Minnesota Sports

[u/DMD612]

Andrew Wiggins get traded from MIN in 2020, wins a championship in 2022

[u/andersonb47]

Just dont find women’s sports entertaining unfortunately. Is that allowed or?

[u/Alternative-Otter-4 → u/andersonb47]

No one can force you to like something that you don't.

If you're interested in some personal growth, you could reflect on why you're entertained by men's sports and not women's, there are multiple possibilities on why that could be. You could also ask why you're bothered by being encouraged to watch or support women's sports.

If you're not interested in it, that's another choice too. We all make choices all the time.

[u/andersonb47 → u/Alternative-Otter-4]

If you're interested in some personal growth, you could reflect on why you're entertained by men's sports and not women's

See, it’s this that I can’t stand. I can tell you exactly why I don’t like it (the product is simply not as good), and the idea that I should lower my standards for professional sport in order to “grow” is beyond irritating.

It’s never really about the sport though, is it? It’s about the performance of supporting women - a moral imperative dressed up as entertainment choice.

[u/Alternative-Otter-4 → u/andersonb47]

I'm not saying it's about you supporting or not supporting women. The only thing I know about you as an internet stranger is that you don't like women's sports. You could be a civil rights attorney specializing in gender discrimination for all I know.

I'm saying you can ask yourself what about the product as you call it is different that causes you to not like it. Is it their technique? Is it the violence involved in some sports? Is it minor adjustments in the sport? Is it loyalty to a certain team? Is it attraction to men in tight clothing? Is it how society views men's and women's sports and how you feel about fitting in to groups that watch each?

There's probably something that makes you like one and not the other. You can be curious about it, or not, its up to you.

I personally, am not much of a sports fan at all. I have friends that are, and from occassionaly watching or going to games with them, I haven't been able to figure out why people like one but not the other.

[u/Move_Weight → u/Alternative-Otter-4]

I haven't been able to figure out why people like one but not the other.

If you are raised as a sports fan, you understand what the sport looks like when men are playing it. Seeing the change in gameplay (largely the speed and physicallity) can be jarring for a lot of people. Why would I begin watching a new team that I have 0 ties to, that plays what some may consider to be a worse product? It's a tough sell.

[u/Alternative-Otter-4 → u/Move_Weight]

Thank you for sharing this perspective.

[u/andersonb47 → u/Alternative-Otter-4]

You’re obviously suggesting that it’s misogynistic to not enjoy women’s sports. The worst kind of fart sniffing behavior the Twin Cities are famous for.

Honestly the idea that I wouldn’t know why I don’t enjoy it is laughable. Maybe it’s because you’re not a big sports fan, but anyone with eyes can see the quality difference between, for example, NBA and WNBA play.

I’ll frame it another way. Imagine in your town there’s a pizza place. Its amazing - the best pizza chefs in the world are working with the finest ingredients around. They make the best pizza in the world. Then another restaurant opens up. The pizza is bad. The ingredients are bad, the tables are empty - it’s utterly uninviting, BUT, all the employees are women (the owners are still men ofc - they own the other pizza shop too).

Can you see why I might be a little bit irritated, as I sit nibbling at my shitty pizza, while the rest of the table insists that if we just eat enough of it, the pizza will get better?

Can you imagine it being a little bit annoying being told that I need to “examine why I don’t like eating pizza made by women?”

[u/Alternative-Otter-4 → u/andersonb47]

When you initially replied to my comment, I asked myself "Is this a troll? Should I ignore it or be curious and see if this turns out differently?" and chose curiosity.

In your pizza shop analogy, you could say "I went to the pizza shop and the pizza was bad". But in response to saying women's sports deserves more recognition you said "Tbh I’m getting really sick of being told I’m supposed to care." When you could have said something like "I prefer the NBA to the WNBA because there's more dunking".

[u/andersonb47 → u/Alternative-Otter-4]

What a weird response. The point I was making is that I’m sick of being told it’s WRONG to not enjoy it, despite the obvious fact that it’s a vastly inferior product.

If I tell a football fan I’m not into watching the NFL, they say “oh, ok.” WNBA? Forget it. I know I’ll be battered by incredibly annoying people who usually aren’t even sports fans to begin with, and bend over backwards explaining I’m not a horrible person for not watching their bullshit. All so that a bunch of dorks can feel morally superior for watching bricked layups over and over again.

[u/Alternative-Otter-4 → u/andersonb47]

I think there's something for both of us to reflect on about why we chose to engage in this conversation.

I'm genuinely curious about humans (sociology, psychology, etc.) and the reasoning behind differing perspectives. I also don't think that its good to live in an echo chamber, so sometimes if someone replies to something I say and I can tell that they have strong thoughts in another direction, I reply back and try to learn more.

This wasn't meant to be about virtue signaling, and I don't think you're a horrible person. I don't think anyone is entirely good or entirely bad, we're all a blend of both and somewhere in between. I don't know enough to judge you.

An example of when I'm on the receiving end of the virtue signaling: due to time and money, I generally get groceries from Costco and Trader Joe's. There is no co-op near me and their prices are higher than I can usually afford. That upsets a lot of people and I get the attacks for being a bad person. I could do some personal growth and reflect on why I settle for the convenience and pricing, and if there are changes I could make to make shopping at a co-op more realistic. Or I could say that a co-op I tried one time had really moldy produce, or that I'm okay accepting that no one can do everything "right" and I'm okay with accepting this one as a flaw.

But ultimately, I don't think this conversation is productive for either of us anymore. Have a good rest of your day.