Sport and everyday life

[Kev]

Hi Guys,

My name is Kev, I am a lecturer and academic researcher from the University of Teesside, England - this is my first post on your unique forum. My main area of study is â??Soccer Fandomâ?? and the effect that it has on peoples everyday lives. So far, I have been concentrating on the fans themselves, but some interesting findings have changed my focus. Although stories of fandom are important for social commentary, it is imperative to remember that many people do not like sports (as this website clearly states), but rather have sports imposed upon them. Such stories are worthy of academic attention, but are often ignored.

At the moment I am attempting to construct an online questionnaire to give a voice to those people who do not like sport and for instance - dread the beginning of the new football season for a multitude of reasons. For this I require your help in terms of sharing experiences on this thread. Any information / experiences that you may offer will be much appreciated. Once the survey is complete, I will of course post it on this site for you to contribute to and I will share any results with you.

General topics for further comment:

How does sport interfere with your everyday lives?
Does it affect your relationships with a partner, family, friends or work colleagues?
Would your partner rather spend money on â??the sportâ?? than you?
Does a lack of knowledge about sports exclude you from everyday conversations? Do you ever feel the need to feign interest in it?
What do you dislike about sports fans?
What does the start of a new sport season signify for you?
Why do you think sport is important to some people?
What do you think about the commercial element of sport? Waste of money?
Match day traffic and other disturbances to your everyday life patterns.
The infiltration of sport on TV.

I know that the areas detailed above are vast and diverse but any help would be much appreciated. Also - please draw my attention to any areas that you think are worthy of attention.

Many thanks - Kev.

[stopr]

Hi Kev,

I'm writing from Sydney Australia.

I have just joined this amusing forum, having come home from work (Fri afternoon) quite underwhelmed by my colleagues rather vacuous emotional rants about the weekends sport offerings. You know the sort of thing....

It struck me that NONE of the enthusiasts (about 20) actually play any of their sports and they are all devoted to teams with funny appellations such as dogs, sharks, roosters and eels (can you believe it?). Their vicarious participation is extremely important to each of them (in their subjective sense).

It seemed to me that part of your enquiry could profitably focus on this passive "involvement" in team sport and in particular to teams that they "follow". It really does raise passions in so many people and when they combine in large numbers; I guess you see the results clearly when so called English football fans make a mess!!

Another line of enquiry could relate to the willingness of "fans" to forgive and forget the vilest off field activities of their heroes. Here we have seen some group rapes perpetrated by drunken players, which have been mishandled by the police, where the women have been blamed in many quarters, followed by lame "apologies" for indiscretions by the boys who claim simply that things got out of hand after a few too many drinks.

The point is that the "fans", male and female readily "get over" the issue and "move on" after the PR guys have manipulated the issue into oblivion. How is it that otherwise normal members of our society can overcome the normal outrage that would attend this type of crime when it occurs within the environment of the game.

Just a couple of thoughts. Best of luck with your work.