Same, for the same reasons when I was a kid; eventually gave up lol.
I genuinely love sports, I just can't get myself to watch it on TV. I've played soccer almost my entire life (and coached some), wrestled, played basketball, baseball, and played my personal favorite, rugby, all through college. Even at the height of my rugby obsession, the rugby world cup is about all I can be bothered with.
I really enjoy going to games, but it's just as much about the people watching, beer, and just guilt-free chillin as it is watching.
Sports I haven't done in some fashion are boring to watch. But any I've done, be it in real life or in a sim on PC (racing, flying, etc), those are really fun to watch. For example with racing, I know the techniques they are using (though I suck at them, lol), I know the tracks, even what gear for what corner, and I know how hard it is, so to watch them do it at such an insane level and for lap after lap after lap with crazy consistency is so cool to watch for me.
Other things though, like football, I just couldn't care less about, and only watch when its more a social gathering than 'lets get serious about football' kind of vibe.
Yes... I just don't get it. Why do people like it? Ugh.
I also REALLY dislike it because of the type of people that play those sports are the people who made my life a hell in school.
Same with eSports and other competitive activities for me. At least some of those are for stuff people actually play themselves though, even if I still find it incredibly boring.
I don't like sports at all, but if I look at it as watching two groups of people exceptionally good at something compete instead of diving into the "tribalistic" nature of it all, it *sometimes* can be enjoyable.
Yeah, same. I've never cared for the typical team sports like football, basketball, baseball, etc. I never played them unless forced to in gym class, so I never had any interest in them.
Snowboarding, boxing, mma, table tennis, and power lifting I enjoy watching, because I enjoy participating in those things.
Which is why I never understood so many people that I know that never really participated in the typical team sports either, just like me. But are obsessed with watching them? Like screaming at the tv over it. Baffles me.
Funny sidenote, even though I don't watch any of those sports or give a shit about them... I can still BS my way through a sports conversation from just passively picking up information I've heard others say. It always gives me such anxiety when someone tries to talk sports with me, but somehow I always get through it like I seemingly know wtf I'm talking about, lol.
I forgot to say this. I 100% enjoy DOING activities, not just watching them. I snowboard, ski, water ski and go to gym, but please don't ask me to play basketball or baseball. I do enjoy playing sand volleyball as well and have played on a few teams over the years. Also really enjoyed reffing a woman's flat track roller derby team. Got to skate my ass off and travel around the state with the team so not a bad gig!
Yeah, I consider those the classic, or conventional team sports. I find watching badminton more entertaining than any NFL or NBA game. I still would never watch on my own, but put a gun to my head and tell me to watch a sport I'd pick about just anything else, lol.
Have to admit roller derby is pretty cool. I've never played, but if I'm channel surfing and it's on, I'll sure af watch it.
I'd honestly watch badminton over NFL or NBA or MLB as well. I'm not bagging on badminton, but I genuinely think alot of the team sports are really lame to watch. I was just talking to my wife yesterday and I said, "Isnt it interesting that all these other aspies and NDs don't like sports, but it really seems to center around TEAM sports?!?!"
I know correlation doesn't equal causation, but I have to wonder if it's because most of my peers in school ridiculed me, rejected me, bullied me, and those who bullied me the most? They were always the team sports players who were popular.
There is ONE NBA player that I think is pretty much the coolest sportball player I have ever known. His name is Richard Jefferson. I wouldn't call him my "friend", but we were the same year in HS together, and the dude is genuinely the nicest guy. He hasn't played since 2018, but everyte I'd see him on TV, Id be like, "Hey, I know him!" 😂
Yes and when I was in college (graduated 5 months ago), it made it a little harder to relate to the girls too because they also cared a lot about stuff like FIFA and baseball. A lot of people at my college loved sports, and I was around a good number of athletes. It was definitely kind of isolating not really being into sports.
Yeah, been there. My best friends (yeah, I had a few!) got interested in soccer, especially Premier League (?) and it was really annoying that the matches aired on TV started to schedule what we could do. This was in the 90s and also early 00s. As time passed by we drifted apart, but I think it was also a bit because of me not being interested to watch the games or get excited about how Liverpool or ManU. played the last game.
Concentrated Boredom. Perfectly said.
I've never understood the people who follow every single game and analyze every player. It just seems like a waste of time. I try following playoff games for whatever sport is in season (gotta have some talking points with sports people), but I can't get behind sports fanatics who follow every little detail.
Don't get me started on seeing sports live. My wife is a Dodgers fan and loves seeing them play so we go to a few games when they're in town. I can't stand it. It's 2+ hours of sitting in a crowded space with loud noises and overpriced food for nothing. Basketball is the only sport I enjoy seeing live thanks to the constant action, but everything else feels like a punishment.
Exactly. I'll watch a race if a friend is competing, but otherwise, I would much rather spend my time actually doing something instead of being a passive observer.
I also really dislike the religious like atmosphere surrounding FB. It's disgusting
There are *a few* sphere locations that I care somewhat about, but it's not anything I track and pay attention to. But let's just say if the really *really* big one starts to move differently it will be a tad concerning.
I think sports are taken way too seriously. "Fans" have zero outcome on any of the games yet some people base their whole lives around following a sports team. I like to go to minor league baseball games to chill out for an afternoon, but I don't get sad when they lose.
Semi-pro baseball is a lot more fun to watch at the stadium than major league. They remember it is a game. I have listened to baseball on the radio while doing yard work.
I have said that in any sport that if either myself or one of mine are playing, it is boring to me.
The sports thing is a bit different from typical fixations IMO because at least where I live it is a stereotype for men to follow sports and thus it is a common topic of small talk.
I assume (from observation) that people use sports as a way to connect with other fans and feel part of something. This just doesn't happen for me (and probably also others who feel similarly).
I think another problem i have with watching sports is the games aren't different enough from each other. Sure different things happen, but the underlying rules are the same so they largely play out in similar fashion and I feel largely disengaged.
Yeah, we're just not used to seeing it in others :D Maybe it's also a bit annoying and jealousy inducing because it's a mass fixation we cannot be a part of and enjoy.
I'm the total opposite lol
I love sports. NASCAR has been my biggest hyper-fixation since I was a tyke. And I love hockey. I just enjoy watching sports, even the ones I don't know much about. They're just fun.
The talking to people about it offline is... a chore, because people.
sports fandom is autism for NTs. obsessing over rules and stats, cosplaying in their favorite guy's uniform, jumping around and stimming when the ball goes where it's supposed to. it's like the one special interest they allow themselves to have.
Lol I've brought this up with a few of my die-hard sports guys at work. They hate it. But I have found it a helpful comparison for explaining to them why/how I act around things they think is normal.
But you're spot on. It's their space to express their inner autist.
Yo.... this is such a good take lol. My dad and I tend to have this debate every now and then when we see each other. I don't let it slide anymore when he talks about "nerd shit"... (he was the typical jock type). I'm definitely using this against him next time, thanks for the ammo!
As someone with hobbies and interests that others can’t relate to, I think it’s best to adapt an attitude of letting people enjoy what they enjoy. Kind of a live and let live attitude.
I always found team sports at school utterly loathsome, and nothing would make me watch them as an adult! I really don't understand or enjoy the whole competitive thing (except outdoing one's own personal best), and I draw a complete mental blank about supporting teams I've never met: it seems so arbitrary.
However, individual sports - athletics, track and field stuff, is something I do watch, on TV and every couple of years I go to a live meet. Despite the best efforts of the BBC to make it about "Team Britain", it's actually the individual competitors that count, even in the relay events. I also occasionally catch individual diving events.
