On sports

You ever wondered why every place in America that serves alcohol and also has a television, will, 90% of the time, have that television tuned to sports.  The other 10% have them tuned to cable news. 

In the public space, it seems that news is becoming an outlier, only turned to in a time of absolute crisis. On 9/11, every TV in every bar in America was tuned to CNN.

It’s not that I don’t understand why sports are king.  I just resent it.  In our culture, they have become the only common denominator (not necessarily the lowest).  Watching sports does not require thought or critical thinking. 

Between observers, the only communication that is sometimes required is a show of allegiance.  We vicariously cheer, when someone scores, or doesn’t score, or places first, or crashes and burns.  In our time, sports are the only event that we can seem to follow as a nation, perhaps because it is the only thing on offer.

I like movies, especially science fiction.  Despite its stigma as geek domain, it’s a great medium for confronting a wider audience with hardcore social and philosophical issues.  It’s nice to go to a crowded theatre and watch something like the Matrix.

I wish I lived in some bizaro world where the default TV choice at your local bar is the Sci-Fi channel.  “Hey is that ‘the Day the Earth stood still’?”