Why I'm Making My Husband Miss The Super Bowl

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I'm a bit annoyed that people can't relate. It's just sports. To the people that are suggesting the dude just DVR it, tell me about an event that you couldn't possibly miss. And then tell me what you might feel possibly having to miss it every year for the rest of your life.

I'm not missing the Super Bowl, but I know how this dude might feel. I gotta miss EVO 2012 for a wedding and it's killing me. I can't DVR that shit. I hang with my friend who's getting married every week for lunch, and I still can't forgive him for this shit.

P.S. She rooted against his team? That's messed up.
 
I can see why people enjoy sports so much. I love watching soccer/football myself. But there's one thing that makes me take sports less seriously and not freak out as much if my team loses - corruption. Whether you want to believe or not, there is corruption/max fixing in every single sport league. Regardless of the sport or country.
 
It would be in Houston, and a sweaty bride in a white dress taking pictures outdoors was not an option.
She sounds like a gem.

Josh has been a freelance photographer for Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine and has actually been on the field for a Super Bowl, so I understood that this was a big deal for him.
Wtf. She just completely lost her argument. Either she's exaggerating her boyfriend's lowly position, or this is a serious threat to their financial well-being. Making a football sports photographer miss the superbowl is like making a tech blogger miss CES. That's where a huge portion of their traffic and revenue comes from :/

But not to worry, I'm sure writing for Huffington Post means she's the breadwinner in the marriage.
 
I can see why people enjoy sports so much. I love watching soccer/football myself. But there's one thing that makes me take sports less seriously and not freak out as much if my team loses - corruption. Whether you want to believe or not, there is corruption/max fixing in every single sport league. Regardless of the sport or country.

Yeah I think immigration is a terrible problem too
 
I would disagree here. Sports actually brings people together oddly enough. It's like a less (or perhaps more) of nationalism. I went to USC, and they really push the identity of being a "Trojan" to make the school feel united. But really, it's the sports program that does it in the most meaningful way, as each game is essentially war with the opposition that must be defeated! Years after graduation people still feel a link to the school and alumni due to this.

This comparison really doesn't do your argument any favors, since a lot of people here find tribalism just as silly.
 
Your opinion is trivial and meaningless.

Okay. Why is that? Can you provide a reasonable argument for this?

It's not that sports fans think they are meaningful or important; the games are just meaningful and important to us. We know the world won't end if our team loses, even though sometimes it may come off like that in some posts.

A sports fan can be passionate about their teams though. Your post is presumptuous -- as if you are above being passionate about "trivial and silly" things.

I'm definitely not above being passionate about trivial and silly things -- I have explicitly admitted in this very thread, on repeated occasions, that I enjoy both video games and baseball, as two simple examples.

The problem is not enjoying trivial things; the problem is infusing those things with value beyond their actual status. I agree, I thought most others would also recognize the triviality of sports (and video games and shoe fashion and TV etc.) but based on this thread and others, I was clearly wrong.
 
For some people, scheduled MMO raids are way more important than the Super Bowl. Would you consider them idiots for being pissy about an anniversary dinner that conflicted with one? I sure as hell would.

If the wife or husband is scheduling an anniversary dinner during a scheduled raid, I'm assuming there's more wrong with their marriage than right. As stupid as it sounds to me, I've found most people that big into a MMOs either have shit marriages or play them together. If one or the other wanted them to opt out of a scheduled raid to go to dinner without the MMO player being the one who scheduled it, there isn't much to save that marriage... it's doomed.

..but yeah, it's equivalent to the OP situation. It's a scheduled, preset event.
 
Again, I'm not sure why the same couldn't be said of woodworking, for example. I did it myself when I was a child; now I like to read about it and watch it as an adult.

I think if we're going by this standard you're not going to be able to find value in ANYTHING behind personally derived value. Hell even "relationships" are inherently worthless aside from the emotional assurance we get from them.
 
