I'm beginning to think that being ignorant about a sport may be the best way to enjoy it.

I'm not talking about unintentional ignorance(no offense 312player). I'm talking about intentional ignorance. This is actively choosing not to care about what an A gap is, or who is sitting in the minors, or how good the guys are who try and kick the ball into the goal is. I think this is illustrated very well by the soccer World Cup. I had no idea who anyone was prior to the tournament, and I still can only name Tim Howard and that is probably because I saw his name in the news in the past few days. I still really enjoyed watching and found it exciting. Soccer is a pretty horrible sport so this actually is quite a major revelation.

Another example is last year when I was watching college football with a fellow alum who has a job that makes it all but impossible to follow the team more than on gamedays. He couldn't name the backup quarterback on the team and the conversation was very generic and mostly filled with positive memories from previous years(Drew Brees and Kyle Orton were pretty great!). However, he seemed to enjoy the game a lot more than I did. He could sit down and take it at face value and then move on. I sat there wondering what the next 4 years were going to look like based on how someone was improving. I'm not a scout. I'm an idiot fan. I'm just a more educated idiot fan. If I sat down with the coach to talk about the team I'd sound like a moron. What value am I getting about knowing all of this stuff? The gameday experience isn't better. I can make myself sound smart but realistically the difference between me and most other fans is so small that it doesn't matter.

I think this is why I have enjoyed the Blackhawks so much. I don't care about anything. I want to see Kane and Toews and Crawford do well and win. I don't get caught up in being mad that a third string guy who is making $800k is probably only worth $450k. I can turn it on, watch, cheer, and then move on with my life.

The other side is that it is fairly obvious that sports take up too much of my life as it is. There really is no value in any of the sports knowledge I have. It can't make me money. It can't make me sound smart except to people that don't care about sports enough to know similar amounts of useless information. Imagine what I could do with my life if I knew less about Jimmy Clausen and more about something that mattered and could actually help me in my life.

It seems like I am just rambling here, and that is because I am. I guess my point, and it sounds dumb, is that I'm starting to regret the place that sports takes in my life. I'm going to pledge to myself to try and be a dumber fan going forward.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Boilermaker sini

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I'm sorry you're quitting the board.

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I you want to be a dumber fan read some of Jorr ' s baseball thoughts.
That ought to do the trick.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I think I enjoy games as much as I did when all I pretty much knew were the names of the players. Sports knowledge is a good thing.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

What makes you think you know so much about sports?

I just assumed you already did this.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

As you get older, it's harder to keep up with the sports knowledge. You can't memorize all the stats that were on the backs of the players cards anymore. Growing up sucks.

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Especially now when there is a computer formula and a REALLY.SMART.RADIOHOST that tells who you is better.

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I don't know much else.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Good point

It would be better to be ignorant of the seamy underside of the sports industries.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I just got rid of my sig with you in it, don't make me have to do it again.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

That is something that impresses people.

"What do you think about the Colts?"
"Well, most people don't realize this, but they are a major drain on the city and the owner is a billionaire based on the generosity of the tax payer. So, the win-loss record pretty much doesn't matter now does it Chief?"

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I agree with this I guess. I do not need to know about every old player or marginal nobody from another market getting a DUI or having child support issues. Big stuff like Ray Rice sure but even that was over done for a non Chicago player.

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Elections have consequences.

There's a lot to know about Clausen, like how Joe Theismann told him to get a haircut before he went into the NFL draft.

The mystery is how he was able to rack up such impressive stats at ND, while porous offensive lines had him spending a lot of time knocked to the turf. Of course the answers are that Weis relied on him very heavily, and he was able to make the more difficult throws.

Anyway, with the internet now, it's a LOT easier to follow your interests and learn what's going on -- for example, a while back I was reading about the work being done on Ross-Ade Stadium. I like to stick it to you guys at times about the Boilers and Illini, but the wealth of info now makes it likely that I'll follow their fortunes more closely (and I'd love to see either rack up Conference and National championships).

Or one of your home improvement tips.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

eat me

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

From the title of this thread I assumed the Sun-Times had finally gone under.

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

Yeah, JimmyPasta seems real happy!

In his defense, he was dead for like 40 seconds.

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Play fantasy sports.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!