(Please be informed that the following article is biased due to the author’s one-sided view of sports. It is the ravings of a nut job who never intended his work to hurt anyone in the process.)
Okay, so now we will be talking about sports on a point by point basis. First, let us talk about health. Sports are always related to health. I have heard friends and relatives drone on and on about how healthy one would get when they joined a sports activity. Well, it is true that sports like football, basketball, tennis, squash, swimming; etc. will develop one’s stamina, strength and agility. But then again, we can all gain that through exercising like jogging, working out in a gym and hiking too. While both would gain similar results, exercising does not have the risk that one faces in sports. In sports, (eg. football, basketball and hockey) there would inevitably be bodily contacts, such as pushing, shoving, hitting, kicking and even punching… all of these actions would lead to injuries. How many times have we seen or heard about a professional sports player having to undergo surgeries… and not just any normal surgery… there’re knee surgeries, muscle tear surgeries and even brain surgeries. The only people who would gain from this are the insurance companies because these players would be heavily insured. So, in the end, you’ll end up facing the risk of having permanent disability while playing sports. Unless you are foolish enough to drop weights on your toes in a gym or fall flat on your face while jogging, exercising is pretty much hazardous free and much more flexible.
One can only be good at one or two sports and thus, their health development would be focused on several key areas only. When one exercises, they can train their body depending on their needs. For example, one can jog or go hiking for higher stamina, do push-ups for a more developed chest and shoulder blades, sit-ups for a dashing six-pack, lift weights for well toned biceps and triceps, etc. This cannot be done in sports as each sport usually focuses only on the development of several parts of the body. So, in terms of health, exercising wins hands down.
Next we should talk about the spirit of sports. I never ceased to laugh out loud when some moron on the television mentioned that taking part in the sports event would make them understand others’ culture better and make friends. How fake is that! For one, it is rare for sports people to be friends with one another, even for those in the same team. This is due to the fact that they are all vying for the top position… the champion. Runner-ups are as easily forgotten as the one who loses in the first round. Each would want to beat the other in a sports event and thus, I highly doubt that they would sit down together in a coffee shop and eat together, chatting over some unrelated topic and bonding with each other. For heaven’s sake, even in sports like football, those who are in the same team are divided into several groups and it is not uncommon to find that these groups hate each others’ guts.
Coaches, political people and even the sportsmen (it’s referred to both males and females, too lazy to type both :P) themselves all talk about how their participation would increase international ties, build teamwork, make friends, blah, blah, blah. Punching, kicking, fouls, cheating are just but a few of the ugliness that is brought out by sports. Maybe, once upon a time, there is really such a thing as non-competitive sports, but now, faced with luxurious rewards, winning at any cost is deeply ingrained in people who play professional sports that even those so called friendly matches are just but a façade.
Okay, so how about character building. A sportsman who is able to endure the intensive training would be a better man such as more hardworking, higher mental strength, nicer, etc… my foot. Well, actually, the above might be true but I do know for a fact that sports bring out the worst in a human. Have you ever noticed that sportsmen are rarely modest? When they win, they will say that they deserve it. If they lose, it’s either their opponent are lucky or they are not in their top condition or the referee is one-sided. Shouldn’t it be the other way round? For me, if someone is really good, then they should win by such a big margin that a few “unfair” points given to their opponents won’t affect the outcome. All those who cry foul when they lose by one point should realize that they are just not good enough and not blame others.
The word ‘drugs’ is also ultimately tied with the word ‘sports’. Whenever someone mentioned drugs to me, I would immediately think of a wasted body sleeping behind dumpsters… but a lot of these “professional” sportsmen use drugs to help them win. Why? Because they just can bear to lose and decided that winning unfairly is better than losing fairly. Also, one can see the inherent untamed animal in these people when they play especially in teams. Fights are just a common sight in sports like football. There is even a title for teams who played fairly throughout the entire tournament! This means, it is publicly acknowledged that these sports are usually played unfairly! From the ideal character building sports, it has now become something that rouses our inner evil monster.
