On Sat, 19 May 2012 21:47:45 -0700, Jim Clark wrote: >Hi > >As to the popularity and associated judgments about different sports ... I'm in >Greece right now and the other night at a restaurant a young man was watching >basketball on tv. When I asked him if he was a basketball fan, he replied "not >really ... I prefer soccer ... not enough action in basketball". Probably not >how many would view the two sports.
Over the years, I've learned never to ask a person why they like a particular sport because the reasons why tend to give are complicated, often incoherent, and somewhat irrational. Ultimately, I think, it comes down to what one appreciates about the sport and what they find satisfying about it. "Action" probably is a component which is why some people are big fans of MMA where the action is explicit while others are fans of chess where the "action" is all on the cognitive level. Moreover, trying to explain a preference is usually an explicit cognitive process which ignores the implicit cognitive processes that also play a role (e.g., one has positive associations with the sport because it was done with family members and/or friends and this may be automatically be activated outside of consciousness).. Also, the more that one knows how the sport is supposed to operate, how it accomplishes its goals, its history, why certain actions are significant and others are not, and how well its players perform (i.e., with high skill and ability) are also considerations. Still, as a New Yorker, Mets fans puzzle me because I don't understand what they can possible enjoy in any Mets baseball game. ;-) >I suspect that comments about the lack of "action" in baseball might elicit similar responses from many Americans? Watch this episode of "South Park": http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/154917/no-more-baseball Some people find baseball terribly boring just as some people find golf boring just as some people find tennis boring just as some people find male synchronized swimming to be really, really weird. There's no accounting for preferences. ;-) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=17926 or send a blank email to leave-17926-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
