Sports are Good for You (In More Ways Than One)

[Fat Man]

Well, this entire topic started by NonsensicalSportsman has been totally moronic, especially the part saying that getting hit with a hockey stick is good for you because when you wind up in the hospital from a skull fracture, they might discover something more serious like a cancerous brain tumor which gets surgically removed thus saving your life, thanks to getting hit on the head with a hockey stick.

Well, I'm posting a message right now to all jocks and sports fans who might be reading this.

ATTENTION - ALL MORONIC JOCKS AND SPORTS FANS!

IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, I'M DUE FOR MY ANNUAL PHYSICAL CHECK UP BY MY DOCTOR. I WILL BE REQUESTING THAT THEY DO EITHER SOME MRI OR CAT SCANS TO CHECK FOR TUMORS ANYWHERE AND IF ANY TUMORS ARE FOUND, THEY WILL BE SURGICALLY REMOVED TO SAVE MY LIFE.

THEREFORE, I DO NOT NEED TO BE CLOBBERED OVER THE HEAD WITH A HOCKEY STICK TO BE SENT TO THE HOSPITAL, BECAUSE I'M GOING FOR MY ANNUAL PHYSICAL CHECKUP ANYWAY. OK?

SO, IF ANY OF YOU MORONIC SCUM-BAGS GET THE IDEA IN YOUR SHIT-FOR-BRAINS THAT I NEED TO GET HIT OVER THE HEAD WITH A HOCKEY STICK FIRST, WELL . . . . . I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL RED CHERRY WOOD CANE WITH A HARD IVORY HANDLE THAT I WILL SWING REALLY HARD ACROSS YOUR TEETH TO SEND YOU TO A DENTIST!

THEN THEY MIGHT DISCOVER YOU HAVE THROAT CANCER FROM USING CHEWING TOBACCO LIKE A TYPICAL REDNECK SCUM-BAG, AND THEN YOU'LL RECEIVE TREATMENT EARLY ENOUGH TO SAVE YOUR MISERABLE LITTLE LIFE SO YOU CAN CONTINUE SITTING IN YOUR SINGLE-AXLE TRAILER HOME WATCHING FOOTBALL ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS ON YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV SET WITH RABBIT-EAR ANTENNAS AND GUZZLE CHEAP BUCKHORN BEER!

THEN EVENTUALLY YOU WILL NEED TO BE WHACKED IN THE BALLS WITH A BASEBALL BAT TO SEND YOU TO THE HOSPITAL AGAIN WHERE THEY'LL DISCOVER YOU HAVE TESTICULAR CANCER FROM FUCKING BARNYARD ANIMALS, AND THEY'LL CUT OFF YOUR NUTS, THUS SAVING YOUR ROTTEN MISERABLE LIFE AGAIN!

THEN YOU CAN GO BACK TO YOUR SINGLE-AXLE TRAILER HOME TO WATCH MORE SPORTS BUT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO FUCK AROUND AND RAPE ANYONE ANYMORE.


Oh, by the way, if you can't read this, since most sports fans and jocks can't read beyond the second grade level, then have somebody else read it out loud to you so that you will understand. OK?

Also, since moronic jocks and sport fans advocate the use of violence on people to give them the incentive to go to the hospital for checkups, then . . . . .

. . . . . how do you circumcise a typical redneck trailer-trash sports fan?

KICK HIS SISTER IN THE JAW!

[i_like_1981]

WHOA! What the hell's going on here? Last night when I was last on this board all seemed pretty calm and reasonable. SensibleSportsman had given us a slightly longer post and I thought some debate may have been on the way. It all seemed quite stable on here.

Now I come back to the website and see that none of the forums seem to be there! I get that horrible feeling that somebody has hacked the site and deleted all the posts, thus rendering all the hours I spent typing up my mini-essays on here officially wasted and pointless! I instantly get the feeling it is something to do with this thread.

So I try and log back in to see all the forums are still there, just not viewable by non-registered users. Well, that's a relief. A lot of forums employ this tactic of either having some or all of their forum subsections invisible to non-registered users and only viewable when registered. That Ashes to Ashes forum that gave me the cold shoulder had a fair amount of its forums only viewable to registered users. I see why people do it - you never know who may be lurking in your forum, reading all your information without making themselves known!

