# Anyone else NOT watching the Super Bowl?



## JLibourel (Jun 13, 2004)

Yesterday evening my wife mentioned to me that she has been listening to the crass radio talk show host Tom Leykis telling his cretinous listeners than any men not watching the Super Bowl on Sunday were the sort who had seen "Brokeback Mountain" multiple times.

While I enjoy a good game of college football, at least if I care about the outcome, I have no interest whatsoever in a contest between the hirelings of two commercial entities claiming to represent cities to which I have no connection of any sort! 

One thing I have noticed is that gun enthusiasts (of which I am one) in general seem to have much less interest in team sports than the male population in general. When I was working with a bunch of fellow enthusiasts up at Petersen Publishing Company, events such as the Super Bowl, the NBA Playoffs or the World Series would pass virtually unnoticed by the gun guys. I can recall once upon a time the Los Angeles Times did an article on men who would not be watching the Super Bowl. To my amusement, it turned out that three of then ten men interviewed were gun buddies of mine--Rick Hacker, Garry James and Phil Spangenberger, names that may be familiar to some of you.


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## Vladimir Berkov (Apr 19, 2005)

I don't really see the point of professional sports in general. I don't even care to watch college sports really. College football today is really just another version of professional football. And since here at UT football is worshiped as God by everybody I basically avoid it on principle.


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## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

By the time the Superbowl rolls around, I'm so sick of football that I avoid it if possible, unless "my" team is taking part. 

We usually have a party and I busy myself with preparing the food instead of watching the game.

I enjoy baseball, however.


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

I have some thoughts on the Super Duper up at www.tcextra.com. Click on sports.


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## Tomasso (Aug 17, 2005)

I always attend a Superbowl party but I really don't watch the game very intently, in fact I pay much more attention to the commercials, which can be quite entertaining. I think that for most people it's just an excuse to have a party, myself included. This Sunday I'll attend a friend's Superbowl party which will be catered by a great American chef, who will be serving roast pig on a spit.


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## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> 
> I have some thoughts on the Super Duper up at www.tcextra.com. Click on sports.


That's brilliant, Patrick! I agree with your nickname for Holmgren.


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## AMVanquish (May 24, 2005)

VS, did you pick up cricket and rugby during your time abroad?


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## FlatSix (Feb 23, 2005)

I lost interest when my pal Nick Goings got clocked in the cabeza in the conference game... I had high hopes until that point. 

But in general, I'm a do-stuff guy, not a watch-stuff guy.

----------------------


"When you wear something like spats, I think you might as well wear your favorite players jersey bc what youre saying is I want to be powerful like the bear and Im wearing its hide to tap into its power." - Film Noir Buff

"First sense of what "normal" good clothes looked like came from my dad, of course, and from Babar books." - Concordia

" I have a related problem in that I often have to chase people. Leather soles are no good for this kind of work." - Patrick06790


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## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

one of the two times I ahve been on an almost empty plane (less than 5% occupency on the plane was when I fly during the superbowl one year


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## Yckmwia (Mar 29, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Vladimir Berkov_
> 
> I don't really see the point of professional sports in general. . .


The point? Money.

The Super Bowl broadcast itself is unspeakable. Everybody know this. Yet many millions will watch it anyway. Explains quite a bit, actually.

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

I have a feeling that this will be the most lackluster Superbowl since New England Vs Green Bay...I have no real attachment to either team, and in fact, I dislike them both pretty much equally (I cant stand Hasselbeck, and I dont like Coach Cowher [sp?])...I'll still probably watch just because, I've been invited to a little Superbowl get togather...plus I put a few bucks on Pit. back when they were the #6 seed...so if they win, I may encounter a bit of a payout...but, other than that, I have no real reason to watch the game...I mean, I certainly wouldnt watch to see the two teams...or the pathetic half-time show which will invariably be some braindead MTV personality bopping around stage in baggy jeans and a sideways ballcap talking about how he's a "dog" or whatever the idiot-speak dujour for fornicator is...or some old washed up member of a rock group who was popular when my mother was in pigtails...truth be told...I'd be willing to bet that the most entertaining thing about the Superbowl will be the commercials...

...yeah...the Superbowl (and the NFL for that matter) has really lost some of its magic...

*****
[image]https://radio.weblogs.com/0119318/Screenshots/rose.jpg[/image]"See...What I'm gonna do is wear a shirt only once, and then give it right away to the laundry...eh?
A new shirt every day!!!"​


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## 16128 (Feb 8, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by AMVanquish_
> 
> VS, did you pick up cricket and rugby during your time abroad?


I wanted to _play_ rugby! No time, though, and I probably would have ended up on a stretcher.

