning and writhing from this pain. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, his hand lift and start to reach toward me. Naturally, one would assume that he was going to take my hand or make some other sort of comforting gesture. Instead, I found he was reaching for the REMOTE CONTROL so he could turn the volume up to hear the game over the meaningless noise I was producing.

For our anniversary, he offered to take me to dinner. He even managed to get a sitter for our children. He suggested a new place to which I had never been. We walked into the restaurant, were promptly seated and I began to attempt to converse with my spouse, when I noticed he was constantly looking up over my right shoulder. I turned around and saw immediately why he wanted to go to this restaurant. There was some kind of game being shown on a large TV mounted above me.

After these incidents and countless others like them, I decided to change his homepage. I don’t recall what I typed into the search engine that pulled up this site, but when I found it I immediately knew that THIS would be his new homepage. He came home from work, immediately went to the computer without a word to me (as usual) until suddenly, I hear him shout (almost in a panic) “Melody! What happened to my computer?!?!?” Well, maybe if he spent more time learning valuable skills and less time watching sports, he wouldn’t be so ignorant as to not know how to change his homepage.

As for my history, I grew up with a father who loved sports. Particularly football and particularly the Washington Redskins. I played sports growing up (volleyball, softball, tennis, bowling and golf). I see nothing at all inherently wrong in playing a sport…I even find it can be beneficial in many ways. The notion that those who play sports are ignorant is not one with which I agree. After all, I played sports and became especially skilled at tennis (for which I received the MVP award my senior year of high school) and yet I graduated with the highest honors and believe I have proven myself to be of above-average intelligence.

That being said, even though I still PLAY tennis to this day, I could not pick any of your famous tennis pros out of a lineup. I’ve never watched a professional game. As with ANYTHING in life, I would rather be DOING it than WATCHING someone else DO it. My mind simply cannot understand how a person’s priorities could be so misguided as to place watching people play sports above so many other much more worthy activities. In other words, in my opinion, the degradation of culture is not so much the athlete’s fault, but the millions of people who spend time, pay money, and neglect other things in life in order to watch them.

My son is ten years old. He has NEVER been interested in sports, much to his father’s dismay. From the very young age of about three years, he showed a decisive inclination toward the performing arts. He is the only child I know who, at the age of six, begged his mother to take him to see The Phantom of the Opera. A year or so later, his desire was to see Wicked. He is fascinated with performing, singing, and dancing. It was what he was born to do. I know he gets his creativity from me (although I’m an artist of the visual kind) and I’m incredibly proud of him. However, one cannot fathom the number of questions I have to field that go something like this: “Do you think he’s GAY?” Well, he’s ten years old! How would I know? And why would I care? He is who he is; and he’s incredibly gifted.

I’m currently divorcing my husband and hope the divorce will be finalized before the end of the year. I’m not a bad-looking woman and have met several men since I separated from my soon-to-be ex-husband. None of these men measure up. The top two criteria on my list are as follows: 1. Must be of equal or greater intelligence than I…and 2. Must not be a sports fan. Handsomeness, charm, a great sense of humor and a spirit of spontaneity and adventure are also up there toward the top of the list. One would think that in this age of unimaginable technology, there would be a way to meet a potential mate using some sort of “hates sports” filter. I see from the letters here that there are, indeed, men who must fit these criteria, but it is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. I’m wondering if I’m destined to be alone for the rest of my life. I just keep repeating in my mind, again and again, “It is better to be alone than in bad company.”

Well, I suppose my rant is over…for now. Thank you for this website. It has now come in handy TWICE. LOL

Melody

P.S. If anyone knows of any men who would fit my criteria or knows of a good way to FIND one, PLEASE CLUE ME IN!

19 Sep 11

Subject: Dead Kennedys' lyrics. Enjoy.

