Problems With This Website

[greencom]

Intelligent people act can act like idiots too. I'm sure a lot of the students that set fire to cars and trash people's property after a big game are intelligent, but they turn into ignorant primates during and after a sporting event. Sports brings out the child in an adult and turns them into fools. Smart or not they are SHEEPLE indoctrinated from birth to love these STUPID games. What the f__k do people like you see in these idiotic events? Just think of all the great things that could be accomplished if these droids were doing something useful instead of wasting time at these monkey meetings. Making sports look important is like polishing a turd, it can't be done. Sending in those photos just made our forum more credible and justified, not that we have to justify our dislike of sports and the goofy attitudes of the fans. As a fellow forum member said a while ago "I piss on sports", that says it all!
Greencom

[Earl]

To Earl:

First I want to let you know, if you didn't already, that none of my criticisms apply to you. I know that you're not someone who has a problem with sports in general, just the way they can cause some people to behave and how being interested in them is often necessary in order to be accepted by others.

Thanks for letting me know that you weren't objecting to something I said. I appreciate your intelligent response to this website, as opposed to the knee-jerk anger of others who are not willing to listen to different views.

I think you need to hear about what my views on homosexuality are in order to understand where I'm coming from. Because of my religion, I believe that gay sex is a sin. However I don't have anything against people for being attracted to the same sex. If one of my friends ever told me he was gay, he would have my full support just as long as he didn't try to start flirting with me. So while I believe sexual acts between gay people are wrong, I was just trying to speak out against homophobia with my post. Most other Catholics who are not bigots have the same views. For example, last year, when I had began a new theology class at my Catholic high school, I had been assigned a teacher who has the reputation of being a hard core conservative both in politics and religion. Throughout the course, he would make these opinions well-known to us. But on the first day, he gave us a handout that he had written which, among other things, railed against homophobia, especially the way certain popular musicians use it in their songs and make it more culturally acceptable. So, I just see the way some people who might have been accused of being gay in the past for not liking sports and then use the same kind of insults now as hypocritical.

***NOTE***: any commentary about religion is not meant to start a religious debate between anybody here. There are plenty of other websites on the Internet for that purpose.

Your views on homosexuality are identical to mine. We're on the same page. Just because I believe that homosexual acts are sinful doesn't mean that I hate gays. I had a homosexual friend for many years until he died of AIDS in 1991. He never approached me and was actually a very good friend. I knew he had a serious spiritual problem, but he was still a nice guy. I've met other gays. Some were nice; some were jerks. I appreciate the humane attitude you have towards others. Those who hate homosexuals and lesbians need to understand that some kids in their early teens end up with a homosexual predisposition through no fault of their own. I have no idea what causes this. I'm inclined to believe that it might have something to do with the child's relationship with his or her father. Awareness of my own sins and shortcomings keeps me from looking down on a lot of people.

I see your point about the hypocrisy. Our website was once introduced in another website's forum where one of the members reacted against it. This member is a Baby Boomer like me. He was an athlete when he was in high school and years later was a high-school football coach. He's extremely liberal and even favors same-sex marriage (which I oppose). Sometimes he will bait certain other members of the forum who are politically conservative by saying that they have homosexual tendencies. Considering how strongly he supports the Gay Lib line, I find his tacky comments to be quite irritating. Interesting how even some straight supporters of Gay Lib will use "gay" as an insult.

I think there is much more that we happen to agree upon than there is where we would disagree. What I'm about to say might offend some of the supporters of this website; but even though I could argue with you about some point or another, I just don't have the heart to do it.

[Fat Man]

I think you need to hear about what my views on homosexuality are in order to understand where I'm coming from. Because of my religion, I believe that gay sex is a sin. However I don't have anything against people for being attracted to the same sex. If one of my friends ever told me he was gay, he would have my full support just as long as he didn't try to start flirting with me. So while I believe sexual acts between gay people are wrong, I was just trying to speak out against homophobia with my post. Most other Catholics who are not bigots have the same views. For example, last year, when I had began a new theology class at my Catholic high school, I had been assigned a teacher who has the reputation of being a hard core conservative both in politics and religion. Throughout the course, he would make these opinions well-known to us. But on the first day, he gave us a handout that he had written which, among other things, railed against homophobia, especially the way certain popular musicians use it in their songs and make it more culturally acceptable. So, I just see the way some people who might have been accused of being gay in the past for not liking sports and then use the same kind of insults now as hypocritical.

***NOTE***: any commentary about religion is not meant to start a religious debate between anybody here. There are plenty of other websites on the Internet for that purpose.

As many of you here all know, I'm in the process of converting to Judaism. I go to a Reform Synagogue Saturday mornings on Shabbot for Torah Studies and Religious Services.