My husband loves cricket and is trying to find a cable or satellite channel so that he can watch it this summer.


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Hey Gabba, halftime features The Rolling Stones!

Yep, the man who once rode into arenas on a giant inflatable whatsit is now regarded as tame enough for the country's most-watched TV extravaganza.

No wardrobe malfunctions here.


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## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

'Professional sports are just a bunch of grown men swatting at little balls, and the rest of the world paying to applaud.'

-Dr Ian Malcolm, the novel _Jurassic Park_ (Michael Crichton)


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> 
> Hey Gabba, halftime features The Rolling Stones!
> 
> ...


I've even heard stories of three generations attending recent Rolling Stones concerts together. 58-year-old baby boomer Grandma, 33-year-old daughter, and 12-year-old granddaughter. Possibly apocryphal, though.


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## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Vladimir Berkov_
> 
> *I don't really see the point of professional sports in general. I don't even care to watch college sports really. College football today is really just another version of professional football.* And since here at UT football is worshiped as God by everybody I basically avoid it on principle.


I agree completely.

Gurdon


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## Liberty Ship (Jan 26, 2006)

I have never sat through an entire basketball, football, or baseball game in my 50+ years; not high school, college, nor professional. I think my Kudzu League alma mater had a football team, but I never went to a game. I won't be watching the Super Bowl. I'll stop short of one of my anti-sports rants.

Confirming JLibourel's premise, however, I'm a shooter. Guns are my life. Now if I can just find a tailor who can make a Glock 36 and two extra mags disappear under a well fitting suit without making me look 40 pounds overweight....


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## Tomasso (Aug 17, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Liberty Ship_
> I never went to a game. I won't be watching the Super Bowl. I'm a shooter. Guns are my life.


Not that I wish to put any ideas in your head.

https://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/trailer.html?v_id=51401

(click on the"low bandwidth" link)


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## ice (Sep 2, 2005)

The atmosphere is pretty amazing in downtown Detroit right now. You can feel the energy. I will be downtown all day Saturday attending the festivals and events, and will be partying all night across the river in Windsor. Both cities are crowded with Steelers fans. It is like a huge street festival here right now, and it will just get bigger as the game approaches.

With all this excitement leading up to the game, I hope I can stay awake until the end of the game on Sunday!


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## upstarter (Dec 3, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Patrick06790_
> 
> Hey Gabba, halftime features The Rolling Stones!
> 
> ...


Yeah! I recently went to the Stones Concert in San Diego, and can echo what someone said above me. Not only do u see people who are in their late 40's to early 60's, you see people my age (18) and everything in between. Though i have to say that i have never seen so many drunk baby boomers in my entire life. It was like a college party with 50 year olds. A little bizarre...

I will not be watching the superbowl because I have midterms and papers due on Monday. That... and football isn't terribly exciting (although I've said this in Canton, Ohio, home to the Football hall of fame and televised high school football games, and my relatives almost killed me). My roommate however, will record the commercials for me, which is IMO, the best part of most SB's.

Upstarter


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## GentleCheetah (Oct 17, 2005)

Since I live in the greater puget sound area,I hope Seahawk wins on Sunday. That said, I won't watch the game because I don't understand football and have little interest in sports. Will probably go skiing if the weather is good.

SB is very much a social-gathering thing. At grad school, a close friend and colleague hosted SB party every year. He resented having to sponsor "**** parties" at his apartment every year. But since he was kinda big-brother social guy, it was his responsibility to gather us together once a year.



The Gentle Cheetah


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## Badrabbit (Nov 18, 2004)

College football is so much more enjoyable than a bunch of overpaid thugs throwing the ball too often. Pro Football never ends up being a real game of smashmouth like you get from an SEC or Big Ten game. 

Being from the south, college ball is something I take personally as does everyone I know but I just don't know how people can get so worked up about a bunch of guys getting paid to play. No one has any personal ties to the pro teams other than that they live in the same town as the stadium. The teams don't represent an alma mater or some wonderful history. It's just a bunch of hooplah over nothing.

Re: College ball 

Grantland Rice said it best

In the East, College Football is a cultural exercise, on the West Coast it's a tourist attraction, in Texas it's a big get together, in the Midwest it's a slugfest, but in the South, Football is a RELIGION"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women thrive on novelty and are easy meat for the commerce of fashion. Men prefer old pipes and torn jackets. 
Anthony Burgess


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## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

Obviously I will not be seeing the game due to the time zone difference.

That said, I have never cared for, nor understood the appeal of sports. It tends to engender such a "jock" mentality -and all its negative connotations- which is so utterly alien to my sensibility. Visiting Bristol (UK) back in May of 2004 (there was some big game), I feared for my life that evening on the streets. Dangerous times.