I've spent an enormous amount of time playing games -- not to mention engaging in this site -- and fully recognize that games are silly and objectively meaningless. I'm not quite sure why others can't say the same, but clearly they can't. Can you explain why not? That's an honest question.

I think you're looking at this from too shallow of a perspective. People find value in things they enjoy. Saying video games and sports are "silly and objectively meaningless" is an incredibly reductive way of looking at things.
 
I was legitimately shocked to see how many people in the MLB/NFL/NHL/etc. threads actually felt that sports were meaningful and important activities.

I don't mean you can't enjoy them, mind you; I enjoy baseball personally, for example. I just fully recognize that it is ultimately trivial and silly, no different than a person who enjoys shoe shopping or going to romantic comedy films.

Very few people seemed to agree with that and instead argued that sports are genuinely meaningful. I supposed I thought GAF was above such silliness, but clearly I was wrong. Many GAF members correctly understand that video games are trivial as well, for example, but I suppose there are likely more members who think games are genuinely meaningful than I anticipate, too.
sports is just another form of entertainment.
to call it meaningless denies the basic carnal instincts of men to prove their worth/manhood.
if its not sports, it will be something else competitive. like videogames, or watching grass grow.
 
I can see why people enjoy sports so much. I love watching soccer/football myself. But there's one thing that makes me take sports less seriously and not freak out as much if my team loses - corruption. Whether you want to believe or not, there is corruption/max fixing in every single sport league. Regardless of the sport or country.

:jnc
 
I don't even care for sports that much and think the superbowl is more important than a wedding anniversary. You can just have the damn anniversary the next day, some night out at a restaurant doesn't compare to the feeling of watching such an important game live. Fans wait the entire year for the superbowl to come why would you rob that of someone? Husband is an idiot for agreeing to it as well.
 
I think if we're going by this standard you're not going to be able to find value in ANYTHING behind personally derived value. Hell even "relationships" are inherently worthless aside from the emotional assurance we get from them.

That's not true. I've used these examples repeatedly already, but science based medicine works whether you happen to care about it or not. Satellites work whether you happen to understand special relatively or not. Antibiotic resistances affect you whether you happen to care about (or believe in) evolution, and so forth.
 
It's important to note that there is nothing about this behavior that is particular to any sport, or to sports at all. If I, for example, was particularly in to wood working and spent years obsessing over carpentry as a child, and went to many woodworking seminars with my father, that would provide the exact same benefits.

This is important because it shows that it isn't sports which accomplish the goals you're describing here; rather, any activity of any kind could illicit these benefits. It's the benefits themselves which are meaningful.

I agree with this. I really enjoy baseball and have a lot of friends who do as well (many of them get paid to write about the sport). During college we would always try to go to the college world series for a few days and we had a blast. I thought it was because of the baseball.

Last summer none of us could really go. It sucked but oh well, we had other stuff in our lives now. I tried to watch some of the games on espn 2. Around the second game of the first day I turned the tv off and realized it wasn't the baseball at all. It was the fun of the road trip (the only time I've been excited to go to nebraska), eating hot dogs, waiting in line, it was all that and being with friends. Even when the games would be rained out we'd entertain ourselves singing milli vanilli in the stands soaking wet. The sports part was just a medium. It was HOW I got fun, not the reason of it.
 
I think you're looking at this from too shallow of a perspective. People find value in things they enjoy. Saying video games and sports are "silly and objectively meaningless" is an incredibly reductive way of looking at things.

The enjoyment out of sports is different. The feeling of rooting for your team is much stronger than simply enjoying a hobby because it may be fun. The success of sports in general, and the enormous amount of viewers for things like the Super Bowl and the world cup proves this. They have freaking parades in the cities that win these events. Sports are serious business.
 
