Professional Sport, is it Societies self inflicted Lobotomy.
If I was to tell you I knew a person who was playing video games for 48 hours a week would you be concerned they where addicted? Of course you would. What if it was porn and not video games? addicted! I hear you collectively shout. What if it was social media, two days a week on Facebook, twitter etc…. society would label them Social Media addicts would they not? However if they are sitting on the couch watching Football on TV or in the car listening to Football on the radio for up to and in excess of two days a week
then that is perfectly OK, by societies standards.
So how did I get to 48 hours - two days a week.
Nine games a week, at 3 hours a game = 27 hours
Two hour commute a day listing
to football talkback radio = 10 hours
AFL Footy show = 2.5
Before the game = 2
The Sunday AFL Footy show = 1.5
Game Day = 1.5
Footy Classified = 2
15 minutes of commercial news ever night. = 1.75
Total of 48.25 hours of football a week.
(These are local times, however all western
cloture communities have similar exposure to sport.)
That does not account for Foxtel football talk shows, reruns of previous matches, online footy forms, apps, games, websites, gambling, and printed and digital media that an obsessed fan will engage in every opportunity they get. When these secondary forms of sport are ingested, an estimate of two days a week seems very conservative and could be more like three days a week.
Lets have a quick look at the effects of a physical Lobotomy and compare then to someone that watches a large amount of sport.
Patient’s have a diminished ability to function independently, they will be easily lead and easily conform to a mob mentality. Same as a Sports Frenetics. Patient’s show a vast reduction in initiative and inhibition, Sports Frenetic. As well as a reduction of empathy and cognitive ability. Sports Frenetic. A detachment from society will also be significant, however this will only be observed by those not suffering the same plight. Sports Frenetic. Every single person I know that watches a lot of sport is exactly like this, and frankly it’s a bit scary.
For those of us that do not watch copious amounts of sport or other mind numbing rhetoric on television, this question and following scenario will resonate deeply within you.
Have you ever been in a social situation surrounded by men and the only thing they can articulately talk about is sport? I have many times. The conversation generally goes one of two ways.
# 1.
Sports Fanatic “How about that game last night… hay hay?”
Normal person “I didn’t see it, I don’t watch sport”
Sports Fanatic “Well what about the game last week?”
Normal person “Didn’t see that one either, I find sport repetitive and
boring and I have better things to do”
Sports Fanatic “So your saying you don’t watch sport at all”
Normal person “Pretty much”
Sports Fanatic “So what do you do?”
Normal person “Read, keep up with current affairs, educate myself, movies, theatre, art,
exhibitions. there things to do other than sit and watch sport eating
junk-food drinking beer.”
Sports Fanatic “Like what?”
Normal person “When was the last time you researched something you where curious
about, other than sport”
Sports Fanatic “Ummm I don’t think I ever have”
# 2.
Sports Fanatic “How about that game last night… hay hay?”
Normal person “I didn’t see it, I don’t watch sport”
Sports Fanatic “What are ya a POOFDAR!!”
Normal person “So you think I’m homosexual because I don’t like sport”
Sports Fanatic “Yea you must be a poof”
Normal person “Oh Ok I see. What’s you favorite sport”
Sports Fanatic “AFL”
Normal person “How many teams and how many players per team in AFL?”
Sports Fanatic “18 teams and 22 a side”
Normal person “So about 400 players?”
Sports Fanatic “ok if you say so”
Normal person “How many of them could you recognize when your watching them on
the TV?”
Sports Fanatic “I’d say at least 80-90%”
Normal person “OK, so I like to go the the ballet and I can recognize the principal ballet
dancer from over ten Ballet Companies.”
Sports Fanatic “So you like the Ballet..poof”
Normal person “So one of us can recognize ten of the most beautiful and elegant
woman on the planet from 30 meters, and the other can recognize
over 300 men in short shorts and gets exited by the fact he can do
so”
Sports Fanatic “Yea and?”
Normal person “Now which one do your think has clinical homosexual tendencies?”
“The male that admirers beautiful women and there ability or the one
that admirers men in tight shorts?”
Sports Fanatic “Your a @#5$ &6%$…..”
Normal person “Ok, nice chat”
If a person can only have an intelligent conversation pertaining to one topic, other than ones occupation. Is that not at least a little scary for the rest of society. As this pandemic of Societies self inflicted Lobotomy gathers pass at what point will it be too late to intervene? Have we already past the point of no return? How many people can name an Astronaut from this country? Or a Nobel Prize winner? However I would estimate over 90% of the population could name the Premiership team and the league’s MVP for the past five years. I strongly believe the brain needs nutrition in order for it to grow and work efficiently. Nutrition in the form of stimulus, experience and education. The brain as with the body needs a verity of nutrition. If we where to eat just apples. However healthy they may be, we would soon begin to lack other nutritional needs our bodes require. The brain I believe is an extension of this premiss and if it’s only stimulation other than the occupation of the individual is of only one thing, then how is that not starving the brain of the nutrition it needs to function properly. In a nutshell watching to much sport on TV makes people less intelligent and the situation is getting worse not better. Being a Y I don’t know how to fix it, this is just another problem the X team is going to have to nut out. They seem to be able distance themselves from the self inflicted Lobotomy curse. Any suggestions or comments please post them, even if you disagree, it may be your only destruction from sport you have for the month.
