What sports do you play? What sports would you like to play?

Would like to: if I had the ability to not screw up, then soccer. As it is...

Other sports I played before sucking at them made me give up: football, basketball, hockey, golf. Always wanted to learn how to play tennis, but the season conflicted with track.

2) I want to play hockey! I didn't get in on it in early elementary school, though, so none of the leagues are open to me.

SAY NO TO GOLF, KIDS.

But I've always liked football (the North American kind, if you were wondering) more than any other sport, and I just came back from the Seahawks vs. Dolphins game just hours ago, so there you go.

Last week I entertained a little fantasy about taking up rowing because I was watching the 80's movie Oxford Blues with Rob Lowe in it and I just got so carried away. Har.

World's Strongest Man

hi guys

for the last year and for the first time in my life at thirty whatever (seven i think) ive been involved in a sports team, a load of struggling dept ed penpushers of varying experience and silhouette togging out once a month or more under floodlights against lads with coaches and clipboards and a ref looking on and shaking his head at us

we havent won yet but we havent given up yet. our goalie would rather be our striker, our striker would rather be anywhere else, our best player has forty years done and is likely running down his contract and we're only taking it too seriously in the ten mins before and after when tge blood's up.

highlights include:

- the ref blowing up ten mins early against the prison service and refusing to divulge the score

- getting a man sent off for running away from a fight against the fire service (and being let back on out of pity ten mins later)

- holding justice to a two goal win and running to the bench celebrating as they looked on nonplussed

- our bruiser (seconded to defence since, unrelated) launching into a legbreaker against dept health and the victim berating him while prone with "dyou fuckin know how long the ambulance will leave me waiting once they know who i work for?"

its been a joyous experience, almost totally positive without the pressure of performance or competitiveness and while i wish id done it years ago i think maybe the magic is coming from the maturity in actually enjoying the participation and the camaraderie and all the things that wouldve been and sounded like placatory cant back when we were young enough to care.

are ye sporting yerselves and isnt it great

like every other hipster asshole i did a few kickball leagues several years ago but even in that thoroughly no-stakes context there was too much unpleasantness, from people griping with the umps to other teams trying to game the rules to simply games getting cancelled on account of not enough people on a team showing up.

following that experience, a friend started organizing semi-regular flag football games just among a group of 20 or so friends and friends of friends, and that's been 1000x better. sometimes, especially in the last couple of years, we've had difficulty getting enough participants on a day we decided to play (we've found 6 is the absolute minimum) but usually we get 8-12 and the teams change from game to game based on who shows up so no one ever takes anything too seriously.

the last time i played 5s - which was probably 5 years ago - i injured my knee on the bloody astroturf. it wasn't so bad at the time, i was able to play on. but it's given me bother ever since (guilty confession: i exacerbated it greatly by drunkenly slipping on a manhole cover while walking home from the pub with my ex some months later). can't really be doing with any sport that involves twisting and turning on my knee (which is most of them) so i think my sporting days are behind me. maybe some lawn bowls.

squats man squats

the knee is fine for those sort of things, i can hike, ride a bike etc. it's just turning that's an issue. i probably need to see a physio tbh

Pickup Ultimate (Frisbee) for the last 13 years every Saturday morning, weather permitting. I was one of the youngest players when I started; now one of the oldest. It’s had such a positive impact on my life: I used to play hungover and coughing from smoking the previous night. Eventually I reached the point where I enjoyed playing more than smoking and quit cold turkey more than 6 years ago. Also, prior to playing, my wife and I had very few friends, stayed on our own, and were a little codependent. After I made a few friends through Ultimate, it opened up a whole new, healthier life for us.

It’s frustrating sometimes chasing someone half your age around, but you take little victories where you can. I’ve torn my meniscus and herniated a disc in my neck over the last 5 years, so I hear Father Time pretty loud these days, but I’ve recovered and soldiered through. On a sunny, breezeless Spring day, there is nothing better.

played ice hockey and basketball up until a few years ago, then i blew out my knee doing the latter

now i'm just going to seed

In my lifetime, I have spent many hours playing sports in a completely informal framework, without the benefit of referees, organization, or even the officially recognized number of players on a team, or on a regulation-sized field or court. Of these sports experiences, I've spent more total hours playing pickup basketball, but I got more sheer pleasure out of pickup volleyball games.