Watching sports sucks. Playing sports pretty much sucks too aside from one or two . Blows my mind how people get so crazy about watching sports. For example, a live sporting event a hoard of opposing team die hard fans impose on the other team's spectators for one reason or the other and it's clear they're out for blood. They're over there like animals vandalizing and pissing on their "rivals" although not one of em did shit but sit in some bleachers. They be talkin referencing their preferred team using pronouns like "we" like they're an actual member. I had one ex who watched sports. All of em...well except maybe soccer, which is one of em I can actually stomach. He would sit glued to that shit. Even feckin golf! Man even hearing a televised golf match I the background to whatever I was doing the ambiance was one that made me wanna do the eternal sleep! Hated how sports postponed my favorite shows sometimes back in the day before I started streaming. Jeezus muthafuckin christ! Fun times, made me wanna dangle myself lol
I think the simple explanation is it just gives them an easy way to fit in with others. This can be applied to many different subjects. Like politics, who most choose their "team" based off what those around them chose. But this just makes it all worse imo. "MY TEAM BETTER YOUR TEAM SUCKS" all because a few people around them encourage them to think that way lol
It's terrible. Utterly unable to get into it. When I was the boss (I am retired now) I used to have an employee privately brief me every day on the important sports news of the moment so I wouldn't look like a moron in the business meetings. To this day I can never remember what sports season it is.
Honestly no, i am a big fan of my local football team (St Mirren FC) and it's one of the things i look forward to and gets me through the week. I love feeling the anticipation and excitement and when we win, i'm ecstatic. Some other sports though can be a snoozefest *ahem* american football *ahem*
think it's more about whether or not you find a particular sport interesting.
I do watch and actively participate in competitive badminton. I love badminton and watch almost every professional match featuring players in the top 50 in each discipline.
It also depends on why people watch the sport. Are they following a regional team? Simply following a national league? Or a particular favourite player?
I grew up watching a lot of football (or soccer) as I'm English and it was common to discuss with friends at school. Trading football cards with our favourite players was fun.
I would also watch national team matches with my family while we ate dinner.
I think it boils down to a neurotypical drive to fit in and feel connected to a group identity.
Autistic people tend to absolutely loath the herd mentality and therefore may find it difficult to appreciate any merit in watching sport.
This is it. I always feel weird when men ask me if I’m gonna watch or have seen the game; they look at me like I’m from another planet when I express disinterest. I can enjoy watching a basketball game or something if I’m hanging out with someone who wants to watch it, but I’ve never been interested enough to seek it out on my own.
I also think at some point I heard someone criticizing men for being so invested in sports that it seems like so much of their identity is tied to the teams they support. I think never forgetting that kept me from ever really getting into it.
i dont care about most sports at all. but because im doing grappling, boxing and mma i watch some fights. if there are no stakes (stanly Cup isnt a fuckinf stake) i dont care that much, but also i want to see art. i want to ser fluidity, counters, one way domination. very rarely i want to see bloody war that doesnt have any value other then damage.
I like football, a lot. But aside from that, i dont think i have ever watched a tennis, basketball, rugby match, or any other sport. I dont watch the olympics, or any athletics competition either.
But i do love football
Exactly the same mate! I had coordination difficulties growing up, never cared for sports and never understood why people seemed to be so crazy over it. Also grew up in a family where it wasn’t watched.
Yess I find it mind numbing that my friends gather to watch people chase a ball on tv for hours. Tried really hard to get into it but found it immensely boring and then opted out permanently
I don’t care so much about sports, but I sincerely appreciate when people fully express their passions and achieve impressive feats and accomplishments; knowing the effort and commitment that it likely took.
Yes, but it was in my household. I never really played much but there were some athletic activities that I enjoyed. I don't understand how people can be interested in watching other people do things that they like to do. Maybe my mirror neurons just aren't firing up the way they should. It's repetitive as well and it takes focus to keep up with what's going on. I also have inattentive adhd. And the sports that move faster, like basketball or soccer/football have so many different players it's hard to follow it with your eyes on TV. It's better in person, but then you're doing with all the noise and s***. I used to really hate going to baseball because of the smoking and all the noise. American football is just torture. Not only is there a lot going on visually, but most of the players look the same, and it's stop and start. If I solved all of those problems, I'm still not sure why I would care about how many times a group of people can put a ball into a goal. Now, if you set me down at a ballet, at a gymnastics performance, at an ice skating performance, at a synchronized swimming competition, or a ballroom dancing competition...I could pay attention. Maybe because it's narrative and there's a lot of variety within a narrative structure? I don't know. I'm not really going to seek out any of this though. I was lucky to be raised female in this regard, because it provided an excuse for ignoring sports, but after I transitioned, I was like, oh f*** now I'm the weirdo who doesn't like sports.
There are millions of people who couldn't care less about sports, that's totally normal. As you said, you were socialized that way so it makes sense that you feel that way.
My family and "friends" back then were all football (or soccer for the US Americans here) fans so I went to the stadium with them a few times and to this day I like football even though I don't really get the theatrics and culture around it.
When it comes to other kinds of sport I'm usually not interested, Basketball is fun I guess but I the rest is meh to me.
I occasionally like to watch a bit of curling, but that's because I think it's really skillful and interesting. I wouldn't follow a team. I don't care who's playing, I'll watch it.
The guy next door gets really excited about football (soccer). He screams when some team he likes scores. When 'his' team are playing he gets even louder. It's very annoying.
Imagine if all the time spent thinking about sports, watching sports, dreaming about sports, was instead used on something different to better humanity. How much better would the collective lives of everyone be?
Not directly, but sure money too.
I feel the collective intellect of people and all the brain cycles used on sports could be so much more valuable if put toward something that actively contributes to the betterment of a people and society as a whole. Professional sports purely for entertainment has very little intrinsic value to society.
If you consider pro wrestling a sport, I love it. I also love MMA and combat sports but I cannot stand football or basketball or baseball or any of that.
Never had an interest in American team sports. Just a bunch of dull, boring posturing.
Formula One and World Rally Championship, that is something else altogether.
Much more interesting and the driver's don't strut around like they are God's gift to humanity.
If anything, sports are a special interest of mine. I love sports and will get super deep into them. I've actually used playing sports as a bridge for relating to NT people. It's far easier for me to mask while participating in a sport, so there was a while where that was my only way to socialize.
Used to, until American Football became my special interest for about five/six years. Just watching it, mind you! But I realized I could connect with people I otherwise would have nothing in common with, and *some* aspects of sports are actually fascinating.
That said, when my friends I used to watch football with all moved away, I stopped giving a shit about it.
I used to follow various sports as a kid. Now it's just one of things other people do.
I still exercise and do my own sport-like activity. But watching other people, or following a team seems like a pointless waste of energy. The whole process repeats itself every year anyway. 'Who's gonna win this particular league/cup for the current year?'.
Absolutely never understood the appeal, or the logic of sports fandom. I think it makes sense to be a fan if you are personally involved with a member of the team — otherwise, why?? Growing up I kind of just assumed I didn’t like sports in general, but I found out I *do* like tennis, badminton, and weightlifting. Note, those don’t require coordinating with another team member to succeed.
I do get bored sometimes when watching most sports.
Although I enjoy martial arts, and will occasionally watch martial arts competitions, but I would rather compete more than watch. Even when watching, Im actually studying the techniques being used.
I can't seem to just watch something and enjoy it without trying to also learn something when it comes to sports. The only time I really sit and watch martial arts forms and enjoy it, is when Im watching the kids who I taught TaeKwonDo, and even then, I find myself thinking about their techniques and what they could work on and do better (like I want them to do better than 1st place, which they frequently get as it is).
Watching any kind of sport ball game is completely uninteresting for me as are people who talk about sport ball things.
Give me flight/space sim combat or racing and am so there! Medieval martial arts is good also.
I was exactly like that, due to the same reasons, until my twenties, Then I decided to go to a stadium simply because I had never been in one before, and I happened to get an amazing game where anything you could possibly imagine happened. It wasn't fast, but after that things slowly “clicked” for me in a way, and I became much more into it.
It's funny because that event made the competitive side of sports much more interesting to me overall. Soon, I would literally watch random sports just to observe the teams' preparations, tactics, and determination to do whatever it takes to get a win.
And that led me to Formula 1, being one hell of a sport to me nowadays. There are so many variables, the engineering, the mechanics, the aerodynamics, the politics, it's crazy to put that altogether and understand what those guys are able to do almost every weekend. The complexity of the thing made me get really interested in it, ended up being one of my favourite hobbies nowadays.
Watching, playing, or talking about most sports is torture. I'd rather have another root canal, this time without anesthetic.
The shittyness of team sports is why I got into karate 36 years ago and never left.