The problem is not enjoying trivial things; the problem is infusing those things with value beyond their actual status. I agree, I thought most others would also recognize the triviality of sports (and video games and shoe fashion and TV etc.) but based on this thread and others, I was clearly wrong.

sport is religion and tribe more so than a hobby for many
 
I've spent an enormous amount of time playing video games -- not to mention engaging in this site -- and fully recognize that video games are silly and objectively meaningless. I'm not quite sure why others can't say the same, but clearly they can't. Can you explain why not? That's an honest question.
Honest answer. Even though its not meaningful in the grander scheme of life, its still meaningful to that individual. It might be what they need to get through the day, their distraction from life. It might be a way that the find motivation or ways to better themselves. It might just be fun. All of those things have a meaning that isn't great by any means, but at the same time they fulfill.
We can take one of two paths here:

1) Anything that anyone cares about is meaningful, because it means something to them. In that case, literally everything in the world is meaningful, because there are very few things that literally no one is interested in. At least one person is interested in virtually every niche one could imagine.

2) Things only have meaning when their meaning can be objectively measured. For example, a cure for Polio works and functions whether you happen to find medicine boring or not. Gravity works whether you listened to your Physics teacher or not. Computers function whether you happen to find electrical engineering entertaining or not, and so forth. By contrast, many things, like shoe fashion, hold no such objective value. As soon as people stop caring about shoe fashion, then poof, it no longer matters or has meaning. As soon as you leave the United States, poof, American Rules Football seems to suddenly become completely uninteresting to virtually everyone, and so forth.

Okay... This is where we make the jump between fun and Zarathustra type shit. Fun doesn't have to be meaningful.

But the way you said it before kind of implied that because there's no greater meaning behind it (sports), there shouldn't be that much value placed in it. Which I don't agree with. Others here will post about the ins and outs and the details and their own personal stories... I'm not going to repeat that. Its a lot of good stuff about how sport has impacted them and their family. Its bigger than simple entertainment because of how the physical nature further encourages the social interaction that is so necessary for the majority of people out there.

Also, sports have been around a lot longer than shopping. I wouldn't really compare the two... I see where you're going with that and I have to disagree.
 
Okay. Why is that? Can you provide a reasonable argument for this?



I'm definitely not above being passionate about trivial and silly things -- I have explicitly admitted in this very thread, on repeated occasions, that I enjoy both video games and baseball, as two simple examples.

The problem is not enjoying trivial things; the problem is infusing those things with value beyond their actual status. I agree, I thought most others would also recognize the triviality of sports (and video games and shoe fashion and TV etc.) but based on this thread and others, I was clearly wrong.

Celebrating an anniversary at a certain time is just as trivial as the super bowl itself.
 
That's not true. I've used these examples repeatedly already, but science based medicine works whether you happen to care about it or not. Satellites work whether you happen to understand special relatively or not. Antibiotic resistances affect you whether you happen to care about (or believe in) evolution, and so forth.

Paging captain buzzkill. Having fun is very meaningful and if watching the game is great fun then that's what it is...I don't see the need to do some serious psychoanalysis on the subject.
 
That's not true. I've used these examples repeatedly already, but Medicine works whether you happen to care about it or not. Satellites work whether you happen to understand special relatively or not. Antibiotic resistances affect you whether you happen to care about (or believe in) evolution, and so forth.

Ok, but realistically you're talking about a very small percentage of human activity. And in the context of this thread that's still irrelevant. (Though you did admit the anniversary was equally "meaningless.")

If they're both meaningless then the only relevant measures are the values both place on each thing, and objectively whether those values are justifiable.
 
Yeah I think immigration is a terrible problem too

What you think I'm bullshitting? For example, I knew a guy that coached a football team for the CFL. Sometimes he was told that he had to lose a certain game. Same thing happens in soccer or the NBA, NFL.

I think some of you forget that this is a business.
 
