Electronics people and football

[VK3DRB]

I have noticed that in all the electronics workplaces I have worked in over the decades (computing, telecoms, satellites, medical, automotive etc), I have come across almost no electronics engineers or technicians who have a passion for football (Aussie Rules Football in Australia, or Soccer in Europe, or "Football" in the USA), or certainly do not carry on about it on a Monday morning after the weekend games. Many electronics workplaces struggle to get people interested in footy tipping competitions. A lot of engineers here were born overseas, but even amongst the Aussies born and bred here few show much interest. This is in contrast to the general population, many of which here are fanatical and treat it like a religion. People from all socioeconomic classes are into football, except us it seems.

Why is it so?

[ANTALIFE]

Sports bad, video games good

But in all seriousness, people just have a different set of hobbies. I would imagine those in the more technical positions would have more techincal hobbies, like drone/rc racing, 3D printing, machining, gardening...

[shakalnokturn]

I can't stand football, I wouldn't mind the game itself, to me there's just too much fuss and money involved to call it sport.
I associate football talk to political or religious discussion, manipulation of the masses.

"Give them bread and games!"

[Ian.M]

No doubt many of us suffered compulsory team sports at school.  As a self-confessed scrawny glasses wearing nerd, that was enough to put me off football and rugby for life.  I found cricket less intolerable apart from my limp, severe hayfever and inability to catch *anything* which led to me frequently spending the afternoon standing in the far outfield wishing to die quickly.  Needless to say I haven't even watched a match of any of the above sports even on TV for my entire adult life.  Sometimes the sports on TV are unavoidable, e.g in the pub, but as I am quite happy to sit with my pint and a good book at the table under the screen that noone else wants, and as I am capable of restraining my urge to comment on the mass insanity surrounding me, no feathers are ruffled.

IMHO even foreign politics are preferable to team sports involving the abuse of pigs bladders or seasoned willow wood.

[Electro Detective]

Congrats VK3DRB    it takes a true blue aussie to say it straight up mate! 

fwiw I had no interest in repetitive childish football games even before getting into electronics
and if dabbling in electronics has some mystic no go Force tied to it that keep me avoiding it,
then the multimeter and soldering iron stay, FOREVER! 

fwiw I didn't mind footy and soccer at school and other sports stuff, but as a later teenager I got put off by the whole thing
after watching ADULTS of all ages carry on like war mongering lunatics, at every game,

and the fights/blues,

morons yelling in your ear with stinking fermenting beer/meat pie/chiko roll death breath,

foul language spiced enough to even send demons packing back to hell 

dealing with greasy putrid chuck on the shoes back at home (hey, what's that smell? )

tomato sauce stains on clothing from seats and walls,

busting for a pee and copping the state of the mens toilets, that I won't get into, 
and spare the punters here reading, from utter disbelief and disgust 

HOURS to get out of uncooperative idiot jammed car parks,   

and the list goes on and on and on... 
 

The nail in the coffin was seeing neanderthal parent tards at kids local footy matches being sore losers
and or bitching on their kid to rough up other kids, 'do whatever it takes to win or else..' BS


Nowadays it's an eyesore watching steroid pumped tattooed players (heroes?!) littering the field,
and avoiding any idiots talking about it, like it's all oh so Fing serious..   
You'd think these idiots were related to the footy players and trophy wives/GFs,
and own shares in the footy club.. referring to it as 'my team' 


No Thanks, I'd rather sledge a troublesome DUT that's too big and heavy to dropkick into the dumpster

[rdl]

I was big into football when I was kid. But it was different back then, the game was played in rain, snow, mud or whatever and players were not paid that much more little more than the average person. Things have changed. I have trouble working up enough interest to even watch the Superbowl.

[0culus]

I used to watch American gridiron football some, but as I've gotten older I care less and less about 11v11 overstuffed guys trying to kill each other (slowly, with CTEs). It's really modern day gladiator combat!