And yet... in my middle teens I lived for three years in Seattle. So therefore I would naturally hope the Seahawks snatch a victory.

"When Britain first at Heaven's Command arose from out the azure main, this was the character of the land and guardian angels sung the strain: Rule Britannia! Britannia rule the waves! Britons shall _*never*_ be slaves."


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## Liberty Ship (Jan 26, 2006)

> quote:_Originally posted by Vladimir Berkov_
> 
> I don't really see the point of professional sports in general. I don't even care to watch college sports really. College football today is really just another version of professional football. And since here at UT football is worshiped as God by everybody I basically avoid it on principle.


Good man. Has anyone else observed that the more outspoken the "booster," the less likely it is that he graduated from the university in question or even attended it all in the first place? It could be that since I chose to live within my means, I find myself in a subdivision of over extended loser wannabees. It seems as if when all the college football flags litter my neighborhood in the fall, it turns out that the homes are usually inhabited by proles with no degree who simply will not shut up about The Dogs, The Vols, The Corn Huskers(?), The Gators, or whatever persona the scholar-atheletes of a particular institution of higher learning chose to assume.

The things I have seen. Entire families decked out in matching Red and Black, covered with Bulldog logos. I have actually been at a party where a 40 year old overweight man WHO DID NOT GRADUATE FROM THE SCHOOL got down on all fours during "overtime" and pressed his nose against the TV screen and BARKED LIKE A DOG in front of his guests and his own children! Oh, the humanity!


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## mpcsb (Jan 1, 2005)

I think I will be seeing "Brokeback Mountain" again, or maybe "Capote". Actually, maybe I'll just reread _In Cold Blood_ again. [}]
Cheers


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## ChubbyTiger (Mar 10, 2005)

I guess I'm the only one who'll be watching (and enjoying) the football and ignoring those pompus old farts at halftime.  Granted, there is absolutly no way that this game will even approach the Rose Bowl in terms of passion and heart. Still, go Steelers.

upstarter - If you really want to see drunk baby boomers, might I suggest a Jimmy Buffet concert. They're a riot.

CT


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

I will attend a Super Duper party at my friend Bill's house.

Bill's wife is in Fla. visiting _his_ mother. This does not bode well for Bill's future.

This affair Sunday could well be Bill's Last Hurrah.

He's getting in some wings, steaks, shrimp and whatnot. He has an impossibly huge television set, so we'll be able to catch every subtle nuance.

(Subtlety is, of course, a big part of the Super Duper.)

And what really makes it weird is that all of the guys in our crowd are recovering alcoholics and addicts. You'd think that fact would ensure at least a fair-to-middling level of decorum.

But it won't. If anything, we're worse than ever.

There will be a lot of side bets: Which team gets the first sack, score at the first two-minute warning, will Keith Richards dress like a refugee from a mothball factory (currently 9:2 with no takers).

Dressing for a gala like this is tricky, and as there will be a fair amount of food thrown, some sort of rain gear is advisable.

The Super Duper is a crass, blatantly commercial and thoroughly repulsive event - which is why I enjoy it.

And if we're lucky, there might even be a decent game involved.

(Incidentally, I like the Steelers, but with a four-point spread I have to take Seattle plus the points. It's a no-brainer bet when two teams match up as evenly as these.)


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## DaveInPhilly (May 16, 2005)

I just got a new screen for my projector - so I most certainly will be watching the Super Bowl in all 92 inches of its HD glory.


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## JohnnyVegas (Nov 17, 2005)

I am really excited about this year's Superbowl, even though my Patriots are not in it to go for three in a row. The Steelers and Seahawks are very similar teams, and I really think this could be a good game. I'm not rooting for anyone, I think I have to root for some big hits.

The NFL playoffs always provides me with a couple weekends to get together with my friends and eat greasy food while watching football for hours on end. It's fantastic.


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## upstarter (Dec 3, 2005)

upstarter - If you really want to see drunk baby boomers, might I suggest a Jimmy Buffet concert. They're a riot.

CT
[/quote]

Next time I'm going through a period of drunk-baby-boomer withdrawl, i'll keep your advice in mind.


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## romafan (Apr 29, 2005)

No interest in Super Bowl or 'football' in general. Roma is away to Parma @ the Stadio Tardini on Saturday...


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## mgeissler (Jan 5, 2006)

Wow, this thread really suprises me. I thought more of my fellow forum members would be watching the Superbowl. I like watching almost all sports at every level. I watch college for the excitement and intensity that they play with; I watch pro sports because I enjoy watching the best athletes in the world compete against each other.


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## Tomasso (Aug 17, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by ChubbyTiger_
> If you really want to see drunk baby boomers, might I suggest a Jimmy Buffet concert. They're a riot.