Jock-O-Rama by The Dead Kennedys

YouTube song link

You like gorillas?
We've got just the pet for you
It's the way you're forced to act
To survive our schools

Make your whole life revolve around sports
Walk tough, don't act too smart
Be a mean machine
Then we'll let you get ahead

Jock-O-Rama: Save my soul
We're under the thumb of the Beef Patrol
The future of America is in their hands:
Watch it roll over Niagara Falls

Pep rally in the holy temple
And you're forced to go
Masturbate en masse
With the favored religious cult

Cheerleaders yell, "Ra Ra Team"
From the locker room parades the prime beef
When archaeologists dig this up
They'll either laugh or cry

Jock-O-Rama: On the brain
Redneck-a-thon driving me insane
The future of America is in their hands:
Watch it roll over Niagara Falls

Unzip that old time religion
On the almighty football field
Beer-bellies of all ages
Come to watch the gladiators bleed

"Now boys, this game ain't played for fun
You're going out there to win
How d'ya win?
Get out there
And snap the other guy's knee!"

Beat 'em up! Beat 'em up!
Ra! Ra! Ra!
Snap those spinal cords
Ha! Ha! Ha! ....

....

The star quarterback lies injured
Unconscious on the football field
Looks like his neck's been broken
Seems to happen somewhere every year

His mom and dad clutch themselves and cry
Their favorite son will never walk again

Coach says, "That boy gave a hundred percent
What spirit... what a man"

But who cares?
Games over! Let's go get wasted, man!
To the 7-11, to the liquor store
Let's party all night and party some more

Another Trans-Am's wrapped itself around a telephone pole
"I ain't drunk, officer. I just fell gettin' out of my car"

Don't worry about it, son
We were that way when we were young
You've got all the skills
To make a damn good businessman

Hook'em Horns!

Jock-O-Rama: That's the law
Come lick the butts of the Beef Patrol
If the future of America is handed to them:
Watch it roll over Niagara Falls

-Anthony

2 Oct 11

Subject: Regarding Melody's Letter And My Own Views on Sports

This will be a two-part letter.

Melody, I truly am sorry to hear that your ex-husband was so uncaring about you. I think anyone that would put sports above the person that they claim they love (as when you thought he was trying to comfort you, but it turns out that he was merely reaching for the remote to turn up the game in order to tune out your “unnecessary” noises. I use that word because that is what he thought, and you were experiencing a legitimate problem) is the lowest form of life on planet Earth. I would refer to these types of excrement as “spineless worms”, but that would be an insult... to the worms. Worms do not have higher intelligence, so they have an excuse. As for finding someone that is at least on your level or higher (intelligence-wise) and NOT a sports fanatic, well, all I can say to you is: I know someone that is exactly like that, and I can give you his email address (this person I know is a really good guy and he would really love to meet someone like you)

metal_overlord2005@yahoo.com

And as for the second part of my letter, my name is Kameron K. Brown, and I really do not care about sports. The only “sport” I even watch is professional wrestling (WWE), and since everyone knows that WWE is fake/staged, I do not know if it can even be classified as a sport. Monday Night RAW is my favorite show on television. I have never been athletically inclined. I did take a Gymnastics course (that was my Physical Education credit in High School), but since I lived in a different zone, that Gymnastics course was the only way I could attend the school. I personally do not see the appeal for sports aside from the male bonding aspect of it. Why would I waste my time on something that I do not (and/or will not) use my brain for? Heck, I would rather play The Legend of Zelda: (insert Zelda title here)! At least with Zelda, I will actually have to USE MY BRAIN to figure out the puzzles in dungeons. If any one of you has ever played Zelda before, you know that the game is chock full of puzzles. for instance, fighting a boss can be a puzzle in and of itself. There are bosses you can NOT just rush up and attack them head-on, or you’ll get your butt/can handed to you on a silver platter. You actually have to figure out not only how to weaken the monster, you will have to figure out a strategy for exposing the boss’ weak point. Also, in a lot of the game, you will come across... let’s say, a castle with a force-field around it, and to disable/de-activate the force field, you will have to go back to the Lost Woods, push a block for three steps right, four steps up, five steps left, and then six steps down in order to light a torch. Then you will have to light the torches in a certain order . That was just a general example on how you have to use your brain to figure out the puzzle (that is, assuming you do not already know and that the puzzle is not easy/simple to figure out). Also, I forgot to mention, I am a 24 year old African American male and I am currently attending St. Philip’s College in San Antonio, Texas. I am majoring in Criminal Justice and I hope to be able to go to St. Petersburg, Russia to study the Russian language. What I am trying to say is that, I do not really care for sports one way or the other because, what is knowing the latest NBA/NFL/MLS/WNBA/NHL stats doing/going to do to help me succeed in life? I agree with what a lot of you guys say about professional athletes (overpaid, arrogant, overrated, etc.), but the thing is, a lot of these men do actually have legitimate talent. I do not agree with paying a professional athlete hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars, when the office of the President only pays (from what I heard) $400,000 per year. Some athletes are actually trying to better the world in their own way, but most do not. For instance, I follow the news and I remember the recent NBA/NFL lockout, and there were athletes who were “whining and complaining” that since the season was on hold, they would not have any money to live off of. I think that is very silly, to say the least. The reason I say that is because these people are making hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars per year. How is it that they are broke? Personally, if it were me, I would try to SAVE that kind of money, retire after a season or two, and never have to work a day in my life again (even though I would likely take a job at Wal-Mart or McDonald’s, etc. because of my work ethic). what I meant was that I would retire after my contract was up. I must say that I kind of disagree with the statement made regarding sports and society, however. I do believe that sports is a force that can be utilized and harnessed for good—it has untapped potential (I could be wrong). The problem is that the idiots who pervert the noble intentions of sports programs and warp it to hell. I will also self contradict what I just said and I will say this: No matter the intentions of a program, there is this old saying that we ALL must keep in mind—“The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

