General Discussion

LooseWilly

(4,477 posts)

93. Uhhm, I have a favorite football team, I'm not a fan of football... and I don't have to see a game..

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 02:26 AM

Feb 2012

I'm not sure that I believe that I need someone else's writing to elucidate any of the above for me.

I'll add, I played football in high school. I don't care about football. I have a favorite team. I don't care if they win or lose. I care even less if other teams win or lose. I care even less if teams win or lose in other sports. I don't care about sports. Who won the Superbowl? When does baseball season start so I can work even harder to avoid sports news?

You have failed to convince me that I have any reason to care about a word that Erich Fromm has written. Maybe, if he buys one of my books, I'll read one of his. I sell e-books for a very reasonable price...

I don't really find the "psychology of sports" to be all that interesting... it seems to be pretty straight forward to me.

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Highlight:

Noam Chomsky on the role of sports in propaganda-based authority [View all] Bonobo Feb 2012 OP

Spoiler alert!! Robb Feb 2012 #1

We're all being coerced and conditioned in this culture... YoungDemCA Feb 2012 #2

It's called mass hypnosis. Zalatix Feb 2012 #29

I must be immune Generic Other Feb 2012 #124

Chomsky NAILS IT!!! The Crowd Goes Wild!!! NYC_SKP Feb 2012 #3

Yup...but ttle Giants won, so who cares nadinbrzezinski Feb 2012 #4

K&R Whisp Feb 2012 #5

Or you know. ForgoTheConsequence Feb 2012 #6

Why do we need to escape... YoungDemCA Feb 2012 #7

Give me a break. ForgoTheConsequence Feb 2012 #8

Settle down, I'm not attacking you... YoungDemCA Feb 2012 #10

Thats a decent point. ForgoTheConsequence Feb 2012 #11

"Why do we need to escape" ??!! Are you frikin' kidding?? Duppers Feb 2012 #16

At what point does the failure to make one's case to the people alcibiades_mystery Feb 2012 #9

I'll go with dumb people for $20, Alex. EFerrari Feb 2012 #15

Can I get a piece of that action? LooseWilly Feb 2012 #20

Lol. EFerrari Feb 2012 #36

Enjoy one for me... baseball bores me silly LooseWilly Feb 2012 #94

Maybe it was the early indoctrination of sitting through hundreds of Masses. EFerrari Feb 2012 #118

Debord's "critique" of the spectacle is the issue, not Chomsky's woefully lacking adaptation. joshcryer Feb 2012 #30

What?... Debord's critique of "the spectacle" is interesting... but it isn't... timely LooseWilly Feb 2012 #103

I'm not trying to undermine Chomsky or anything he has to say. joshcryer Feb 2012 #119

I'm guessing one of the Lancers pantsed him in the boy's locker room. msanthrope Feb 2012 #12

Sports are fun Noam. rudycantfail Feb 2012 #13

He never said they weren't fun. LooseWilly Feb 2012 #22

"Enjoy all you want though." rudycantfail Feb 2012 #58

The "problem" I have with sports isn't the sports... it's the assholes who want to co-opt sports. LooseWilly Feb 2012 #70

Spot-on observations. Populist_Prole Feb 2012 #64

I only got to see the fourth quarter Kalidurga Feb 2012 #14

Football is a civil religion. Manifestor_of_Light Feb 2012 #17

Does this apply to the soccer-crazed rest of the world? RZM Feb 2012 #18

Yes, it does. Capitalocracy Feb 2012 #19

South Africa won the Rugby World Cup after the end of apartheid. joshcryer Feb 2012 #34

How does South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup after the end of apartheid underscore anything? LooseWilly Feb 2012 #77

I would assume that the end of apartheid was a preferrable outcome and that... joshcryer Feb 2012 #80

Wait... how did sports play an *anti-authoritarian* role here? LooseWilly Feb 2012 #91

Plenty of other states play close attention to their teams as well RZM Feb 2012 #63

This applies to all forms of consumer behavior. joshcryer Feb 2012 #31

I'm curious to hear an elaboration of your theory of Chomsky's attribution to mass manipulation... LooseWilly Feb 2012 #82

I do not think the theory is wrong. joshcryer Feb 2012 #84

*used* by who, wrongly? LooseWilly Feb 2012 #90

Propaganda-based authorities. joshcryer Feb 2012 #104

It seems to me that a "technologist" would have to agree with Debord's critiques... LooseWilly Feb 2012 #116

Give me 30 minutes. joshcryer Feb 2012 #117

The best way to put it I think is with Erich Fromm's "To Have Or To Be?" joshcryer Feb 2012 #88

Uhhm, I have a favorite football team, I'm not a fan of football... and I don't have to see a game.. LooseWilly Feb 2012 #93

I never paid for his books. joshcryer Feb 2012 #102

I guess I wasn't clear... I'm not only not interested in paying for his sports books... LooseWilly Feb 2012 #105

He's a sports writer? joshcryer Feb 2012 #106

Or, maybe I don't feel the compunction to read authors solely based on your recommendation... LooseWilly Feb 2012 #114

"Stealing ideas from"? These ideas are uncontroversial, not unique, and shared by many socialist... joshcryer Feb 2012 #115

I like sports. I like to play sports. I like to watch sports. Muskypundit Feb 2012 #21

Hehe... there is only as much insult there as you choose to bring. Feel free to call me overbearing LooseWilly Feb 2012 #23

This x 1000 boxman15 Feb 2012 #55

The defensiveness in this thread Kaleko Feb 2012 #24

Chomsky comes off as a sad little man scowling at anything that causes anyone any amount of joy Muskypundit Feb 2012 #25