Now, we should talk about revenue generation. Sports bring revenue to a country… or so they claimed. Hundreds of countries spend billions for their sports facilities and infrastructures just to host some sports event. Hundreds of millions are spend in training the players through the employment of foreign coaches and setting up training grounds overseas; all these just to qualify for the qualification on bidding to hold sports event. The thing that no one seemed to realize is that for any major sports event, it will take several decades before the same country can be the host of the event the second time. Thus, after the so-called huge income jump with foreign currencies, those countries are left high and dry with the maintenance costs. For example, in one sports event, the facilities are built for 30 teams. When the event ended, the facilities would be over capacity by 29 teams! And I suspect that even with millions of people coming to watch the event, it won’t really cover the cost used to build the new buildings, employ extra part-timers for the event and organize security personnel. True, businesses like hotels, taxis, planes, buses and restaurants would receive a great boost… but those are just for city centers… further expanding the income gap in between cities and suburbs.
It is also true that the country would be famous for holding the event (if successful), but it does not last long unless the country managed to secure several major sports event in consecutive years. I mean, do you still remember what was the opening of the Olympics like four years ago? After all the praises and hype about it being the best opening up to now, it doesn’t change the fact that humans easily forget something if they are not constantly reminded of it, heck, I would wager that a lot would have a hard time which country it was held in a quarter decade ago. Won’t it be easier and better if we were to focus our energies in something more reliable like technology and research? If a country focuses their resources in developing the next generation of technology, we would gain profit and fame just the same without needing to be bothered by the maintenance cost, unreliable income and practically begging other parties to let us hold an event. Other countries would be begging us to sell them our technology. Just like Japan, the word ‘technology’ is one of the few descriptions that could be used to describe the country.
Humans are inherently evil. Envy is part of us… as inseparable as our nails with fingers. Thus, it really baffles me as to how one could watch the success of someone else’s everyday. Don’t you just loathe all those sportsmen who are more good-looking, younger, richer and famous than you? Doesn’t it cause you (or your other half) to compare yourself to them and realize that you are a really pathetic person compared to them? You work 10 hours a day for several thousands a month while the famous footballers earn thousands by the minute when they are on the field! Sometimes, they earn more in a minute than you could ever earn in a month! Doesn’t that make you hate yourself? Why on earth would you want to do that to yourself? Without our support, there will be no sponsors and thus no sports… it would not matter even if there is someone who could run 100 meters in 1 second. They are all rich, famous and arrogant because of you!
For those who watch sports like a dog staring at red meat, you’re basically spending money on the tickets, transportation, lodging and food. If you are going overseas, you will be taking annual leaves, paying for an extremely expensive plane ticket, staying in an overpriced hotel, eating at restaurants where owners stare at you like a wolf encircling a trapped deer and buying costly souvenirs that would be collecting dust in your big chest of rubbish a few years from now as you find better things to put on display. You spend that vast amount of money just to see someone performing better than you and cashing in the money that is indirectly from you. You’re going to see someone who is well-fed, superbly clothed and surrounded by cameras and screaming fans while you hammered out the money to buy the ticket by staying in a low grade motel and eating flat bread for one month. And don’t get me started on the condition of the sports venue. There will be throngs of humans, all jam packed in extremely small seats where you can have a good view only if you pay an absurd amount of money for those ‘special’ seats. Most of the people would spend most of their time watching at the big television that is hung up at an unnatural angle. Won’t it be better to watch it at home? Also, you’ll be wasting lots of time in getting there early so as to get a nice car park or nice seats. Then, you’ll either have to leave early to avoid the jam or leave when the game is finished and be stuck in traffic for hours or leave several hours later. Also, in some major sports event, the spectators are exposed to the risk of being caught in a fight. An innocent spectator who just wanted to enjoy the view might inadvertently get caught in some spat between supporters. Then, police will come and you will get caught, taken to the police station and even placed in jail just because you have a bloody nose and is suspected to be a part of the fights.
I might have accepted that there are only a few of these dim-witted fools. However, millions and even billions of people are doing the same… how can such a race actually claim dominion over all creatures on earth? We are basically spending money, time effort and placing ourselves at risk in order to make someone else rich, happy and famous just to feast our eyes on something boring, like two men batting a ball at each other or two groups of people chasing after a ball. If you want to watch something, isn’t it better to watch movies? At least they have a plot, audible dialogue, good music and cheap!