Baseball is my preferred sport by far. Plus I have a quite decent AAA team with a nice ballpark within reasonable distance, so reasonably priced tickets if I want to go to a game (not that there are going to be any games anytime soon).

[james_s]

I've never had the slightest interest in sports in general. I enjoyed playing some of them casually when I was a kid but I never wanted to be on any sort of organized team and pro sports and the most boring thing ever. Economic losses aside, the lack of incessant sports chatter is something I've enjoyed about the Covid situation. People bring it up in smalltalk everywhere just assuming it's something I'll be interested in and every time I have to tell them I have no idea, I haven't followed.

[NiHaoMike]

I remember in middle school when they had to ban playing "football" (handegg) during recess because people were getting hurt.

No doubt many of us suffered compulsory team sports at school.

The college I went to (Texas A&M University) allows a choice of what sport to take for the physical activity requirement. (I chose weightlifting since I know I will be using it long after graduation.) A nice bonus is that outside the majors that focus on those activities, knowing how to do it correctly and safely counts a lot more than being able to do it really well. Therefore, the non majors have the option to have those classes not count against the GPA - very few are able to get an A grade but getting a passing C grade is very easy.

What would be even better is if they waive the physical activity class requirements for non majors who regularly walk or bicycle to get around on campus or those who regularly go to the gym.

[Electro Detective]

One benefit of the 'Social Distancing' thing is they won't be able to play for a while now   

so less endurance drugs taken to survive head on collisions, racing for a ball filled with air,

less fights at nightclubs and maccas when the endurance drug/booze mix messes with their head,
and perhaps less chance of banging their mates GF/wife by mistake or coerced whilst totally sh!tfaced   

no more traffic drama on the weekends 

and no more gum flapping on Mondays about the Fing game !
and like I should give a rats soiled tail which of the two -INTERSTATE- teams was the victor.
I might care if it were local VFL or VFA or even Junior League teams in Victoria, but interstate? fts 
What levels of moronity are these no lifers? 

They should 'get out and fix something' or play the game themselves
and or get involved with a real world local club that has a social vibe going as well,
preferably a club lacking 'sore loser' members

Whatever it takes to get these armchair footy idiots out of our hearing range on Mondays! 

[JPortici]

Sports bad, video games good

Football bad, other sports good.
I'm a sucker for snowboarding, surf, hiking.. None are team sports but we still are fanatics and go out in group.
I like team sports, but only when playing with friends.. with one exception: I would love to start playing rugby if i didn't fear my knee wouldn't make it.. and if it wouldn't take too much time from my other activities (see above)

[james_s]

Playing sports is fun, watching other people play sports (or just about anything really) is quite boring. I like to do, not just observe someone else doing things.

[Zero999]

Playing sports is fun, watching other people play sports (or just about anything really) is quite boring. I like to do, not just observe someone else doing things.

I agree. I like cycling but prefer to go on my own, because I feel safer. If I went as part of a group then I fear it will become competitive and increase the risk of an accident. I have dabbled in teem sports, but by hand to eye coordination is too poor to be any good at them. I tend to start out as good or as bad as anyone, but don't improve much.

[Electro Detective]

Playing sports is fun, watching other people play sports (or just about anything really) is quite boring. I like to do, not just observe someone else doing things.

I agree. I like cycling but prefer to go on my own, because I feel safer. If I went as part of a group then I fear it will become competitive and increase the risk of an accident. I have dabbled in teem sports, but by hand to eye coordination is too poor to be any good at them. I tend to start out as good or as bad as anyone, but don't improve much.

Your frankness and straight up admission of limitation is commendable    and guess what, you're not alone.

If you come across a decent group of 'normal people' (fast becoming extinct) that enjoy company with a mutual activity to pass the time, they are the ticket.
No neanderthal competitive behavior to think about    Easier said than done, but not impossible

On the other hand if you become over determined to catch up and keep up with competitive types, you will soon find yourself in a  social abyss
hooked up amongst self centered people with screws loose or missing,
and soon wish you hadn't summoned up the oomph to get there. 

