2016 NFL Offseason

[Etha]

BRONCOS!!!
YaY! 1,000th post...I think...

Yep.

[Neighbor]

I know, but there seems to be a strong correlation between anti-intellectualism and being a fan of sports in my experience.

NSG might be an exception to this.

it would certainly make some sense as a general trend...

I mean, watching a few people kick/handle balls around for hours and hours on end just to see a few numbers go up...

doesn't strike me as terribly intellectual a pursuit. It could have a sort of spill-over effect into other areas of one's life...

Now of course this is all theory.

I think it might be because the focus of a sports viewer is largely social, since being knowledgeable about sports is somewhat of a guarantee that you will have common interests with many others in our society.

Whereas if you read Marx and try to talk about it with somebody, they will probably either not have anything to contribute, or actually lash out at you and accuse you of being a communist etc. Just look when there is a shooting, and the news media finds it relevant to start listing names of books in the persons book collection that were written by authors who aren't mainstream in an anti-intellectual America.

You don't see people making a big deal about sports jerseys in school shooters closets.

Being an intellectual in America is basically condemning yourself to a certain degree of isolation unless you happen to fall within the very narrow domain of thought between Republican and Democrat.

[New haven america]

Well, other sports are good(Just don't like Football)...

You better be talking soccer

Nope.
Most sports have things constantly going, Football is just: 1 play, teams move a few yards, spend the next couple minutes talking about the 1 play while the players have to get back in their spots, repeat. It gets boring pretty quickly.

[Maurepas]

If you want to compete and exercise yourself I would understand (well, a bit)...

but watching other people compete and exercise for hours and hours and hours? To the point where the said competitors can be paid millions of dollars while others starve (not to mention these enthusiasts are often the types who don't have the patience to read through a novel)? It makes no sense...

Televised sports are a very strange phenomena if you think about it...

How is that football's fault???? It's the people who give their money to the competitors, not the competitors or the game's fault. Go take your little complaints elsewhere.

And, no, no it's not.

Eh, the NFL is a private organization, its team owners are using their private money. If they want to pay for the best players to put on the best game they think they can in order to compete with others, that's their prerogative.

I could only see this person's point if somehow Drew Brees were a government employee, which he is not. Tom Benson can pay him what he chooses to.

[Temujinn]

it would certainly make some sense as a general trend...

I mean, watching a few people kick/handle balls around for hours and hours on end just to see a few numbers go up...

doesn't strike me as terribly intellectual a pursuit. It could have a sort of spill-over effect into other areas of one's life...

Now of course this is all theory.

I think it might be because the focus of a sports viewer is largely social, since being knowledgeable about sports is somewhat of a guarantee that you will have common interests with many others in our society.

Whereas if you read Marx and try to talk about it with somebody, they will probably either not have anything to contribute, or actually lash out at you and accuse you of being a communist etc. Just look when there is a shooting, and the news media finds it relevant to start listing names of books in the persons book collection that were written by authors who aren't mainstream in an anti-intellectual America.

You don't see people making a big deal about sports jerseys in school shooters closets.

Being an intellectual in America is basically condemning yourself to a certain degree of isolation unless you happen to fall within the very narrow domain of thought between Republican and Democrat.

Not really, though many would be snowflakes really wish it was so.

[Frisivisia]

it would certainly make some sense as a general trend...

I mean, watching a few people kick/handle balls around for hours and hours on end just to see a few numbers go up...

doesn't strike me as terribly intellectual a pursuit. It could have a sort of spill-over effect into other areas of one's life...

Now of course this is all theory.

I think it might be because the focus of a sports viewer is largely social, since being knowledgeable about sports is somewhat of a guarantee that you will have common interests with many others in our society.

Whereas if you read Marx and try to talk about it with somebody, they will probably either not have anything to contribute, or actually lash out at you and accuse you of being a communist etc. Just look when there is a shooting, and the news media finds it relevant to start listing names of books in the persons book collection that were written by authors who aren't mainstream in an anti-intellectual America.

You don't see people making a big deal about sports jerseys in school shooters closets.

Being an intellectual in America is basically condemning yourself to a certain degree of isolation unless you happen to fall within the very narrow domain of thought between Republican and Democrat.

Being smart is so hard, some people will be displeased with your smart and edgy philosophy and say that you're a communist for being a communist!

[Phalnia]

What are you talking about?

South African Elections what are you talking about?

Ancient Mesopotamian pottery.

[God Kefka]

it would certainly make some sense as a general trend...