I attended my first Buffet concert this summer at Wrigley Field, I mainly went to see Wrigley get her cherry popped(it was the first concert in its 90 year history). But aside from the margaritas, the place was "up in smoke".


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

But you'll miss the real reason to watch!!

-- the commercials!!

Not to mention a potential for a wardrobe malfunction![:I]

Andy


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## marsh (Jan 13, 2005)

I am quite an enthusiastic sports fan... very enthusiastic actually. I can very happily sit and watch the 5 days of a cricket match, and will get enthusiastic about most sports. 

However this is one occastion where not having access to things American suits me perfectly. I find american football to be the most boring sport in the world. I like all the other american sprts, but not that one. The fact that they wear so much padding is also a big detractor I think...


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Because it's in Detroit, (I'm from Lansing, MI) I'll watch it. Don't forget that Aretha Franklin (national anthem) and Stevie Wonder (from Saginaw, MI and Detroit, MI) will also be performing!

I'm not a big football fan, but I'll watch this.


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## Brownshoe (Mar 1, 2005)

Ugh, sports. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I doubt there are many Dan Clowes fans on the forum, but, speaking of Brokeback Mountain, he once did an amazing piece on sports as sublimated homosexual desire.

It resulted in all kinds of death threats and insane hostility.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much..."


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## Yckmwia (Mar 29, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Badrabbit_
> 
> College football is so much more enjoyable than a bunch of overpaid thugs throwing the ball too often. Pro Football never ends up being a real game of smashmouth like you get from an SEC or Big Ten game.
> 
> ...


Grantland Rice? Which decade are you living in, 'Rabbit? Things have changed a bit since Grantland Rice was waxing lyrical about the "blue, gray, October sky" and suchlike things. Surely you are aware that many of the "overpaid thugs" who play for pay on Sundays formerly labored for free, presumably as "unpaid thugs," on Saturdays in the SEC - most of them on behalf of schools their grandparents could not have attended under any circumstances. Aren't you a free market man, a disciple of the Austrian School? If so, how can you describe professional football players as "overpaid"? If the inerrant Market sets the salaries of these "overpaid thugs," which it more or less does, what complaint do you have? In contrast to The League, College football is corrupt, crony capitalism of the most sickening kind; almost as bad as Iraq "reconstruction."

But I agree with you, in principle: a good college game is more exciting than just about any professional game; what are the odds that the Super Bowl will be even half as good as the Rose Bowl? Very long, I'd say. The pros are just too good, which can make things predictable and boring.

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson


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## Tomasso (Aug 17, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by marsh_
> I find american football to be the most boring sport in the world. I like all the other american sprts, but not that one. The fact that they wear so much padding is also a big detractor I think...


First off, American football could not be played as it is, without padding and headgear, the participants would suffer too many fatalities. I think of football as a type of civilized war game, a game of chess played out on a modern battlefield with human pieces. The physicality aside, it is really a thinking mans game. I have found that people who have not played the game find this hard to believe, they seem to be unable to get past the violence of the game. As for boring, have you ever watched a baseball game.


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## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

Going to an annual party with people from my running club.


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## marsh (Jan 13, 2005)

I must admit I have never been to a baseball game - but like it on TV.

I earnt my own scars playing Australian Rules football, and though there are occasional fatalities, I think the lack of padding makes the hits real and leaves little room for bravado.

I think your point is very well made and applies to all sports, if you haven't played a particular code, you can never really appreciate its many dimensions - am sure this fuels my ignorance of American football...


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## Dmax (Jan 9, 2006)

Another gun enthusiast here who will not be watching the Superbowl. I don't even know which teams are playing. The only sports I watch on occasion are Bycicle racing and Rally, GT, and touring car racing.

I have to go through my gun magazines to see if there are any articles by JLibourel. 

Dimitry


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## Joe Frances (Sep 1, 2004)

I know it's Seattle and Pittsburgh, but no, I won't be watching.

When I was unmarried and living in NYC, I would always take a happily willing young lady to a series of movies on supper bowl sunday, becuase we could easily get into any film we wanted. Now THAT was fun in the back row!

Joe


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## burnedandfrozen (Mar 11, 2004)

I dunno why but for me watching sports is just a huge bore. I played pee-wee ice hockey as a kid so hockey is about the only sport I can watch from start to finish. Baseball and football I find just to be toooo sloooow. Never cared much for basketball although I'd rather watch this then the other two if I had to choose. However, I love playing sports when I get the chance. I'd rather play a game of two hand touch then watch the superbowl. I guess it's like sex: I'd rather particapte then watch.