The enjoyment out of sports is different. The feeling of rooting for your team is much stronger than simply enjoying a hobby because it may be fun. The success of sports in general, and the enormous amount of viewers for things like the Super Bowl and the world cup proves this. They have freaking parades in the cities that win these events. Sports are serious business.

No argument here; it's a cultural thing and Go Clippers.

I just think the idea of marginalizing hobbies as "silly and objectively meaningless" is a terrible thing to do because the enjoyment one derives from these things is completely subjective. And if we take it a step further, we'd end up asking questions like why is a wedding anniversary important? It's just a day where whatever meaning it holds is merely coincidental.
 
I think Opiate is just saying that sports aren't sacrosanct and that they aren't any more inherently valuable than any other hobby or activity. Not that sports can't have meaning to a specific individual, but that sports themselves are simply activities that shouldn't be placed on a higher level of significance than going out to dinner, collecting stamps, or guitar playing. It's fun to watch the Super Bowl and I'm sure this year's game will have some entertaining moments but it won't really make a huge difference in my life which team wins.
 
because this woman wants to know she's more important to him than a sports team or game. her own insecurity?

That's exactly what this is about. She is insecure, so is forcing him to choose her over the game, and more than likely waiting for inevitable comment about the game so she can start a fight over how he likes football more than her. It's a trap, and she knows it.

Go to brunch then, spend the whole morning together, then watch the game together. This is all about her, and it shows problems with the marriage. Marriage is compromise, and there is easy compromises.

Also, the fact she wrote this article shows the agenda flat out. She's testing him, and that would piss me off as a husband.

Luckily, my wife is better than that.
 
disregardfemales.jpg
 
What you think I'm bullshitting? For example, I knew a guy that coached a football team for the CFL. Sometimes he was told that he had to lose a certain game. Same thing happens in soccer or the NBA, NFL.

I think some of you forget that this is a business.

You are arguing a non-sequitour
 
The enjoyment out of sports is different. The feeling of rooting for your team is much stronger than simply enjoying a hobby because it may be fun. The success of sports in general, and the enormous amount of viewers for things like the Super Bowl and the world cup proves this. They have freaking parades in the cities that win these events. Sports are serious business.

(Using this post to respond to several of your posts Future -- sorry, I've elicited too many responses from too many people to accurately and intelligently reply to everything).

This is an argumentum ad populum: because lots of people care about it, therefore it is important. To the contrary, there are many things that many people have cared about throughout history which are not ultimately meaningful.

dream said:
No argument here; it's a cultural thing and Go Clippers.

I just think the idea of marginalizing hobbies as "silly and objectively meaningless" is a terrible thing to do because the enjoyment one derives from these things is completely subjective. And if we take it a step further, we'd end up asking questions like why is a wedding anniversary important? It's just a day where whatever meaning it holds is merely coincidental.

I already did question the value of wedding anniversaries in my very first post; I absolutely agree that they are equally meaningless. To be specific, love and fidelity are valuable qualities, but a symbol of love and fidelity (Which is what an anniversary is) is not.
 
really don't see what the problem with the story is. Dude agreed to the date. If she said "we have to go out at this time or I'll divorce you" then I'd understand the beef.

as for watching sports being trivial, sure they are, but having grown up playing them I'll admit I am fond of the feelings i got when i was younger, and i try to keep that around. For instance when I came to college, especially during a rough first semester I found a large group of guys that were playing roller hockey. Frankly, it gave me something new to focus on away from school and a healthy outlet to use for any excess stress. It gave me something else to work on and frankly got me in really solid shape by the end of that semester. I'd consider that a good benefit as opposed to me say, sitting around playing games on steam all day, which could have just as well been what i did.



I think Opiate is just saying that sports aren't sacrosanct and that they aren't any more inherently valuable than any other hobby or activity. Not that sports can't have meaning to a specific individual, but that sports themselves are simply activities that shouldn't be placed on a higher level of significance than going out to dinner, collecting stamps, or guitar playing. It's fun to watch the Super Bowl and I'm sure this year's game will have some entertaining moments but it won't really make a huge difference in my life which team wins.

while true, I feel like that would have to be obvious to most sports fans other than a small majority who are crazy.
 