Reform Jews and Conservative Jews are more tolerant of gays. It's the Orthodox Jews who take a much stronger stance against homosexuality.

There is scientific evidence that shows that people are not gay by choice, that it has to do with how their brains are neurologically wired. Therefore, since people can't help being gay, then the Reform Jews do not see it as being sinful.

For example, I'm left handed. I was born that way. It has to do with how my brain is neurologically wired. There is some differences in our brain structures. We have twice as many nerve fibers between the two hemispheres of the brain and the two hemispheres are not as specialized. With right handed people the speech center is located in one hemisphere of the brain. But in us left handed people we have the speech center in both hemispheres. But it is more dominant in one hemisphere. This is the reason why left handed people can recover their speech much faster after a stroke.

Being left handed has many advantages, but it also has many disadvantages. We make up only 10% percent of the total population, but according to US Army data from an article I once read in Science Digest Magazine, we make up about 45% percent of heavy smokers, 30% percent of alcoholics, 30% percent of suicides and I read somewhere that being left handed increases your risk factor of getting Type 2 Diabetes by an additional 5 to 10% percent. Yet, we only make up 10% percent of the total population.

Many years ago, schools use to force left handed children to use the right hand. In the middle ages, left handed people wore more likely to be accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Being left handed was seen as evil.

But modern science has shown, we can not change left handed people over to being right handed, so being left handed is no longer regarded as being sinful.

We can't help being left handed. It is how our brains are wired.

The same is true for homosexuality. They can't help being gay. It's how their brains are wired. So, in that case, how can it be a sin? I say it is no more sinful than being left handed.

My Rabbi, he supports science. Back in February, on shabbot, we even honored Charles Darwin's 200th birthday. My Rabbi supports teaching Evolution in our schools, and he's against some of these religious groups trying to force the teaching of creationism, or what they now so euphemistically refer to as "Intelligent Design" or ID in the school curriculum.

Yes, I do believe in God, but I am an evolutionist.

During our Torah Studies we have discussed issues such as homosexuality, and evolution, etc. etc. And also, how we have had to revise our thinking of the universe over the years, therefore, we do not take everything in the Torah so literally.

Also, I need to add, that while many Christian religions (Except Catholics) regard the drinking of alcoholic beverages as sinful, this is not so in Judaism. After the religious services we go back to the room were we have our Torah Studies for a small cup of wine and some bread. The Rabbi sings the Beracha, a blessing over the wine and another blessing over the bread. One day, on Shabbot, someone brought some Kosher beer to the synagogue. Some of us had wine, and some of us had the Kosher beer instead. First the Rabbi sang the Beracha over the wine, then he sang a special Beracha over the Kosher beer. So, there is the usual Beracha for wine, and a special Beracha for Kosher beer.

Drinking wine or beer, or any alcoholic beverage is not sinful. Only drunkenness is sinful, but moderated drinking is not.

I also would like to add, that I get a real kick of some of the stories in the Torah and the Tennackh. My favorites are the stories about Esau and Jacob, and the story of Samson.

Esau was not so bright, and sold his birthright for a bowl of red lintel soup. Jacob was very smart, and a bit of a con man. If Esau were living today, he would be the typical redneck, or Gerdon Edom, the Hebrew word for redneck, and if Jacob were living today, he would be the typical nerd or geek.

Now Samson, if he were living today, he would be the typical dumb jock, thinking only with his little head instead of his big head!

OK, I'm well aware that this is not a forum for discussing religious issues, but I felt the need to make my position clear.

FOOTBALL IS BLASPHEMY!!!

OK! Just kidding!!!

[Sergey]

We lefties have to stick together.

[Earl]

Hey, my mother was a leftie; and my older daughter, who just graduated magna cum laude from a major university in Texas with a major in math and is now a high-school math teacher, is also a leftie.

[greencom]

I am a leftie as well.
Greencom

[Sergey]

LEFTIES UNITE!

[Fat Man]

Only we left handed people are in our right minds!

At almost 400 pounds, I'm a Hefty Lefty!

[Ray]

Anyone who still thinks most or all people who like sports are stupid: do you think these places fill up with idiotic, illiterate monkeys every day there's a game going on?

Que? Is this supposed to prove something?

Do you not believe that enough idiotic, illiterate monkeys exist to fill a stadium? They do! It just seems weird to see them all in one place.

Stadiums feature low-brow entertainment that appeals to a certain class of people. It's no wonder that they it draws the morons like flies and quickly fills up like a roach motel.

It's like when you go to a college graduation, you think holy cow! There's a lot of smart, motivated kids here! Who knew?

In case you didn't know, the basketball game is at Duke University and the football game is at the University of Notre Dame, two colleges where you have to be extremely intelligent to be admitted (some kids turn down Harvard and Yale for these schools) and where sports are also extremely popular with the students.