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## boomerchop (Nov 30, 2005)

I quite honestly do not know which teams are playing. Yesterday two of my students were talking about teams and plays and I found myself wondering whether I had already missed the game entirely, I hadn't even heard the results anywhere. I guess the game is actually tomorrow. I'm certain I'll be doing something else.

"...without a Respectable Navy, Alas America!"
Captain John Paul Jones, 17 October 1776, in a letter to Robert Morris.


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## Gong Tao Jai (Jul 7, 2005)

I have never seen a Super Bowl, do not know when it takes place, and do not know who is playing. I could enjoy watching a football game, but there are other activities I prefer. 

I think playing sports is better than watching sports. People who passionately follow the home team strike me as being suckers, since the home team itself has no real loyalty to the city it is (often temporarily) affiliated with, although the players and owners make millions from the loyalty of the fans, and by negotiating sweetheart deals with city governments. 

Interesting that gun enthusiasts are less interested in spectator sports-- anybody have any idea why. 

Brownshoe-- I am also a Clowes fan. He is absolutely hilarious on the subject of professional sports.


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## JLibourel (Jun 13, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Dmax_
> 
> Another gun enthusiast here who will not be watching the Superbowl. I don't even know which teams are playing. The only sports I watch on occasion are Bycicle racing and Rally, GT, and touring car racing.
> 
> ...


The only gun magazine in which my byline presently appears is Gun World, of which I am the editor. In the past I edited Handguns magazine and contributed a great many articles and columns to Guns & Ammo and the Guns & Ammo Specialty Publications.


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## Badrabbit (Nov 18, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Yckmwia_
> 
> Grantland Rice? Which decade are you living in, 'Rabbit? Things have changed a bit since Grantland Rice was waxing lyrical about the "blue, gray, October sky" and suchlike things. Surely you are aware that many of the "overpaid thugs" who play for pay on Sundays formerly labored for free, presumably as "unpaid thugs," on Saturdays in the SEC - most of them on behalf of schools their grandparents could not have attended under any circumstances. Aren't you a free market man, a disciple of the Austrian School? If so, how can you describe professional football players as "overpaid"? If the inerrant Market sets the salaries of these "overpaid thugs," which it more or less does, what complaint do you have? In contrast to The League, College football is corrupt, crony capitalism of the most sickening kind; almost as bad as Iraq "reconstruction."
> 
> ...


On the surface, this may appear to be against my stated beliefs but I don't believe it is. The players are able to force the teams to overpay them through the use of labor unions. Unions are often able to make a system inefficient. Before you jump all over that one, I don't believe in the restriction of people's rights to assemble but do believe that the government has no business enabling these affilitations to exert undue power. A business should be able to decide whether or not it wants to hire union workers and should be able to fire people strictly for their afilliation with such groups. Instead, these groups are a protected entity which is able to drag businesses down and often even force them to operate below costs (e.g. every airline except Southwest and quite a few Pro Teams over the years).

I will give you that pro athletes are often unique in their abilities and so they can exert a great deal of supplier power because of this. I am also not sure how much of their power to demand higher wages is because of their abilities or what the unions would be capable of in a land where the government did not prevent businesses from hiring and firing "at will". We do not live in a completely free market so I can call inefficient markets inefficient without denying the abilities of a truly free market.

Over recent years the players union has even made it impossible for pro teams to rid themselves of killers and rapists. For the most part, a college would have removed these types of thugs from the team (though there are several recent incidents of them acting like the pros).

Frankly Yckmwia, you have become the de facto carnifex of nearly every discussion in this forum. Most people do not find capitalism sickening and certainly don't spend all their time supporting the failed and worthless ideologies you espouse. Perhaps for once you could discuss the topic at hand instead of attacking the political leanings of people whose economic ideologies are still being proved as valid.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women thrive on novelty and are easy meat for the commerce of fashion. Men prefer old pipes and torn jackets. 
Anthony Burgess


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Yckmwia_
> 
> Surely you are aware that many of the "overpaid thugs" who play for pay on Sundays formerly labored for free, presumably as "unpaid thugs," on Saturdays in the SEC I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson


Nah, in the SEC they play for pay on Saturdays too [}]

I love football. College or Pros, whether my team is playing or not. I even watch the NFL Europe.

I agree that it is a thinking man's game if you understand the basic strategies, and untill I understood football I detested it. The game takes on an entirely different meaning if you've played it (either for real or even on video games). I pay so much attention to the game that I refuse to go to any large Super Bowl parties; the passing fans and those only watching for the commercials interrupt my conversations about blocking schemes and if Pro I-Right 32 G was the right play call on 3rd and 2.

I'm pulling for the Steelers hoping Bettis gets his ring and can leave the game as a champion. I also like the way they play (run the ball, stop the run, and play good defense).