Now I'm too old, poorly conditioned and out of practice to play any sport at a level I can enjoy, but I clearly recall the pleasures of all those meaningless, informal pickup games. I sometimes dream about them at night.

bhuel lookit sure we never stopped playing informally

play crap-standard 11-a-side in goal. usually come off one of the more competent on the field despite largening waistline

play crappish-standard cricket as spin-bowling all-rounder (he said with a wink) and actually the forthcoming season is quite exciting, reckon it'll be a breakthrough year. will keep you updated

i was playing 5-a side up until a couple of months ago and then people started flaking out and we couldnt make up the numbers. Its a pity as it was enjoyable, im trying to get it started again but no-ones biting unfortunately

i think i could get into ultimate frisbee, but i dont know if it’s a thing close by, and i feel bad enough taking time to ride my bike. But i only ride alone (for safety and practical reasons) and it’s a bit socially isolating, the way i like to do it.

What’s a reasonable amount of time/wk to dedicate to your hobby sport? Vs your partner? Vs yr kids? Vs yr work?

diggin PBKR's post

Now I'm too old, poorly conditioned and out of practice to play any sport at a level I can enjoy, but I clearly recall the pleasures of all those meaningless, informal pickup games. I sometimes dream about them at night.

An 80 yr old plays basketball at my local open gym. I'm half his age, but still nearly twice as old as most of the other players. He had bilateral knee replacement at 50, hadn't played sports at all from when he was 30 til he retired. He does have to sit out full court games, and leaves after 1 hour of play. Also regularly plays in senior 3 on 3 bball tournaments, and is stoked that now he can join the 80+ teams where he is the agile, frisky superstar. He also plays tennis 2x/week. It's never too late to have fun playing sports.

i think i could get into ultimate frisbee, but i dont know if it’s a thing close by, and i feel bad enough taking time to ride my bike. But i only ride alone (for safety and practical reasons) and it’s a bit socially isolating, the way i like to do it.

Ultimate can be great and ime tends to attract chill people not into other sports (though any sport can have dicks and we’ve had one or two over the years). Check out USA Ultimate website, which may have info on a game local to you.

As for the amount of time involved, I play about 3 hours a week, but I don’t have kids. I would like to think if you find something that means a lot to you, you and your partner could work something out where you can help them find time for something meaningful as well.

An 80 yr old plays basketball at my local open gym. I'm half his age, but still nearly twice as old as most of the other players. He had bilateral knee replacement at 50, hadn't played sports at all from when he was 30 til he retired. He does have to sit out full court games, and leaves after 1 hour of play. Also regularly plays in senior 3 on 3 bball tournaments, and is stoked that now he can join the 80+ teams where he is the agile, frisky superstar. He also plays tennis 2x/week. It's never too late to have fun playing sports.

This is awesome. Gives me hope.

WE WON ONE

highlight of the year, obv

Um, this is a huge problem, not something to be cheered on? It might be possible that encouraging young, mostly Black men to ruin their bodies (and often their brains) for life to enrich a bunch of already rich white dudes because "it's the only way out of poverty" is the biggest indictment of sport as it relates to race and class in the US.

^we have a problem where we put all sports convo through the lens of the NFL. I don't think that basketball, soccer, or baseball are particularly destructive, not that injuries can't happen, but I'm not sure on balance those sports are more destructive than sitting at a desk 40 hours a week

hockey is probably closer to football esp w brain injuries (possibly worse but must ppl just don't pay attention to hockey)

also I think people who don't like sports forget that it's fun! most of the players like it and want to play, and lots of people who aren't close to pro go to the YMCA and play in their free time, I would say most players were obsessed with the sport and getting good and taking the time to practice and work on their craft and study the sports

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 14 January 2021 19:26 (two minutes ago)

I seem to recall thrashing some of this out upthread (i think)

Heh now i look back it wasnt

Ah well

good try, good try, it’s only a game

Lol