March 24, 2009

Against Sports Fans

Amen, brother:

Marx was wrong: The opiate of the masses isn’t religion, but spectator sports. What else explains the astounding fact that millions of seemingly intelligent human beings feel that the athletic exertions of total strangers are somehow consequential for themselves? The real question we should be asking during the madness surrounding this month’s collegiate basketball championship season is not who will win, but why anyone cares.

posted by in sports | * | 4 comments 

comments

  1. Aaron Winslow on March 24th, 2009 at 12:46 pm

    Note to self: Do not bring up the Pych Dept. bracket pool around Dave. Unless you want to get into another uncomfortable conversation about titties.

  2. Cara on March 24th, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    And academics wonder why they’re so often accused of rank elitism.

  3. Just Passing Through on March 24th, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    I would hate my life if everything I did was rational…

  4. Lucy Foley on March 24th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    I haven’t read the full article, but I think this idea goes deeper than a superficial argument for either rationale or emotion. I think the point is vicariousness. How people live through the abilities and achievements of others, how sports become a distraction from one’s own life, and how people are always looking for success to revel in, even if it is not your own.

    Now, you can take your Marx and shove it up your arse as far as I’m concerned, but I don’t see anything elitist about asking some fundamental and interesting questions about sports, just because they’re popular.

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