---------------------

Beware of showroom sales-fever reasoning: i.e., "for $20 . . ." Once you're home, how little you paid is forgotten; how good you look in it is all that matters.


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by crazyquik_
> 
> I even watch the NFL Europe.


[:0][:0][:0] you're kidding...and I thought I was a fan of football...to me Euro NFL is just barely more watchable than the AFL is or the XFL was...

*****
[image]https://radio.weblogs.com/0119318/Screenshots/rose.jpg[/image]"See...What I'm gonna do is wear a shirt only once, and then give it right away to the laundry...eh?
A new shirt every day!!!"​


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

I draw the line with arena league. 

Brad Johnson, Kurt Warner, and Jake Delhomme all went through Europe. I prefer the running game, and NFL Europe tends to be a bit of a QB showcase. 

In a perfect world the foward pass would still be like a punt (returnable by the other team), and those watching the game would be wearing suits. Now the coaches aren't allowed to wear anything but the current Reebok line.


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

My older cousin is a well known former baseball player. After my parent's divorce, juvenile asthma and lack of guidance made team sports anathema after my painfull failure. I never saw a envelope of passes to a game, let alone my cousin. I ride horses, fence, sail In boats and gliders and shoot. Years later my cousin walked into a retail store I was working at for the summer.He was promoting some child's charity. I was assigned to assist. I told my manager It was against company policy to be involved with a family relative's private promotion. They called me a liar until my embarressed cousin tried to shake my hand. Now let me get this straight one more time. Athletes take steroids, are involved in auto wrecks or found with concealed firearms and narcotics. Or they get into messy hotelroom trysts with the other party claiming rape, are found 'not guilty' though married and later pre empt less newsworthy events like a soldier's death by putting a ball into a ring 81 times in one night.For this, fans in tribal regalia on car and body pay them more than most critical care trauma surgeons or classical musicians. The pre columbian civilizations had it right. losers shuold be sacrificed to the Gods.


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Kav_
> 
> Now let me get this straight one more time. Athletes take steroids, are involved in auto wrecks or found with concealed firearms and narcotics. Or they get into messy hotelroom trysts with the other party claiming rape, are found 'not guilty' though married and later pre empt less newsworthy events like a soldier's death by putting a ball into a ring 81 times in one night.For this, fans in tribal regalia on car and body pay them more than most critical care trauma surgeons or classical musicians. The pre columbian civilizations had it right. losers shuold be sacrificed to the Gods.


Oh I aggree completely...you have no clue how repulsive it is to me that an uneducated (heck, even downright ignorant) punk kid who probably grew up in a tar paper hut or an inner city tennement building gets a free ride in a major university when the only class he ever passed on his own was lunch (and he probably needed a tutor for that), just because he can play ball...meanwhile you have hard working young people who are stuck going to a JC because they either cannot afford to go to a university or they only had a 3.8 GPA in high school and that isnt good enough for admission...and I get particularly sick when I watch a program like MTV Cribs or something and see some of the homes these guys live in once they make the big time...just for being able to play basketball or whatever...meanwhile normal decent people write out a check every month for a good portion of their life so that one day they can actually own a home...but the thing I find the most disgusting of all about it is the fact that, children look up to these animals...and in spite of the fact that these guys are criminals, drug addicts, and just all-around ner-do-wells...society (not just children) seem to diefy (sp?) these guys...it's sad really...I dont like to think I'm a hypocrite, so let me defend why I watch sports...because I enjoy the game (no matter what game), I do not enjoy the atholetes, but the game still endures...although...given the moronic shenanigans pulled by those dullards both on and off court, I recently had to give up the NBA (or *N*ot *B*asketball *A*nymore)...and i really do fear that in ten years time, the NFL will be rendered unwatchable...I know a certain member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who refuses to even go to games anymore because he feels that the sport he helped make great has been ruined by the crop of clowns whom play now-a-days...

...aaah well...as long as the teams and leagues are making money, they could care less...

*****
[image]https://radio.weblogs.com/0119318/Screenshots/rose.jpg[/image]"See...What I'm gonna do is wear a shirt only once, and then give it right away to the laundry...eh?
A new shirt every day!!!"​


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## bosthist (Apr 4, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by The Gabba Goul_
> 
> but the thing I find the most disgusting of all about it is the fact that, children look up to these animals...and in spite of the fact that these guys are criminals, drug addicts, and just all-around ner-do-wells...


You probably have no clue how repulsive I find it that someone would actually refer to other people as "animals" and stereotype all of them as "criminals, drug addicts, and just all-around ner-do-wells" who probably "grew up in a tar paper hut or an inner city tennement".


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

One very valuable quality of the Super Duper Bowl is that the excess of the event affords all the sports-haters a marvelous opportunity to vent freely...

