WOMEN AND SPORTS
A Cranky Opinion
For
CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY
The following is the opinion of a
cranky old man. Opposing opinions are
welcome…I will ignore them, but they are welcome, and please, no name calling,
and that means you…you big stupid head!
I haven’t
been too badly beaten up lately, so it’s time to throw in a rant against
women.
First let me
make the necessary politically correct acknowledgement that this rant has many
stereotype comments, all women do not fit my complaint, and blah, blah
blah. Why I even have to say that on a
rant that is obviously partially tongue in cheek I don’t know, but in this day
and age it seems necessary. To all the
lady sports fans out there I apologize and you really do not need to defend
yourself…I get it.
Now on with
the rant.
I understand
most women do not like sports. They do
not get into sports with the same vigor and fanaticism as men do. They may not understand sports, they may get
bored watching sports, and they just do not care about sports. That is fair, I’ll give you that; you don’t
really care about sports.
Fine, but
what I don’t get is when women actually get angry about sports. Some women actually get pissed off at sports.
“Oh do we
really have to watch that stupid National Basketball Championship Game? It is so stupid. Dribble shoot, foul shoot, the end takes
forever and who really cares, it is just a stupid game.”
“I hate
football what is the big deal? Up the
field, down the field, it is just dumb.”
“Baseball! God it is so boring!”
“Golf…half
of them don’t even look athletic.”
“Soccer…wait
what team is that? I love those uniforms
and they all have such cute butts!”
OK, one
sport women can get into.
You know
what is dumb? Shopping is dumb! Buying shoes is stupid. Jewelry is expensive and ridiculous…who
cares? A diamond bracelet…how stupid is
that? You won’t hear me say that out loud.
I may think it, but I understand these things make some women happy. I don’t like them, they don’t make me happy,
but they don’t make me angry. Shopping
does not piss me off.
Soap operas
like “Revenge” and the incredibly stupid “Once upon a time” I don’t watch, but
I don’t bitch and moan all the way through about how stupid and annoying they
are…ok, a little bit I do. Bad example.
Figure
skating, dancing, ballet, opera; I don’t like any of them, but I can understand
why some people like them and so I don’t hate them, they don’t make me angry,
and I don’t have to put them down to the detriment of your viewing pleasure.
It is easy
to hate and put down that which you do not understand or enjoy.
Golf is just
hitting a stupid ball into a hole / Yeah, and opera is a fat lady singing a
stupid story in a foreign language.
Baseball is
just hitting and catching a dumb ball / Well then dancing is just spinning and
kicking to music.
Football, so
much hitting and violence / Shopping is so boring and expensive and wasteful.
My point is
ladies, men like sports, we like the competition; we appreciate the skill and
the tactics. We get excited…is that so
bad? We love to watch and talk sports…is
that wrong? Look, if you don’t
understand or like sports that is fine, but don’t ruin it for us, don’t try and
figure out why we like them, just be happy we have something that brings us joy
just as you have your things.
I don’t mind
that you don’t like sports. I don’t mind
that you don’t understand sports. I do
mind when you put down my enjoyment just because it is not your thing. It is something in our DNA, we are different,
and it is our thing. You have your
things, sports is ours.
Don’t like
sports, Don’t watch. Hate sports? Please
don’t tell us.
And for God
sake, at the very least, sports should not piss you off.
The preceding was the opinion of a
cranky old man, and definitely not that of management…Mrs. Cranky (who does allow me my sports.)
I pretty much agree, Cranky. But I must admit, based on the comments you say ladies make about the various sports, I must have a feminine side to me, too. I don't have much use for any of those sports you mentioned except football. And I LOVE football.
ReplyDeleteFortunately for me my spousal unit just goes to the other room when she gets bored with a game (usually about 3 minutes into the first quarter) and leaves me alone. And actually, it was she who first brought rugby to my attention, which is like football without pads or helmets.
S
I went wrong somewhere as a mother.....both of my daughters love sports and are as avid as any man in watching and keeping up with their favorite teams.
ReplyDeleteI'm okay with sports in small doses. But usually I use football as a good reason to get out of town. I never give the men in the family grief.
ReplyDeleteI don't like soap operas or diamonds. I'm weird.
i don't get into sports (although i did love to watch the softball leagues in my home town). i don't like shopping either, though. would rather just be home! :)
ReplyDeletemy sis-in-law is a sports FANATIC! she gets SO loud and screams and yells at the tv more than any man i've ever met.
I find so little to work up to pissed off about. Except one big stupid head I must deal with at work.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, you know the rules, no name calling but as long as the big stupid head isn't me I wish you would blog about him...it is very therapeutic you know.