Actually, at some point I pity the sportsmen too. There is usually no turning back when you started the path of a professional sportsman. Unlike me, I can change jobs if I don’t like it… even changing to jobs that I never thought of doing. However, once you started to play sports professionally, you are stuck with it. I have never heard of a footballer changing to play basketball, have you? Out of these thousands and millions of sportsmen, only a handful would be rich and famous. The others would die without anyone realizing they existed. For those lucky (and sometimes talented :P) few, it is both a blessing and a curse. Of course, there are a few smart ones who cash in on their fame by setting up restaurants and shops while they are famous to ensure a steady stream of income even after they retire from sports. It’s either this, or become a coach.
But one must realize that there are only a few rare positions open for coaching since one coach can teach several people at the same time. Thus, by the time these sportsmen reach the age of late thirties, they would have not much income since they would start to lose to the youngsters and no sponsors or advertising companies would look for them. But even so, they should have been millionaires and billionaires by the age of thirty… you’d say. This would be true if they save up just like you. However, when one becomes famous and rich, their living standards would inevitably increase proportionally as well. Of course, I did not do an in-depth research in this, since I just want to blabber about something… but there are lots of supposedly rich and famous sportsmen who ended up being deep in debt. It’s the way of life.
When you are rich, you would be connected with those of the rich community. And in the rich community, they spend money like water. Gambling, alcohol, luxuries are just a few that can turn a billionaire into a pauper. And as mentioned previously, a sportsman faces the risk of having a permanent disability if they pushed themselves too hard, but if they don’t push themselves, then they would just end up being a nobody. Also, it is rare for a sportsman to enjoy being famous (and thereby rich) for the entire of his career. There would be ups and downs and most would be considered lucky if they actually basked in glory for just a few short years. The sacrifice is big but the benefits are not guaranteed.
So, in conclusion, sports are bad for both the sportsmen and the supporters. Why do we still continue with this kind of lunacy? And my friends wondered why I hate sports…
Okay, so now we will be talking about sports on a point by point basis. First, let us talk about health. Sports are always related to health. I have heard friends and relatives drone on and on about how healthy one would get when they joined a sports activity. Well, it is true that sports like football, basketball, tennis, squash, swimming; etc. will develop one’s stamina, strength and agility. But then again, we can all gain that through exercising like jogging, working out in a gym and hiking too. While both would gain similar results, exercising does not have the risk that one faces in sports. In sports, (eg. football, basketball and hockey) there would inevitably be bodily contacts, such as pushing, shoving, hitting, kicking and even punching… all of these actions would lead to injuries. How many times have we seen or heard about a professional sports player having to undergo surgeries… and not just any normal surgery… there’re knee surgeries, muscle tear surgeries and even brain surgeries. The only people who would gain from this are the insurance companies because these players would be heavily insured. So, in the end, you’ll end up facing the risk of having permanent disability while playing sports. Unless you are foolish enough to drop weights on your toes in a gym or fall flat on your face while jogging, exercising is pretty much hazardous free and much more flexible.
One can only be good at one or two sports and thus, their health development would be focused on several key areas only. When one exercises, they can train their body depending on their needs. For example, one can jog or go hiking for higher stamina, do push-ups for a more developed chest and shoulder blades, sit-ups for a dashing six-pack, lift weights for well toned biceps and triceps, etc. This cannot be done in sports as each sport usually focuses only on the development of several parts of the body. So, in terms of health, exercising wins hands down.
Next we should talk about the spirit of sports. I never ceased to laugh out loud when some moron on the television mentioned that taking part in the sports event would make them understand others’ culture better and make friends. How fake is that! For one, it is rare for sports people to be friends with one another, even for those in the same team. This is due to the fact that they are all vying for the top position… the champion. Runner-ups are as easily forgotten as the one who loses in the first round. Each would want to beat the other in a sports event and thus, I highly doubt that they would sit down together in a coffee shop and eat together, chatting over some unrelated topic and bonding with each other. For heaven’s sake, even in sports like football, those who are in the same team are divided into several groups and it is not uncommon to find that these groups hate each others’ guts.