Or hit one out of the park, if you will.


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## Yckmwia (Mar 29, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Badrabbit_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have to say this, Badrabbit: your defense of an imaginary â€œfree marketâ€ grows more and more . . . interesting with each installment. Keep it up, and youâ€™ll be in line to edit the next edition of _Capitalism For Dummies_. While we await that happy development I have two questions:

First, do you have any examples of a professional sport franchise in the United States that was unable to rid itself of a convicted rapist or murderer because of the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the franchise owners and the players? Certainly no provision of the NFL standard player's contract, the CBA in force between the NFL and the NFLPA, or the NFLPA's rules of conduct makes "it impossible for pro teams to rid themselves of killers and rapists." I rather imagine that the situation is the same with regard to other professional sports in North America; but perhaps you know something I don't.

Second, are you aware that the SEC and Big Ten - the two college conferences that you claim play â€œsmashmouthâ€ football at a level exceeding even that of the NFL (!?!) - consist almost entirely of state universities? Shouldnâ€™t a free market man eschew any allegiance to institutions that so grossly violate the bedrock principles of the Austrian Way? Or is the public fisc an acceptable source of funding so long as it provides you with Saturday afternoon amusement during the Autumn months?

And itâ€™s a bit rich for you to denounce me as a ideologue and threadkiller merely because I challenge your unfounded, coded sneer at an entire class of professional athletes. A bit rich, but hardly surprising. Perhaps you and Gabba can hook up and commiserate with one another about "thugs" and their "cribs."

As to the matter at hand: I wonâ€™t be watching The Game - I seldom do - but Iâ€™ll read about it tomorrow. If Polamalu is anywhere near one hundred percent, the Steelers will likely have too much defense for the Seahawks. In the end, it will probably come down to special teams and turnovers, as it often does.

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson


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## Yckmwia (Mar 29, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by crazyquik_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


True; I perhaps should have written "underpaid thugs."

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson


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## Badrabbit (Nov 18, 2004)

Yckmwia,

I have just become tired of your constant postings about your disdain for capitalism. The hypocrisy of you sitting down to your computer, which I am sure was bought with proceeds from some capitalist venture and brought to you through the market you so despise, is just a little tiring. Forgive me if I snap at you once in a while.

As for your insinuation that there was some form of "coded" biggotry in my statement about killers and rapists, that is absolutely ludicrous. My statement merely referenced the actions of a growing number of professional athletes. Regardless of class, creed, race or religion, any person who acts in the manner that has plagued professional sports over the last few years is a thug. Period. 

I went to Auburn (a land grant university) and the Von Mises institute is located there. They have a solid relationship with the university and I don't think that one must hate all state schools because they are supported by the government. I think that there are better ways for the university system to operate but this does not force me to harbor disdain for all things that have been influenced by government. As I've pointed out above, you don't eschew all things that have been made available to you by the free market or you would have to send your messages to me through smoke signals. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women thrive on novelty and are easy meat for the commerce of fashion. Men prefer old pipes and torn jackets. 
Anthony Burgess


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## The Gabba Goul (Feb 11, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by bosthist_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


...well shucks...I guess you dont like me huh???

...and guess how much I care???

But, if I may...what did I ever do to you???now, I've done alot of mean things in my life, so perhaps I once kicked your dog, or insulted your mother...if that was the case...sorry, I had a little too much to drink--er ummm...I was a different person then,yeah, yeah that's it...oh, no, of course that's not it...how about, I was having a bad day, the guy at the grocery store forgot to put my onions in the bag and I had to make a second trip back there...take your pick from the standard list of insincere responses...but...Seriously though, what did I ever do to you that you need to contradict any post of mine (that could be considered opinionated) with your knee-jerk responses??? I mean, I'm not going to lose any sleep over the fact that a pseudo-intellectual on an internet website thinks I'm a jerk or whatever...but I'm just not quite sure why you feel it necessary to take this in your face "YOURE WRONG!!! AND YOURE STUPID!!!" approach whenever I voice my opinion and it doesnt coenside (sp?) with yours...seems funny to me that you seem to think I'm the low brow stupid jerk, and you're the enlightened one, yet another person's opinion is so unacceptable to you, and I seem to realise that it takes all different types of people to make up this great big world...

But RE: the matter at hand...what do you call a group of guys noted for terrible off the field/court behavior, abusing reporters (who are just doing their jobs), and taking steroids (and lying about it to a the Senate)??? What do you call a group of guys that includes reputed murders and rapists, not to mention all the crimes they commit that dont get national attention???I think animals, criminals, drug addicts, and ner-do-wells is just about spot on...but then again...maybe that's just because I'm not as enlightened as you...[xx(]

...ooh bruddah...