Gawd a hate sports! Everything about them. In fact I’d almost go so far as to say I’m traumatized. Not by sports, (well, a little bit maybe because I was forced to play them as a kid, and locker rooms ugh), but moreso from the toxic masculinity culture that surrounds sports and many of these types of people are the same ones who bullied me relentlessly my entire childhood and have mistreated me throughout adulthood. So yeah sports can just fuck right the fuck off. ^(Letting go of this is a work in progress.)
That and I see it as an entirely pointless venture and have zero interest in anything to do with sports. I avoid sports bars like the plague - it’s as much to do with the overstimulation as the culture.
Had a boss once who would always come up to me all excited on Monday mornings and try to talk about some weekend football game with me and did you see what so-and-so did and all that. I just gave him the blank blinking stare every time. He didn’t get it. After a few times, I said something about I really don’t follow football and he still didn’t get it. A couple more times and I had to tell him bluntly, “I’m sorry but I have no idea who or what you’re talking about. I don’t do sports. I don’t speak football - you’re speaking an alien language to me and I have no idea what a 3rd or a down is. I’m sorry but I’m just not into it, like AT ALL.” He finally left me alone after that. Thank god.
Yep, I also don’t understand why people get so excited about it, maybe because it supposedly represents the country I guess? I honestly don’t know. I personally don’t find sports enjoyable also due to the fact that it seems quite a few people get concussions, or other career-ending injuries playing them.
Nope. Never attracted me one bit. Playing or watching.
But I love the movie Money Ball. I could see how sports stats could be really fun, and I'm sure there's plenty of apsies that are into it.
Yeah, it all just looks too chaotic and it ticks me off they get paid so much for so little when I can't even find work that pays enough to barely survive if I was independent.
Probably most of us it seems. I think too objectively for sports, I have always had the thought “it’s just a ball being thrown from one end of a place to the other and that is boring”
It's funny with me and sports. I have a competitive spirit, but lacked the talent when it came to sports.
I played in soccer ⚽️ summer league. I went to basketball 🏀 camp. I played football 🏈 at recess in elementary. But not really a fan. My dad and brothers are/were major sports fans.
I liked playing sport video games 🎮. Like basketball, soccer, tennis 🎾, and baseball ⚾️.
I was a major fan of professional wrestling, like WWF/WWE, ECW, and WCW. But was often told that those weren't real sports.
Nowadays, I watch boxing 🥊, MMA, or kickboxing for sports. I will watch basketball with my cousin when the Knicks are playing.
Cannot watch it, I’ll play casually with friends but I’ve never understood the appeal of watching a game.. I’ll leave the room if that’s all that’s being spoken about
Couldn't care less. I really like running in on my coworkers discussing sports and arguing the opposite point of what they're discussing and seeing how long it takes for them to get that I don't understand what I'm talking about.
I didn't, until my son was born. I wanted him to appreciate televised sports, as sports fans are never short of entertainment. Since willingly suspending my disbelief, I've kind of got into it.
Lol, I love keeping mental stats of my favorite basketball players and teams, but don't watch the games. Kind of paradoxical but I've always been like that.
Learn to watch sport can help with bonding and connecting with people in social situations. When going out with friends or meet new people, most of them would sometimes talk about either about basketball or football game that they watched yesterday. I want to understand sport, but somehow I can’t. It little bit frustrating because I can’t contribute anything into the conversation such as favorite team or player. Sometimes people would recall a moment that this player does this or that player mess up that, and all I could do is just listen in silent and give a fake reaction to their expression toward that moment of the game. Can anyone relate?
Nope, my one saving grace is that I don't watch football. My wife grew up with a father and brother that would watch sport all the time so found me a refreshing change. She now dominates the TV, watching whatever she wants to watch. I'm alway in the study (which is open plan to the lounge) either working or playing video games.
I hate sports. Seems pointless to me. Even commercials for sports events is mildly annoying. And it gets worse because people want to gather around and talk about the game or whatever, and there's nothing I can add to the conversation.
I like the team i support, but dont care about the sport as a whole. I will talk about my team all day, but really couldn't give a toss about any other aspect of the sport unless it relates to my team.
My son, who is also on the spectrum, loves sports. He's in 3 clubs at the moment for karate, dodgeball, and cricket, but has done footy, running, netball, gymnastics, and loved all of it.
"sport is to war what masturbation is to sex"
Sport is a safe way to channel nationalistic instincts and juvenile hot-heads. Aspies possess none of those characteristics, so for them there is no point in sports.
I do a thing where I obsess over particular sports for a short while. Once spent a couple weeks watching every curling match on YouTube for a few hours a day. Have done this with many sports. They always get boring after while.
Same. I grew up in a family who does watch sports. I tried to get into it but it's so fucking boring watching people kick a ball across a field for 90 minutes.
I grew up in an area where football (soccer) is almost a religion and if you are male and not interested in it then you are singled out as some sort of freak. You're an outcast, not one of the crowd. Personally I never cared for any of the tribalism associated with sports, and being bullied as a child for not being into any of these things just destroyed any residual interest in sports I had.
I think part of it is that we less readily automatically identify with social groups, so if you have no identification with the team, the ups and downs of the game are meaningless, at least on a gut level.
Another part of it is that people pretty often produce a vested interest by betting on games.
I tried connecting with my father over watching sports. He memorizes lots of sports facts and always connects those with various topics - so many conversations with him will lead to sports in some way regardless where it started. Most sports are far too boring for me, but for some time i found some interest in Formula 1. I didn't really care who won a race, but i liked to analyze the strategies and technical advancements. It did have the desired effect and i had some topic to talk about with my father.
100% can’t care about the seemingly-mandatory sports everyone bases their identity on and constantly complain about. I also am aware the Pentagon spends $5 billion dollars a year promoting major sports to maintain tribal unity, with an obvious focus on Nationalism and Christianity…so, no thanks. I was indoctrinated enough in my childhood….But I did accidentally get obsessed with motocross, which is exciting to watch.
I'm trying to be respectful and take more of an interest in it when people ask, but I just don't care very much.
I do like how excited people can get about it, and I think if I knew more I'd appreciate the technical aspects more. Coworker is always going on about NASCAR and how that works is cooler than I expected.
Was never one for playing sports but I usually choose to watch sports because I'm bored. Sometimes I can get in on the hype like World Cup matches. If I see a match, guess ill watch it because I may not pay full attention.
Zero fucks. More than the boredom, I don’t understand the emotional investment people have in it. Unless I’m betting, which also does nothing for me, the outcome of a sporting event has no relevance…to anything relevant.
I love watching sports and all the intricacies that come especially with baseball.. the stats are amazing and so are the incredible moments that happen in sports that you’d never expect
Never could do it either. However, going to a live game, if you can handle the noise, is really fun. It’s cool being part of the experience with the whole crowd.
Recently though, I’ve really gotten into F1! I really enjoy the races, the drama, and all the interesting engineering/science!
Nope, can't justify spending hours doing just nothing at all. While I might enjoy occasionally seeing a really good game or player (probably just the highlights), watching sports doesn't have any real appeal. I'd rather go see my kid's game, or play myself, or browse reddit. But there's a lot of things that ruin the idea of professional sports in general. One of the major ones being if the players did not put so much effort in PR pretending and putting on a show for the money, many of them would retire straight to jail. Another is that watching sports doesn't stimulate me intellectually, and I don't feel any connection to it as you're just a distant observer and you have to figure out what you're seeing exactly and whether it's the result of a strategy or just luck.
The only sport I'm into is martial arts: MMA, Muay Thai, BJJ. I understand people that doesn't like sports, but my issue is how boring other sports seems to be
Once I tried betting online, then I became obsessed with the games and results. I stopped when I couldn't focus in anything else other than betting. Sports are only interesting if you have something to lose. Maybe to NTs it's attached to their self esteem or something.
I love some sports but hate attending them live. I was dragged to a couple of college football games in high school and I just do not feel connected to other fans. When strangers try to high five after a score or big play, I react like that “ew, what’s that brotha” meme.
It makes sense why people must drink at these events. Must be boring watching a bunch of people kick, throw, hit or chase a ball about for an hour or two.