I go back to this thread and read through the posts made since my last visit. I see that SensibleSportsman has been given the rank of SPAMMER and most likely banned as well. To be quite frank, I never liked him. He never had much to say in his posts and never tried to explain his real thoughts on this website to us. I always had the feeling he was a spammer. He had little of any use to say and has tried to refute our website's ideology with... a satirical Cracked article? What an absolute joke.

But the thing that surprised me the most was how we had certain posts on this thread by a user called ILOVESPORTS!. I remember him. He signed up all the way back in early May and quickly became the subject of a thread encouraging people to place their bets on whether he would quickly earn a bad reputation or not! As expected, he did put down some nasty posts (which I never saw) and they were quickly deleted and he was banned. But how on earth has he managed to get back on here a month and a half later under the same username? I am very shocked. I see his profile has been deleted now, though. But give it another month and a half... he'll probably be back!

Anyways, I just had to insert my thoughts into this thread. Yes, it has all been pretty stupid and pointless. I never had much respect for SensibleSportsman anyways. At least SmartSportsPerson, though he insulted me, tried to make some points for us to take into consideration. This guy has been about as useless as James. I'm glad he's banned. He obviously only used that username to deceive the board admins into thinking he was a legitimate critic of this website. Obviously not. Just another troll. So, that's 10 users on this site now with the rank of SPAMMER.

Will the forum be unreadable by non-registered users permanently, or is this only temporary? I suppose now no guests from 4chan can come and read our messages or quote us on here, we can start exchanging more personal information now. Let me start by giving you my bank details... no, just joking. But the added degree of privacy should be a help to our discussions, even if it isn't going to be permanent.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Fat Man]

Perhaps it will be a good thing if unregistered guests can no longer see all the forum topics anymore.

Then they won't be able to report back to their zoo-tramp Romper Room butt-buddies back at 4chan what they have seen posted here.

[i_like_1981]

Hmmm... the forum seems to be open to all again. Back to normal. I did get a bit of a shock when I saw a completely blank index page to this forum. All the hours spent typing up my posts... all for nothing! And I suppose several other members would have felt the same feeling just as bad. Let's just hope we don't come across any usurpers of authority... as for the SPAMMERs, they won't last. They never do. They just can't resist showing their true colours. Especially Nonsensical/sp/ortsman here!

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Agent 47]

how do you circumcise a typical redneck trailer-trash sports fan?
KICK HIS SISTER IN THE JAW!

Ha ha ha!

Q: In a typical family of sports fans, how do you tell if the daughter is a virgin?
A: It depends on if she can run faster than her brothers!

[Brigan]

Greetings everyone, I went trough the trouble of registering on this Website to just ummm...

WELL . . . . . I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL RED CHERRY WOOD CANE WITH A HARD IVORY HANDLE THAT I WILL SWING REALLY HARD ACROSS YOUR TEETH TO SEND YOU TO A DENTIST!

THEN EVENTUALLY YOU WILL NEED TO BE WHACKED IN THE BALLS WITH A BASEBALL BAT TO SEND YOU TO THE HOSPITAL AGAIN WHERE THEY'LL DISCOVER YOU HAVE TESTICULAR CANCER FROM FUCKING BARNYARD ANIMALS, AND THEY'LL CUT OFF YOUR NUTS, THUS SAVING YOUR ROTTEN MISERABLE LIFE AGAIN!

then you say stuff like...

Also, since moronic jocks and sport fans advocate the use of violence on people to give them the incentive to go to the hospital for checkups, then . . . . .

are you sure you're not being an Advocate of Violence too?

Dude... I think Earl made it Obvious to you.. stop with the Hateful posts. I can be annoyed with a lot of Stuffs from daily problems but I do not let my anger loose towards people I don't even know.

Also on this Website Logo you can read "Not Everyone is a Brain-dead Sports Fan!"

I see it two ways...

1) Not everyone is a Sports Fan ... or
2) not every Sportfan is a Brain-dead one

That's it.. though someone should remind you of your Behaviour, You're a grown man... You should know better and behave better.

[Fat Man]

Greetings everyone, I went trough the trouble of registering on this Website to just ummm...

WELL . . . . . I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL RED CHERRY WOOD CANE WITH A HARD IVORY HANDLE THAT I WILL SWING REALLY HARD ACROSS YOUR TEETH TO SEND YOU TO A DENTIST!