So wait Opiate, I'm trying to follow but I'm a little lost. I'm not sure I agree that videogames are an inherently worthless activity. I think I understand that you're divorcing the camaraderie/social values of the activity from the activity itself. (like, within the fact that I play CS with my friend who moved away as a way to keep in touch, It isn't the game itself thats meaningful, but rather its our relationship. The game is just a means to an end.) I understand that, and agree.

But what about Portal 2? I derived so much meaning from playing that game. It just struck something very deep within me and I remember it as perhaps one of the most powerful experiences I've had in recent memory. The same way a very powerful film like Schindler's List or something gives some people a very profound and borderline life-changing or life-affirming experience.

So I mean, how would you categorize the meaning there? Is it the game? Is the meaning within myself? Is the meaning in the all experiences that led up to Portal2 striking me in such a profound way?
 
Wish people would watch two or three documentaries from the ESPN 30 for 30. It's a game, but if you're really paying attention, people would get the cultural significance.

I think what really bothers me about this article, is that she doesn't get why it's important. Was she just not getting his emotion and hype when he was watching his beloved Texans in the playoffs?

That said, he should probably go to the wedding anniversary. Just don't tell the guy to DVR it, or say it's just a game. If for whatever reason, I somehow got married and had to miss the World Cup Finals, I'd probably lose my fucking mind if someone said any one of those things. If USA made it to the finals, I'd probably have to be checked into a mental health facility.

P.S. SHE ROOTED AGAINST HIS TEAM. THAT'S SO MESSED UP.
 
Woodworking hasn't been culturally adopted to create widespread community activities like sports has. That's a significant difference as well. In a sense "Everyone else is doing it" isn't entirely irrelevant. She's making him sit out a major event.

I don't see why that matters. If an even is important to me, it is important to me. I don't care how many other people also find it important.
 
really don't see what the problem with the story is. Dude agreed to the date. If she said "we have to go out at this time or I'll divorce you" then I'd understand the beef.

as for watching sports being trivial, sure they are, but having grown up playing them I'll admit I am fond of the feelings i got when i was younger, and i try to keep that around. For instance when I came to college, especially during a rough first semester I found a large group of guys that were playing roller hockey. Frankly, it gave me something new to focus on away from school and a healthy outlet to use for any excess stress. It gave me something else to work on and frankly got me in really solid shape by the end of that semester. I'd consider that a good benefit as opposed to me say, sitting around playing games on steam all day, which could have just as well been what i did.

Then you found NHL-Gaf and you spend way too much time sitting around talking to us right? Sports suck!
 
Okay. Why is that? Can you provide a reasonable argument for this?



I'm definitely not above being passionate about trivial and silly things -- I have explicitly admitted in this very thread, on repeated occasions, that I enjoy both video games and baseball, as two simple examples.

The problem is not enjoying trivial things; the problem is infusing those things with value beyond their actual status. I agree, I thought most others would also recognize the triviality of sports (and video games and shoe fashion and TV etc.) but based on this thread and others, I was clearly wrong.
I'll give you a reasonable argument as soon as you link me to the book you're reading that ranks activities by their value and status.

NeoGAF: we're above that
 
I'm a bit annoyed that people can't relate. It's just sports. To the people that are suggesting the dude just DVR it, tell me about an event that you couldn't possibly miss. And then tell me what you might feel possibly having to miss it every year for the rest of your life.

I'm not missing the Super Bowl, but I know how this dude might feel. I gotta miss EVO 2012 for a wedding and it's killing me. I can't DVR that shit. I hang with my friend who's getting married every week for lunch, and I still can't forgive him for this shit.

