Not to jump to the defense of sports as a whole, as for the most part I agree with the sentiments of the article, but sports does teach a few lessons that every young person needs to learn. Somestimes no matter how hard you try, you fail, is a lesson not taught to nearly enough people as they are growing up. Sometimes, you don’t get the fairytale ending, the underdog gets stomped by the star team, and there is just not a lot you can do about it.
My point is, sports teach most of us that no matter how much we want something, we won’t always get it. That’s not a bad lesson in my opinion.

(steps off soapbox)

Sporting events, both participating in them and observing them, placate the tribal savage that resides in all men. You want peace in the Middle East? Give those guys football teams to root for.

Now, if you want to take all those same arguments and apply them towards golf alone, I’m with you.

Sporting events, both participating in them and observing them, placate the tribal savage that resides in all men.

Not really. Mostly it just replaces one type of conflict with another, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sports may attract all kinds of corruption, abuse, violence, and etc., but it’s still less destructive than open warfare.

No, on topic as the argument is the same. You don’t like sports so that should be a good enough reason to abolish them. Trying to ignore the statement doesn’t mean the comparison isn’t appropriate.

You say that sports teaches selfishness. No, humans are selfish by nature. Our economies are built on it. Sports teaches teamwork, not selfishness. It teaches internal drive, something I think is dearly lacking among a large number of our population.

West Point expects a background that includes athletics as part of their admissions requirements. The military figured out long ago that the ability to physically push yourself, and not rely on others to push you, is as important as any mental calculation.

You stated that sports degrades our nation, but you certainly didn’t explain in what way.

“…that could be using his brain for something useful stuffing his mind full of pointless, boring, and utterly irrelevant sports statistics.”

As opposed to pointless, boring, and utterly irrelevant political statistics? A person’s interest is his own.

For the record, I was not active in sports past Jr High. It was my loss though.

I think the reason that people accuse you of being jealous is because you seem so bitter about it. I’ve read a lot of your columns here, and none seem so hate-filled as this one.

Well I must say Roll Tide! I love me some college football.I’ll watch most any college football game that comes on.

OK, maybe I’m just being thick about it, but I don’t get your point at all here. You’re saying that because sports are riddled with all the faults and imperfections that our innate humanity brings to all human endeavours, they should be singled out for some kind of mass deletion from society? Couldn’t you make most of the same negative criticisms about the movie industry, the teevee medium sector, the publication of most magazines, even politics, the various churches and the educational system? Why aren’t you calling for their removal from the palette of social activities and interests available to modern people, too?

Let’s be perfectly honest here – sport has only taken on it’s current place in modern society because of the rise of leisure time. Prior to the 40-hour workweek and prior to the mechanisation of most manual labour, sports were an insignificant element of society, as were many, many other entertainments. Maybe the guys went out and pitched horseshoes after a day in the tannery, fields, or smithy shop, but it wasn’t the highlight of the day. It was an afterthought which took your mind off of the 10 – 12 hours you just spent over a simmering vat of tanning acids, or endless rows of corn, or a roaring bed of glowing coals. Don’t believe me? Take a look at those parts of the world where life is still pretty much at a subsistence level and report back how important sport is in those areas. It’s there, it’s just not all that important.

Just so I’m not misunderstood, it’s not my intention to laud or glorify sports. They are what they are. Rather, I’m trying to point out that there’s little fundamental difference between the ‘social evilness quotient’ of sports and that of the movies, or of teevee, or of church or politics or any other human endeavour. It’s my personal belief that the faults and imperfections you see in organised sport are to be found in every human organisation and every human endeavour – every last one of them. Why would you expect that sport would be somehow magically exempt from those same imperfections? That doesn’t make any sense to me, whatsoever.

I’m left wondering, after reading both your piece and the source piece, if you fellows really think that you’ll improve society by stamping out sports. Really? Are you all going to crusade as hard to stamp out the glorification of evil and negativity that is Hollywood? Do you propose that we cut out all the leisure time recreations and entertainments available to people? In favour of what? What do you propose replace them as an interest in people’s lives?

I’m not a big sports fan myself. I watch some footy now and again, but in general, I’m too busy with other pursuits to spend a lot of time watching or playing sports. But I don’t think that sports should be offered up as a singular sacrifice to some misplaced sense of morality without the same analysis being done about each and every component of our society – even in spite of today being the “big day” of the “big game” glorifying the “big evil” of sports.

Aww, did someone not make the team in high school? OK, cheap shot, but I tend to hear these arguments from the nonathletic.

I benefited a great deal from participating in sports at all levels of school. Exercise, teamwork, learning to win, learning to lose. Sure I was taught those things elsewhere in life, but why deny any chance to learn them.

I derive a great deal of pleasure from watching pro and college sports now. It helps me wind down after working all week.

And I derive great benefit from participating in sports now (at the ripe old age of 35). After sitting on my butt in an office or courtroom for 10 or 12 hours a day, getting the juices flowing playing a sport or training for a race is invaluable.

I don’t get the hate here.

When Jordan returned to the Bulls, I really heard a radio announcer say something very close to this: “Christians have been waiting almost 2000 years for the return of their redeemer. Bulls fans only had to wait x months.” My jaw dropped when I heard such an impossibly pompous statement.

And at that time also I heard someone praise Jordan for loyalty–for returning to the Bulls, I guess, not going to some other team. If that’s so, it seems to me that the players who did not leave the Bulls at all deserve even more praise. But no.

Sports is given far more importance than its actual benefits to society merit. For the non-player, sports is merely a form of entertainment and should be given no more importance than any form of entertainment deserves.

Pro sports is mainly beneficial to the owners and the TV networks.

Sports also teaches the following:

1. If the ref didn’t see the foul, it didn’t happen. So if you foul someone, make sure the ref can’t see it.

2. It’s okay for the player to argue viciously with the ref/ump even though the ref/ump NEVER changes a decision.

3. It’s okay for the spectators to rag on the players in the most persistent, personal, vicious way they can get away with.

4. Dirty tricks like surreptitiously putting a trace of Ben-Gay on the face of an opposing player are okay.

And finally, sports teaches that it’s okay to use ad hominem attacks on critics of sports.

I don’t think all sports are pointless.
Take the biathalon; didn’t those crazy scandinavian folks give those nazis a run for the money by shooting them and then skiing off.
It’s one of my favorite events in the olympics.

And there is nothing like a beautiful sunny day and a game of baseball.
Sorry, you can’t beat that feeling.
My old man use to say that sports is the opiate of the masses keeping folks from thinking about the important issues of the day.
Well, everyone needs a break from reality and that’s what sports does.
Just go ask any Saint’s fan.