THEN EVENTUALLY YOU WILL NEED TO BE WHACKED IN THE BALLS WITH A BASEBALL BAT TO SEND YOU TO THE HOSPITAL AGAIN WHERE THEY'LL DISCOVER YOU HAVE TESTICULAR CANCER FROM FUCKING BARNYARD ANIMALS, AND THEY'LL CUT OFF YOUR NUTS, THUS SAVING YOUR ROTTEN MISERABLE LIFE AGAIN!

then you say stuff like...

Also, since moronic jocks and sport fans advocate the use of violence on people to give them the incentive to go to the hospital for checkups, then . . . . .

are you sure you're not being an Advocate of Violence too?

Dude... I think Earl made it Obvious to you.. stop with the Hateful posts. I can be annoyed with a lot of Stuffs from daily problems but I do not let my anger loose towards people I don't even know.

Also on this Website Logo you can read "Not Everyone is a Brain-dead Sports Fan!"

I see it two ways...

1) Not everyone is a Sports Fan ... or
2) not every Sportfan is a Brain-dead one

That's it.. though someone should remind you of your Behaviour, You're a grown man... You should know better and behave better.

Excuse me Brigan but what I had posted was only meant to be a satirical response to NonsensicalSportsman's opening topic.

For example:

Hockey Ref Attacked By Player, Life Saved as Result

Hockey is one of the few sports where outright violence is not only tolerated, but expected. How else are they going to make a game that last for hours and often ends with a 1-0 score seem interesting? Maybe take some notes, baseball. There are those who would argue that hockey thus teaches impressionable youths that violence is the only way to get ahead in life. We have two problems with that argument. First, shut up, pussy. Second, just as it is in the real world, in hockey, sometimes violence leads to good things. Such was the case for amateur hockey referee Dale Neudorf.

Yes, not even the refs are safe in hockey, and during a game Neudorf was checked hard across the face, and slammed into a wall. It was bad enough he had to be carried off and taken to a hospital. There Doctors did an MRI scan of his head to check for bleeding. The scan showed a tumor growing in the middle of his brain. Had Neudorf not been refereeing for a less violent sport and not brutally smashed in the head, his tumor may have grown unchecked for much longer and made treatment much more difficult. You win this time, socialized medicine!

This suggests that sports violence is good for us because if we end up in a hospital, then doctors might discover something else that is more serious, thus saving lives.

So now, moronic jocks and sports fans might get the idea in their heads like, hey! Lets go around beating up on people and putting them in hospitals, then they will find something else more seriously wrong and provide treatment for it to save their lives.

YEAH RIGHT! So now these morons will go around thinking that they'll be providing a public service by beating up on people and putting them in hospitals.

I was merely trying to point out how ridiculous the whole idea is.

If you can't understand that, then you're also a moron!

[Brigan]

If you can't understand that, then you're also a moron!

Learn to behave. I have not used an insult towards you, thus proving my point that you should see your behaviour and change it.

I think I'm not the only one that is aware of this.

[i_like_1981]

Hello there Brigan and welcome here. To be honest, I was hoping to see some more activity on here. I get a bit tired of always seeing my name in the "Last Post" section.

Do you mind telling us your opinion on the entire issue of sports? Would you describe yourself as a fan of sports or someone who is indifferent about it but wishes to express their thoughts on some of the more extreme comments on here? Sorry, but when a new member signs up and their first post revolves around criticising Fat Man, I get a bit suspicious. That's what a lot of our trolls have done as soon as they've got on here.

So, give us some information on where exactly your standing is on this debate. I'm interested to hear. I'm hoping you're not a troll but some of them have been most deceptive indeed. If you're not, then welcome. You don't seem that bad to me.

But I was a bit pissed off by SensibleSportsman myself. He obviously used that name to seem like a proper, non-troll critic of the website before opening up with his spam and greentexting, a 4chan trademark. I won't defend him. Trolls don't deserve it. And his linked article was stupid too.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Fat Man]

If you can't understand that, then you're also a moron!

Learn to behave. I have not used an insult towards you, thus proving my point that you should see your behaviour and change it.

I think I'm not the only one that is aware of this.

Hey! When will sports fans and jocks learn to behave?

I don't have to be polite to sports scum.

I was denied a decent education in school because of sports. When I was in grade school, I once got suspended because I failed to climb a stupid rope in the gymnasium. Never mind that I was passing all of my other academic subjects, and never mind that I had a crippled up left knee, the result of a car accident when I was 4 years old. As far as they were concerned, that was no excuse. So I got suspended.

