Why I Don't Follow Sports

When I was a kid I played everything from soccer and football to tennis and basketball. If it was a sport I did it.  However, as I got older I didn't get involved in sports in a bigger way. I didn't have a favorite baseball team. I didn't follow who might be the first draft picks for the NFL. It just didn't connect with me. Today I don't follow sports, and I don't even have any favorite teams.

Why?

First off, I don't have any philosophical issue with being a fan. That's not why I eschew the March Madness brackets. I thought I might, but as I am thinking about it I see no legitimate universal truth that would argue against the value in sport mania (within reason). The reason for this post is for introspection and not explaining why everyone else who is a sports fan is some kind of heinous and immoral scumbag.

My dad is a baseball geek. Specifically a Mets fan. However, growing up we lived in an area that didn't have any top level sports teams. What teams were around and popular my dad specifically rooted against. To some extent I guess I got a bit of an anti-establishment streak from him that made focusing on a single team harder. It also meant that there was no passing of the fan baton from my father to me. I got his disparaging view of whatever everyone else's favorite was (hence I'm a Yankees fan or at least claim to be), but not the lineage of love for a particular club.

Possibly related to that, but different is I have pretty much always viewed the time and money spent on being a fan of a sport a bit of a waste. Knowing a lot about college football doesn't contribute to getting better grades or performing well at work. Knick knacks and memorabilia for a team you simply like is excessive and a waste of space and money (for me). It just seems frivolous.

I have never had a TV or cable. So watching sports on TV has never been easy. The internet makes it easier, but why spend money on something I don't care about? The bar to access games is low but it is still too high.

I HATE commercials. The 5 second skippable commercials on youtube annoy me, and the fifteen minute commercial breaks during football games drive me nuts.

And so I don't follow sports. It's not worth the time, money, or effort to be in the know.