Nah, it's not a particularly unique observation, he just uses US-centric examples. joshcryer Feb 2012 #27

The fact that people feel stung by Chomsky's assertions Kaleko Feb 2012 #28

I see one post in this entire thread (currently 33 posts including this one) that appears "stung." joshcryer Feb 2012 #33

:-) Kaleko Feb 2012 #51

I merely do not like broad brush caricatures of something that isn't there. joshcryer Feb 2012 #69

The fact that you don't see something Kaleko Feb 2012 #71

But I do see something. joshcryer Feb 2012 #72

Yes, yes, and your presumption is Kaleko Feb 2012 #73

Nope, I can only make a convincing argument. joshcryer Feb 2012 #74

Goodonya Musky! Puzzledtraveller Feb 2012 #45

The focus is on the Super Bowl. On Super Bowl Sunday. joshcryer Feb 2012 #32

Chomsky is merely observering the spectacle. joshcryer Feb 2012 #26

I think the effects of sports are a convenient by-product for the powers that be... rucky Feb 2012 #35

I used to feel the same way. But here's how I see the value in sports now: pink-o Feb 2012 #37

You're describing diversion. That is Chomsky's point or, one of them. EFerrari Feb 2012 #38

But that's my point as well. Diverting the aggressive behavior pink-o Feb 2012 #39

Is it clear that competitive sports mitigate warfare? EFerrari Feb 2012 #41

Obviously, we can't prove a negative pink-o Feb 2012 #43

I kind of agree with this Shankapotomus Feb 2012 #121

Poor Noam trumad Feb 2012 #40

Wow, what a witty and intelligent comment. backscatter712 Feb 2012 #53

OK---how about this. trumad Feb 2012 #56

THIS is a post I can sink my teeth into. n/t cherokeeprogressive Feb 2012 #75

You wanna fight? LooseWilly Feb 2012 #107

Dime a dozen trumad Feb 2012 #122

Truman. LOL. nt Bonobo Feb 2012 #113

Games and bread. n/t fasttense Feb 2012 #42

"A Global Force for Good" GeorgeGist Feb 2012 #44

Chomsky can blow it out his ass Dreamer Tatum Feb 2012 #46

Boy, you really nailed him this time DisgustipatedinCA Feb 2012 #47

I nailed his opinion with mine. Dreamer Tatum Feb 2012 #48

Fair enough (one opinion vs. another). Sad little man? No. DisgustipatedinCA Feb 2012 #59

�Eternal boyhood is the dream of a depressing percentage of American males, and Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2012 #49

Rolling On Floor, Laughing My Ass Off... cherokeeprogressive Feb 2012 #76

Hehe... methinks that, if you don't need locker rooms... the quote doesn't apply to you. LooseWilly Feb 2012 #108

Tell me where the average male sports fan finds a locker room? cherokeeprogressive Feb 2012 #125

I wonder what the reaction to this post would be if it was after the World Cup. nt Snake Alchemist Feb 2012 #50

I'm curious too... my reaction would be exactly the same... but, not being "everyone"... I remain LooseWilly Feb 2012 #111

Between sports and religion, I'd say mass mind-control has been refined to fine art. n/t backscatter712 Feb 2012 #52

"Not to gloat, but Japan won and the country is electrified!" - Bonobo, July 17, 2011... SidDithers Feb 2012 #54

I am honored to have my own personal stalker. nt Bonobo Feb 2012 #61

Just call me a "humorless, anal retentive Canadian"... SidDithers Feb 2012 #65

I did no such thing. Bonobo Feb 2012 #67

Link here: greyl Feb 2012 #97

I am a HUGE SCTV fan! nt Bonobo Feb 2012 #100

That might be true, but it's definitely irrelevant. nt greyl Feb 2012 #101

That link actually makes no material reference to the poster known as Sid Dithers. LooseWilly Feb 2012 #110

C'mon, consider the context. It's clear what the post meant. nt greyl Feb 2012 #112

You're a "humorless, anal retentive Canadian"... LooseWilly Feb 2012 #109

I remembered that, but my post #26 was more subtle. joshcryer Feb 2012 #68

Bread and games. The Romans knew back then that this Cleita Feb 2012 #57

There ya go!!!!! skypilot Feb 2012 #66

In other news... BiggJawn Feb 2012 #60

Chomsky must be a Patriots fan Enrique Feb 2012 #62

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Swede Feb 2012 #78

Even Chomsky admitted it was an over-simplification to make a point. Bonobo Feb 2012 #79

There has been ample consideration in this thread. joshcryer Feb 2012 #81

Really? I would love to see what you think you are remembering. Bonobo Feb 2012 #83

Eh, I've had enough of the authoritarian commodity fetishists. joshcryer Feb 2012 #85

Busy preparing the way for an invasion of Syria, I imagine. nt Bonobo Feb 2012 #86

You wanna invade Syria? joshcryer Feb 2012 #87

Oh me? Sorry no. I assumed YOU did because it would be consistent with your views RE Libya. Bonobo Feb 2012 #89

Ahh, I thought you felt the "authoritarian commodity fetishists" were preparing for that. joshcryer Feb 2012 #92

That kinda thing tends to happen when you call people "hypocrites" behind their backs, dude. nt Bonobo Feb 2012 #96

Nothing wrong with hypocrisy. We're all guilty of it. joshcryer Feb 2012 #99

Soccer fan clubs were vital to organizing the Egyptian revolution. LeftyMom Feb 2012 #95

You just beat me to that! bhikkhu Feb 2012 #98

If someone likes sports that's their business Shankapotomus Feb 2012 #120

I'm so glad there are smart people like Noam Chomsky to tell me what I should or shouldn't like. TheManInTheMac Feb 2012 #123