I had another teacher who enjoyed humiliating me in front of the other students in the gymnasium. In high school, I had a science teacher who was also the school's football coach, and he was too damn fucking busy coaching the team to be teaching in science class, so he would set up the movie projector and leave us sitting in the dark watching stupid cartoons.

As a result of the bullying I got from the jocks in school, when I was 17 years old, I had an emotional and mental breakdown and spent three weeks in a psych-ward where patients were often beaten and one night I was raped by an older man.

And then some drooling moron like NonsensicalSportsman starts a topic about how sports are good for us.

Sports was bad for me and ruined my life so . . . . .


Now! BACK OFF!!! JACK OFF!!!

[Brigan]

Consider me as Neutral, To me both sides (not including trolls) have their valid reasons, I've been watching as a guest since I find this debate (overall threads on this forum) quite interesting.

I do watch sports but not Like I become obsessive about it, For instance I only watch the Soccer Tournaments supporting my Country. Sharing with friends the celebration of a Goal is quite joyful. I don't support any kind of Violence on sports, there's some contact, but as long it stays within the rules of the games I'm pretty ok with it.

But. what I cannot agree on It's the attitude I've noticing on Fat Man, yes, you can be suspicious about new members supporting the Sport side, but you can't go out treating them like scourge or implying that you want to massacre (in this case "Fat Man") every sport fan out there. I mean really, Children watch sports too, if you know what I'm getting to.

by behaving like this you're putting yourself in the same level as these Trolls, If not below, since they still have to go to the same point of Extreme hate post you do.

Thanks for the Warm welcome i_like_1981

Edit: when I posted this fatman did aswell.

So in reply to his: You still don't get it Fat Man. I can be a Sportfan or not, i can agree with you or not, but You can't go on insulting people.

You can have any kind of problems, but people can't be victims of your past. You need to put your hatred aside and Talk polite to people you don't know.

I can't even think how you would reply to people on real Life, and I was quite shocked on how you replied to the Popcorn guy at the Sport center It's the exact thing it's happening here. Till now I'm being polite and adressing a problem you have on your behavior, but yet you still go out agressively on me.

Don't you think you have to stop a bit, and think. People that did those bad things to you when you were young. happened to be in the "Sport Culture", you can't establish everyone on the Sports side to be Evil and malefic like those people back then, this is your biggest issue.

If you are to mention the trolls as an example of those "so called Malefic beings". You'll be surprised that most of them are geeks just like you. But have other priorities like make people mad. in this case you.

Hope this post helps in changing the way you treat people.

[Fat Man]

In response to Brigan:

Sorry Jimbo, but I really can't afford to be polite to sports people!

About a couple of months, before you came here as a new member, our forum got raided by a whack-pack of zoo-tramps from 4chan.

And over at Encyclopedia Dramitica, someone had posted my phone number and my residential address. Also, somebody managed to hack into my account and got my debit card number and I was charged for something I didn't order, so I had to call my bank, get a refund, and a new debit card.

Then I received harassing phone calls from sports fans, and I have been charged for subscriptions for sports magazines that I didn't order.

So, sports in the USA has been bringing me to financial ruin.

I can't afford to live in a world where sports exists, but there is nothing I can do about the fact that sports exist, so I do not have to be polite to scum!

I do not have to be polite to people who would charge $3.25 just for a cup of ice water as they do at the Don Haskins Sports Center.

Also, last summer, the Don haskins Sports Center had requested that the bus stop benches in front of their building be removed. It never occurred them that people who are elderly or disabled would like to sit down while waiting for a bus. But then, sports people are not known for being great thinkers.

Eventually, after about 7 weeks of my bitching and griping, they finally put the benches back. That was back in July of last year. But now, recently, the bus stop sign was removed and set up a block away so that people who are elderly or disabled now have to walk an extra block to the new bus stop.

That's because the Don Haskins Sports Center thinks (if think is the right word) that it looks bad having elderly or disabled people sitting on benches in front of their precious SPORTS CENTER!

No, I do NOT have to be polite to sports people!

Also I resent when people come in here as new members, and the first thing they feel they have to do is to jump on my case when they don't know a damn thing about me.

SO, FUCK OFF!!! JIMBO!!!