These are my thoughts on the matter.

-Kameron K. Brown

P.S. In school, I never really caught any flak for not being into sports.

13 Oct 11

Subject: You couldn't make this up

Britain is supposed to be really hard up, thousands of public servants are losing their jobs and services like libraries are closing. But hey, the taxpayer and my local government have miraculously found £ 5.5 million to build a stadium for a third rate local rugby league team whose main contribution locally is to cause fights in bars and intimidate people. I only thought this happened in America, where supposedly bankrupt local governments always find money for a new stadium for the Memphis Morons, but now this has spread to England. Bet the public servants who have lost their jobs or have had their pay frozen must be really pleased taxpayers money is being spent on a sport no one outside of North West England gives a damn about. More reason to believe modern team sports have become revolting.
Glenn AKA AN Englishman.

18 Oct 11

Subject: Your Website

I just wanted to say that your website is a relief. I am tired of being accused of being "gay" because I am not a sports fan. What does sexual orientation have to do with sports? There are so many problems in today's world, and sports is just another distraction; and the media is feeding it too. People should be more concerned with these politicians who lie and take your money in order to further an agenda. Thanks so much for this site!

Matt

25 Oct 11

Subject: I hate sports

I am a guy who has no interest in sports. The company I work at is rife with low IQ jock assholes who think I am a sissy for not being into obsessing about the athletic prowess of other men, even though I am happily married to a very beautiful woman and have 2 kids and scuba dive. I do believe these guys are just too dumb to talk about world events or science or anything else so they fixate on a bunch of other men playing with a ball. Which brings me to my question, how is wanting to watch and be around other men masculine? How is obsessing about their sports ability masculine? Getting sweaty and then showerng with other guys makes you a man and me a sissy?

Carl

3 Nov 11

Subject:Sports

My girlfriend, who is more than pleased I have no interest in team sports, is ill this weekend with the flu, which means I can't travel through to see her. No doubt to fill in time and avoid that moronic waste of electricity called Saturday night television( I pity you Americans having to endure Simon Cowell reality shows as well), I will probably go to the pub. No doubt, first comment, hey what did you think of the referee making Wayne Rooney offside in the 93rd minute and was he really offside. Reply, I really don't give a toss about that thick idiot or him being offside. Football fan, whaaaaat, you mean you didn't see it or don't care. Reply, I was watching a fifties film on a digital channel, they don't make films like Wyoming Renegades any more. Football fan, you ignored a fantastic afternoon of football for some old crap on Channel 5, also there was international rugby league, how did you think England did? Reply, I was watching the Wyoming Renegades on Channel 5, I've told you I'm not interested. Football fan, whateva, huh, goes over to some bores looking at a screen showing a repeat of a match played 8 hours earlier and starts rabbiting about Rooney being offside.

