When people say they "don't like sports," what they often mean is that they don't follow any teams.
I played baseball growing up, still play tennis and row. I "understand" the rules of most sports – except cricket but c'mon. I can have a good time drinking a pint with friends and listening to them discuss sports. In fact, my ignorance often leads to great conversations, as they explain some backstory about how the wide receivers played on rival college teams or the history of nation's soccer team or whatever. It's fun. Sports are inherently dramatic, and it's easy to be drawn into an evenly matched contest. Given the right context and group of peers who are passionate about the outcome, pretty much everybody will enjoy watching sports.
However, I just find the whole process of following a team to be a colossal waste of time. All of the time spent reading about drafts and trades and injuries and stats, they add up to hours every week – even without watching any games. I personally would much rather be cooking or reading a novel or playing video games or hiking. Some people would find those things to be a colossal waste of time. That's okay.
There's no reason for us all to be so defensive about what we like and don't like. I like sports, but I choose to spend my free time on other things. That doesn't make my hobbies better or worse than Joe Football's. Just different. End of story.
Often it just means they don't follow any teams, but not always. I, for instance, don't care for any sports at all. I'm not even interested in learning the rules, unless I play the sport myself. Same goes for some of my friends.
When people say they "don't like sports," what they often mean is that they don't follow any teams.
I played baseball growing up, still play tennis and row. I "understand" the rules of most sports – except cricket but c'mon. I can have a good time drinking a pint with friends and listening to them discuss sports. In fact, my ignorance often leads to great conversations, as they explain some backstory about how the wide receivers played on rival college teams or the history of nation's soccer team or whatever. It's fun. Sports are inherently dramatic, and it's easy to be drawn into an evenly matched contest. Given the right context and group of peers who are passionate about the outcome, pretty much everybody will enjoy watching sports.
However, I just find the whole process of following a team to be a colossal waste of time. All of the time spent reading about drafts and trades and injuries and stats, they add up to hours every week – even without watching any games. I personally would much rather be cooking or reading a novel or playing video games or hiking. Some people would find those things to be a colossal waste of time. That's okay.
There's no reason for us all to be so defensive about what we like and don't like. I like sports, but I choose to spend my free time on other things. That doesn't make my hobbies better or worse than Joe Football's. Just different. End of story.