[SBR Lou]

I mean, following one team religiously, watching their games even if you don't have money on them, and wearing their clothing and genuinely getting pissed off when they lose, and being elated when they win.

I have gotten a few jerseys before, watched some teams more than others, but I never felt the actual connection of fanhood that I see so many 'diehards' obviously going through. I'm much more interested in who I have action on.

Even here, reading people say 'Go Steelers! We're winning it all!', what does it do for you?

[element1286]

I hope I never get that deep into gambling that I can't enjoy a game without money on it.

[Chi_archie]

I think about this quite often,.... it makes no sense...

no one in life thinks anything more of you if you are a long time fan of the team that won the super bowl, or world series... it makes you no better or lesser of a man/person.

why do we get so connected? its just a game?

I was wondering why I can't undo my childhood affection for the stinkin pittsburgh pirates.... I couldn't not like them and be interested in them if I try.... I coulda loved the sox in 05 or been cheering for the cubs in their playoff appearance... nope it meant nothing to me

as humans are weird creatures

[TPowell]

something to look forward to. I cant identify with NBA or NFL fans but I'm a huge Braves fan and an even bigger Louisville fan. Nothing better than constantly rooting for 1 team. Like right now, I cant wait until 6 o'clock and the Louisville/ND game AND the game on Saturday against Pitt

[Masu485]

exactly, i've been saying this for years. why are the masses so mindless enough to genuinely feel joy or sadness at the outcome of a sports game. i never ever watched sports until i started betting and even now, dont watch unless there's money on it.

why are you a sports fan? why do you blindly play into this megamillion dollar industry? as if the players give a damn about u. they are making their millions, and you are the ones paying it. ok, lets say ur team wins a game... wow... ur still in debt, ur life doesn't change, it doesn't help you at all, so why are u so happy? not only that, but it just causes regional boundaries and blind rivalries. ex: i live in montreal and people from toronto hate my guts.

the whole industry (along with the entertainment industry, but that's for another rant) is completely useless, and if i wasnt betting i could care less about it.

[Willie Bee]

In my case it's been very nice, though often very frustrating and heartbreaking, to have been able to follow the Colt 45s/Astros since their inception. And I root for them regardless if I've got a futures bet on them or not. Granted, when I've had futures bets on other teams, I do get a more easily disappointed if they fall short and if they win and I cash, it does make their victory all that more exciting. But I don't let any team I'm rooting for, either as a fan or a bettor, decide whether or not I'm going to enjoy the day...at least I don't any longer now that I've gotten older.

[Mudcat]

I say - with some pride - that I am not a sports fan. I look upon sports fans the same way that I look upon guys who get dressed up like Klingons and go to Star Trek conventions.

To my way of thinking, sports should be about betting. Anything else is goofy.

But, on deeper thought, there is no call for a snooty attitude. It is just a hobby. We all need things to fill the hours of our lives, whether it is Sci-Fi or sports or playing a musical instrument or collecting stamps or whatever. It doesn't really matter how random they are in the grand scheme of things.

There are things I do which I'm sure would be of no interest to a lot of people.

[RogueScholar]

We adopt certain teams because it gives us a "pack" to "run with." It's fun to identify with a team or a city and adopt rivalries that aren't necessarily your own. And failing anything else, it's always good to have a team on the tip of your tongue when another guy asks who you root for. If you don't, you look gayer than me.

[SBR Lou]

Originally Posted by Willie Bee

In my case it's been very nice, though often very frustrating and heartbreaking, to have been able to follow the Colt 45s/Astros since their inception. And I root for them regardless if I've got a futures bet on them or not. Granted, when I've had futures bets on other teams, I do get a more easily disappointed if they fall short and if they win and I cash, it does make their victory all that more exciting. But I don't let any team I'm rooting for, either as a fan or a bettor, decide whether or not I'm going to enjoy the day...at least I don't any longer now that I've gotten older.

How's being an Oilers fan working out for you?

[Willie Bee]

Originally Posted by CrazyLou

How's being an Oilers fan working out for you?

Not very well, smartass, not very well at all. Another team that I got in on the ground floor with, and it was very upsetting to have them taken away like that, especially since it was almost entirely due to the egos of K.S. 'Butt' Adams (hope he chokes on the next pork chop he eats) and then-Houston mayor Bob Lanier. If nothing else, it gave me an idea how old Brooklyn Dodgers fans, my paw-in-law included, felt back in the late-50s when they had their beloved Bums ripped away in favor of the almighty dollar.

[VegasDave]

I can't explain it for the life of me...

