"Faking Sportsgasms" guy and his webpage

[ChrisOH]

On one of the forum posts on this site, the "Faking Sportsgasms" site was brought up. I checked out that site, and the guy apparently hasn't posted since last spring (maybe he became a sports fan or he just decided to quit faking it! LOL), but the gist was, that in order to fit in at work or in social situations, you have to know sports, and since he wasn't personally interested in them, he had his wife and young son feed him "tidbits" of sports info he could use to make small talk with his colleagues.

I don't think I really like that approach. First of all, it's being dishonest to who you are, and keeping up a lie for any length of time is going to be stressful (not to mention you'll lose any respect you gained if you're ever "found out".) Secondly, I believe people with interests other than sports would be frowned upon if they bored others to death with the minutiae of their hobby, or constantly worked it into every conversation. So why should sports fans be given a free pass in this area? Why should the non-fan have to appease the fan, when it doesn't work the other way around?

If anything, I think that non-fans should strive to show that there *are* other legitimate and interesting topics of conversations besides sports. When confronted with a "whaddya think of that game last night?" comment, why not just honestly (and with your head held high) say, "Actually, I don't think anything of it, because I'm not interested in sports"? It doesn't have to mean-spirited or confrontational -- just stating the truth. If the sports fan can't handle your lack of interest, that's their problem to deal with, not yours.

Just some of my $.02.

[i_like_1981]

On one of the forum posts on this site, the "Faking Sportsgasms" site was brought up. I checked out that site, and the guy apparently hasn't posted since last spring (maybe he became a sports fan or he just decided to quit faking it! LOL), but the gist was, that in order to fit in at work or in social situations, you have to know sports, and since he wasn't personally interested in them, he had his wife and young son feed him "tidbits" of sports info he could use to make small talk with his colleagues.

Maybe the guy has just moved on. Heck, I don't expect I'll be on this website forever. My average post count per day has been on a steady decline for a while now. But anyways, it's a fact that I'm very much clear with - if you're not into sports, you're going to feel pretty out of place in a social environment such as my office, or a pub. I was never that big on going to the pub for a pint on a Friday night because there will be dozens of important football games on over the weekend and you can expect the chatter to be rather dominated by that. Football ("soccer" to you Americans) is dominant over here, and it is often expected of you to support a team, regardless of what league they're in. If you can't care less for football, then you're out of luck when you're trying to make friends down the pub as sports often do come into the discussion and quite often blokes base their masculinity on interest in sports. Apparently nowadays you don't even have to play a sport or do physical activity to be a "real man". Sitting in front of a screen watching football on a Saturday afternoon whilst scarfing down peanuts and beer counts as well. True, you know!

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[natmanhan]

I gave up on trying to become interested in sports to be "more well-rounded" and make more friends. It probably wasn't coincidence that I attempted it while having a psychotic episode. It's a mania symptom to think you can do anything.

Lucky for me, in my chosen major sports nuts are rare. There are sports fans everywhere, but generally in computer science there are less sports fans than average and most only have a casual interest in sports. Lots are interested in gaming too, which fits since computer programmers create video games and the operating systems they run on (Ex: Windows, Mac OS, Linux. Note: Not just PCs/Macs have them. All advanced computing machines like modern game consoles, smartphones, touchscreen MP3 players, etc. have them).

[recovering_fan]

...in order to fit in at work or in social situations, you have to know sports, and since he wasn't personally interested in them, he had his wife and young son feed him "tidbits" of sports info he could use to make small talk with his colleagues.

I don't think I really like that approach. First of all, it's being dishonest to who you are, and keeping up a lie for any length of time is going to be stressful (not to mention you'll lose any respect you gained if you're ever "found out".)

Yeah, they'd find that guy out pretty quick, too. That's like memorising a book of French phrases and then going to France and pretending to be French. I don't imagine getting second-hand knowledge from a wife and young son would allow one to compete in arguments about sports with a group of people who eat, sleep and breathe that particular sport.

When confronted with a "whaddya think of that game last night?" comment, why not just honestly (and with your head held high) say, "Actually, I don't think anything of it, because I'm not interested in sports"?

I prefer to sheepishly make excuses that I was doing something else that night, but chaque a son goute.

[ChrisOH]

I prefer to sheepishly make excuses that I was doing something else that night, but chaque a son goute.