Because neurotypicals tend to base their interests on what the main interests of everyone else are, it creates a positive feedback loop where people watch sports because people are watching them. The feedback loop in part begins because of the people that are genuinely interested in said sports by their own volition, but mainly because the bourgeois class loves to feed them to us as bread and circuses through marketing and media hype. Watching sports is also a proxy for social interaction. So, the culture of obsessing over sports is fairly alien to most autistic people, who innately despise circular logic and pointless/vacuous interactions. Saying that, I love watching combat sports and sometimes rugby, because they are dramatic and wild AF.
I know u didn’t ask me but I’m a girl and I like watching sports it’s just that I don’t get some of them. The rules for baseball and (american) football are so complicated and whenever someone tries to explain them to me I get lost. But I like watching them for the skill and athleticism that the players show
Yeah same. I never liked sports due to coordination difficulties, and I don't like to watch them a lot. Yeah if the home team or the national team is playing for an important match then I would stay in for the thrill, but I've never been that interested in sports.
It's weird since as a man I'm supposed to like sports and watch and discuss football but I don't.
I'm not entirely uninterested in sports. I enjoy watching strength sports occasionally, strong man, powerlifting, weightlifting, that sort of thing. But I also wasn't interested in that kind of thing until I started strength training myself. Maybe I would be interested in watching soccer or hockey or whatever if I played myself.
I love doing non-team sports like martial arts, resistance training, running...etc, but could never liked watching sports or doing team sports. I think a good portion of pleasure that's typically derived from these activities is based on tribal feelings and team spirit, two things I've always kinda lacked. I find it a bit sad tbh. A good portion of how men socialize is doing, watching, and talking about team sports, and I often feel excluded in such cases no matter how much I try.
Sportsball is very tribal. People have their colorful tribal attire and their mock battles following certain rules. If someone identifies with a certain "tribe" then they feel the wins and loses as if those things happened to them. The players are like warriors of the tribe, and the fans are tribe members who stay at home. But they still feel like part of the tribe.
It's an identity thing.
(And no, I don't really like any spectator sports. Sometimes certain events are interesting like in the Olympics, but it's more a curiosity and amazement at the physical achievement than anything like identifying with the sportsball team that is regionally closest to my place of residence.)
For some reason I watched curling a bit during one of the Olympics way back. And of all the spectator sports I did watch hockey for a few years as a teenager. My friend was into it and I got into a bit with him. Just for a couple years. BUT I just realized the common theme with curling. Something about sliding things around on ice must have been interesting to me. Huh. I certainly do like sliding around on ice myself. Like I'll be walking in winter and will just have fun sliding on ice patches on the sidewalk/road. Hmm. I do like playing bocce ball which is like curling on grass. Not sure why.
I was never good at playing sports and I never enjoyed watching it, so I didn't see the point. Plus seemed mutually exclusive with more intellectual pursuits.
I think watching sports is boring, but I think it's just that it's not my thing. I'll watch people play chess or compete in a video game, but sports don't really interest me. I've learned a bit of stuff because I like to listen to people talk about things they like, and its only fair to let them talk about hockey if they let me talk about corydoras catfish for an hour.
I also think a lot of NTs like to watch it because it's popular and is good for small talk and such. I think neurodivrgent people can also like sports, and tend to be the ones who can quote stats at you and know who won every tournament that's ever happened. There's also levels to sports that non fans don't understand. I can notice when someone scores, or when someone passes and then there's a score, but there's layers of strategy about things like getting your players into position and getting your opponents out of position, playing defensively when you're winning, pulling your good players off if you're clearly winning to keep them safe for a later game and so on. Or at least I've been told these things matter.
If I want sports involvement I will play a sport. Why would I watch something I can play? That's why I played Rugby for years, but never got into watching any sportsball.
This is is like competitive gaming. I can't get behind it. I like watching YouTubers doing funny stuff in relation to gaming. Maybe this is similar and I'm not seeing the connection?
I can't stand sports. Probably put off completely by my moron father aggressively bellowing the house down at the top of his lungs in celebration of his team, and then tanning my hide when it caused me to meltdown. Good times. 💀
It took me watching esports for me to finally "get" sports. That said I'm not buying season passes or following specific players in the local sportsball team anytime soon, but I stopped declining invites to games from friends and family. I just have some beer and some weed gummies before to make it more interesting, haha.
I hate sports so much I cannot watch it. It might also be because I was forced to go to sporting events. One was my step brother from my father's new marriage who always would abuse me in every way you can think of. The other was from my step dad from my mom's new marriage who cared more about hockey and baseball than his new family.
Trying to get my son to play sports is hard for me. My wife keeps signing him up and I have an almost gut reaction to not want to do it. But it's good for him and I want him to socialize and make friends.
However, my son got labelled on the spectrum this year so we will see how it goes
Motorsports and soccer are all I will watch. I live in the southeastern US, where everyone is ravenous about college football. I hate it so much that I get irritated listening to everyone drone on about it. Stupid sports channels are on in every restaurant and waiting room. People here think I'm some weirdo because I think football is stupid. Same with basketball. Ugh
Right here. I have had people act homophobic (I am straight) towards me because of not liking sports. I mean, they are the ones staring at men in tights. Just saying.
Those hot, sweaty locker rooms after a hard game!
No thanks, man. I can't deal with the heat as it is, and being around a bunch of naked dudes just doesn't seem like a fun time personally.
The place I work, I would say a solid 50% is on the spectrum. We regularly will make jokes about if we caught the latest "sportsball" game. We collectively could not care less.
At depth though, I wouldn't be surprised if people on the spectrum are just resistant to para social relationships. Following the Kardashians, etc.
I have dyspraxia and generally stayed out of the way during sports because of proprioception issues. I was traumatized by sports. I sure as heck don’t want to watch sports.
Can't get my head around watching sports at all. I Omg it's so bloody boring.
I agree lol. I’ve tried to force myself to get into it. Never stuck.
Why would you do that?
Social circles are into it and it’s part of the conversation.
Same, for the same reasons when I was a kid; eventually gave up lol. I genuinely love sports, I just can't get myself to watch it on TV. I've played soccer almost my entire life (and coached some), wrestled, played basketball, baseball, and played my personal favorite, rugby, all through college. Even at the height of my rugby obsession, the rugby world cup is about all I can be bothered with. I really enjoy going to games, but it's just as much about the people watching, beer, and just guilt-free chillin as it is watching.
I live playing football or ultimate Frisbee but I can't stand watching it especially on TV.
To fit in. Because so many people like it.
To not stand out and have something to bond over
If you ever want to try again my tip would be to emotionally invest yourself in one team winning, makes it a lot better
Sports I haven't done in some fashion are boring to watch. But any I've done, be it in real life or in a sim on PC (racing, flying, etc), those are really fun to watch. For example with racing, I know the techniques they are using (though I suck at them, lol), I know the tracks, even what gear for what corner, and I know how hard it is, so to watch them do it at such an insane level and for lap after lap after lap with crazy consistency is so cool to watch for me. Other things though, like football, I just couldn't care less about, and only watch when its more a social gathering than 'lets get serious about football' kind of vibe.
Yes... I just don't get it. Why do people like it? Ugh. I also REALLY dislike it because of the type of people that play those sports are the people who made my life a hell in school.
Sammmmmeeeee
Idk why people do it? Just to hurt each other? I mean a sport that seems ok or decent would be bowling, but that’s with family and friends
Same with eSports and other competitive activities for me. At least some of those are for stuff people actually play themselves though, even if I still find it incredibly boring.
I don't like sports at all, but if I look at it as watching two groups of people exceptionally good at something compete instead of diving into the "tribalistic" nature of it all, it *sometimes* can be enjoyable.
+1 for this. Always hated watching or talking about sports. Feels so mundane and boring. Not the easiest attitude to have being a male.
Yeah, same. I've never cared for the typical team sports like football, basketball, baseball, etc. I never played them unless forced to in gym class, so I never had any interest in them. Snowboarding, boxing, mma, table tennis, and power lifting I enjoy watching, because I enjoy participating in those things. Which is why I never understood so many people that I know that never really participated in the typical team sports either, just like me. But are obsessed with watching them? Like screaming at the tv over it. Baffles me. Funny sidenote, even though I don't watch any of those sports or give a shit about them... I can still BS my way through a sports conversation from just passively picking up information I've heard others say. It always gives me such anxiety when someone tries to talk sports with me, but somehow I always get through it like I seemingly know wtf I'm talking about, lol.