[Brigan]

Notice I'm being polite to you but yet you tell me to.

FUCK OFF!!! JIMBO!!!

Now. Let's see..

I do not have to be polite to people who would charge $3.25 just for a cup of ice water as they do at the Don Haskins Sports Center.

Not only on Sports center you get charged like that, It depends on the place, location and their own prices, Take as an example a stand selling drinks on a sunny day at the beach. even so... being rude to them only makes your image as a detestable person. Just because you don't agree on their prices allows you to be rude to them, again, you end up being worse than those you extremely hate. not even mentioning How rude you were to the Free sample guy.

And over at Encyclopedia Dramitica, someone had posted my phone number and my residential address. Also, somebody managed to hack into my account and got my debit card number and I was charged for something I didn't order, so I had to call my bank, get a refund, and a new debit card.

using your idea of Sportfans being morons and stuff. Do you really believe such "hacking", "investigation", of your Phone number, Debit card info, Etc. was done by Sportfans?

No. they were done by people of your kind (as you call yourself a Nerd or a Geek), but their agenda has only one goal. making people mad (in this case you) while you keep feeding them with your over reactions, even so I'm not trolling you, you're feeding them by not being calm and being rude towards me.

Again, Stop and Think.

Then I received harassing phone calls from sports fans, and I have been charged for subscriptions for sports magazines that I didn't order.

again, Geeks or nerds have been posing like them because they know that gets you angry, specially making you false subscriptions on Sports Magazines.

Also. you still don't get what I'm trying to make you understand.

You have to get that "everyone involved in sport must die or Are Evil" off your head, why? dude. You're Judging people before you even know em, And I'm kinda doing a good thing criticizing how you behave.

There's a saying on my country (dunno if anywhere else)

The brute one yells, the smart one speaks, but the wise one Listens.

Hopefully someone from this Forum will try to make you understand. Earl seems the best Candidate I can come up with At the moment.

[Fat Man]

In response to Brigan

Using (need to capitalize first word in a sentence) your idea of Sportfans being morons and stuff. Do you really believe such "hacking", "investigation", of your Phone number, Debit card info, Etc. was done by Sportfans?

No. they were done by people of your kind (as you call yourself a Nerd or a Geek), but their agenda has only one goal. making people mad (in this case you) while you keep feeding them with your over reactions, even so I'm not trolling you, you're feeding them by not being calm and being rude towards me.

Yeah, I know sports fans lack the intelligence to hack into somebody's account. Most can't even read beyond the second grade level anyway, so they would have to hire someone who is smart enough. Any nerd or techno-geek who would do such a thing is not a true nerd or geek and is a traitor to nerds and geeks everywhere.

Fat Man wrote:
I do not have to be polite to people who would charge $3.25 just for a cup of ice water as they do at the Don Haskins Sports Center.

Not only on Sports center you get charged like that, It depends on the place, location and their own prices, Take as an example a stand selling drinks on a sunny day at the beach. even so... being rude to them only makes your image as a detestable person. Just because you don't agree on their prices allows you to be rude to them, again, you end up being worse than those you extremely hate. not even mentioning How rude you were to the Free sample guy.

El Paso happens to be located in hot desert climate so to charge someone $3.25 just for a cup of water is both immoral and criminal. It's bad enough charging that much for a 20 ounce soda but to charge that much for a cup of water is absolutely evil. So, I don't have to be polite to scum!

And as for the guy giving out free samples . . . yeah! Free samples of pop corn, three kernels in a cup the size of a shot glass. I was thirsty coming in from the heat. It was about 105 degrees that day, and the last thing I wanted was something salty. I was thirsty damn it!!!

So, sports people like to inflict torture on people!

Call me detestable?

If I had been working there, I would NEVER have charged somebody just for water!

Yeah, they did tell me to use the fountain down the hall. But I was getting around in my power chair, the JAZZY 614 HD which I use because I have arthritis in my knees and ankles and I was unable to drink from the fountain. Most public places have two fountains side by side, one down lower for people who are handicapped, but NOT in a sports center!

So, I had to argue with them for about 10 minutes. I told them I was going to go to a public phone and dial 911 and have them arrested for discrimination because cripples have to pay $3.25 for a cup of water while only people who are not disabled could drink from the fountain. So, after arguing with them, they finally gave me a cup so I could take water from the fountain.

And you call me a detestable person!

