Will social issues destroy sports? (1 Viewer)

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I won't stop watching sports because of it, but i did stop watching espn a few weeks ago. I have a tv in my office at work, and that is ALL that has been on espn. It is just unbearable.

and FYI, i support the BLM movement
 
DaveXA said:
Actually, it did make a dent. The league has lost a lot of fans. But, that's not all related the the social justice stuff. Some of it can be attributed to the poor product on the field. The issues with the refs, among other things.
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I hear people say this (losing fans because of the anthem protest in 17) but the NFL is still the big dog compared to MLB and the NBA. If they did lose fans, the impact was minimal.
 
I have no problem when sports is used to help promote things. But I hate it when Agendas are used to hijack sports. ESPN has been bad about that in the past, especially when they used football games to discuss concussions.
 
Why wouldn't it destroy or severely damage sports?

It's destroying the country little by little. Just ask the people in Seattle or Chicago.

I do agree that something needs to be done in the way of police reform and a serious dose of justice reform but over the last few years the "good" police (and the ARE good ones out there) have been rendered pretty much powerless to enforce the law.

When I was a kid I heard my dad say on more than one occasion that he was glad that his time was almost up because he didn't want to see what the country was going to be like in 20 or 30 years and I didn't understand that.

Well now I understand what he was talking about.
 
I've lost a lot of my passion for sports over the years.

Even before all of this stuff went down.

I rarely watch baseball or basketball til the playoffs.

No more hockey after Gretzky.

Even football doesn't matter as much after "Ramgate".

Still a Saint's fan.

If they play this year, I'll watch.
 
Posted this in another forum, but I think it fits. A lot of people see sports as a distraction or escape from life's trials and tribulations. The more social issues and politics creep into sports, the less of an escape it is for them and the less enjoyment they get out of it. Pour on top of that, from a football perspective, all the turmoil related to the game with referees and punishments etc. I can't blame people for just throwing in the towel. Lives are already a mess right now and they really need a break from it. If sports no longer provides that for them then why watch? I wouldn't blame or ridicule anyone for stepping away right now. I'm not there yet, but I totally understand.
 
rajncajn said:
Posted this in another forum, but I think it fits. A lot of people see sports as a distraction or escape from life's trials and tribulations. The more social issues and politics creep into sports, the less of an escape it is for them and the less enjoyment they get out of it. Pour on top of that, from a football perspective, all the turmoil related to the game with referees and punishments etc. I can't blame people for just throwing in the towel. Lives are already a mess right now and they really need a break from it. If sports no longer provides that for them then why watch? I wouldn't blame or ridicule anyone for stepping away right now. I'm not there yet, but I totally understand.
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I would agree with you except for a little word that actually changes things quite a bit
they don’t ‘see’ sports as a distraction, they USE it as a distraction

sports is sports
how we see it is what we bring to it - it says everything about us and nothing really about sports
fans could easily shut out social media and only tune in for games, except why don’t they?

heres what I think is happening- people know they are on the wrong side of this. They know the protests are legit, but they don’t LIKE it. They don’t have the arguments to backup their dislike so they seek shelter behind symbols. And it makes them angry that the better arguments force them to be defensive
Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Mohammed Ali, Althea Gibson, Bill Russell, etc etc etc. they know they were on the wrong side of each and every one of these
i contend they’re not mad at the players but mad at themselves
 
guidomerkinsrules said:
I would agree with you except for a little word that actually changes things quite a bit
they don’t ‘see’ sports as a distraction, they USE it as a distraction

sports is sports
how we see it is what we bring to it - it says everything about us and nothing really about sports
fans could easily shut out social media and only tune in for games, except why don’t they?

heres what I think is happening- people know they are on the wrong side of this. They know the protests are legit, but they don’t LIKE it. They don’t have the arguments to backup their dislike so they seek shelter behind symbols. And it makes them angry that the better arguments force them to be defensive
Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Mohammed Ali, Althea Gibson, Bill Russell, etc etc etc. they know they were on the wrong side of each and every one of these
i contend they’re not mad at the players but mad at themselves
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Use it, see it. However you want to say it, it's still the same. It doesn't necessarily mean they're mad about it. If someone needs a distraction and their source of distraction becomes another source of consternation then it makes sense for them to lose interest in that sport. It doesn't necessarily have to do with a specific event or issue, but a culmination of events could certainly lead to a tipping point.

From a personal perspective, I've certainly lost a lot of interest beginning with bountygate. The years after haven't been a whole lot more friendly. The 2018 championship game really had me questioning whether I wanted to invest so much emotional equity in a stupid game anymore and I still haven't yet "recovered" from all of that. I've been a fan of the Saints for as long as I can remember. I grew up pulling for them, even through the bag head years. As I grew up I followed them more closely than just being typical fan. For the better part of my adult life I could name every single Saints player, inside and out. I knew stats, I knew back stories, I knew what players did when they weren't playing & I took interest and this was well before smart phones & social media. For that matter, I knew and followed most players from every other team as well. But since 2011, year after year, I find myself less & less interested. A lot of that has to do with what has happened to the team, but a lot of it also has to do with what's going on in the NFL as well, up to & including the social issues. So, from that perspective, I could see why a lot of people have reached their tipping point. Call them what you want, call them bandwagon fans, call them snowflakes, but I understand them just wanting to eliminate another source of anxiety when, in today's environment, It's everywhere you turn.
 
I can see how politics might destroy the game for you if you don't agree with and/or don't care about the issues being spotlighted.

People who say sports are an escape from politics act as if all the other hours of their week are spent engaging in political causes and the game is the only 3-hour break they're afforded.

Football fandom reminds me so much of soap opera fandom: the show is ruined for you if you hate the storylines or the characters do something you don't like. You swear off the show every year because the writers are idiots who don't know what they're doing.

Anyway, Malcolm Jenkins said it best when he said politics/protests aren't a part of the actual game. They take up two minutes before the game.

In other words, if you really need an escape (and not just a reason to complain) nothing is stopping you from having one.
 
kizzy821 said:
Anyway, Malcolm Jenkins said it best when he said politics/protests aren't a part of the actual game. They take up two minutes before the game.
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With the NBA allowing for social justice slogans on the jerseys the message will be constant throughout the game

social justice Can hurts sports if it turns players against players , players against owners and players against fans
 

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