Function of Sport in Society

[youBlackEmporer]

Do sports fill somekind of niche in civilization or are they just a giant egotistical pissing contest?

 

I am geniunely curious to your resposes as I am still undecided.

[Abramul]

Originally, sports were a form of military training. They fell mostly into:

• Thrown objects
  
• Melee combat
  
• Entry/Egress
  
• Speed
  

For instance, shotput is basically rock-throwing with a standardised rock, pole-vault is a way of getting over walls, and relay would be how messages were transferred on the battlefield.

[Cheesemonger]

No. A hundred times No.

 

While your theory makes sense Machik, we now have instruments, vehicles, and other gadgets that allow us not to use said sports.

They are just a way to force a migration of green paper objects from the pockets of millions, into, ultimatly, the pocket of one, for the movements of others, and the tendacy for a ball to jump through a hoop.

 

No, I don't think sports have any bearing on anything, save the entertainment of others. Which probably doesn't include us, since we are pretty much all geeks.

[Peregrine]

As long as they're named "ultimate frisbee" they have a place in society. All others will be eliminated as capitalist corruption in the Revolution.

 

 

But more seriously, depends on what the context is.

 

For watching them: Ok, maybe it's understandable if you're bored to watch an occasional game. But the rabid fans and players with a higher salary than the entire GDP of some countries, that's just stupid.

 

For playing them: Absolutely yes! If you don't understand why, get up out of your chair and away from the computer and go get some exercise. The satisfied exhaustion from an afternoon of physical activity is a good feeling you can't get anywhere else. Same with defying physics to make some near-impossible play. So I'll repeat... if you don't play something, change that. Or get some shoes and go run for an hour a day at least.

 

 

I guess my prefered sport highlights this difference pretty well. There is no professional level, no way at all to earn a profit from playing. Instead of getting paid (often insane amounts), you pay to play (whether it's league fees, buying a frisbee and cones for a pickup game, whatever). And the attitude is much better as a result.

[youBlackEmporer]

I think what *Abramul* (not Malchik) was trying to say was that those examples are how many of our modern day sports originated, they obviously don't serve the same function in society today.

 

So can we say that sports are a source of enjoyment and satisfaction to individuals and a source of grotesque wealth to capitalists?

[Malchik]

Sport these days seems to cover a multitude of passtimes that would once have been called hobbies. They serve the purpose of keeping you fit, in touch with other human beings (unlike forums/chatrooms etc. like these where you meet only as names) and can sometimes help you find a purpose when you are groping around wondering what you were put on this earth for.

 

On the other hand the salaries paid to some professional players seem pretty grotesque to me. They can only get paid such sums if people are willing to pay to watch them. Quite clearly enough people are. But it's the same with 'pop stars', some film actors etc. Sport can't be singled out for criticism on that.

 

I'm all for participating for health but I seldom watch.