DeleteHahahahahahaha! So, so true. I've heard it and thought the same things but I'm a sports luvin' woman, I'm also a jewelry luvin' woman but I'll pass on the soap operas thanks anyway. Yeah. I don't know why so many women get so angry at/about sports maybe it's because they feel if their guy is glued to the set they should be too, trying to show interest in his interests n' all that. I've never been that woman so I wouldn't know. If my guy has an interest that doesn't interest me in the least I send him on his way with a kiss and a smile to enjoy whatever it is that makes him happy. On the flip side of that coin is of course those guys who get angry that their woman shows no interest in *their* interests.. So, whatta' ya' gonna' do? I say, GO SHOPPING! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm not into sports either. Hubby isn't into sports. He has his interests and I have mine. They are different and we each respect the others desire to do whatever it is that we do without any negative commentary. It works for us.
ReplyDeleteI love Revenge by the way. Hubby tapes it for me each week and I watch it alone at my convenience. He's off doing whatever he enjoys doing. We leaned many years ago to respect each others activities.
Have a fabulous day. :)
I think for most women who hate sports, they probably do so feeling that sports is taking away attention from them. They've not experienced sports in their youth maybe, or they don't understand the flow of adrenaline when a team makes a great play when they surely thought they didn't stand a chance to win at all. These are great feelings of joy that sports fans experience.
ReplyDeleteAny woman who would mock the very things that make her man happy doesn't deserve to be in a relationship. The whole idea behind being in a mature relationship is to experience each other's happiness, not expect the other to be miserable in order that you tie up their time with your insecurities and feelings of unworthiness. Women should get out and find some happiness during the game and quit ruining the man's life! At least the sport isn't another woman. LOL
/end rant
Best answer ever!
DeleteI don't understand why women watch shows on the Food Network when they know they'll never cook that stuff. My wife loves to watch "Chopped," where the contestants cook things from randomly selected ingredients. My Mrs. C. will sit mesmerized watching people concoct dishes from tuna, a Snickers bar and tofu. I don't want to see this shit, much less think about eating it. As always this was an amusing post.
ReplyDeleteIf you're with someone who actually gets ANGRY at whatever you're watching, sports wise, it might be time to move on. Tolerance is the key.
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh! I'm one of those women who don't like sports. I blame my ex-husband...he used to scream and yell and throw things during football games when they didn't go his way. So I totally got turned off to any kind of sports on TV. When my second husband and I started dating, he asked me out to one of our first dates by starting, "...next Sunday is the Superbowl..." (my heart started to sink) and continued, "...the malls will be dead. Would you like to go to a mall then?"
ReplyDeleteTo this day I say that this was the moment I knew we were meant for each other.
Not that we are big shoppers...we're more browsers. Back then, malls still had bookstores, that's what we liked.
Hey can you keep it down? the game's on ....
ReplyDeleteYou've made your case all around. Great read!
ReplyDeleteI must be an anomaly; I like most sports and I don't like to shop :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Only football used to interest me. Nowadays...not so much. Not a fan of shopping, or jewelry, or soap operas. But I LOVE to watch Chopped.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. Fair enough.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I don't have to yell and complain about sports because my husband isn't into them either.
As a woman who loves sports and hates shopping, all I can say here is Amen brother! haha.
ReplyDeleteI don't like sports at all, but I never complained or tried to stop my husband watching any of the games he chose. I read a book while he jumped up and down, yelled at umpires etc, sometimes I even sat in the same room, but that was rare. Eventually we got a newer, bigger TV and the old one went into the family room, so I could watch something else while he saw the footy on a bigger screen. Mostly, I still just read a book. Funny thing? One of his best mates didn't understand how I could do that. "How can you just sit there and look at a book?" He simply couldn't understand that a book can be just as interactive as watching sports. I don't like shopping either. Grocery shopping is okay.
ReplyDeleteWho me? I NEVER complain when my husband watches the Stupid Bowl!
ReplyDeleteWhile I am neither a great fan of sport or shopping, I have to say that I agree with your post, at least in theory. There is no need to bash what someone else finds enjoyable, as long as no one/no critter is being harmed in the course of such entertainment.
ReplyDeleteMy only gripe with sports is the amount of weekend time they can consume, time that could have been shared and spent enjoying each other's company. If you both enjoy sports... awesome. If you both enjoy shopping... awesome. If not, do something on your own while the other one enjoys their thing, but also set some reasonable timeframes and spend some quality time together too!
My boyfriend doesn't like sports either so we work out perfectly. I do like gymnastics and figure skating though but no one really wants to talk about those ha ha. I think couples need to learn it's ok to do things apart. I'm not going to drag my boyfriend shopping.
ReplyDeleteI am a woman, but I also agree....I am a psychotic basketball fan by birth...I have inherited it, I only watch football so that my son can have someone act excited, and that's what I do, act :) Men and women are two entirely different creatures and that's why I love men, if they acted like I did, then I would run for the hills!!!
ReplyDeleteMostly agree, though I do know men who will put down what their girlfriends/wives are watching on TV. As a way to decompress after work, I would find the most insipid reality show on TV and watch that (as a way to "turn off" my brain, so to speak). My boyfriend at the time would walk in and say, "How can you watch that crap? This show is so stupid." Okay buddy, and in the meantime, you're interrupting me while I'm trying to relax in my own way. He would also make fun of my love for IndyCar.
ReplyDeleteBrought to you by a female sports fan who's no longer dating that man.