Coaches, political people and even the sportsmen (it’s referred to both males and females, too lazy to type both :P) themselves all talk about how their participation would increase international ties, build teamwork, make friends, blah, blah, blah. Punching, kicking, fouls, cheating are just but a few of the ugliness that is brought out by sports. Maybe, once upon a time, there is really such a thing as non-competitive sports, but now, faced with luxurious rewards, winning at any cost is deeply ingrained in people who play professional sports that even those so called friendly matches are just but a façade.
Okay, so how about character building. A sportsman who is able to endure the intensive training would be a better man such as more hardworking, higher mental strength, nicer, etc… my foot. Well, actually, the above might be true but I do know for a fact that sports bring out the worst in a human. Have you ever noticed that sportsmen are rarely modest? When they win, they will say that they deserve it. If they lose, it’s either their opponent are lucky or they are not in their top condition or the referee is one-sided. Shouldn’t it be the other way round? For me, if someone is really good, then they should win by such a big margin that a few “unfair” points given to their opponents won’t affect the outcome. All those who cry foul when they lose by one point should realize that they are just not good enough and not blame others.
The word ‘drugs’ is also ultimately tied with the word ‘sports’. Whenever someone mentioned drugs to me, I would immediately think of a wasted body sleeping behind dumpsters… but a lot of these “professional” sportsmen use drugs to help them win. Why? Because they just can bear to lose and decided that winning unfairly is better than losing fairly. Also, one can see the inherent untamed animal in these people when they play especially in teams. Fights are just a common sight in sports like football. There is even a title for teams who played fairly throughout the entire tournament! This means, it is publicly acknowledged that these sports are usually played unfairly! From the ideal character building sports, it has now become something that rouses our inner evil monster.
Now, we should talk about revenue generation. Sports bring revenue to a country… or so they claimed. Hundreds of countries spend billions for their sports facilities and infrastructures just to host some sports event. Hundreds of millions are spend in training the players through the employment of foreign coaches and setting up training grounds overseas; all these just to qualify for the qualification on bidding to hold sports event. The thing that no one seemed to realize is that for any major sports event, it will take several decades before the same country can be the host of the event the second time. Thus, after the so-called huge income jump with foreign currencies, those countries are left high and dry with the maintenance costs. For example, in one sports event, the facilities are built for 30 teams. When the event ended, the facilities would be over capacity by 29 teams! And I suspect that even with millions of people coming to watch the event, it won’t really cover the cost used to build the new buildings, employ extra part-timers for the event and organize security personnel. True, businesses like hotels, taxis, planes, buses and restaurants would receive a great boost… but those are just for city centers… further expanding the income gap in between cities and suburbs.
It is also true that the country would be famous for holding the event (if successful), but it does not last long unless the country managed to secure several major sports event in consecutive years. I mean, do you still remember what was the opening of the Olympics like four years ago? After all the praises and hype about it being the best opening up to now, it doesn’t change the fact that humans easily forget something if they are not constantly reminded of it, heck, I would wager that a lot would have a hard time which country it was held in a quarter decade ago. Won’t it be easier and better if we were to focus our energies in something more reliable like technology and research? If a country focuses their resources in developing the next generation of technology, we would gain profit and fame just the same without needing to be bothered by the maintenance cost, unreliable income and practically begging other parties to let us hold an event. Other countries would be begging us to sell them our technology. Just like Japan, the word ‘technology’ is one of the few descriptions that could be used to describe the country.
Humans are inherently evil. Envy is part of us… as inseparable as our nails with fingers. Thus, it really baffles me as to how one could watch the success of someone else’s everyday. Don’t you just loathe all those sportsmen who are more good-looking, younger, richer and famous than you? Doesn’t it cause you (or your other half) to compare yourself to them and realize that you are a really pathetic person compared to them? You work 10 hours a day for several thousands a month while the famous footballers earn thousands by the minute when they are on the field! Sometimes, they earn more in a minute than you could ever earn in a month! Doesn’t that make you hate yourself? Why on earth would you want to do that to yourself? Without our support, there will be no sponsors and thus no sports… it would not matter even if there is someone who could run 100 meters in 1 second. They are all rich, famous and arrogant because of you!