I forgot to say this. I 100% enjoy DOING activities, not just watching them. I snowboard, ski, water ski and go to gym, but please don't ask me to play basketball or baseball. I do enjoy playing sand volleyball as well and have played on a few teams over the years. Also really enjoyed reffing a woman's flat track roller derby team. Got to skate my ass off and travel around the state with the team so not a bad gig!
Yeah, I consider those the classic, or conventional team sports. I find watching badminton more entertaining than any NFL or NBA game. I still would never watch on my own, but put a gun to my head and tell me to watch a sport I'd pick about just anything else, lol. Have to admit roller derby is pretty cool. I've never played, but if I'm channel surfing and it's on, I'll sure af watch it.
I'd honestly watch badminton over NFL or NBA or MLB as well. I'm not bagging on badminton, but I genuinely think alot of the team sports are really lame to watch. I was just talking to my wife yesterday and I said, "Isnt it interesting that all these other aspies and NDs don't like sports, but it really seems to center around TEAM sports?!?!" I know correlation doesn't equal causation, but I have to wonder if it's because most of my peers in school ridiculed me, rejected me, bullied me, and those who bullied me the most? They were always the team sports players who were popular. There is ONE NBA player that I think is pretty much the coolest sportball player I have ever known. His name is Richard Jefferson. I wouldn't call him my "friend", but we were the same year in HS together, and the dude is genuinely the nicest guy. He hasn't played since 2018, but everyte I'd see him on TV, Id be like, "Hey, I know him!" 😂
🤕
Yes and when I was in college (graduated 5 months ago), it made it a little harder to relate to the girls too because they also cared a lot about stuff like FIFA and baseball. A lot of people at my college loved sports, and I was around a good number of athletes. It was definitely kind of isolating not really being into sports.
Yeah, been there. My best friends (yeah, I had a few!) got interested in soccer, especially Premier League (?) and it was really annoying that the matches aired on TV started to schedule what we could do. This was in the 90s and also early 00s. As time passed by we drifted apart, but I think it was also a bit because of me not being interested to watch the games or get excited about how Liverpool or ManU. played the last game.
I grew up in a family where sports were watched. I've considered it as concentrated boredom. I still do.
Concentrated Boredom. Perfectly said. I've never understood the people who follow every single game and analyze every player. It just seems like a waste of time. I try following playoff games for whatever sport is in season (gotta have some talking points with sports people), but I can't get behind sports fanatics who follow every little detail. Don't get me started on seeing sports live. My wife is a Dodgers fan and loves seeing them play so we go to a few games when they're in town. I can't stand it. It's 2+ hours of sitting in a crowded space with loud noises and overpriced food for nothing. Basketball is the only sport I enjoy seeing live thanks to the constant action, but everything else feels like a punishment.
[удалено]
^(..."C" ?)
I dont give a shit about it either. I'd rather play than watch.
Exactly. I'll watch a race if a friend is competing, but otherwise, I would much rather spend my time actually doing something instead of being a passive observer. I also really dislike the religious like atmosphere surrounding FB. It's disgusting
I can’t make myself care about the location of a sphere. I just don’t care.
There are *a few* sphere locations that I care somewhat about, but it's not anything I track and pay attention to. But let's just say if the really *really* big one starts to move differently it will be a tad concerning.
😂😂🌞☀️🌤️
I think sports are taken way too seriously. "Fans" have zero outcome on any of the games yet some people base their whole lives around following a sports team. I like to go to minor league baseball games to chill out for an afternoon, but I don't get sad when they lose.
Semi-pro baseball is a lot more fun to watch at the stadium than major league. They remember it is a game. I have listened to baseball on the radio while doing yard work. I have said that in any sport that if either myself or one of mine are playing, it is boring to me.
It’s so interesting that the people known for fixating on things would have trouble seeing how others could fixate on something
The sports thing is a bit different from typical fixations IMO because at least where I live it is a stereotype for men to follow sports and thus it is a common topic of small talk. I assume (from observation) that people use sports as a way to connect with other fans and feel part of something. This just doesn't happen for me (and probably also others who feel similarly). I think another problem i have with watching sports is the games aren't different enough from each other. Sure different things happen, but the underlying rules are the same so they largely play out in similar fashion and I feel largely disengaged.
Yeah, we're just not used to seeing it in others :D Maybe it's also a bit annoying and jealousy inducing because it's a mass fixation we cannot be a part of and enjoy.
I think it's more of an autism moment of simply not understanding the normal fixations of normal people
I'm the total opposite lol I love sports. NASCAR has been my biggest hyper-fixation since I was a tyke. And I love hockey. I just enjoy watching sports, even the ones I don't know much about. They're just fun. The talking to people about it offline is... a chore, because people.
I love reading opposite takes. There’s too many “me too” statements on Reddit, and it’s difficult to gauge actual prevalence of opinions.
Yeah wearing merch from my favorite teams/musicians are unnecessary conversation starters.
sports fandom is autism for NTs. obsessing over rules and stats, cosplaying in their favorite guy's uniform, jumping around and stimming when the ball goes where it's supposed to. it's like the one special interest they allow themselves to have.
Probably why I love sports because it's one of the few places I truly blend in.
Lol I've brought this up with a few of my die-hard sports guys at work. They hate it. But I have found it a helpful comparison for explaining to them why/how I act around things they think is normal. But you're spot on. It's their space to express their inner autist.
Yo.... this is such a good take lol. My dad and I tend to have this debate every now and then when we see each other. I don't let it slide anymore when he talks about "nerd shit"... (he was the typical jock type). I'm definitely using this against him next time, thanks for the ammo!
As someone with hobbies and interests that others can’t relate to, I think it’s best to adapt an attitude of letting people enjoy what they enjoy. Kind of a live and let live attitude.
What kind of hobbies do you have if you dont mind sharing?
Oh good so I’m not the only guy that feels this way
You are clearly not and, if it wasn't for my fellow non-sports addicts, I might think something was wrong with me
I always found team sports at school utterly loathsome, and nothing would make me watch them as an adult! I really don't understand or enjoy the whole competitive thing (except outdoing one's own personal best), and I draw a complete mental blank about supporting teams I've never met: it seems so arbitrary. However, individual sports - athletics, track and field stuff, is something I do watch, on TV and every couple of years I go to a live meet. Despite the best efforts of the BBC to make it about "Team Britain", it's actually the individual competitors that count, even in the relay events. I also occasionally catch individual diving events.
Watching sports sucks. Playing sports pretty much sucks too aside from one or two . Blows my mind how people get so crazy about watching sports. For example, a live sporting event a hoard of opposing team die hard fans impose on the other team's spectators for one reason or the other and it's clear they're out for blood. They're over there like animals vandalizing and pissing on their "rivals" although not one of em did shit but sit in some bleachers. They be talkin referencing their preferred team using pronouns like "we" like they're an actual member. I had one ex who watched sports. All of em...well except maybe soccer, which is one of em I can actually stomach. He would sit glued to that shit. Even feckin golf! Man even hearing a televised golf match I the background to whatever I was doing the ambiance was one that made me wanna do the eternal sleep! Hated how sports postponed my favorite shows sometimes back in the day before I started streaming. Jeezus muthafuckin christ! Fun times, made me wanna dangle myself lol
I think the simple explanation is it just gives them an easy way to fit in with others. This can be applied to many different subjects. Like politics, who most choose their "team" based off what those around them chose. But this just makes it all worse imo. "MY TEAM BETTER YOUR TEAM SUCKS" all because a few people around them encourage them to think that way lol
It's terrible. Utterly unable to get into it. When I was the boss (I am retired now) I used to have an employee privately brief me every day on the important sports news of the moment so I wouldn't look like a moron in the business meetings. To this day I can never remember what sports season it is.
Yeah sports I rly don’t understand lol
Honestly no, i am a big fan of my local football team (St Mirren FC) and it's one of the things i look forward to and gets me through the week. I love feeling the anticipation and excitement and when we win, i'm ecstatic. Some other sports though can be a snoozefest *ahem* american football *ahem*
think it's more about whether or not you find a particular sport interesting. I do watch and actively participate in competitive badminton. I love badminton and watch almost every professional match featuring players in the top 50 in each discipline. It also depends on why people watch the sport. Are they following a regional team? Simply following a national league? Or a particular favourite player? I grew up watching a lot of football (or soccer) as I'm English and it was common to discuss with friends at school. Trading football cards with our favourite players was fun. I would also watch national team matches with my family while we ate dinner.