Best way to beat these guys is rather than deliberately provoke them by rubbishing their game, is to go on about something different. If someone else starts to change the subject with you, they feel like they've lost. I tend to if I go out speak more to the non fans as the fans know they're wasting their time.
Glenn.

4 Nov 11

Subject: Messed up priorities!

So I had to mention how I attended the protest at the capital (Lansing, Mi) for the occupy wallstreet movement a few weeks ago. And on the same day (the planners of the protest should have chosen a different date) there was a MSU football game. What appalled me (and yet I'm not surprised), is the paltry number of people that actually came to the protest. There were maybe 200 people there. It warms my heart to know that people would rather watch sports than take an active interest in the trajectory of our country. I'm assuming that the stadium was full (51,000 people). So we can get people to unite (in great numbers) over trivial sports competitions which really have no effect and substantive bearing on their life, but when it comes to the rampant corporate greed and political collusion, which is eroding the very fabric of our nation, they couldn't give a shit. Hay America, wake the fuck up! If these sports fanatics spent even 10% of that time and energy on being politically active citizens, this would be a very different country. Freedom is not free... priorities people... priorities.

Sincerely,

Adam

11 Nov 11

Subject: Wow! I Love This!

Finally, I find a place where I'm not an anomole! I can't say I hate sports. I like to play, keep fit, and rough house with my son. I believe it is important to stay healthy. Yet, all my life I feel like a victim of sports.

I'm not blessed to be even a mediocre athlete. I have had poor eyesight and thick glasses as a child and have never felt like I could compete well in any sport. Sports has been an arena of humiliation for me. It makes me feel like I'm "less than a man" because I'm not big, large and strong. I'm a little guy. It made me feel like a joke in school. I entered a profession that I'm very good at but I'm the only man in it so I really look strange. Perhaps if I were more atheletic I would have pursued something different? I have even felt suicidal in the past of my "inadequacey." It especially hurts when pretty girls look down their noses at you and talk to you like your some sort of child, less than a man.

Is some of this resentment talk? Perhaps. I must admit some anger towards good athletes who don't display good behavior yet get more "blessings" in life for their being jocks. I resent how society seems to love these people more and those of us who don't have a harder time getting good jobs, being respected by women, not having to be treated as if one is pitiful. They are the favored children and those of us that aren't are embarrasments to our families.

I guess the only problem with the manifesto is how to fight our sports culture. I like encouraging anything that competes with sports, boycotting sports sponsors, and encouraging our schools to not spend our tax dollars on it. However, sports gets all this because it is popularly supported. We live in a capitalist society, thankfully. We vote for what we like and don't like with our dollars. That's where we need to make change and encourage others to stay out of it.

Cheers,

Gsaybusiness

18 Nov 11

Subject: From The Onion

STATE COLLEGE, PA—After former Penn State defensive coach Jerry Sandusky was charged Saturday with multiple counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, indecent assault, and unlawful contact with minors, the national sports media sought out his victims this week to ask if they were worried about Joe Paterno's legacy and how their molestations might affect the recently fired head coach's place in the history books.

Describing the downfall of Paterno as "clearly the most devastating thing to come out of the sex scandal," outlets from ESPN to USA Today asked Sandusky's victims if, while being forced to engage in oral and anal sex with a man 40 to 50 years their senior, their primary fear was for Paterno's reputation—and, specifically, for how revelations of their suffering might diminish his two national championships, three Big Ten titles, and 24 bowl victories.

"This is obviously a sensitive subject for you, and I understand how difficult and uncomfortable it must be to talk about the abrupt end of JoePa's career, but as a journalist, it's my responsibility to weed past the 40 counts of sexual misconduct over a 15-year period and the gross negligence on the part of school authorities and ask about what is really important here: Joe Paterno's football accomplishments," Steve Wieberg of USA Today said to one anonymous victim, who was 10 years old when Sandusky assaulted him and who now suffers from irreparable emotional and psychological damage. "He is the winningest Division I football coach of all time and a man whose very name is synonymous with excellence. As a Penn State fan yourself, this must be very tough for you."