I think they do the 'extreme' thing because they are either miserable, unhappy creatures
and or stay with the wrong people that put them down and or vice versa
or a chemical imbalance that has not been addressed

No thanks to that again, and fwiw most of them now have physical issues, joint/bone wear and breakage,
and always at the doctors for a pill or injection fix, or some chiropractor manipulation
Who knows if they visit a shrink weekly too 

They're not so smart now or snobby, but hey, who cares ? 

[daqq]

I have been cured of the desire to participate in collective competitive sports early on.

Likely thanks to the way it was mandatory in elementary and high school and university. Among other things, thanks to the teachers there (and in elementary school the kids who took delight in making fun (and other things) of the fat, socially awkward loner kid) I have come to view collective sports as something vile when it involves me, and something utterly boring when it should be passively observed.

I do enjoy cycling by myself. Any other sports I participate in I view as a necessary evil to keep up some measure of physical activity.

[Circlotron]

This about sums it up for me.

[GlennSprigg]

'Circlotron' s cartoon pic does seem to say it all. And in Australia, we sometimes have City/Town of Origin teams. Players are BOUGHT, so it means nothing like an old days game of some 'town' etc against another??  I SORT of get the 'idea' of sports, but am not a follower.

It ALWAYS gets me why countries like Brazil or Italy show such visual depictions of utter violence at times, with the off field fights, and followed up with street chaos & burnings!!!  Sigh...  Literally life & death, about simply kicking a fucking ball!!!!!! 

I've agonized about forming the following sentence... but the way people react/behave is DIRECTLY related to levels of intelligence, and having NOTHING else to do!! People from generally low Socio-Economic backgrounds, have little else to follow or do. It literally becomes life or death to them! On the other hand, those of us having the privilege of a more advanced education/career, and resultant Job/Money/Home/hobbies, are certainly not as affiliated with such limited interests!

[Koen]

In this thread : "we are better than them".

[GlennSprigg]

In this thread : "we are better than them".

I neither agree or dis-agree... but can you expand on what you mean??

[Brumby]

I've considered that sports with mass following owe this characteristic to vicarious participation.

[rrinker]

 Interesting, in my company, where most of the people I associate with are consultants like I am, mostly in server infrastructure roles, many are very much into American football, to the point of one of my coworkers organizing a fantasy football league for us (in addition to at least two others he participates in with his son). We actually have customer events that are a day out at a game (sadly us worker bees are not invited, this is sales schmoozing with customers). Most of us are all fans of the local team - but we have one guy who is a fan of a huge rival of our local team.

[dave j]

The nail in the coffin was seeing neanderthal parent tards at kids local footy matches being sore losers
and or bitching on their kid to rough up other kids, 'do whatever it takes to win or else..' BS

One of my nephews referees games in the local junior league[1]. Recently he had to send one parent to wait in their car until the game had finished for swearing at the players!

[1] He gets paid £30 per game which makes it a nice source of pocket money for a 15 year old. He's allowed to referee games where the players are two or more years younger than him.

[james_s]

There are a few parks with soccer fields that our bike trail passes through and one where I often go to fly model airplanes and I've observed many times parents screaming at their kids who are playing. I don't really get it, sometimes I like washed up parents like try try to live vicariously through their kids. The thing that bothers me most about sports in general is how utterly seriously people take it. I have no issue at all with someone enjoying it but you'd think it was some kind of life or death thing the way some people get wound up in it.

[25 CPS]

I play semipro football which in the league I'm in is a hybrid of Canadian rules but with US style four downs.

The reactions are pretty hilarious at times.  At work, people don't believe me until I show them pictures and several people have said they never thought I'd be a meathead.  On the other hand, when people at football practices and games and team events etc. ask what I do for a living at my day job find out, they have trouble understanding exactly what it is I do.  From what I've seen, it's largely two groups of people whose interests don't overlap for the most part.

I just hope the coronavirus issues settle down and we're able to have a season this year even if it's pushed back into the fall and early winter.

[coppice]

Its those STEM cells. They aren't well adapted to sports.