Do you dislike (or hate) sports?

I was never into sports as a kid - except bowling! That was the only sport I was ever any good at - and it was a bit of a family thing - my grandparents and parents all bowled in leagues so as soon as I was old enough they took me.

But I hated gym class and having to play sports there because I just wasn't into it - I got teased for being gay (this is in the 1970s/80s) even though back then I didn't really get what being gay was nor did they. I was also worried about having to shower in front of other guys - we were all pretty shy then. I was more of the artist / academic crowd than the 'jocks' although I was friends with all crowds.

Now in my 50s I still don't play sports - other than bowling sometimes but I do swim for fitness several times a week. Now I don't care about showers - communal showers don't faze me in the slightest.

My Dad did try to get me into sports - he enjoyed watching ice hockey and the odd football match (Grey Cup / Super Bowl).

We all watched the Olympics though.

Now I'll watch quite a few sports - love the Olympics, espeically men's diving and gymnastics (I wonder why! lol). Also really enjoy rugby - on TV or watching it live - I have lots of mates from my local rugby club and we stand on the side of the pitch cheering them all on, pints in hand, gossiping and wodering what the score is while pointing out the hot men! So it's mostly about the rugby but it's also a social occasion too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dreambridger
As far back as I can remember I never had an interest in sports. Of course, once you start school, sports is forced upon you and it's never about having fun. It's about winning, aggression, and dominance. PE teachers are generally sadists and god help you if your athletic abilities are limited.

As my school years went by, my disinterest in sports turned to hatred of them and contempt for anyone with a jock mentality.

Once I became an adult, the hatred went away and I went back to disinterest. But, I'm always bemused by the idolatry felt by others towards professional sports figures.
 
  • Love
Reactions: deleted3155011
No, as a spectator, I love hockey and I enjoy MMA. As far as sports that I actually participate in, I love disc golfing, bowling, badminton, and tennis.

I do find most other sports boring though. Baseball and American Football are both very boring to me.
 
If you dislike (or hate) sports, do you feel it is somehow related to how much your father (or other adult males in your life) spent time watching or participating in sports when you were a child?
I can totally relate with this. I had interest in soccer when I was younger but my dad ruined it and sport in general for me because he was always criticising me for not “trying”:sweat:
 
I don’t like sports. Whether it’s watching or playing. They’ve just never been an interest to me. I’ve been to a few baseball and hockey games, and will watch the occasional World Cup match. But other than that, no. I’d rather watch a reality tv competition show like survivor or the challenge. Those are my sports lol.

I don’t feel it’s related to the other men in my life watching sports growing up. I want to say it’s related to me being a very shy and anxious kid, too anxious to want to participate in any organized sport despite my mother’s efforts to force me into them.

Being a straight acting gay, many straight guys just assume I’m into sports, and will constantly try to talk to me about whatever hockey/baseball/football game that was on the night before. And when I tell them I didn’t watch and I’m not really a fan of sports, they look at me like I have 15 heads. So rather than dealing with that I tend to just pretend that I know what they’re talking about and then move on lol.
 
If you dislike (or hate) sports, do you feel it is somehow related to how much your father (or other adult males in your life) spent time watching or participating in sports when you were a child?
I dislike sports in the main, can't think of one I would cross the road to see, though I confess to admiring sports garb, and nothing to do with childhood, the few matches I saw left me wondering what it was all about!
 
  • Like
Reactions: deleted3155011
I had an interest in football when I was younger. My grandparents and I even had season tickets to the Raiders for a while when they were in LA. Although for whatever reason I liked the 49ers instead.

But I couldn't talk about sports with anyone. Didn't play any. My grandfather was older so it wasn't like he could play anything with me beyond explaining on paper how football or baseball was played. And he was only around on weekends. Stepfather was a drunk reprobate. Relentlessly bullied in school. "Did you watch the Bulls game? No. What are yoy, gay?" I swear it was a variation of that exact comment all through my younger years.

The me of now, at 40 wishes I tried to play football. If only so I could have had the chance, just a chance to show up the scum that gave me a hard time. But I know I couldn't have. I wouldn't have. And on top of it I knew I was different even back then and knew to stay the hell away from that crowd and that setting. That's a whole other subject though. And my family was so oppressive when I was involved in anything no matter how meaningless. They didn't care about anything I did every other day but oh you're in a science fair? you're in a play? the whole damn family had to come. Aunts, uncles. They would invite great aunts and their first cousins. It put me on such a display, it was such overkill and an overreaction by them that it just made is weird to everyone else. Which only made the bullying worse. I couldn't even imagine what they would act like, the humiliation they would bring on me if I even tried to play a sport. I hated everything. I wanted to do nothing. Couldn't stand other kids growing up. Couldn't stand my family if I tried doing anything. Had no older males in my family to relate and talk to. Retreated into video games with my much younger brothers and honestly, been there since.