For those who watch sports like a dog staring at red meat, you’re basically spending money on the tickets, transportation, lodging and food. If you are going overseas, you will be taking annual leaves, paying for an extremely expensive plane ticket, staying in an overpriced hotel, eating at restaurants where owners stare at you like a wolf encircling a trapped deer and buying costly souvenirs that would be collecting dust in your big chest of rubbish a few years from now as you find better things to put on display. You spend that vast amount of money just to see someone performing better than you and cashing in the money that is indirectly from you. You’re going to see someone who is well-fed, superbly clothed and surrounded by cameras and screaming fans while you hammered out the money to buy the ticket by staying in a low grade motel and eating flat bread for one month. And don’t get me started on the condition of the sports venue. There will be throngs of humans, all jam packed in extremely small seats where you can have a good view only if you pay an absurd amount of money for those ‘special’ seats. Most of the people would spend most of their time watching at the big television that is hung up at an unnatural angle. Won’t it be better to watch it at home? Also, you’ll be wasting lots of time in getting there early so as to get a nice car park or nice seats. Then, you’ll either have to leave early to avoid the jam or leave when the game is finished and be stuck in traffic for hours or leave several hours later. Also, in some major sports event, the spectators are exposed to the risk of being caught in a fight. An innocent spectator who just wanted to enjoy the view might inadvertently get caught in some spat between supporters. Then, police will come and you will get caught, taken to the police station and even placed in jail just because you have a bloody nose and is suspected to be a part of the fights.
I might have accepted that there are only a few of these dim-witted fools. However, millions and even billions of people are doing the same… how can such a race actually claim dominion over all creatures on earth? We are basically spending money, time effort and placing ourselves at risk in order to make someone else rich, happy and famous just to feast our eyes on something boring, like two men batting a ball at each other or two groups of people chasing after a ball. If you want to watch something, isn’t it better to watch movies? At least they have a plot, audible dialogue, good music and cheap!
Actually, at some point I pity the sportsmen too. There is usually no turning back when you started the path of a professional sportsman. Unlike me, I can change jobs if I don’t like it… even changing to jobs that I never thought of doing. However, once you started to play sports professionally, you are stuck with it. I have never heard of a footballer changing to play basketball, have you? Out of these thousands and millions of sportsmen, only a handful would be rich and famous. The others would die without anyone realizing they existed. For those lucky (and sometimes talented :P) few, it is both a blessing and a curse. Of course, there are a few smart ones who cash in on their fame by setting up restaurants and shops while they are famous to ensure a steady stream of income even after they retire from sports. It’s either this, or become a coach.
But one must realize that there are only a few rare positions open for coaching since one coach can teach several people at the same time. Thus, by the time these sportsmen reach the age of late thirties, they would have not much income since they would start to lose to the youngsters and no sponsors or advertising companies would look for them. But even so, they should have been millionaires and billionaires by the age of thirty… you’d say. This would be true if they save up just like you. However, when one becomes famous and rich, their living standards would inevitably increase proportionally as well. Of course, I did not do an in-depth research in this, since I just want to blabber about something… but there are lots of supposedly rich and famous sportsmen who ended up being deep in debt. It’s the way of life.
When you are rich, you would be connected with those of the rich community. And in the rich community, they spend money like water. Gambling, alcohol, luxuries are just a few that can turn a billionaire into a pauper. And as mentioned previously, a sportsman faces the risk of having a permanent disability if they pushed themselves too hard, but if they don’t push themselves, then they would just end up being a nobody. Also, it is rare for a sportsman to enjoy being famous (and thereby rich) for the entire of his career. There would be ups and downs and most would be considered lucky if they actually basked in glory for just a few short years. The sacrifice is big but the benefits are not guaranteed.
So, in conclusion, sports are bad for both the sportsmen and the supporters. Why do we still continue with this kind of lunacy? And my friends wondered why I hate sports…
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