I mean, watching a few people kick/handle balls around for hours and hours on end just to see a few numbers go up...

doesn't strike me as terribly intellectual a pursuit. It could have a sort of spill-over effect into other areas of one's life...

Now of course this is all theory.

I think it might be because the focus of a sports viewer is largely social, since being knowledgeable about sports is somewhat of a guarantee that you will have common interests with many others in our society.

Whereas if you read Marx and try to talk about it with somebody, they will probably either not have anything to contribute, or actually lash out at you and accuse you of being a communist etc. Just look when there is a shooting, and the news media finds it relevant to start listing names of books in the persons book collection that were written by authors who aren't mainstream in an anti-intellectual America.

You don't see people making a big deal about sports jerseys in school shooters closets.

Being an intellectual in America is basically condemning yourself to a certain degree of isolation unless you happen to fall within the very narrow domain of thought between Republican and Democrat.

Indeed... And ironically the sports probably do more to trigger subconscious urges for aggression, given the very physical and aggressive nature of the activity than some innocent book...

But as they say, it is better to be upstream than mainstream... especially when the mainstream is heading downstream

[God Kefka]

I think it might be because the focus of a sports viewer is largely social, since being knowledgeable about sports is somewhat of a guarantee that you will have common interests with many others in our society.

Whereas if you read Marx and try to talk about it with somebody, they will probably either not have anything to contribute, or actually lash out at you and accuse you of being a communist etc. Just look when there is a shooting, and the news media finds it relevant to start listing names of books in the persons book collection that were written by authors who aren't mainstream in an anti-intellectual America.

You don't see people making a big deal about sports jerseys in school shooters closets.

Being an intellectual in America is basically condemning yourself to a certain degree of isolation unless you happen to fall within the very narrow domain of thought between Republican and Democrat.

Being smart is so hard, some people will be displeased with your smart and edgy philosophy and say that you're a communist for being a communist!

It is possible to read Marx without being a communist...

[Wisconsin9]

You better be talking soccer

Nope.
Most sports have things constantly going, Football is just: 1 play, teams move a few yards, spend the next couple minutes talking about the 1 play while the players have to get back in their spots, repeat. It gets boring pretty quickly.

It also gives you time to get snacks and go to the bathroom.

[God Kefka]

How is that football's fault???? It's the people who give their money to the competitors, not the competitors or the game's fault. Go take your little complaints elsewhere.

And, no, no it's not.

Eh, the NFL is a private organization, its team owners are using their private money. If they want to pay for the best players to put on the best game they think they can in order to compete with others, that's their prerogative.

I could only see this person's point if somehow Drew Brees were a government employee, which he is not. Tom Benson can pay him what he chooses to.

The government's guilty with their Olympics and stuff I think...

[Geilinor]

Eh, the NFL is a private organization, its team owners are using their private money. If they want to pay for the best players to put on the best game they think they can in order to compete with others, that's their prerogative.

I could only see this person's point if somehow Drew Brees were a government employee, which he is not. Tom Benson can pay him what he chooses to.

The government's guilty with their Olympics and stuff I think...

Olympic athletes don't get millions, and the National Olympic Committee makes the payment. The IOC is a non-governmental organization.

[The Ben Boys]

-snip-

Just out of curiosity, but what labeled you an intellectual? Is there a criteria or is it one of those things that you can call yourself?

[New Bierstaat]

Y politics in football thread?

[God Kefka]

The government's guilty with their Olympics and stuff I think...

Olympic athletes don't get millions, and the National Olympic Committee makes the payment. The IOC is a non-governmental organization.

yeah but they help over-hype this stuff...

to the point where kids in developing countries are bullied by stern parents to get the Gold Medal and ruin their lives...

The nations of the world should get together every few years and do something productive and non-competitive, such as building an international art gallery together or something... instead, every few years they want to replay the rustic traditions of the Ancient Greeks a la 21st century...

[The Ben Boys]

Olympic athletes don't get millions, and the National Olympic Committee makes the payment. The IOC is a non-governmental organization.

yeah but they help over-hype this stuff...

to the point where kids in developing countries are bullied by stern parents to get the Gold Medal and ruin their lives...

The nations of the world should get together every few years and do something productive and non-competitive, such as building an international art gallery together or something... instead, every few years they want to replay the rustic traditions of the Ancient Greeks a la 21st century...

And there should be cookies! Lots and lots of cookies.

[Neighbor]

I think it might be because the focus of a sports viewer is largely social, since being knowledgeable about sports is somewhat of a guarantee that you will have common interests with many others in our society.