What I do know, however, is that if the day ever comes that the Oakland Raiders or Los Angeles Kings win the championship, it will be one of the happiest moments of my life. I don't care how sad that is .

[The HG]

Well, I think the point is, we're all just here waiting to die, so I mean we have to do SOMETHING while we're waiting, right? It's like, let's say you're stranded at a bus or train station, and the next one is coming in 3 hours, and there's a rack of 4 tattered years-old magazines there. What are you gonna do? Pick one up and read it, because what else are you going to do? Sure, you could go "exploring" the bus depot, but you know what you're going to find - walls, some dirty corners, possibly a dead animal or the faint smell of urine. You could go marvel at the tracks, and they are worth marveling at for a few minutes. Think about jumping onto the tracks and feeling cool and dangerous. But very likely, at some point you're gonna be inside, reading those magazines, because as stupid as that is, it's no more stupid than anything else you could be doing, and you are trapped there for 3 hours.

So ultimately, that is the best argument for why gambling should be legal. People have to do something with their time, and the more it feels like what they are doing "matters" the better off everyone is. It's a lot easier to make someone think a game matters if they have money on it than if one of the teams playing has the name of where they live on it. Now, it would be different if only people from a certain place were allowed to play for a certain team, that would be cool. If like, ONLY people from Indiana could play for the Pacers or the Colts, something like that. Now THAT would be cool, but they would never go for it.

[Masu485]

Originally Posted by The HG

Well, I think the point is, we're all just here waiting to die, so I mean we have to do SOMETHING while we're waiting, right? It's like, let's say you're stranded at a bus or train station, and the next one is coming in 3 hours, and there's a rack of 4 tattered years-old magazines there. What are you gonna do? Pick one up and read it, because what else are you going to do? Sure, you could go "exploring" the bus depot, but you know what you're going to find - walls, some dirty corners, possibly a dead animal or the faint smell of urine. You could go marvel at the tracks, and they are worth marveling at for a few minutes. Think about jumping onto the tracks and feeling cool and dangerous. But very likely, at some point you're gonna be inside, reading those magazines, because as stupid as that is, it's no more stupid than anything else you could be doing, and you are trapped there for 3 hours.

So ultimately, that is the best argument for why gambling should be legal. People have to do something with their time, and the more it feels like what they are doing "matters" the better off everyone is. It's a lot easier to make someone think a game matters if they has money on it than if one of the teams playing have the name of where they live on it. Now, it would be different if only people from a certain place were allowed to play for a certain team, that would be cool. If like, ONLY people from Indiana could play for the Pacers or the Colts, something like that. Now THAT would be cool, but they would never go for it.

for ur first paragraph, while i totally agree, i think thats part of the problem. as people we just look for distractions in life. i'm a philosophical and spiritual person, and if i had a lot of time alone, i would use it for introspection, meditation, etc... i believe most people should act in a similar way, but society always places distractions in someone's life (like sports, or the 4 year old magazines) to make you forget about what it really important.

and the second paragraph i totally agree with also. especially the part about players having to be from the team they want to play on. it makes me shake my head even more, seeing fans cheer for a team that hardly has any players from their town. it just makes no sense.

[The HG]

Originally Posted by Masu485

for ur first paragraph, while i totally agree, i think thats part of the problem. as people we just look for distractions in life. i'm a philosophical and spiritual person, and if i had a lot of time alone, i would use it for introspection, meditation, etc... i believe most people should act in a similar way, but society always places distractions in someone's life (like sports, or the 4 year old magazines) to make you forget about what it really important.

and the second paragraph i totally agree with also. especially the part about players having to be from the team they want to play on. it makes me shake my head even more, seeing fans cheer for a team that hardly has any players from their town. it just makes no sense.

I hear you brotherman, but meditation is a hard sell as being more important than football. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm mad spiritual and introspective myself, you should HEAR some of the sh*t I say when I'm talking to myself - it's real good, some of it is seriously fukkin great actually. But I'm telling you, you take someone hooting and hollering at a TV screen showing a football game and you say to them "dude, take a look at yourself, is this really how you want to spend your time?" and then they say "uh I guess, not, what else should I do?" and then you say "go sit in a room and close your eyes and just sit there and do nothing for a bunch of hours" trust me they will go back to hooting and hollering at the TV in 2 seconds.

[jjgold]

I admire sports fans and what they are all about. A lot of time it is all that people have in life and they think they are part of the team and live and die with them daily. It is a great outlet to the daily everyday life. One poster mentions it is something to look forward to which is correct. The gambler is the sad/loser person not the sports fan like most of the general public is.

