Sports burnout: Do you ever get tired of sports?

When I was in the business, I pretty much really only followed teams that I had a rooting interest in. I mean, I wanted to know a lot of the big news and such, but didn't really care about the day to day games of teams, unless I was a fan of them.

Now that I'm out of the biz, it's eased up a bit in that I don't mind watching a random baseball game or something.

But, still, if it isn't a team I have a rooting interest in, I may just as easily go to some other non-sports interest instead.

 

The one thing I hate more than anything is when some news editor comes over with a question and a big dumb smile on their face and begins with, "Now, I don't know anything about sports, but ..."

That probably bothers me more than it should. But ooooo, does that irritate me.

I still haven't approached the news copy desk with, "Now, I don't know anything about school budgets, but ..."

I will before it's all over, though.

 

I should probably let my SO tell this story, but she had to explain to someone on the web desk yesterday ... what an "NCAA bracket" was. I do not understand how people -- educated, connected people in newsrooms -- can go through life without even being aware of sports.

 

At the last paper I was at, we employed one of the most sports-dumb people I knew as our copy chief. I had to be there every night when she was proofreading so she could come over and be like, "What's a board? Are you sure this is spelled right? And what's par?"

:headdesk:

Same here. I don't care about all of that crap. I care about the game - what happened, who made an impact, did one team make a particularly big run?

I actually didn't get into watching football until I was in high school. Before that, I really could have cared less. So I'm really sort-of playing catch up with everyone who has been fanatical their entire lives. I've learned a lot but I know I'm still behind everyone else. At least I've been playing basketball (badly) since I was really young, so I know more about that particular sport but still. I hate people that ask me incredibly detailed questions about a team I've never seen and really don't give a crap about.

Even worse - my team is 700 miles away and I've met all of three fans since I moved here of that team. I'm attempting to learn about the teams around here but I still find myself not caring.

 

never for a second in 30 years in the biz. i get paid to do what i'd be doing anyway in another biz -- watch games and pontificate about them.

does it make me a limited person? not judging by my long list of true friends outside the biz who surround the shockey family.

i owe everything i have to sport and the fanaticism the come with it.

can't ever imagine growing "tired" of sports..

 

shock and I are pretty much in the same boat.

I was a "sports person" as early as I can remember. My friends were athletes. I was a "sports person" even though my family definitely wasn't. Might just be the way I was wired.

And it's never changed. What did I do this afternoon? Yup ... went to the loudest sports bar I could find.

And one thing's for damn sure -- I love sports more than I ever loved journalism.

 

As my place of employment has turned into a widget factory ... I've discovered this to be true, as well.

 

in the bigger scheme of life, you still are a kid, buck. give it another 10 or so years and then tell me how much you still enjoy watching sports.

 

I noticed a change in me several years ago. One of my colleagues at the office were both huge fans of the Eagles; we talked a lot about them all the time, caught every game we could, etc. In the meantime, I started covering more and more Redskins stuff... going to every training camp practice I could, going every Wednesday, going to all the home games, doing a lot of the draft stuff.

One year, right after he left for bigger and better things, he asked if I wanted to go up to Bethlehem to catch one day of Eagles' camp. I told him, I don't know man... I just don't feel like driving four hours to watch a practice that won't be that different from the ones I've seen 20 times already.

The lone exception to this, over the past four years or so, is the Phillies' postseason run. But it had been a really long time since I cared that much about any game or series. Even when the Eagles went to the Super Bowl, I was happy, but not that happy. I was more pissed I didn't get to go to JAX and that media event where you got two shots at the 17th at Sawgrass...

 

I just debunked that myth.

 

Your point's well taken, but I don't think my lifestyle's going to be measurably different in 10 years than it is today. My SO enjoys sports as much as I do and we don't plan on having kids. So, other than burnout or disillusion, what's going to change my attitude by the time I'm 37?

 

i thought the same thing, buck.

but the process is weird. it's like you just wake up one day and you're full. just three years ago, i bought the NFL season ticket on direct tv -- or whatever my sat. service was back then -- and watched a lot of games and enjoyed the hell out of it.

now, unless it's the playoffs, i only want to watch the raiders lose.
MLB? only the dodgers or mariners in the regular season.
NBA? not at all.
college hoops? only a couple of games a year. haven't watched a single game today.

the only thing i still enjoy, despite a winless season in seattle, is college FB.

i don't know how or why it happened. it just did. and if i try to force myself to watch, i become distracted easily and usually find myself doing something else about 10 minutes later.

it's odd, but when the time comes, i'd rather watch a replay of the 1971 mlb all-star game than the 2009 AS game.