? I am not following you. What point are you trying to support?
That because the basketball teams are from two prestigious colleges, that somehow it makes basketball great?

That's not true. And I'll explain why.

In the same way some college students like to watch sports, I like to watch the Three Stooges. But that doesn't make the Three Stooges any smarter. They are just entertainment, a break from more serious concerns. Like basketball players everywhere, the stooges remain stooges no matter who watches them.

Sorry. If being a basketball player was your dream, you should learn the truth now and save yourself from years of regret.

[SportsGuy92]

? I am not following you. What point are you trying to support?
That because the basketball teams are from two prestigious colleges, that somehow it makes basketball great?

That's not true. And I'll explain why.

In the same way some college students like to watch sports, I like to watch the Three Stooges. But that doesn't make the Three Stooges any smarter. They are just entertainment, a break from more serious concerns. Like basketball players everywhere, the stooges remain stooges no matter who watches them.

Sorry. If being a basketball player was your dream, you should learn the truth now and save yourself from years of regret.[/quote]

If you didn't understand the point I was trying to make, I was trying to counter the way some people on here claim that "everybody who likes sports is stupid", which is just not true. All of the smartest people I know enjoy sports to some degree. People here treat sports like they're something that makes people dumber, which is ridiculous. Just like any other hobby, sports can be dangerous if they're taken too seriously.

Calling all basketball players stooges...that's just another stereotype that is based on a very small minority within a large group.

Finally, I realized I was never going to make it to NCAA basketball or the NBA a long time ago.

[Indurrago]

? I am not following you. What point are you trying to support?
That because the basketball teams are from two prestigious colleges, that somehow it makes basketball great?

That's not true. And I'll explain why.

In the same way some college students like to watch sports, I like to watch the Three Stooges. But that doesn't make the Three Stooges any smarter. They are just entertainment, a break from more serious concerns. Like basketball players everywhere, the stooges remain stooges no matter who watches them.

Sorry. If being a basketball player was your dream, you should learn the truth now and save yourself from years of regret.

If you didn't understand the point I was trying to make, I was trying to counter the way some people on here claim that "everybody who likes sports is stupid", which is just not true. All of the smartest people I know enjoy sports to some degree. People here treat sports like they're something that makes people dumber, which is ridiculous. Just like any other hobby, sports can be dangerous if they're taken too seriously.

Calling all basketball players stooges...that's just another stereotype that is based on a very small minority within a large group.

Finally, I realized I was never going to make it to NCAA basketball or the NBA a long time ago.[/quote]

"All of the smartest people I know enjoy sports to some degree." I laughed at this one, that depends on you're definition of "sports". The one that comes to mine and I'm guessing most of the others here are the ones that have men and women getting payed RIDICULOUSLY high paychecks to do mundane activities. Usually ones involving balls. One can say that as human tend to hang out with people of similar interest including sports. Birds of a feather flock together, sound familiar? But I don't like it when things that is normally not connected with sports and is made it a competition and people finally redefine it as a sport. Going back to you're comment about all the smartest people like sports in someway, I believe ALL humans enjoy some form of competition once in awhile. Competition does not all equate to a sport. Like martial arts particularly the mixed variety(which wasn't really taken seriously til recent years) is considered a sport but I totally disagree when traditionally martial arts are applied with the same label. They can be taken just as seriously, and with just as much satisfaction when one trains by one's self as opposed to when people play sports with others and without every taking part in any tournament/competition of some sort but does that make it a sport? Hell no.

[blackdog4444]

SportsGuy92, I hope you understand that my comments are not intended to be disrespectful. As I've said before, clearly you're a nice guy.

Ever since since I joined this website I've often been asked questions to the effect of "What are you doing here? Can't you see we don't like sports and whatever you say will never change our minds? So go away."

With the exception of Sergey and dickfilthy, none of the members here want you to leave. You're welcome to stay as long as you like.

Hey I never acted like I wanted you gone, dude. In fact, you make better arguments than Polite over there with his "99%" statistic [always no real numbers involved].
As long as you don't go as far as to say "99% of sports jocks are this and that", I'm fine with you staying. I only hated the people who shoved sports down my throat since THEY were the ones that seriously needed to learn to chill, but you're definitely not like that.
As for the arguing, please continue.

[Polite24]

Funny you should say that blackdog, since you're the one who looks like a fool because I never said 99 percent of people like sports. You look dumb for even seriously thinking I would say that.

[Sergey]

Funny you should say that blackdog, since you're the one who looks like a fool because I never said 99 percent of people like sports. You look dumb for even seriously thinking I would say that.

You yourself said that 99% of sports fans aren't bad people.

[Polite24]

I stand by that estimation. You figure most people aren't bad people, so in my opinion it wouldn't change when you factor in only sports fans.