In high school I loved baseball. I listened to every Orioles game on the radio (Hall of Famer Chuck Thompson and Jon Miller were outstanding) and devoured the Baltimore Sun's sports page coverage every afternoon when I got home from school. I knew every story about every player, could quote their stats, and monitored the progress of minor league prospects.
Then I went off to college and stopped caring about baseball.
In college I loved college basketball. I felt a personal connection to our team and went to almost every home game in my 4 years at the University of Maryland. I knew every story about every player, could quote their stats, and followed our recruiting efforts. I ran a fan website at www.juandixon.com (which I gave to Juan after we graduated) and was friends with the Washington Post's Terps beat writer. I still consider the final four weekend in Atlanta in 2002 where "we" won the National Championship one of the greatest times of my life.
Then I graduated and I stopped caring of college basketball.
Starting around the time Michael Jordan came out of retirement, I loved the NBA. I watched all the Wizards games and TNT's Thursday night coverage. I got tickets when interesting teams came to town and read all the box scores on ESPN.com with my cursor poised to switch over to an excel spreadsheet if someone walked by my cubicle. I knew every player who got minutes for every team, and eagerly awaited the All-Star Game.
Then I quit my job and I stopped caring about the NBA.
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I've often looked back and tried to explain my abrupt abandonment of teams/sports I loved so much. Part of me didn't want to let go. I theorized that not getting the newspaper delivered to my dorm was the reason I lost touch with the Orioles. I theorized that the letdown after winning a national championship was the reason I stopped caring about my Terps (Today I still do care about the Terps, but in a different way). I theorized that moving my computer away from my television was the reason I stopped caring about the NBA.
Now I understand it a lot better, and I think it is all about entertainment.
At the heart of it, watching a ball game is entertainment, and entertainment is a way you choose to spend your time. The transitions [from high school --> college --> office job --> playing online poker at home] each drastically changed how my days were spent. Not surprisingly, major changes in the my life brought about changes in the way I spend my entertainment time.
I still like sports. I still can enjoy watching a basketball game or spending a summer evening at Camden Yards. I still think playing fantasy football or watching a game at a sports bar is a fun way to stay in touch with friends. I appreciate the skills of athletes and coaches, and I enjoy witnessing the strategy and competition.
But I don't have any interest in being an active sports fan any more. I'm not going to read all the box scores, enter 6 fantasy leagues, tune in for the TNT pregame show with Charles and Kenny, or watch every Orioles game. I'll turn down tickets to games now, or turn the game off at halftime. Instead, I'd rather read a book, or watch a movie, or kiss my girlfriend, or write in my blog, or enjoy a Samuel Adams White Ale (or 5), or go for a run, or listen to the O'Reilly Radio Factor, or anything else I do for entertainment.
I don't know exactly why my preferences are different now. I can list a bunch of theories:
- Maybe its because I play a game for a living, so I don't want to spend much of my free time reading about and watching other people play games.
- Maybe its because its kind of sad how rabid sports fans seem like they're trying to live vicariously through a bunch of kids in bright green shorts.
- Maybe its because I'm sick of every team being convinced the refs screw them over more than anyone else.
- Maybe its because I'm gay.
- Maybe its because I suddenly realized that professional athletes are modern day gladiators whose only value to society is filling some primal need for people to feel like part of a war without any actual risks.
- Maybe its because I'm sick of my entertainment dollars making rich superstars out of so many complete jackasses.
- Maybe its because I realized that the vast majority of sports commentary is meaningless bullshit.
- Maybe its because experience to variance in poker made me realize that luck, as opposed to skill, determines a lot more of the outcomes of plays/games/seasons than people want to believe.
Whatever the reason, I've finally come to terms with it, and I'm no longer ashamed to admit it. I don't care about sports any more.