I love Kurt Warner and will be sweating it out on Sunday hoping he wins, every American man should live his like like Kurt as this is one of the best solid guys in the nfl.

[Chi_archie]

If warner were to win the Super Bowl is he gonna shout


JEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZUSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!


??

[Chi_archie]

JJ, you have a shirt like this too don't you

[Bread]

Originally Posted by The HG

Well, I think the point is, we're all just here waiting to die, so I mean we have to do SOMETHING while we're waiting, right? It's like, let's say you're stranded at a bus or train station, and the next one is coming in 3 hours, and there's a rack of 4 tattered years-old magazines there. What are you gonna do? Pick one up and read it, because what else are you going to do? Sure, you could go "exploring" the bus depot, but you know what you're going to find - walls, some dirty corners, possibly a dead animal or the faint smell of urine. You could go marvel at the tracks, and they are worth marveling at for a few minutes. Think about jumping onto the tracks and feeling cool and dangerous. But very likely, at some point you're gonna be inside, reading those magazines, because as stupid as that is, it's no more stupid than anything else you could be doing, and you are trapped there for 3 hours.

So ultimately, that is the best argument for why gambling should be legal. People have to do something with their time, and the more it feels like what they are doing "matters" the better off everyone is. It's a lot easier to make someone think a game matters if they have money on it than if one of the teams playing has the name of where they live on it. Now, it would be different if only people from a certain place were allowed to play for a certain team, that would be cool. If like, ONLY people from Indiana could play for the Pacers or the Colts, something like that. Now THAT would be cool, but they would never go for it.

Good stuff!

[Panic]

Damn. Someone's bitter after the Colts are out.

[diogee]

Originally Posted by TPowell

something to look forward to. I cant identify with NBA or NFL fans but I'm a huge Braves fan and an even bigger Louisville fan. Nothing better than constantly rooting for 1 team. Like right now, I cant wait until 6 o'clock and the Louisville/ND game AND the game on Saturday against Pitt

I like this post overall. I look forward to every Sunday so I can watch my Niners or Nascar...I'll take days off of work just to watch it. Same as what Dave said as well...the day the Niners return to glory and Dale Jr wins a championship will be some of my happiest days.

[RogueJuror]

gives people something to do

most people's lives are lame

[bamasman47]

Originally Posted by Bread

Good stuff!

That is a great comment Bread. Awesome!

[bamasman47]

Hg has impressed me great job dude!

[AgainstAllOdds]

Friday March 13th

Syracuse Orangemen and Uconn Huskies go into 6 brutal overtimes in the quarter finals of the Big East Tournament, which leads to Syracuse being victorious 127-117.

It is one of the best games I have ever witnessed and will go down in history as a classic.

Thats why.

[Immortality]

Originally Posted by AgainstAllOdds

Friday March 13th

Syracuse Orangemen and Uconn Huskies go into 6 brutal overtimes in the quarter finals of the Big East Tournament, which leads to Syracuse being victorious 127-117.

It is one of the best games I have ever witnessed and will go down in history as a classic.

Thats why.

Agreed. At one point I was wishing I didn't have money on the game so I could of just sat back and enjoyed it more.

[dwaechte]

Originally Posted by The HG

I hear you brotherman, but meditation is a hard sell as being more important than football. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm mad spiritual and introspective myself, you should HEAR some of the sh*t I say when I'm talking to myself - it's real good, some of it is seriously fukkin great actually. But I'm telling you, you take someone hooting and hollering at a TV screen showing a football game and you say to them "dude, take a look at yourself, is this really how you want to spend your time?" and then they say "uh I guess, not, what else should I do?" and then you say "go sit in a room and close your eyes and just sit there and do nothing for a bunch of hours" trust me they will go back to hooting and hollering at the TV in 2 seconds.

And what makes you think you can judge what will make another individual happy than that person can themself?

[Willie Bee]

Right on, dwaechte. File it away under The World Would Be So Much Better If Everyone Was Just Like Me.

10,000

[jjgold]

The people that are sports fans and not gamblers are much happier people and enjoy the games and have fun. It is very normal to be a sports fan but not norm,al to be a sports betting fan.

[CashMoney]

What's the point of not being a die hard sports fan?

It's more enjoyable for me to cheer for the Yankees and watch them win a game then it is for me to watch a game beyween two teams I could care less about.

Sure I still watch but am just not that into the game. Also, the day I can't watch a game without having action on it is the day I quit gambling.