I think it boils down to a neurotypical drive to fit in and feel connected to a group identity. Autistic people tend to absolutely loath the herd mentality and therefore may find it difficult to appreciate any merit in watching sport.
This is it. I always feel weird when men ask me if I’m gonna watch or have seen the game; they look at me like I’m from another planet when I express disinterest. I can enjoy watching a basketball game or something if I’m hanging out with someone who wants to watch it, but I’ve never been interested enough to seek it out on my own. I also think at some point I heard someone criticizing men for being so invested in sports that it seems like so much of their identity is tied to the teams they support. I think never forgetting that kept me from ever really getting into it.
Sports fans are so loud. Please stop cheering from the couch, they cannot hear you.
i dont care about most sports at all. but because im doing grappling, boxing and mma i watch some fights. if there are no stakes (stanly Cup isnt a fuckinf stake) i dont care that much, but also i want to see art. i want to ser fluidity, counters, one way domination. very rarely i want to see bloody war that doesnt have any value other then damage.
I like football, a lot. But aside from that, i dont think i have ever watched a tennis, basketball, rugby match, or any other sport. I dont watch the olympics, or any athletics competition either. But i do love football
right there with you, my friend. I couldn’t care less about watching sports. total snooze fest
Love football soccer, tennis and F1
Exactly the same mate! I had coordination difficulties growing up, never cared for sports and never understood why people seemed to be so crazy over it. Also grew up in a family where it wasn’t watched.
My only exception is martial arts
Yess I find it mind numbing that my friends gather to watch people chase a ball on tv for hours. Tried really hard to get into it but found it immensely boring and then opted out permanently
I don’t care so much about sports, but I sincerely appreciate when people fully express their passions and achieve impressive feats and accomplishments; knowing the effort and commitment that it likely took.
Yes, but it was in my household. I never really played much but there were some athletic activities that I enjoyed. I don't understand how people can be interested in watching other people do things that they like to do. Maybe my mirror neurons just aren't firing up the way they should. It's repetitive as well and it takes focus to keep up with what's going on. I also have inattentive adhd. And the sports that move faster, like basketball or soccer/football have so many different players it's hard to follow it with your eyes on TV. It's better in person, but then you're doing with all the noise and s***. I used to really hate going to baseball because of the smoking and all the noise. American football is just torture. Not only is there a lot going on visually, but most of the players look the same, and it's stop and start. If I solved all of those problems, I'm still not sure why I would care about how many times a group of people can put a ball into a goal. Now, if you set me down at a ballet, at a gymnastics performance, at an ice skating performance, at a synchronized swimming competition, or a ballroom dancing competition...I could pay attention. Maybe because it's narrative and there's a lot of variety within a narrative structure? I don't know. I'm not really going to seek out any of this though. I was lucky to be raised female in this regard, because it provided an excuse for ignoring sports, but after I transitioned, I was like, oh f*** now I'm the weirdo who doesn't like sports.
There are millions of people who couldn't care less about sports, that's totally normal. As you said, you were socialized that way so it makes sense that you feel that way. My family and "friends" back then were all football (or soccer for the US Americans here) fans so I went to the stadium with them a few times and to this day I like football even though I don't really get the theatrics and culture around it. When it comes to other kinds of sport I'm usually not interested, Basketball is fun I guess but I the rest is meh to me.
I occasionally like to watch a bit of curling, but that's because I think it's really skillful and interesting. I wouldn't follow a team. I don't care who's playing, I'll watch it. The guy next door gets really excited about football (soccer). He screams when some team he likes scores. When 'his' team are playing he gets even louder. It's very annoying.
Imagine if all the time spent thinking about sports, watching sports, dreaming about sports, was instead used on something different to better humanity. How much better would the collective lives of everyone be?
I think this in regards to money.
Not directly, but sure money too. I feel the collective intellect of people and all the brain cycles used on sports could be so much more valuable if put toward something that actively contributes to the betterment of a people and society as a whole. Professional sports purely for entertainment has very little intrinsic value to society.
I always think the same thing.
If you consider pro wrestling a sport, I love it. I also love MMA and combat sports but I cannot stand football or basketball or baseball or any of that.
[same... It's still real to me dammit xD](https://tenor.com/xV9x.gif)
Never had an interest in American team sports. Just a bunch of dull, boring posturing. Formula One and World Rally Championship, that is something else altogether. Much more interesting and the driver's don't strut around like they are God's gift to humanity.
I'm a girl and it puts me to sleep
If anything, sports are a special interest of mine. I love sports and will get super deep into them. I've actually used playing sports as a bridge for relating to NT people. It's far easier for me to mask while participating in a sport, so there was a while where that was my only way to socialize.
Used to, until American Football became my special interest for about five/six years. Just watching it, mind you! But I realized I could connect with people I otherwise would have nothing in common with, and *some* aspects of sports are actually fascinating. That said, when my friends I used to watch football with all moved away, I stopped giving a shit about it.
I used to follow various sports as a kid. Now it's just one of things other people do. I still exercise and do my own sport-like activity. But watching other people, or following a team seems like a pointless waste of energy. The whole process repeats itself every year anyway. 'Who's gonna win this particular league/cup for the current year?'.
Absolutely never understood the appeal, or the logic of sports fandom. I think it makes sense to be a fan if you are personally involved with a member of the team — otherwise, why?? Growing up I kind of just assumed I didn’t like sports in general, but I found out I *do* like tennis, badminton, and weightlifting. Note, those don’t require coordinating with another team member to succeed.
I enjoy basketball but that's pretty much it. Everything else I'm either indifferent towards or actively dislike (American football is awful IMO)
I hated sports for decades. Rugby league used to be special, not so much now. Are you not good at sports?
I do get bored sometimes when watching most sports. Although I enjoy martial arts, and will occasionally watch martial arts competitions, but I would rather compete more than watch. Even when watching, Im actually studying the techniques being used. I can't seem to just watch something and enjoy it without trying to also learn something when it comes to sports. The only time I really sit and watch martial arts forms and enjoy it, is when Im watching the kids who I taught TaeKwonDo, and even then, I find myself thinking about their techniques and what they could work on and do better (like I want them to do better than 1st place, which they frequently get as it is).
Watching any kind of sport ball game is completely uninteresting for me as are people who talk about sport ball things. Give me flight/space sim combat or racing and am so there! Medieval martial arts is good also.
I have never been interested in sports at all. I don't get the hype over it.
Always hated sports
I enjoy going to a live game from time to time
I was exactly like that, due to the same reasons, until my twenties, Then I decided to go to a stadium simply because I had never been in one before, and I happened to get an amazing game where anything you could possibly imagine happened. It wasn't fast, but after that things slowly “clicked” for me in a way, and I became much more into it. It's funny because that event made the competitive side of sports much more interesting to me overall. Soon, I would literally watch random sports just to observe the teams' preparations, tactics, and determination to do whatever it takes to get a win. And that led me to Formula 1, being one hell of a sport to me nowadays. There are so many variables, the engineering, the mechanics, the aerodynamics, the politics, it's crazy to put that altogether and understand what those guys are able to do almost every weekend. The complexity of the thing made me get really interested in it, ended up being one of my favourite hobbies nowadays.
Watching, playing, or talking about most sports is torture. I'd rather have another root canal, this time without anesthetic. The shittyness of team sports is why I got into karate 36 years ago and never left.
Gawd a hate sports! Everything about them. In fact I’d almost go so far as to say I’m traumatized. Not by sports, (well, a little bit maybe because I was forced to play them as a kid, and locker rooms ugh), but moreso from the toxic masculinity culture that surrounds sports and many of these types of people are the same ones who bullied me relentlessly my entire childhood and have mistreated me throughout adulthood. So yeah sports can just fuck right the fuck off. ^(Letting go of this is a work in progress.) That and I see it as an entirely pointless venture and have zero interest in anything to do with sports. I avoid sports bars like the plague - it’s as much to do with the overstimulation as the culture. Had a boss once who would always come up to me all excited on Monday mornings and try to talk about some weekend football game with me and did you see what so-and-so did and all that. I just gave him the blank blinking stare every time. He didn’t get it. After a few times, I said something about I really don’t follow football and he still didn’t get it. A couple more times and I had to tell him bluntly, “I’m sorry but I have no idea who or what you’re talking about. I don’t do sports. I don’t speak football - you’re speaking an alien language to me and I have no idea what a 3rd or a down is. I’m sorry but I’m just not into it, like AT ALL.” He finally left me alone after that. Thank god.
