After watching the video, though, I’m thinking the real awkward question is, “why do we support pro sports at all?”
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
After watching the video, though, I’m thinking the real awkward question is, “why do we support pro sports at all?”
That was fantastic. “Honey! Our kid understands rhetorical questions with deeper meanings!”
But if he had actually seen Michael Sam KISS his boyfriend, he would have been truly traumatized. A former running back told me so and I take all my child-rearing advice from football players.
“We” don’t. At all.
Football is a dangerous and body-damaging lifestyle that cripples its participants and shortens their lives!
Heck Bender has a video about Ellen Page coming out. Its also a slab of fried gold.
U Frood, if your kid is watching the 7th round of the draft on a Saturday evening, a gay kiss is the least of your problems.
Why do I suspect that the actual players on the team are the ones with the least problem with Mr. Sam? I seem to recall other controversies, where all the opposition to the gay player came from outside of the team.
Bill Russell said it best, after being asked if he’d have questions about having a gay player on his team:
“Yes. Can he play?’
To admire the amazing things the human body is capable of. IMO there is far too little appreciation of that among atheists. We should not let the dunderheads and idiots that blow the importance of the games and the players out of proportion blind us to the beauty of humanity that occurs in athletic competition.
Pro sports are not necessary for this.
Also, admiration for stunts that certainly cause brain damage and can seriously injure people is harmful. Merely because a body is capable of doing something doesn’t mean that that something should be encouraged.
I very much doubt this is true.
scienceavenger @ 8:
Bullshit. The only things to admire in [U.S.] football are bulked out uniforms and brutality. If you want admiration of the human body, you’d watch people running, or doing gymnastics, or dancing.
I do enjoy watching a few football games every year, but it’s uncomfortable thinking about the high potential for serious injury on the field, or the long-term injury the players can receive over years of intense physical contact. I wouldn’t morn the sport much if it goes away, but I know a lot of other people do enjoy watching the games much more than I do and I don’t begrudge them their hobbies. I wish there were a way to preserve the game for the fans while protecting the players.
Thomathy:
There are a lot of things we do which aren’t “necessary.”
However, “pro sports” does not mean the same thing as sports, scienceavenger.
I believe that everyone is missing the rhetorical answer, “because we can no longer have gladiatorial games to appease the masses?”
COI: I am a season ticket holder for various pro sports (not football), but watch a lot of football purely for the fantasy football aspects.
“why do we support pro sports at all?”
Living in Buffalo with the Sabres and Bills, I’m pretty clean on “pro sports”.
I used to be obsessed with sports until one day I realized – why the fuck does any of this matter. If my university wins a championship or my favorite professional team wins some championship, why the fuck does it matter? I’m with Chomsky on this one – modern sports is largely a distraction to keep the masses from focusing on how elites are totally fucking us over, instead focus on what some millionaire athlete does or says. I’m all for amateur sports or people participating in sports, but professional sports anymore, nah. I’d rather read a novel or a science article. If I want some sports, I’ll go for a hike. I know this practically makes me a martian, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck who wins whatever sport happens to be going on. I pay attention once in a while just to marvel how irrational people have gotten these days. If people spent even 1/10 of the amount of time on real problems we have (education, unemployment, actually caring about fellow human beings etc.) that they spent obsessing on sports (I know mainly men) perhaps things could change.
U Frood – I absolutely do begrudge football fans their happiness. Not only is the sport damaging to the players themselves, its culture perpetuates – no, I’m sorry, celebrates – war culture and rape culture (two sides of the same coin). From the violence of the game to the beer commercials, it’s quintessentially American. And I don’t mean that in a good way.
Back to the question at hand:
The video was funny, but such a question would not have been a problem while our kids were growing up.
We were friends with two lesbian couples, and the kids understood that they were same-sex female couples and that there were same-sex male couples too (We just didn’t happen to be close friends with any since college). We consciously exposed our kids to a diverse group of people, so sexual orientation, disabilities, race, etc were simply nothing to take notice of.
I would have probably done the same thing for the kids that I did for my hubby – play the video of the big kiss and comment upon what a sweet and loving (not to mention great looking) couple those two seem to be.
The video’s funny, but it sort of misses the point. The conservatives WANT the kid to have a problem with a gay football player. The fact that the next generation might not have a problem with gay people is what terrifies them.
@18
Oh I think they get the point about the conservative homophobes alright their point is no one seems to be concerned about all the other crap the NFL players get up to at all.
I find it all just a little depressing myself.
uncle frogy
mikeyb @15, how right you are. I forget who once said that Americans can analyze statistics, strategy, and tactics of different sports with in-depth understanding and they spend a great deal of time doing it. But they spend no time analyzing the politics and economic policies of their government and congress which have a direct effect on their lives and well being.
One can see that with everything from unnecessary wars to Obamacare. If they spent half as much time using their skills on such subjects rather than sports, they might be able to improve theirs and other peoples’ lives.
@18 U frood
Their video about Ellen Page makes it a bit more clear what their perspective is. It’s not so much that they are playing a conservative parent, but rather a liberal parent that completely expects the child to have been thoroughly poisoned by their culture.
Both videos are really funny xD
I’m not proud of this fact, but, the reason why I still support pro athletes is the fact that they’re unionized. In a world where collective bargaining is slowly bring eaten away, I think we should support unions wherever we can.
For as much money as the players bring in to the owners and the ball clubs. Their insane salary is a fair cut.
The politics surrounding COLLEGE athletics on the other hand…