P.S. She rooted against his team? That's messed up.
were you planning on entering evo? i think theres a difference between participant and spectator.

what bothers me about the op is that the guy is a freelance sports photographer who has taken pictures during the superbowl. sure, he may not have been taking pictures at this particular one, but since its a yearly anniversary he can practically give up any more future superbowls. from what i'm reading in the op, husband is 2 for 2 for missed superbowls so far. honestly, its a mistake that could've and should've been avoided from the start.

i'm not that upset at the women for this. however, if the husband does get the opportunity to photograph the superbowl in the future and the wife still says no, then shes a bitch.
 
I already did question the value of wedding anniversaries in my very first post; I absolutely agree that they are equally meaningless. To be specific, love and fidelity are valuable qualities, but a symbol of love and fidelity (Which is what an anniversary is) is not.

Here's the disconnect: why are symbols (which represent meaningful ideas and values) not valuable? How does one determine the value of somethng so subjective and abstract?
 
Then you found NHL-Gaf and you spend way too much time sitting around talking to us right? Sports suck!

I took the gaf video game route, why play them when I can just talk and bitch about them!

that and they closed down our rec center here so we have no rink within 45 miles :(, not to mention playing club hockey here would cost over a couple 1000.. ugh.
 
I think Opiate is just saying that sports aren't sacrosanct and that they aren't any more inherently valuable than any other hobby or activity. Not that sports can't have meaning to a specific individual, but that sports themselves are simply activities that shouldn't be placed on a higher level of significance than going out to dinner, collecting stamps, or guitar playing. It's fun to watch the Super Bowl and I'm sure this year's game will have some entertaining moments but it won't really make a huge difference in my life which team wins.

Yes, this is a reasonable synopsis. Obviously sports can have personal meaning to any person; that's different than something having objective, real meaning.

If we use the standard of "personal meaning" in conversations, however, all discussion breaks down. Any person can make anything a hobby of virtually anything and therefore infuse virtually anything with personal meaning. At that point, everything has "meaning," and that makes the word "meaningful" much less meaningful (no pun intended).
 
sports is just another form of entertainment.
to call it meaningless denies the basic carnal instincts of men to prove their worth/manhood.
if its not sports, it will be something else competitive. like videogames, or watching grass grow.

I have never had the urge to prove my manhood. Are you seriously using base instincts that stopped being important millions of years ago as your argument?
 
Here's the disconnect: why are symbols (which represent meaningful ideas and values) not valuable? How does one determine the value of somethng so subjective and abstract?

he's determining value from his own perspective.


I have never had the urge to prove my manhood. Are you seriously using base instincts that stopped being important millions of years ago as your argument?
lol. where to begin on that.
yeah try sports.
it may not be important to you, but it sure hell is important to athletes, the likes and fans.
 
This is an argumentum ad populum: because lots of people care about it, therefore it is important. To the contrary, there are many things that many people have cared about throughout history which are not ultimately meaningful.


Sport is the primary form of male bonding around the world, I wouldn't call that meaningless. It also provides a common ground for different social groups & countries to communicate & it could be argued that it also helps/helped with easing racial tensions in certain countries.
 
Yes, this is a reasonable synopsis. Obviously sports can have personal meaning to any person; that's different than something having objective, real meaning.

If we use the standard of "personal meaning" in conversations, however, all discussion breaks down. Any person can make anything a hobby of virtually anything and therefore infuse virtually anything with personal meaning. At that point, everything has "meaning," and that makes the word "meaningful" much less meaningful (no pun intended).

The problem is that we're talking about playing sports vs. watching sports and that makes it a little more difficult. Professional sports have "meaning" in the sense that they give us the pinnacle of physical performance. Watching is obviously less meaningful, but I think tangentially there is a connection that has actual value.
 
It's the damn superbowl! You've got 364 other days to go out to a restaurant and shove food in your face. Pick the day before or after and get on with it.

Christ, marriage is such a waste of time with so much BS.
 
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