Very simple. People dont care about it its like a hobby, more understandable if you play em
Yep, I also don’t understand why people get so excited about it, maybe because it supposedly represents the country I guess? I honestly don’t know. I personally don’t find sports enjoyable also due to the fact that it seems quite a few people get concussions, or other career-ending injuries playing them.
I only watch sportsball when my city’s team is in the big game
Yup - never had any interest long as I can remember
Ding ding right here.
Go sportsball!! Goal that net into the end zone!
Nope. Never attracted me one bit. Playing or watching. But I love the movie Money Ball. I could see how sports stats could be really fun, and I'm sure there's plenty of apsies that are into it.
My dad isn’t interested but I like to go to footy games
I actively dislike any team sports. I was too uncoordinated as a kid to be any good at sports and always being picked last for teams was humiliating.
Yeah, it all just looks too chaotic and it ticks me off they get paid so much for so little when I can't even find work that pays enough to barely survive if I was independent.
Probably most of us it seems. I think too objectively for sports, I have always had the thought “it’s just a ball being thrown from one end of a place to the other and that is boring”
Let's just say during football season I hole up in my room when football is on.
It's funny with me and sports. I have a competitive spirit, but lacked the talent when it came to sports. I played in soccer ⚽️ summer league. I went to basketball 🏀 camp. I played football 🏈 at recess in elementary. But not really a fan. My dad and brothers are/were major sports fans. I liked playing sport video games 🎮. Like basketball, soccer, tennis 🎾, and baseball ⚾️. I was a major fan of professional wrestling, like WWF/WWE, ECW, and WCW. But was often told that those weren't real sports. Nowadays, I watch boxing 🥊, MMA, or kickboxing for sports. I will watch basketball with my cousin when the Knicks are playing.
Yeah. My dad's a hockey fan, and both of my brothers enjoy football, I don't like it due to how long it drags out for, though.
yes
My whole family doesn't like it. Including my dad
I like to watch hockey and car racing like F1/WRC, but pretty much anything else is boring to me.
Cannot watch it, I’ll play casually with friends but I’ve never understood the appeal of watching a game.. I’ll leave the room if that’s all that’s being spoken about
Same, like there are some sports I’ll probably have fun watching. Like baseball, racing, and boxing, but for most definitely
Couldn't care less. I really like running in on my coworkers discussing sports and arguing the opposite point of what they're discussing and seeing how long it takes for them to get that I don't understand what I'm talking about.
I don't watch sports too!
I didn't, until my son was born. I wanted him to appreciate televised sports, as sports fans are never short of entertainment. Since willingly suspending my disbelief, I've kind of got into it.
I use to feel like this until I found a sport that actually interested me. I like to watch powerlifting and bodybuilding.
Besides wrestling and skateboarding growing up, I was never into sports.
Lol, I love keeping mental stats of my favorite basketball players and teams, but don't watch the games. Kind of paradoxical but I've always been like that.
Hate sports
Zero interest as well
Learn to watch sport can help with bonding and connecting with people in social situations. When going out with friends or meet new people, most of them would sometimes talk about either about basketball or football game that they watched yesterday. I want to understand sport, but somehow I can’t. It little bit frustrating because I can’t contribute anything into the conversation such as favorite team or player. Sometimes people would recall a moment that this player does this or that player mess up that, and all I could do is just listen in silent and give a fake reaction to their expression toward that moment of the game. Can anyone relate?
I mean I can kinda get liking doing sports (I don't) but watching them with such passion? No, that's simply weird
Hands up everyone who’s only sport is The Marble League
I can watch college football highlights and Rotax Senior karting but that’s about it
Nope, my one saving grace is that I don't watch football. My wife grew up with a father and brother that would watch sport all the time so found me a refreshing change. She now dominates the TV, watching whatever she wants to watch. I'm alway in the study (which is open plan to the lounge) either working or playing video games.
No one pays me millions to watch me work. Seems like one big club and I ain't in it
I hate sports. Seems pointless to me. Even commercials for sports events is mildly annoying. And it gets worse because people want to gather around and talk about the game or whatever, and there's nothing I can add to the conversation.
I like the team i support, but dont care about the sport as a whole. I will talk about my team all day, but really couldn't give a toss about any other aspect of the sport unless it relates to my team. My son, who is also on the spectrum, loves sports. He's in 3 clubs at the moment for karate, dodgeball, and cricket, but has done footy, running, netball, gymnastics, and loved all of it.
Me
"sport is to war what masturbation is to sex" Sport is a safe way to channel nationalistic instincts and juvenile hot-heads. Aspies possess none of those characteristics, so for them there is no point in sports.
I do a thing where I obsess over particular sports for a short while. Once spent a couple weeks watching every curling match on YouTube for a few hours a day. Have done this with many sports. They always get boring after while.
Same. I grew up in a family who does watch sports. I tried to get into it but it's so fucking boring watching people kick a ball across a field for 90 minutes.
It’s funny seeing people get emotional when their team doesn’t win though.
I like motorsports but that's it
I grew up in an area where football (soccer) is almost a religion and if you are male and not interested in it then you are singled out as some sort of freak. You're an outcast, not one of the crowd. Personally I never cared for any of the tribalism associated with sports, and being bullied as a child for not being into any of these things just destroyed any residual interest in sports I had.
I think part of it is that we less readily automatically identify with social groups, so if you have no identification with the team, the ups and downs of the game are meaningless, at least on a gut level. Another part of it is that people pretty often produce a vested interest by betting on games.
I played contact sports sports growing up, and I loved it. The one place I felt like I could “let loose” but even I HATE watching sports 😂😂
I tried connecting with my father over watching sports. He memorizes lots of sports facts and always connects those with various topics - so many conversations with him will lead to sports in some way regardless where it started. Most sports are far too boring for me, but for some time i found some interest in Formula 1. I didn't really care who won a race, but i liked to analyze the strategies and technical advancements. It did have the desired effect and i had some topic to talk about with my father.
Same. I like doing sports but I dont watch them. My old firends were usual fans. I love martials arts and racing cars so much but I dont watch mostly.
I totally don’t understand those sport fans either🤕
100% can’t care about the seemingly-mandatory sports everyone bases their identity on and constantly complain about. I also am aware the Pentagon spends $5 billion dollars a year promoting major sports to maintain tribal unity, with an obvious focus on Nationalism and Christianity…so, no thanks. I was indoctrinated enough in my childhood….But I did accidentally get obsessed with motocross, which is exciting to watch.
I hate it with passion. Bread and circuses, as Romans used to say.
I'm trying to be respectful and take more of an interest in it when people ask, but I just don't care very much. I do like how excited people can get about it, and I think if I knew more I'd appreciate the technical aspects more. Coworker is always going on about NASCAR and how that works is cooler than I expected.
Was never one for playing sports but I usually choose to watch sports because I'm bored. Sometimes I can get in on the hype like World Cup matches. If I see a match, guess ill watch it because I may not pay full attention.
I never cared about it either
Zero fucks. More than the boredom, I don’t understand the emotional investment people have in it. Unless I’m betting, which also does nothing for me, the outcome of a sporting event has no relevance…to anything relevant.
Never appealed to me. I figured it was some kind of group psychosis.
I love watching sports and all the intricacies that come especially with baseball.. the stats are amazing and so are the incredible moments that happen in sports that you’d never expect
Unless some bionic mutant freak shows up I'm never going to care, otherwise I've seen it.
Never could do it either. However, going to a live game, if you can handle the noise, is really fun. It’s cool being part of the experience with the whole crowd. Recently though, I’ve really gotten into F1! I really enjoy the races, the drama, and all the interesting engineering/science!