"When you told your family how Coach Sandusky forced you to engage in illicit 'soap battles' with him in the shower, what were their thoughts on Joe Paterno?" he continued as the abuse victim stared silently back at him. "Was their immediate response worry and concern for how this might tarnish his six Fiesta Bowl wins?"

Given the delicate situation, sportswriters said they felt the need to tread lightly and initially only asked victims how they thought Paterno might be feeling during this difficult time. They then followed up with more substantial questions about being exploited and preyed upon by a sexual deviant, such as how the victims thought their being pinned against a wall while Sandusky assaulted them might hurt Penn State's 2012 recruiting class; how covering up a systematic pedophile victim-grooming pipeline, in the form of youth football camps, might damage the culture of winning Paterno worked so hard to establish; and whether they were worried about the mental state of the team heading into Saturday's game against Nebraska.

In addition, various representatives from CNN, The New York Times, and Sports Illustrated asked the victims—all of whom will reportedly have to undergo therapy for the rest of their lives—how they thought Paterno's wife, Sue, and their five children were holding up.

Sources later confirmed that one victim, who couldn't stop shaking his head while being questioned, began sobbing openly when asked if he would join the throngs of students who took to the streets to protest the head coach's ouster, and if he thought his molestation would overshadow Paterno's renowned ability to graduate his players.

"The victim I spoke to, who was 12 years old when Sandusky first took advantage of him, looked very upset throughout the entire interview," Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel said. "And when I asked whether he was concerned not just for how Joe Paterno would be remembered, but also for the football program's ability to recover, he told me the interview was over and I should get out of his house."

"Can you blame him, though?" Mandel added. "A coaching legend's reputation hangs in the balance. I'm just as hurt and frustrated as he is."

Many members of the sports media said they found the victims equally uncooperative and generally disinterested in Paterno's Bear Bryant, Walter Camp, and Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Awards. According to the journalists, shock and trauma were possible reasons for this response, and the victim's were more than likely speechless due to the thought of Paterno's storied career ending on such a sour note.

"I think right now they just need some time," said ESPN senior writer Ivan Maisel, who, in light of the allegations of misconduct at every level of Penn State's administration and the dozens of ruined lives that resulted, filed a column about Paterno's football legacy Wednesday. "I'm sure they'll be better when the dust settles and they realize just how impressive 409 victories really is."

At press time, the victims of years and years of psyche-destroying sexual abuse released a joint statement saying they were not concerned about Joe Paterno's legacy.

Paterno ain't very paternal - Ted

4 Dec 11

Subject: Another view from Australia

I thought of this site when this memory popped into my head again after umpteen years.

It concerns a kerfuffle that happened in my home town. The Chamber of Commerce wrote to the four Rugby League clubs to tell them that no players would henceforth be considered for employment by any of the C of C members.

The reason given was: Monday and sometimes Tuesday absenteeism caused by on-field injuries and by hangovers brought on by after-match celebration of wins or mourning of losses.

You can imagine the screaming from the football crowd. prejudice, discrimination, what not.

And another thing

The other day many of us heard that the Earth's population had just passed 7 billion. If there are about 220 million Americans, that means there are about 6,780,000,000 people who don't give a rat's who wins the Super Bowl or the World Series. Probably more than that, since it's clear that many of the US population do not care either. The same sort of calculation applies to England-Australia cricket tests, World Cup Rugby Union and even international soccer.

So, how about them Nicks?

Ken

30 Dec 11

Subject: I do not believe it

Soccer( more commonly called football over here) is like a disease. I've received a digital radio for Christmas and tuned it to Planet Rock, a station specialising in hard rock and heavy metal. Suddenly among all the rock classics some voice starts droning on about a football match for five minutes. FFS this is supposed to be a rock station, not Talksport, and in England a lot of rock fans don't like football, but some idiot has decided that the station must carry football reports. Five minutes an hour that could have been devoted to a classic track are wasted on discussing Arsenal's latest signing to the general apathy of a lot of rock fans.
However, this boring game seems to get onto stations that aren't sport or talk based and I think it should stop.
Anyway keep the faith and happy New Year
AN ENGLISHMAN.