You have to get that "everyone involved in sport must die or Are Evil" off your head, why? dude. You're Judging people before you even know em, And I'm kinda doing a good thing criticizing how you behave.

How I behave?

Hey Jimbo! I don't go around raping women or throwing people down flights of stairs or through plate glass windows as some jocks had done to some students in some of our high schools.

What about their behavior? Eh?

As I had mentioned earlier, when I was in school, I had this teacher who really enjoyed humiliating me in the gymnasium in front of the other students. Then one day, our class went to the school library, and while all the other students were allowed to check out any book they wanted, I was not allowed to check out an astronomy book that I wanted. So we got into an argument over it, and he dragged me out into the hallway, and pushed me up against the wall, bashing my head against the concrete block wall. I felt dizzy, almost like being drunk.

For years afterward, during my teen age years, I would get these dizzy spells and headaches. As I got older, the dizzy spells and headaches became less intense and went away when I was in my 20s. Of course, the teacher who assaulted me, the following year he was fired, and after that, he could not get a teaching job anywhere.

So, I'm really sorry Jimbo Bubbah Booey!

But the part of my brain that would enable me to be polite to sports people, that part of my brain has been severely damaged, so now, the only thing I can say to sports people or anybody who defends sports is . . . . .

GO EAT SHIT, CRAWL INTO A SEWER, AND DIE!!!

Now, get off my case, and get off my ass! Butt-banger!!!

[Earl]

The time where I live is now 11:42 p.m. Iâ??ve been rather busy today and have not had time to submit a post to this topic until now. I hate to say this, but I agree with most of what Brigan says. But I certainly donâ??t believe that Fat Man is a despicable person. Heâ??s deeply troubled, but not despicable. I can say this because Iâ??ve gotten to know him personally and consider him to be a friend. Iâ??m not meaning to put him down by saying this; but to use a tired cliché, his bark is worse than his bite.

Fat Man, what youâ??ve got to realize is that employees of the sort you dealt with at the Don Haskins Sports Center do not set the prices of the merchandise purchased at such establishments. All theyâ??re doing is what their employers tell them to do. As Brigan pointed out, Don Haskins is not the only establishment to charge high prices. Just go to any cinema. I understand your frustration concerning water with the people who were running the refreshments stand, but your rude reaction to the popcorn guy was totally unjustified. Again, these working people were just doing what their employers had told them to do. If they had done otherwise, they would have been fired. You should put yourself in the position of these people and think how you would feel if a total stranger was extremely rude and insulting to you. Fat Man, this is actually a form of bullying.

If you met a white person who had been a crime victim at the hands of blacks, wouldnâ??t you tell him that he should not be prejudiced against all blacks? You would say that prejudice is unfair to all the blacks who are decent, law-abiding people. I understand being prejudiced, as I used to have the same problem myself. But as we go through life, we should try to deal with our weaknesses, correct our faults, and overcome our problems so we can become stronger, happier human beings. We call that personal growth.

You cannot hold all athletes, coaches, and sports fans responsible for the terrible abuse that you suffered when you were in school. Those who abused you are personally responsible for what they did to you. They and no one else. Young athletes and sports fans who have been members of this website are not responsible for what happened to you. They had not even come into the world. Yes, today there are â??jocksâ? and coaches who are jerks and even thugs; but others do not bear their guilt. Surely you can see a radical difference between someone like Samdaman and someone else like SportsGuy92 or Andy. You donâ??t have to be in complete agreement with them to realize that theyâ??re good kids.

Regarding your comment that the part of your brain that governs your politeness towards athletes and sports fans has been damaged, I doubt that you have suffered any such brain damage. I say this not to put you down, but just to speak the truth. You just have a bad attitude, which is a common failing of us all. Weâ??ve all had bad attitudes of one kind or another.

When I graduated from high school, I was so sick and tired of the cliquishness of high-school social life that I had become prejudiced against football players. But over the years I was glad to hear about individual players or former players who didnâ??t fit the negative arrogant jock or bully stereotype.

When you judge people as members of a group instead of viewing them as individuals, you run the risk of depriving yourself of friendships. Today my friends include several guys who played football in high school who were never arrogant and never bullied anyone. One of them, who is an elder in my congregation, recently told me that he would never give the time of day to former teammates of his who had bullied other students. And none of them are offended because I happen to not be a sports fan.