*****
[image]https://radio.weblogs.com/0119318/Screenshots/rose.jpg[/image]"See...What I'm gonna do is wear a shirt only once, and then give it right away to the laundry...eh?
A new shirt every day!!!"​


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## LabelKing (Sep 3, 2002)

One watches no such things.

As one might say: Religion is the opiate of the masses, then this must be the cocaine.

*"In truth, I am not altogether wrong to consider dandyism a form of religion."

Charles Baudelaire*


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

> quote:_Originally posted by LabelKing_
> 
> One watches no such things.
> 
> ...


Crack, more like, no?

-- RJman


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## LabelKing (Sep 3, 2002)

> quote:_Originally posted by RJman_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Homemade crystal meth to go with that dip.

*"In truth, I am not altogether wrong to consider dandyism a form of religion."

Charles Baudelaire*


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## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

Time for someone to disagree with all you radicals of the right and the left:

I think the few scoundrels who make their way into professional sports overshadow the majority who are stand up citizens.

As for college, football is a sport and a business. Successful programs bring in money to fund both sports and academics. Trickle down economics works. If a college brings in a poor kid with talent, that's OK with me. Opportunities should come in all shapes and sizes. I do think, however, that it is the responsibility of the athlete to avail himself of the educational opportunities given him. In other words, get the degree!

How's that for staking out the middle ground. [}]


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## gmac (Aug 13, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by The Gabba Goul_
> 
> But RE: the matter at hand...what do you call a group of guys noted for terrible off the field/court behavior, abusing reporters (who are just doing their jobs), and taking steroids (and lying about it to a the Senate)??? What do you call a group of guys that includes reputed murders and rapists, not to mention all the crimes they commit that dont get national attention???I think animals, criminals, drug addicts, and ner-do-wells is just about spot on...but then again...maybe that's just because I'm not as enlightened as you...[xx(]


George Bush is playing football now?

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## manicturncoat (Oct 4, 2004)

I am understanding less and less this archaic notion of the scholar athlete. Maybe it did have meaning when sports was still purely a amateur pursuit but in big time college athletics it seems ridiculous. Young men from very poor and difficult backgrounds are recruited to play for a college and are then expected to get decent grades and also display perfect ethics in regards to their amateur status all this while excelling at sports. They bring glory and money to their school and make their head coach rich and famous, in the meantime if they accept some gift from an alumni or suffer an injury and they could lose whatever professional future they have. The lucky few make it to the professional level, others with professional potential have either been injured or excluded for some ethical lapse. Most have little chance of going pro yet the demands of the program are just as intense for them as for the prodigies, they to receive a pro forma education, find themselves college graduates, having trained and worked their whole lives as athletes yet they have not received one penny in compensation.
Look at soccer in Europe, when a kid is designated as a prodigy or talent he immediately focuses on that, they join a club farm system at a very young age(14-16 yrs), they are not pretending to go to college and getting tutored through some farcical education they begin their professional career. Most soccer players in Europe don't have even have high school educations. Having followed both soccer and American sports, where they are college educated, I really see no difference in how articulate they are. In European soccer it is far from perfect but at least there are no illusions about what it is all about.
I think instead of creating a well rounded scholar athlete what is often created are bunch of cynical mercenaries who see right through the hypocrisy of the system and can focus only on the eventual payday. I think the NBA is a vivid example of this. I am a lifelong Knick's fan but now live in Europe and have difficulty following the game, when I visit the states and watch some basketball it just gets worse and worse every time. The taunting, showboating, flashy and useless play and the total lack of teamwork have become a hallmark of the NBA. This was proven wholeheartedly by the US elimination from the Olympics in Athens where the NBA stars were beaten repeatedly by well organized and hardworking teams with one hundredth the talent of the US team.


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## Nantucket Red (Jan 26, 2006)

I never watch the Superbowl. During college, I was ritually invited to a friend's Superbowl party, which was just a good excuse for him to throw a party and just a good way for me to increase my exposure to the opposite sex. A Swiss friend of mine asked me to explain the game to her and I couldn't because I knew as little as she.

During one of these parties, I actually excused myself to go home and study Classical Japanese. When something that arcane is more interesting than watching a bunch of big mooks slam into one another on a clump of sod . . .

-------------------------------------------------
God gave us women; the Devil gave them corsets.
- French proverb


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

If everyone was armed, there would no longer be murderers and rapists playing football.

*************
RJman. Accept no imitations.


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## bosthist (Apr 4, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by RJman_
> 
> If everyone was armed, there would no longer be murderers and rapists playing football.
> 
> ...


If everyone were armed, how would we tell the murderers from the self-defenders? Luck of the draw I guess.


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