Whereas if you read Marx and try to talk about it with somebody, they will probably either not have anything to contribute, or actually lash out at you and accuse you of being a communist etc. Just look when there is a shooting, and the news media finds it relevant to start listing names of books in the persons book collection that were written by authors who aren't mainstream in an anti-intellectual America.

You don't see people making a big deal about sports jerseys in school shooters closets.

Being an intellectual in America is basically condemning yourself to a certain degree of isolation unless you happen to fall within the very narrow domain of thought between Republican and Democrat.

Being smart is so hard, some people will be displeased with your smart and edgy philosophy and say that you're a communist for being a communist!

In the past year I have read Marx, Foucault, Hobbes, Rousseau, Nietzsche, de Tocqueville, Sarte and more.

I guess that makes me a communist post-structuralist monarchist social democratic existentialist Frenchman.

[Neighbor]

Olympic athletes don't get millions, and the National Olympic Committee makes the payment. The IOC is a non-governmental organization.

yeah but they help over-hype this stuff...

to the point where kids in developing countries are bullied by stern parents to get the Gold Medal and ruin their lives...

The nations of the world should get together every few years and do something productive and non-competitive, such as building an international art gallery together or something... instead, every few years they want to replay the rustic traditions of the Ancient Greeks a la 21st century...

When I was a kid I played soccer, and the coach, who was in his 40's, used to bully me and make fun of me because I wasn't good at soccer.

He actually encouraged my team mates to make fun of me too.

Now when I look back I laugh at what a pathetic loser he was, but it still hurt my self esteem growing up.

[Wisconsin9]

What does all this have to do with the Super Bowl?

[God Kefka]

yeah but they help over-hype this stuff...

to the point where kids in developing countries are bullied by stern parents to get the Gold Medal and ruin their lives...

The nations of the world should get together every few years and do something productive and non-competitive, such as building an international art gallery together or something... instead, every few years they want to replay the rustic traditions of the Ancient Greeks a la 21st century...

When I was a kid I played soccer, and the coach, who was in his 40's, used to bully me and make fun of me because I wasn't good at soccer.

He actually encouraged my team mates to make fun of me too.

Now when I look back I laugh at what a pathetic loser he was, but it still hurt my self esteem growing up.

it's most unfortunate...

the importance of being able to kick a ball into a net while running around and mixing aggressively with others... can be overrated indeed.

[Edward Richtofen]

did we just have 4 pages of flaming?

[Tiami]

Guys, this thread is for American Football, not politics or anything non-football related. Please keep it out of this thread. Thank you.

[Occupied Deutschland]

Y politics in football thread?

Football game like microcosm of political history of mankind.

Two teams line up at each other in various stadiums. They run plays in an attempt to push the other side back, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully. After a few failed tries to do so, the other 'team' responds in kind and tries to push the other side back and advance their own. Sometimes the political leader of one side gets 'sacked' and is found in either a scandal of some kind or, in particularly grievous cases akin to injuries, get assassinated by opponents. This is, of course, extraordinarily helpful to the opposing team.

In other instances, one side attempts to push too far too fast and one of their policy-pushes ('passes') gets intercepted, allowing the opposing team to respond immediately and begin to push them back in a spectacular failure. Like when there is a failed revolution or such.

Touchdowns, fouls, incomplete passes, and the crowd all seem self-explanatory for the analogy.

And over it all is John Madden, narrating what each side is doing and inserting Bret Favre into every single sentence he says.

[Wisconsin9]

Y politics in football thread?

Football game like microcosm of political history of mankind.

Two teams line up at each other in various stadiums. They run plays in an attempt to push the other side back, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully. After a few failed tries to do so, the other 'team' responds in kind and tries to push the other side back and advance their own. Sometimes the political leader of one side gets 'sacked' and is found in either a scandal of some kind or, in particularly grievous cases akin to injuries, get assassinated by opponents. This is, of course, extraordinarily helpful to the opposing team.

In other instances, one side attempts to push too far too fast and one of their policy-pushes ('passes') gets intercepted, allowing the opposing team to respond immediately and begin to push them back in a spectacular failure. Like when there is a failed revolution or such.

Touchdowns, fouls, incomplete passes, and the crowd all seem self-explanatory for the analogy.

And over it all is John Madden, narrating what each side is doing and inserting Bret Favre into every single sentence he says.

*goes into a riotous fury at the mention of the Traitor*

[Bralia]

I wonder if there's going to be anything close to a 12th Man presence at the game . . .