I don't understand why, but I'm seriously starting to hate television nowadays.
Why? It clearly skews our vision of sports and local/world events in general.
I'm not going to say that several books have completely changed my life and everything, but I will admit that many things about the media are making so much sense to me these days. You have to hear me out on this one. I'll start asking you a few questions: what is your favorite sport? Have you ever seen it up close and personal? What are your least favorite sports? Have you ever seen those sports up close and personal?
Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get some facts and figures out of the way.
Television is always supposed to be exciting, right? Sex and violence sells, right? O.K.! Now, what sports do you think are the biggest sellers on TV because of their violence rate? If you said MMA, boxing, and football, you're absolutely right. What's the lowest sellers? Baseball and soccer. Hockey and basketball is in that gray area because it's not exactly violent as it is fast-paced.
My argument is this: unless you're truly at a sporting event, you will not fully appreciate the energy and feeling of a sport. I keep telling the soccer haters that they don't know what the hype of soccer is about unless if they've actually been there. Just by watching television, people will think that certain things are boring. When something is slow and there aren't enough camera cuts or shots, people will get bored. It's a known fact. What would happen to you if you just watched the television show a basic sunset? You'd get bored--unless if they threw in a couple of cutscenes showing a rolling ocean or birds flying by. With soccer, you will just see a constant pan during play unless if there is a stoppage. It makes sense if you're not a soccer fan. You're entitled to not like it because it doesn't give you a flexible view of things--and let's be honest, you may not be around people to enjoy the experience with.
Let's take a country like Spain or Brazil for example. Soccer is HUGE in those countries. Why? It's not just because it's the most played sport in the country, but there are enough teams and big enough stadiums for those people to fill them and watch every week. Money isn't exactly a factor, either. The amount of people that constantly come every week pretty much pays for itself. It's the same with football here...every week there's more than enough teams for people to constantly fill the stadium and stuff like that.
I understand that not everybody has the money to constantly go to see sporting events, but think before you say something. If you're watching a sport you may not be familiar with, you're heavily restricted in evidence to create an opinion. Television restricts all experience; it only gives generic pleasure and satisfaction, and not the full sight of things. Believe me, I wouldn't be a big of a soccer or baseball fan unless if I didn't play the sports myself and retrieve the full experience that way. Because I have that love for them, I can definitely appreciate the sports regardless of whether I see them live or see them on TV.
Aside from that, television makes you view what they want you to see. If you can't get a legitimate viewpoint, uniformity in beliefs through just seeing sports on television could destroy the unique opinions and welfare of sports itself.
--AZ
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