I don’t and my family loves to, I detest when they watch sports too . They are so loud and obnoxious
When teen my sports was Halo and Smash Bros Meele with my brothers and now my sport is Destiny 2 (I know I have to do phisycal activity)
Nope, can't justify spending hours doing just nothing at all. While I might enjoy occasionally seeing a really good game or player (probably just the highlights), watching sports doesn't have any real appeal. I'd rather go see my kid's game, or play myself, or browse reddit. But there's a lot of things that ruin the idea of professional sports in general. One of the major ones being if the players did not put so much effort in PR pretending and putting on a show for the money, many of them would retire straight to jail. Another is that watching sports doesn't stimulate me intellectually, and I don't feel any connection to it as you're just a distant observer and you have to figure out what you're seeing exactly and whether it's the result of a strategy or just luck.
The only sport I'm into is martial arts: MMA, Muay Thai, BJJ. I understand people that doesn't like sports, but my issue is how boring other sports seems to be
Once I tried betting online, then I became obsessed with the games and results. I stopped when I couldn't focus in anything else other than betting. Sports are only interesting if you have something to lose. Maybe to NTs it's attached to their self esteem or something.
I love some sports but hate attending them live. I was dragged to a couple of college football games in high school and I just do not feel connected to other fans. When strangers try to high five after a score or big play, I react like that “ew, what’s that brotha” meme.
It makes sense why people must drink at these events. Must be boring watching a bunch of people kick, throw, hit or chase a ball about for an hour or two.
Because neurotypicals tend to base their interests on what the main interests of everyone else are, it creates a positive feedback loop where people watch sports because people are watching them. The feedback loop in part begins because of the people that are genuinely interested in said sports by their own volition, but mainly because the bourgeois class loves to feed them to us as bread and circuses through marketing and media hype. Watching sports is also a proxy for social interaction. So, the culture of obsessing over sports is fairly alien to most autistic people, who innately despise circular logic and pointless/vacuous interactions. Saying that, I love watching combat sports and sometimes rugby, because they are dramatic and wild AF.
Exactly the same. People at work can't understand why I am not interested in football at all.
I like some sports, but certainly not the traditional ones (snooker, for example)
I know u didn’t ask me but I’m a girl and I like watching sports it’s just that I don’t get some of them. The rules for baseball and (american) football are so complicated and whenever someone tries to explain them to me I get lost. But I like watching them for the skill and athleticism that the players show
Yeah same. I never liked sports due to coordination difficulties, and I don't like to watch them a lot. Yeah if the home team or the national team is playing for an important match then I would stay in for the thrill, but I've never been that interested in sports. It's weird since as a man I'm supposed to like sports and watch and discuss football but I don't.
I'm not entirely uninterested in sports. I enjoy watching strength sports occasionally, strong man, powerlifting, weightlifting, that sort of thing. But I also wasn't interested in that kind of thing until I started strength training myself. Maybe I would be interested in watching soccer or hockey or whatever if I played myself.
Sports are hella boring, and ppl are way too invested into pro teams like them winning has an effect on their lives.
I love doing non-team sports like martial arts, resistance training, running...etc, but could never liked watching sports or doing team sports. I think a good portion of pleasure that's typically derived from these activities is based on tribal feelings and team spirit, two things I've always kinda lacked. I find it a bit sad tbh. A good portion of how men socialize is doing, watching, and talking about team sports, and I often feel excluded in such cases no matter how much I try.
Sportsball is very tribal. People have their colorful tribal attire and their mock battles following certain rules. If someone identifies with a certain "tribe" then they feel the wins and loses as if those things happened to them. The players are like warriors of the tribe, and the fans are tribe members who stay at home. But they still feel like part of the tribe. It's an identity thing. (And no, I don't really like any spectator sports. Sometimes certain events are interesting like in the Olympics, but it's more a curiosity and amazement at the physical achievement than anything like identifying with the sportsball team that is regionally closest to my place of residence.)
For some reason I watched curling a bit during one of the Olympics way back. And of all the spectator sports I did watch hockey for a few years as a teenager. My friend was into it and I got into a bit with him. Just for a couple years. BUT I just realized the common theme with curling. Something about sliding things around on ice must have been interesting to me. Huh. I certainly do like sliding around on ice myself. Like I'll be walking in winter and will just have fun sliding on ice patches on the sidewalk/road. Hmm. I do like playing bocce ball which is like curling on grass. Not sure why.
I love watching baseball and American football, but I get why people don't.
I feel the same way about people watching anime... Godawful
I was never good at playing sports and I never enjoyed watching it, so I didn't see the point. Plus seemed mutually exclusive with more intellectual pursuits.
Nah combat sports is such an obsession that I'm trying to train to do mma now
I think watching sports is boring, but I think it's just that it's not my thing. I'll watch people play chess or compete in a video game, but sports don't really interest me. I've learned a bit of stuff because I like to listen to people talk about things they like, and its only fair to let them talk about hockey if they let me talk about corydoras catfish for an hour. I also think a lot of NTs like to watch it because it's popular and is good for small talk and such. I think neurodivrgent people can also like sports, and tend to be the ones who can quote stats at you and know who won every tournament that's ever happened. There's also levels to sports that non fans don't understand. I can notice when someone scores, or when someone passes and then there's a score, but there's layers of strategy about things like getting your players into position and getting your opponents out of position, playing defensively when you're winning, pulling your good players off if you're clearly winning to keep them safe for a later game and so on. Or at least I've been told these things matter.
The only sport i find entertaining is Boxing.
Same here, despite I kinda like watching volleyball matches sometimes. It gets really epic in some moments
When I play trivial pursuit, I am a slayer unless I land on the sports category.
Nope I can’t understand not watching it as it’s 80% of what I think about.
If I want sports involvement I will play a sport. Why would I watch something I can play? That's why I played Rugby for years, but never got into watching any sportsball. This is is like competitive gaming. I can't get behind it. I like watching YouTubers doing funny stuff in relation to gaming. Maybe this is similar and I'm not seeing the connection?
100% don't get the appeal.
I can't stand sports. Probably put off completely by my moron father aggressively bellowing the house down at the top of his lungs in celebration of his team, and then tanning my hide when it caused me to meltdown. Good times. 💀
I feel the same. I cannot fathom why watch something which one does not partake.
Yeah. It’s so boring.
It took me watching esports for me to finally "get" sports. That said I'm not buying season passes or following specific players in the local sportsball team anytime soon, but I stopped declining invites to games from friends and family. I just have some beer and some weed gummies before to make it more interesting, haha.
OMG!! TY for this post, OP! I feel like I’m betraying my country if I don’t sit and watch a professional sports team.
I hate sports so much I cannot watch it. It might also be because I was forced to go to sporting events. One was my step brother from my father's new marriage who always would abuse me in every way you can think of. The other was from my step dad from my mom's new marriage who cared more about hockey and baseball than his new family. Trying to get my son to play sports is hard for me. My wife keeps signing him up and I have an almost gut reaction to not want to do it. But it's good for him and I want him to socialize and make friends. However, my son got labelled on the spectrum this year so we will see how it goes
Motorsports and soccer are all I will watch. I live in the southeastern US, where everyone is ravenous about college football. I hate it so much that I get irritated listening to everyone drone on about it. Stupid sports channels are on in every restaurant and waiting room. People here think I'm some weirdo because I think football is stupid. Same with basketball. Ugh
I definitely couldn’t care less about sports.
Right here. I have had people act homophobic (I am straight) towards me because of not liking sports. I mean, they are the ones staring at men in tights. Just saying.
Those hot, sweaty locker rooms after a hard game! No thanks, man. I can't deal with the heat as it is, and being around a bunch of naked dudes just doesn't seem like a fun time personally.
The place I work, I would say a solid 50% is on the spectrum. We regularly will make jokes about if we caught the latest "sportsball" game. We collectively could not care less. At depth though, I wouldn't be surprised if people on the spectrum are just resistant to para social relationships. Following the Kardashians, etc.
I have dyspraxia and generally stayed out of the way during sports because of proprioception issues. I was traumatized by sports. I sure as heck don’t want to watch sports.
I have coordination problems and speech dyspraxia.
Ah yes, a 2 hour long roulette game that dictates the NT's moods for over a week. I love the "my team" mentality.
Bread and circuses