I've found that in situations where you don't want to become involved in a discussion about something, and it's with someone you see regularly (co-worker, relative, friend, etc.) it helps to come up with an excuse that explains your lack of interest, but also deflects further questioning.

So in this case, it may be something like, "You know, I've just got so much going in my life right now (possibly insert examples, like family, hobbies, relationship, work projects, etc.) that I just don't have time to follow sports. So, sorry, but I'm not much of a person to talk to about that." It's not a lie, either, because when you're not watching sports, you *do* tend to have other things going on in your life!

This is polite, but also implies that you won't be "talking sports" now or in the future.

[i_like_1981]

I gave up on trying to become interested in sports to be "more well-rounded" and make more friends. It probably wasn't coincidence that I attempted it while having a psychotic episode. It's a mania symptom to think you can do anything.

So you were more motivated to become interested in sports out of hope of gaining friends and gaining more respect from your peers? I never went there, but I can understand why some people would. Sometimes something as minor as not being interested in sports can result in real social rejection and exclusion and it definitely isn't something enjoyable to be the odd one out on a regular basis. The only reason I never attempted to like sports was because I had absolutely no respect for the sports bullies in my school year whose abusive and arrogant attitudes were more than likely partially the result of competitive sports. I could never get into something that succeeds in breeding so much hate and brutality in certain people. The sports fans of my life have, mostly, not been an admirable bunch. Not people who I'd consider good potential long-term friends.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[recovering_fan]

...it may be something like, "You know, I've just got so much going in my life right now (possibly insert examples, like family, hobbies, relationship, work projects, etc.) that I just don't have time to follow sports. So, sorry, but I'm not much of a person to talk to about that." It's not a lie, either, because when you're not watching sports, you *do* tend to have other things going on in your life!

That's what I do, Chris. And it is not a lie. Unfortunately, I really am a workaholic.

[chaserunner]

I tried to check out that blog and its no longer active. Maybe those crazy sports fans got to him. However, I did find a twitter account by a group called The Sportsgasms. They call themselves "the macho men of sports song parodies." Apparently, they're like the Village People for sports. I can't tell if these guys are for real or if they're poking fun at sports. Either way, they're a crack up. Check out their tweets at http://twitter.com/#!/thesportsgasms

[Earl]

I'm shocked. We've got a new member who isn't a spammer. Welcome to the forum, chaserunner.

Unfortunately, I've got to step away from the family PC; and I'll be away for a while. Talk to you later, perhaps.

Thanks for the link.

[Agent 47]

Hi chaserunner, and yes, thanks for that link - questionable anti-sports humor is welcome here!

[chaserunner]

Hi all, thanks for the warm welcomes. It's a far cry from what I get in the office when I tell people I don't care for sports.

[Earl]

You should check out the angry reactions to this website from sports fans who have made their displeasure known. (Well, actually, in this particular context, "displeasure" is a mild term, compared to their invective.) You'll find such messages in the Guestbook and in the "Letters" columns for each year since this website made its debut online. (The angry messages in the "Letters" columns are easy to spot; they appear in blue print.) Of course, you can see quite a bit in the forum here, where intolerant sports fans have their usernames rendered in pink. I should point out there have been a few sports fan members of this forum who actually were tolerant and only wanted to debate or present their own point of view without being abusive. The most recent members in this category have been (chronologically speaking) Polite24, SportsGuy92, and Andy. I actually had respect for them. If you want to check out really abusive posts (well, maybe you wouldn't ), look up Samdaman (who was banned in 2007). He's truly a classic. What's funny about him is that he actually helped this website by conforming to the worst possible stereotype of a high-school football player. Well, actually, maybe you wouldn't have the stomach to read any of his posts. Anyway, I have noticed how hateful some sports fans can be. The way they react, you'd think they were quite insecure. You would expect a secure person to react by saying, "So they don't like sports. Oh, well, to each his own." As a matter of fact, a close friend of mine who played football in high school has no problem with a website for people who don't like sports. He's mature and perceptive enough to realize that different people have different preferences. Hey, I'm a big fan of the original Twilight Zone series; but if I heard that someone had set up a website that was bashing Rod Serling and spreading lies about him, I wouldn't even be motivated enough to visit the website to check it out. I wouldn't even care the website was around. What's with these sports fans, anyway?