When it comes to sport, people bad mouthing other sports irritates me. Why do we need to have this selfish desire to have the best code, or feel the need to belittle other codes?
Sport is entertainment at its core, and if it doesn’t entertain you, don’t watch it and don’t argue about it. You only make yourself look foolish when you do.
It’s the same core principal as chicken versus red meat, everyone prefers one over the other in some way, but you don’t stand there and argue which one is better, its personal preference whether you like chicken more than meat. You are not going to bad mouth someone for preferring chicken are you?
So why can’t we live and let be? If you don’t like a particular sport, don’t watch it, and leave it alone. Enjoy the sports you like and let others enjoy theirs.
Growing up in NSW and especially in the south west, it was always “GAYFL”. “Oh you play GAYFL?, Why would you play that shit game?”. As a child you don’t know any better and it’s quickly a part of your vocabulary and hence your opinion. The only thing you are doing here is being ignorant.
Growing up I never watched cricket, basketball or AFL. I grew up thinking cricket was boring, AFL was ‘shit’ and basketball I took no notice of. They were pretty much ideals I had developed through listening to others, which at a young age, may be excused. But now I love basketball and cricket with a unmeasured passion.
In the summer of 2008 my video game console had blown up and I was found stranded with nothing to do in what would usually be a ‘play video games for 12 hours a day’ school holidays. I was left needing something to do. South Africa were touring Australia for the cricket summer and I decided, “hey, you know what? I am going to sit here and wait until someone gets out, watch every ball until someone gets out”.
What happened next was pure and simple – I fell in love with the game of cricket. I began to realise the game’s tactics and the players’ skill level; patience and mind over matter.
Test match cricket is now one of my fondest treats, I will sit and watch five days of Test cricket without a second thought. I went out and bought cricket bats, pads, balls etc. and now frequently spend hours at the nets blocking ball after ball to whoever will join me.
The same thing happened with basketball, I had nothing to play on my Xbox one day and borrowed NBA 2K6 from a friend. I played it, learnt the rules, and thought what a great sport this is. I immediately took to my local court and starting shooting hoops, and a new love was found.
The same can’t be said for NFL and AFL, I sat down and watched them, learnt the rules and thought “Let’s give this a go”. The only thing is, I didn’t fall in love with it, but that’s not big deal, those sports just aren’t for me.
And that is fine, that is my choice, and we can all watch what we want to watch. I respect the NFL and AFL, and usually watch the Super bowl and grand final if I am available.
But people should open their minds, learn something new, and see if they like it.
You should love your game, but you should also love sport.
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