But. All that and so much other stuff over my life. Now. I'll watch any football game that's on tv. I watch bull riding. I love supercross. I go to games by myself and I love it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have mostly interest in sportswear, more than sport itself. :D I was/am not close enough with my father to share this interest with him. I also didn't have many friends to play sports with, I mostly played with my older cousin.

I do like Olympics, especially track and field, that I practiced. My speciality is sprinting, but I put that on hold with my studies. I also enjoy watching Olympics and Athletics Championships.

In Europe, it's all about football. I don't really like it, even if I watch major competitions.

I don't know if it can be called a sport per se, but I also practice yoga more recently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pappiepapie
Thanks for all your comments and personal stories. As I look back, I realize there was a combination of things that caused me to not want to pursue sports or athletics when I was growing up. I was always big for my age (tall and heavy-set), so that made me quite self-conscious about my body and my lack of coordination. I was not even mildly adept at anything in gym class (physical education), except being an easy target during dodgeball! So the idea of getting involved in any sport as an after-school activity did not even register in my mind as worthy of a moment's consideration. (Besides, I was always studying and working on school projects -- on my way to achieving academic honors.)

After gym class was over, of course, came "the locker room experience". I was terribly shy about getting naked in front of other people, even male classmates in middle school (starting in 5th grade). But I was definitely extremely curious about other boys (and men) and their "family jewels." During high school, my fascination with the male form only increased, as I got to see the amazing variety of penis and scrotum shapes and sizes. When I found out that the rule for our swimming class was for all of us to be completely nude, I was shocked! But what an eyeful I got!

As I have come to understand it, my growing interest and desire to see (and be close to) naked boys and men had a lot to do with the lack of emotional and physical closeness with my father. He was a workaholic, and it seemed that he rarely made time for me. This was in spite of the many attempts I made to try and "get his attention" by doing good things, which I hoped would impress him. For example, my determination to work for the best possible grades on my report card did not seem to make much of an impact on him.

Looking back, I believe it was really quite simple: I felt unloved and unimportant to him. He always seemed "distant". He was gone to his office extremely early every morning. So I never even saw that much of him. He was at home sometimes on Saturdays, and, of course, on Sundays between the morning church service and the evening service. But after dinner on Sunday afternoons, he wanted to read the paper and watch sports on TV... so we kids were instructed not to bother him.

He played softball in a local league, played basketball at the YMCA, and bowled in a winter league. He had season tickets and drove an hour each way to attend games of his favorite major league baseball team -- often taking his clients as part of his "business entertainment" activities. (I only remember ever going to a few games with him.) And he went on fishing trips with his long-time buddies. He seemed to love all sports. And he probably was disgusted with his son who didn't seem interested at all in any sport.

So the net result was that I grew up hating sports -- since I felt they took so much of my father's time and energy. Of course, I am well aware that he willingly gave his time and energy and money to pursue his interest in sports. But by comparison, I never felt that he gave much time or energy to me.

I'm in my 60's now, and I still don't know much about sports -- and couldn't care less. I know very little about the rules of the games, and often don't understand the running commentary of the broadcasters who go on and on about every little detail. Maybe in the end it will all even out: The amount of time I spend avoiding sports may come close to the amount of time my father devoted to sports. Nah... that will never happen.
 
I don't think sports is really necessarily tied to fathers etc. Sure they can spark your interest as a kid or whatever but that depends on your personality too. I played soccer from elementary to highschool. Playing it was fun, watch it or anything else was not fun. If I'm not actively participating I don't really have an interest in sports, I think they're very boring.

Along those lines, a very large amount of straight dudes also don't like sports, especially now that as technology grows we have more access to watch/do anything else than Sunday night football or whatever. Now people can talk about anything else at work or with friends from Netflix etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigboaster
No. I love tennis and competitive swimming and have been known to watch water polo too. I have enjoyed watching U.S. men’s Olympic indoor volleyball. I however have no interest whatsoever in American football or basketball.
 
I hate how homophobic/male code/locker room taboos still exist, to where being a Gay or Bi athlete is still a fucking big deal, and it's still stigma around that. smh.

But I do like Basketball, and I like watching the NBA playoffs/final games.

Not the biggest American Gridiron Football/NFL fan, but again, I enjoy looking at the Superbowl so yeah.

But something about watching Baseball (even though in general it's a boring game) is kinda calming/exciting. Although the games can run on forever (as baseball doesn't have a game clock) and basically indefinitely if no runs/bases are stolen. So yeah. lol.

Don't really look at Association Football/Soccer, but it's okay.

I like Tennis. I like to watch the Olympics (Track and field, Gymnastics and Figure Skating.) so yeah. lol.

I'm picky with sports lol.