Not a sports fan = forever alone in Australian culture

It disturbs me that the last conversation I've had with my brother and father seems to imply I am socially inept because I am unfamiliar with sports I do not understand because unlike me, other boys were watching sports coverage since they were ten or something and that gives them something to talk about instead of the vastly smaller pool of interests I grew up with discussing with nerdier men like myself.

I don't have a problem with jocks if they're nice, of all the people who attempted (and failed) to bully me, none of them were true jocks. But my culture is so sports-centric that I'm bewildered as to where to start "repairing the damage" as it were that I did to my social skills by acquiring a love of reading/bizarro cinema and anime watching instead of trying to figure out how the hell Cricket works or why my country cares about the Ashes so much.

It doesn't help that my dad seems to be of the view that women tend to talk about stuff rather than do it, in the context that he was asking me if I needed something and I began to explain the logic behind why I needed it and he just needed to know if I needed it... it might have something to do with why the other men in my family unit think men who get anywhere socially watch sports religiously - it might not, but I have no idea what to do about this sports cultural male hegemony.

Hell Hasn't Earned My Tears

You're not alone. I'm from australian and I couldn't kick a ball to save my life.

edited 10th May '11 1:53:17 AM by joeyjojo

hashtagsarestupid

My advice: Go to uni and join all the clubs that do the things you love to do. Problem solved

Wax on, wax off

Not liking sports (and we don't care who knows) particularly sucks in high school, but you'll get over it by university because sports is not mandatory.

My brother is a huge fan.

He will say "Kwareshma!" at random intervals.

Well, more like regular intervals of every five seconds.

I can only imagine your pain.

Read my stories!

I remember some 'tard in my secondary school days declaring me "not human" for not liking football (that's 'soccer' for you Statesiders).

Enjoy the Inferno...

As an Australian utterly apathetic about football I haven't found it to impact my ability to socialise in any serious way. And I'm a bloody Victorian.

I mean, it's made it difficult to socialise with people who only want to talk about football. But frankly nothing of value was lost there.

If a person isn't willing or able to find some sort of common ground with you, then they probably weren't worth making small talk with anyway. If you're just trying to kiss ass then asking them about the football and paying attention to what they have to say will get you the required brownie points.

It's when people get on the whole RARR FOOTBALL HAET SO MUCH high horse that people get stroppy. It's as lame as someone saying your cartoons/video games are for girls and therefore you are a giant fag. Do not be that guy. Being that guy for football is just as lame as for nerd shit.

edited 10th May '11 3:53:13 AM by TibetanFox

But cricket is exciting!

I mean, come on, there are so many different sports out there, I'm sure there is one you could come to like. If all else fails, you can read Slam Dunk or Prince Of Tennis or Eyeshield21 and get excited about fictional characters playing fictional matches. Also, I found that making up tragic backstories for tennis players makes watching their matches more exciting.

Cricket is an evil act of cruelty and you should be ashamed for recreating it.

Read my stories!

@ OP: You don't need to do THEIR thing to become socially competent. *

Being interested in sport might help you develop social skills. But any other strong interest, that's somewhat connected to reality, that you're willing to talk enthusiastically and openly about can help you connect, too. Attitude is far more the issue than what you have that attitude about.

edited 10th May '11 4:50:10 AM by SavageOrange

'Don't beg for anything, do it yourself, or else you won't get anything.'

I'm not into sports, either, but then again I was never much good at the whole Australian identity thing.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

Go All Blacks! *

It's okay, OP. I know your pain during Super Bowl season when even the office ladies are comparing team stats.

edited 10th May '11 7:56:48 AM by Bur

i. hear. a. sound.

that's OK, just say you barrack for Collingwood. All 'normal' people will avoid you henceforth

The terrible downside to multiple identities: multiple tax returns

@MRDA: thats funny, really. See, Living in america, the fact i don't like american football and enjoy football (soccer) means I'm just as much a social pariah in sports circles.

It seems to me your father and brother are the ones with the narrow interests.

Not surprising, it happens all over with a variety of things, and some people just can't understand that others are just as smart as they are, but don't share their concerns, whether it be sports, cars, hunting, or whatever.

I'm not a huge fan of sport myself, but I do agree with Tibetan Fox - making a big deal about how much you hate football (or whatever) can be just as dickish as macho sports fans mocking whatever they think of as nerdy. It's also worth bearing in mind that there are lots of people who aren't genuinely that bothered about sport, but feign an interest to get along socially and also that lots of men are rubbish at small talk and use conversation about sport as a social lubricant. I'm in the first category; a lot of my friends are in the second. You're probably not as alone as you think, even in Australia.

"Well, it's a lifestyle"

@Pathfinder. Actually, that's a great idea. Pretty much everyone hates talking to Collingwood fans and I have never seen two pie fans talking about footy directly (except maybe to gloat over how much they kicked St Kilda's arse). Clearly I made a mistake barracking for the Kangaroos (but hey, someone's got to).

edited 10th May '11 12:41:14 PM by TibetanFox

well, of course it's a good idea. I'm awesome

No, Collingwood is the magnet for the unstable and socially unbearable, and is good cover for non-sport-liking people

I barrack for Collingwood, myself (for that reason)

I can't remember the rules, nor can I name any current players on any team. there's a guy called demetriou in there somewhere, and the grand final is some time in september

For melbourne, that's a remarkable level of ignorance and a sizeable achievement

and rugby is for thugs (union? league? there's a difference?)

and soccer can be great, but only in rare moments

edited 10th May '11 1:09:12 PM by pathfinder

The terrible downside to multiple identities: multiple tax returns

That IS an impressive level of ignorance, even I know more than that!

: If I remember correctly, soccer is hooligans acting like gentlemen, Union is gentlemen acting like hooligans, and League is hooligans acting like hooligans.

Wax on, wax off

Somebody decided not to go to the university I'm going to because it wasn't big on sports and therefore lacked "school spirit".

It was funny, because he also talked about how interesting and cool and active the rest of us admitted students are.

So...lot of folks have narrow definitions?

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

I once spent weeks learning about a sport just so I always would have something to talk about with random guys with which whom I probably couldn't talk about anything else with. Didn't actually play it or anything, but I went and downloaded a few dozen pro-matches, read articles about strategy, read about the major players (a lot of them are surprisingly good-looking too, heh) and their win-loss records and histories, and the general history and development of the sport and of strategy. Studied for hours.

Unfortunately, they just had to go and release a Starcraft 2 and now I'm back at square one.

edited 10th May '11 4:13:22 PM by Tsukubus

"I didn't steal it; I'm borrowing it until I die."

In America if you are an adult male and not a complete fanatic about sports, you are a pariah.

That's becoming less true. Although, I suppose it depends on where you live. I don't watch football, but live in Texas, which was previously thought to violate several physical laws.

Fight smart, not fair.

^^^ I saw it coming, but that was awesome anyway. Star.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch