Should He Stay or Should He Go

[Jim Hyla]

I watch basketball, but not with the same intensity. I like having it on as background while I'm doing something else. I do the same with baseball.

This is a little off-topic. Of course some people like some things more than other things. There is an undercurrent of "hating basketball" that runs through a lot of "liking hockey" and that's what I'm getting at. I'm not going to openly question any individual's sincerity when they say that the two are independent decisions but I will remain suspicious that you have sufficiently probed your own mind.

Trust me, living in Syracuse, I've seen and thought a lot about basketball.

[Trotsky]

There is an undercurrent of "hating basketball" that runs through a lot of "liking hockey" and that's what I'm getting at.

I think many of us have zero interest, negative or otherwise, in basketball, but do hate the ubiquitous and blaring ESPN-esque coverage of it.  See also: rooting against the US Summer Olympic team.  Nobody on the planet actually cares about beach volleyball, but it's very easy to want NBC to eat pavement.

[ugarte]

I watch basketball, but not with the same intensity. I like having it on as background while I'm doing something else. I do the same with baseball.

This is a little off-topic. Of course some people like some things more than other things. There is an undercurrent of "hating basketball" that runs through a lot of "liking hockey" and that's what I'm getting at. I'm not going to openly question any individual's sincerity when they say that the two are independent decisions but I will remain suspicious that you have sufficiently probed your own mind.

Trust me, living in Syracuse, I've seen and thought a lot about basketball.

I DON'T MEAN YOU! You just said that you don't dislike basketball! That's why I said your point was off-topic (as defined by my original comment).

[Towerroad]

There is an undercurrent of "hating basketball" that runs through a lot of "liking hockey" and that's what I'm getting at.

I think many of us have zero interest, negative or otherwise, in basketball, but do hate the ubiquitous and blaring ESPN-esque coverage of it.  See also: rooting against the US Summer Olympic team.  Nobody on the planet actually cares about beach volleyball, but it's very easy to want NBC to eat pavement.

I could not disagree with you more. It is a fun sport to watch and the game is entertaining as well. Yes, men like to look at women in bikinis. However, because the female athletes wear bikinis girls who watch the sport actually get to see what fit women's bodies look like as opposed to the anorexic waifs they are bombarded with in the media. My wife and daughters have remarked on this a number of times.

[KeithK]

I watch basketball, but not with the same intensity. I like having it on as background while I'm doing something else. I do the same with baseball.

This is a little off-topic. Of course some people like some things more than other things. There is an undercurrent of "hating basketball" that runs through a lot of "liking hockey" and that's what I'm getting at. I'm not going to openly question any individual's sincerity when they say that the two are independent decisions but I will remain suspicious that you have sufficiently probed your own mind.

Guilty as charged. I don't like basketball on the merits for some of the same reasons that Jim mentions. I watched plenty of it in college when I had toommates who were diehard fans and never could get into it. But I am also annoyed by the tremendous amount of hype and coverage that the sport gets. Being something of a contrarian this makes me dislike basketball more.

I think there is definitely a culture of dislike for basketball among hockey fans (or at least college hockey). The two sports are direct competitors for eyeballs since their seasnns overlap almost completely. The tremendous amount of coverage for the NCAA tournament can be frustrating to a hockey fan who sees the relative lack of coverage for the hockey tournament (still apparent and we're now in the golden age of college hockey coverage). I know I picked up the squeakball reference from HOCKEY-L back in the day.

[Trotsky]

There is an undercurrent of "hating basketball" that runs through a lot of "liking hockey" and that's what I'm getting at.

I think many of us have zero interest, negative or otherwise, in basketball, but do hate the ubiquitous and blaring ESPN-esque coverage of it.  See also: rooting against the US Summer Olympic team.  Nobody on the planet actually cares about beach volleyball, but it's very easy to want NBC to eat pavement.

I could not disagree with you more. It is a fun sport to watch and the game is entertaining as well. Yes, men like to look at women in bikinis. However, because the female athletes wear bikinis girls who watch the sport actually get to see what fit women's bodies look like as opposed to the anorexic waifs they are bombarded with in the media. My wife and daughters have remarked on this a number of times.

We'll agree to disagree.  I think the women who play beach volleyball look like arachnids.  That isn't fit, it's neurotic.

[Scersk '97]

I could not disagree with you more. It is a fun sport to watch and the game is entertaining as well. Yes, men like to look at women in bikinis. However, because the female athletes wear bikinis girls who watch the sport actually get to see what fit women's bodies look like as opposed to the anorexic waifs they are bombarded with in the media. My wife and daughters have remarked on this a number of times.

We'll agree to disagree.  I think the women who play beach volleyball look like arachnids.  That isn't fit, it's neurotic.

You lost me at "fun sport to watch."  All fast-twitch; no strategy.

[Jim Hyla]

I watch basketball, but not with the same intensity. I like having it on as background while I'm doing something else. I do the same with baseball.

This is a little off-topic. Of course some people like some things more than other things. There is an undercurrent of "hating basketball" that runs through a lot of "liking hockey" and that's what I'm getting at. I'm not going to openly question any individual's sincerity when they say that the two are independent decisions but I will remain suspicious that you have sufficiently probed your own mind.

Trust me, living in Syracuse, I've seen and thought a lot about basketball.

I DON'T MEAN YOU! You just said that you don't dislike basketball! That's why I said your point was off-topic (as defined by my original comment).

Well, sorry. But I didn't say I didn't dislike basketball. I said I watch it as background. So sorry I didn't understand that I was off-topic and that the whole rest of your comment was meant for someone else. I figured since you were quoting me, you meant me with this.

I will remain suspicious that you have sufficiently probed your own mind.

[TimV]

What? You don't watch Big Bang Theory???::wank::

Hang a sock on the door

sanc.ti.mo.ni.ous

saNG(k)te'mone ess

Adjective

Derogatory.  Making a show of being morally or ethically superior to other people

Clearly you didn't understand the intent of this:::bolt::

Try this one:  ::moon::

[ftyuv]

It stands to reason that as Cornell students we are introduced to new sports and, during our time on the hill, become devotees of some of them. It's natural that even naive, facetimer students are attracted to the sports in which Cornell is highly competitive. But over time, especially in a sport like hockey for which Cornell fans pride themselves for being knowledgeable, many facetimers learn about the sport and themselves become fans.

That's me. I didn't know a thing about hockey before I came to Cornell, other than that it was violent. I watched my first game entirely because it was the cool thing to do, and I fell in love with the game within about 30 seconds. Fast forward to today, I play 2-3 times a week.

[ugarte]

Clearly you didn't understand the intent of this: ::bolt::

::bolt::
unpronounceable
emoticon

Puerile, an attempt to achieve ironic distance

usage: "I am telling a sexist joke that I know to be sexist and trying to distance myself from it, unsuccessfully, because I am accidentally revealing something true about myself."

[ftyuv]

Clearly you didn't understand the intent of this: ::bolt::

::bolt::
unpronounceable
emoticon

Puerile, an attempt to achieve ironic distance

usage: "I am telling a sexist joke that I know to be sexist and trying to distance myself from it, unsuccessfully, because I am accidentally revealing something true about myself."

This whole exchange confuses me. As far as I can tell, it went something like this:
[list=1]

• one of RPI's disadvantages as far as recruiting is a high male/female ratio
• actually, we should be looking at the male/attractive female ratio (presumably because hockey players (as most men) would prefer being with an attractive female over being with an unattractive one, ceteris paribus)
  
• attractiveness is not a relevant quality for male engineers in this century
• Big Bang Theory (despite its relative lack of classically attractive male engineers) is somehow a counter-argument to this; also, we should all wank off to it and/or it's a wank of a show
• we don't want to hear about you wanking off to Big Bang Theory
• stop being holier-than-thou
• stop being sexist (presumably, against male engineers)

This makes very, very little sense to me; far less sense, for example, than firing a coach following a bad season, which over 91% of the the participants in this thread don't think makes sense. So, what have I misread?

[TimV]

You're right ftyuv.  I apologize to all who took the time to read this drivel.  I thought it was harmless.  Ugarte felt like he had to call me on it.  If I didn't post it , none of this nonsense would have followed.  If Ugarte hadn't gone all Gloria Steinem, I'd still be thinking he was an occasionaly humorous guy who didn't take himself too seriously.

[ugarte]

If Ugarte hadn't gone all Gloria Steinem, I'd still be thinking he was an occasionaly humorous guy who didn't take himself too seriously.

I can live with these results.

[redice]

.....But I am also annoyed by the tremendous amount of hype and coverage that the sport gets. Being something of a contrarian this makes me dislike basketball more.......

That pretty much sums it up for me...   Furthermore, CBS carries much of the "March Sadness"; preempting many of the TV shows that my wife & I prefer to watch.     That adds to my hatred for NCAA squeakball.    It cannot end soon enough for me.

I don't live in Syracuse.    But, I live in upstate NY and cannot get away from Syracuse basketball.   That only makes it all worse.   I cannot imagine the pain that Jim must be feeling each year at this time.

The only consolation these days, as opposed to the early days of my CU Hockey fandom (mid-1960's), we now have reaasonal coverage of the NCAA hockey tournament.    In the 60's & 70's, it was difficult to even find out who won the damned tournament.   Even the Ithaca Joural shut down their college hockey coverage when Cornell stopped playing.   It was disgraceful and very frustrating.     Thank God for the internet!!