Rolling Maleness and Masculinity Discussion Thread

I also have the luxury of working around mostly computer people and the expectation is that 2/3rds of the already mostly-male staff don't really engage with televised sports at all, so I'm the one making an effort to reach out to a minority!

jim otm, though -- I tend to go out on sunday nights to get food after starting a load of laundry and if I end up catching a particularly interesting play or game ending when the NFL is on, I'll comment on it if my coworkers are talking about that game

they know that I probably don't know much beyond that, though

why would you want to talk about which album by a band is better than other albums by the same band, or assign numerical ranking to songs by bands and artists, rather than just ... listening to music?

I wouldn't say that I do that rather than listening to music, but I do do that, and I do want to do that, and I'm not sure I could say why, any more than I could say why I want to listen to music, for that matter.

One thing about sports talk is that I find it to be a very useful way of talking across geographic / political / social class boundaries and talking to strangers more generally. Like if you're in a bar and a game is on you can just say either "no way in hell was that pass interference" or "that was blatant pass interference, come on" and either way you are basically opening up a public conversation window.

second captains guys

I'm going away with 9 other blokes this weekend. We'll mostly eat, drink and listen to music on Friday, then have a walk on Saturday and go to the pub for a bit. Someone will cook Saturday night and we'll fall asleep watching the football. It'll be a bit bro-y at times but there are people there with tough jobs (me, being one), people going through marriage break downs, people that have got young kids; mostly we'll be talking about those things. It's not exclusionary I don't think (those left at home with the kids might argue) and it doesn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

Some of these people have been dicks in the past; I've been a dick in the past - but right now, it's a good and (generally) gentle place to be.

re: sports talk

find a few entertaining podcasts, keep up with scores/standings, and know the rules of the game, and it’ll be enough to keep a conversation going. if someone challenges you, a good way to back out is to say you wish you had more time for it.

that's good advice. i don't think anyone has an issue with somebody that enjoys watching the game but doesn't have time or capacity to get into all the background and details. i actually try to keep my sports chats with randos and coworkers at a pretty high level--i mean i could talk about the 8th or 9th guy on all 30 nba teams but that's probably the pendulum swinging too far in the other direction.

i advise just having no social contact with any man or woman who makes conversation about sports

find a few entertaining podcasts

― beard papa

a few! my god, beard papa, you don't beat around the bush, you just come right out and ask the impossible!

watch jon bois videos, and relentlessly redirect all conversations to athletes named Bob.

One thing about sports talk is that I find it to be a very useful way of talking across geographic / political / social class boundaries and talking to strangers more generally. Like if you're in a bar and a game is on you can just say either "no way in hell was that pass interference" or "that was blatant pass interference, come on" and either way you are basically opening up a public conversation window.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, October 28, 2019 2:21 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Just tried this, but the Nats fans in the bar all turned and looked at me funny.

Lol

idgi, which I suppose ties into what I was saying upthread.

eephus! was describing a tactic that would work with American football and man alive jokingly posted that he tried it verbatim during a baseball game

Ah, I see. Thanks.

lol, second time in two days DJP has to explain my posts to someone

I got you, bro *fist bump*

tactic masculinity

I thought the joke was a reference to the bizarre interference call in the Astros/Nats baseball game last night that few fans really understood.

I usually try to casually mention my complete ignorance re: sports whenever I'm meeting another man for the first time, occasionally issuing the consolation that if he wants to rank the denizens of Star's Hollow we'll get on like gangbusters.

just talk about records until you've either cleared the room or become the life of the party

keep a laminated card in your wallet that explains the infield fly rule

I slide the phrase "well, that's not cricket!" into conversation so people know I know my sports

Cricket fans would know you're full of shit - the phrase is "it's just not cricket".

that was a trap, we wanted to flush out the cricket enthusiasts and ban them

masculinity wins again

masculinity wins so much that masculinity is getting tired of winning

the no, cricket is literally the only sport I know due to coworker pressure and when someone asks me about another sport I can only shrug because... not cricket

an errant “the” was prefaced, whoops

i want to get more into sports.

i've worked in the "art world" for the past two years and have learned a lot of information about contemporary art. i wish i could swap this information out for knowledge about the nba.

ILH is always looking for new recruits!

there are incredible artists doing amazing things right now -- don't get me wrong -- but also a lot of hype. and the idea of art as the ultimate luxury commodity has really worn me down--just the whole lifestyle around it. sports is more honest.

the season just started so this is a good time. i see the knicks are losing to the orlando magic.

is it OK to become a nets fan? i'm a brooklynite but still--seems ignoble to jump ship.

treesh should def start posting on the good board

as far as jumping ship, you gotta go where your heart leads ya, even if it is to the lol knicks

the knicks have no future to speak of outside of one rather polarizing prospect. the nets now employ two weird malcontents as their best players, one of whom is out for the season. there's no right answer here, my friend.

yeah the long-term prob with the knicks is they are going to be bad for the rest of our lives more or less

just tuned into the nets. playing against the hated pacers.

2019-20 NBA Regular Degular Season thread join us here bud!

ilhoops is the best board and also a place for positive exemplars of masculinity (ie me)

Easiest path to being sports-conversant - only pay attention to the playoffs. Paying attention to December basketball is work, if you wait til May things are more exciting.

I got into soccer 5 years ago and it made my life more fun

But lord is it harder to fake in convo

the idea of art as the ultimate luxury commodity

cheap art is the best. i’ve discussed the “ultimate luxury commodity” bit with friends and it usually means one of:
- artwashing
- status symbol
- money laundering

ding. ding. ding.

Soccer is cool because (having never played it or watched on TV until this decade) I can't tell good from bad so MLS is just as interesting/dramatic as a Champions League match.

the "art world"--or art market more like, the gallery world--is the weirdest and most disingenuous thing. sometimes there is good worked mixed up in it, some is nonsense, but the way it is all discussed is strange. especially because so much of the work, and the language around the work, is heavily political and almost always left wing, but the people who collect the stuff are weapons manufacturers and investors in private prisons and whatever. i just get vertigo in this world. i hope my employer does not know my ilx name.

idk what this has to do with masculinity

Treeser Soze