What's the bigger distraction...

[Dookus]

Poll question: What's the bigger distraction...

to what's really going on in the world?

People here LOVE to complain about celebrity trials being a distraction from the "real news".

I maintain sports are a MUCH bigger distraction. How much of every newscast, every newspaper, every radio report does sports take up? How much of the average citizen's time and attention is wasted on an utterly pointless pursuit?

Yet nobody ever complains that coverage of the NBA is a "distraction".

edit: the poll messed up, and I can't fix it, evidently. Let's just discuss instead.

[CanuckAmok]

1. I agree, even though your poll is fucked-up.

Not only is pro psorts a complete waste of time... how many communities have had to foot the bill for yet another stadium to make more owners and players even more millions?

[Dookus]

2. sigh...

the poll IS messed up, and I can't fix it. Anyway, we can just have a discussion, I guess.

[CanuckAmok]

3. fuck that. It has to be a poll...

if you're going to discuss professional sports, it has to be in a forum in which there is a clearly defined winner and loser, preferably in an E-Z to follow visual format.

[Dookus]

4. lol... true

alas, I can't fix it. I've tried.

[pres2032]

5. that's because sports are much more ingrained in our culture

how many fathers have taken their sons to a baseball game as a bonding trip? Do sports have their downsides and their faults, absolutely. But then I can't imagine society without some sort of activity or entertainment which sports provide. Sometimes distraction can be good. Just look at the Mets game after 9/11 and how New Yorkers went crazy with Piazza's home run. That, in a way, was the first step in the healing process.

[Dookus]

6. I'm not saying

there shouldn't be sports - but as a former sissy-boy, attempts to "bond" at sporting events were boring, painful experiences for me.

My point is that I'd guess half the people who jump onto every Michael Jackson thread shouting "Why do we care?" or "This isn't important!" probably spend their Sundays watching grown men throw a ball around.