Why do they call sport entertainment?

[Speelgoedmannetje]

They're doing it so serious, with achievements (even mentioned in the news!!) and so.
And all those companies to make them run/skate/cycle 0.000000001 millisecond faster.
And sporters who ruin their bodies with illegal drug usage..
And those football riots, also because for 'fun'
All those big bugs. fuss and seriousness and still call it entertainment... :-?

[sumner7]

Football isn't about rioting, Speel. It's about 2 sets of 11 players trying to win a game by kicking a ball into a goal. And then hopefully, they will win league titles and cups.

ECFC Forever!

[Karlos]

Simple. Many people find the spectacle of competition entertaining.

The problem is that top athletes and so on are quite possibly starting to reach the limits of human performance and so the differences in what they can achieve is narrowing further and further.

As for football hooligans, they are not fans. They are quite simply trouble causers - they view the sport as something almost tribal and will use any outcome as an excuse to incite violence. In short, they're a*seholes.

[glockspeel]

@speelgoedmannetje

I agree with sumner7 and karlos, Speel, my fellow countryman. :-D

[bloodline]

I think the word is used ironicly :-)

[sumner7]

Indeed it is :-D

[Speelgoedmannetje]

I should have said: why is the attitude surrounding sport so serious and so, well, anything-but-fun?

[cecilia]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
I should have said: why is the attitude surrounding sport so serious and so, well, anything-but-fun?

well, the players should be a bit serious - they have a job to do. I like baseball and i find it fun to watch.
a good player can be beautiful - almost balletic in movement.
and a good play is suspenseful and dramatic.

plus, if you get a chance to watch a game outdoors - like I did last summer in the Cyclone Stadium at Coney Island - it's a wonderful experience. Coney Island - for those who don't know - is right next to the Ocean. and the stadium is built close to the shore. So, during the evening game as the lights came up we could smell the sea air blowing over us as the game was played. it was beautiful.
 :-P

[Speelgoedmannetje]

cecilia wrote:
a good player can be beautiful - almost balletic in movement.
and a good play is suspenseful and dramatic.

So you see it more from an artistic pov.
But then, if I see all the advertising, all that clean, tl-tube light, the 'hospital' atmosphere surrounding it, it distracts and gives me an uneasy feeling.
Btw, I do think the artistic part only occurs when there is an attitude that is playfull and focusses itself mainly on the joy of the game instead of the achievements.