No offense or judgement meant to anyone if that’s your thing (to each their own). That’s just how I see pretty much all professional sports - the super bowl is just the poster child for it.

  • @[email protected]
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    1599 months ago

    The players on the field have more in common than us than the billionaires who own the teams. Don’t confuse them for the actual rich class. Over an average NFL career most players make less money than most people will over their career, and they leave football with severely damaged bodies and minds.

    They are workers just like us, many of them go on to live in poverty, just like us. The players aren’t your enemy, the owners are.

      • Liz
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        659 months ago

        What’s the difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars?

        It’s a billion dollars.

        You’ve still got way more in common with the players than the owners.

          • @[email protected]
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            149 months ago

            Do you think someone can retire at 25 with 2.8 million dollars? They’d have about 40k a year to live on, so I guess it’d be technically possible as long as they didn’t mind moving back in with their parents, waiting for them to die and hoping the house wasn’t worth enough to cause a big tax bill that year.

            I’d be hard to retire (in the classical sense) at 60 with 2.8 million.

            • vortic
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              9 months ago

              A very conservative rate of return on investments would be 5% per year. With $2.8M, 5% is $140,000/year. So, someone with $2.8M invested would, conservatively, earn $149K per year without touching the principal.

              • @[email protected]
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                79 months ago

                Rate of return and dividends are not the same thing. Dividend payouts are usually closer to 2-2.5% for an index fund loke the S&P500. At those rates, you’d nees closer to $5 mil/$100k of desired annual income. For the regular stocks, in order to get that money, you’d have to actually sell shares, which means your earning potential off the stock decreases over time (in addition to the buying power of that money decreasing over time as well). It takes about $11 today to buy what would cost $1 in 1960…if we assume a linear trajectory for inflation, that $100k you’d pull in from that $5m would be worth less than $10k by the time our hypothetical athlete reached 75. While I can’t see into the future, i don’t imagine there will be many job opportunities for a 75 year old who’s been out of the job market for 50 years and $10k/year probably won’t even be enough to feed themselves.

                • vortic
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                  29 months ago

                  Interesting. I didn’t realize that dividend rates are so much lower than rate of return. Why are they so much lower? Does that mean that your money is only growing at 2-2.5% in an index fund or does that mean that your investment is growing at the same time as you are taking out a portion of your returns as a dividend?

                  I’m just starting to learn about investing as I try to shift some of my savings towards long-term investments. I think I need to find a fee-based financial planner to get me pointed in the right direction.

              • @[email protected]
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                9 months ago

                You are correct and definitely using a conservative estimate, like you said. ETF/index funds have an average return of 7-10 percent according to a quick search. These are often considered one of the safest investments you can possibly make, too.

                • @[email protected]
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                  39 months ago

                  Returns aren’t dividends. You can only capitalize those returns by selling your shares, which decreases the rate at which your portfolio grows and incurs additional tax liability.

            • @[email protected]
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              89 months ago

              What about the rest of that article, which said the median was 860k?

              They would have to risk more than 3 years of damage to even get the 40k

                • @[email protected]
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                  9 months ago

                  Maybe the construction workers deserve more money?

                  Edit: It is also worth mentioning that if the median salary is 860k, and the minimum salary is 870k at one year, what are your chances for making that 3 years in comparison to making 40 as a construction worker?

        • @[email protected]
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          39 months ago

          Surprisingly one of the quarterbacks playing tonight had a salary under a million. Though I expect that won’t be the case for him next season after making it to the Super Bowl.

        • @[email protected]
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          19 months ago

          The point is that for the amount of money being generated off of them playing a sport that harms their body they aren’t being paid properly.

          It’s a pretty solid comparison to the worker who gives their time and youth to be paid but typically rarely see a fraction of what they generate.

          NFL players make more money usually, but the comparison is apt.

      • @[email protected]
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        169 months ago

        Yeah, at first I thought they were saying it evened out considering most people’s careers are longer than an NFL player’s, but even just 1 year as an NFL player nets more money than I’ll ever earn in my life. Several lose it all, but that’s from spending it on hookers and blow, not because they’re forced to live paycheck to paycheck.

      • @[email protected]
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        89 months ago

        Did you read the rest? The median (which means half makes less, and half makes more is 860k.

        That means if they get the crap beaten out of them, and save every single penny and don’t pay takes, they would have 3.4 million.

        As of 2015 80% went bankrupt

        I don’t do odds that bad.

        • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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          9 months ago

          A lot of them go bankrupt because they’ve never had money before and someone hands them three million dollars. They’re rich and famous overnight, with no financial planning experience, and they party like… well they party like the ballers they are. Football and basketball players waste so much money that the word “baller” is synonymous with someone who throws a lot of money around.

          But make no mistake, if someone handed you or I three million dollars, we could invest it and retire for the rest of our lives. They make a lot of money, and a lot of money all at once is worth a hell of a lot more than a lot of money spread out over a lifetime. But a lot of them make really poor financial choices too, because they’re just kids.

            • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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              9 months ago

              They get big fat paychecks when they sign their contracts. Lower paid players aren’t getting $3M all at once, but they get tens of thousands of dollars all at once, and it keeps coming every week. Even the lowest paid rookie players who only get the $750,000 rookie base salary get it over 17 weeks. That’s $44,117.64 every week for 17 weeks. That’s a fuck ton of money all at once, especially for a kid who has never had any.

              For reference:

              NFL Veteran Minimum Salary

              The minimum salary for NFL players with one year of experience is $870,000. It increases with each year:

              Rookie: $750,000
              1 Year: $870,000
              2 Years: $940,000
              3 Years: $1.01 million
              4-6 Years: $1.08 million
              7+ Years: $1.65 million
              
      • @[email protected]
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        59 months ago

        First. You still have more in common with players than owners.

        Second what’s the average career length of an NFL player. Last I checked it was 2.5 years, may have changed. That’s 7 million over a career. Over a 50 year career, which most of us work, that’s about 116. Clearly upper middle class, but not rich.

        Many athletes leave the game and work labor jobs like the rest of us.

        Not saying they didn’t have a front loaded ahead start and also not saying they don’t have an upper middle class average. All I am saying is…the owners are your real enemy. We have more in common with the players than we do with the owners. The players are not your enemy.

  • @[email protected]
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    619 months ago

    This is the most Lemmy ass thread imaginable.

    A bunch of wannabe hipsters thinking that they’re so enlightened. Because being against the grain is the height of personality.

    • @[email protected]
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      189 months ago

      but only one of those groups has a massive backing from the worlds biggest corporations. our safe space doesn’t come with private jets filled with hookers and cocaine.

      but go head, they need you to defend them here, someone has to.

          • @[email protected]
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            29 months ago

            but only one of those groups

            What groups? Not everything is an “us Vs them” scenario. What did I say that’ll make you think that?

            has a massive backing from the worlds biggest corporations.

            How is this relevant. Except for proving my point that’s your a bunch of wannabe hipsters circlejerking each other about how against the grain you are.

            our safe space doesn’t come with private jets filled with hookers and cocaine.

            What?

            but go head, they need you to defend them here, someone has to.

            And how am I defending them? Whoever “they” are. Because you haven’t said that.

            I can only imagine your brain is so rotted by the constant “us Vs them” thinking, that anyone who doesn’t fall neatly into your camp, must obviously be supporting the other side.

    • @[email protected]
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      69 months ago

      Apparently it takes a real personality to stop watching advertisements. To even know it’s possible let alone how to.

      • @[email protected]
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        39 months ago

        Complaining about advertising. Another one for the bingo sheet.

        (Apologies for advertising bingo)

        • @[email protected]
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          9 months ago

          I’m not complaining because I usually don’t have to except in a rare occasion I have to watch YouTube for something and even then…

          …and even then I’m griping about the false concept of a soul of google for which, sure, that’s a facet but just a minor such for the absolute worst thing to ever to exist as the will of the ignorant billions of people lurching through their choice of slavery not even aware of it existing to their worst kind of exploitation of of them and their real soul.

    • @[email protected]
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      19 months ago

      And no one can genuinely dislike popular shit just because it doesn’t appeal to them or anything. No one ever thinks for themselves.

      • @[email protected]
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        109 months ago

        There’s a difference between disliking something because it doesn’t appeal to you. And actively having disdain for something that doesn’t appeal to you.

        • @[email protected]
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          9 months ago

          Personally, I have disdain against the super bowl because it costs us taxes that could be going to much more productive things for society. I think it would be fine if we didn’t spend so much money on it, and I have nothing against people who enjoy it.

          You could argue the revenue brought in from hosting the super bowl replaces the tax money spent on it by the host city, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The NFL pockets most of the revenue, and the host city, itself, often loses the tax money it invested.

          I don’t think tax money should be involved. The NFL should cover the costs, as they make an insane amount of profit from it.

        • @[email protected]
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          29 months ago

          No, there literally is not. You can grumble all you want, the rest of us have more important things to worry about than the Super Bowl.

    • Admiral PatrickOPM
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      9 months ago

      Nothing wrong with that. SB parties are fun, and I usually never turn them down (even if I don’t know / care who’s playing).

      Except this one where I did turn down an invite so I could stay home, drink in peace, and binge watch Succession (just started season 2).

    • @[email protected]
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      49 months ago

      Lol. I never used to really participate in superbowl get togethers. But this year I was invited with my wife to her friends gathering. I guess it depends on how much you buy into it or if it’s just a way to hang out with friends.

  • Chuymatt
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    509 months ago

    I LOVE the Super Bowl. I just got my Costco run done in 45 minutes, not 2 hours!!

  • @[email protected]
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    469 months ago

    Also, the NFL is a shit company.

    Remember how they fucked over Kaepernick because he had the NERVE to kneel & stand up to injustice?

    Also, remember how they formed a PARTNERSHIP with Musk’s twitter AFTER he had shown everyone what a fascist white supremacist he is & promoted the worst people/“views”?

    Fuck supporting that shit.

  • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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    409 months ago

    I quit watching the NFL a few years ago because the amount of advertising crammed into a single game is completely obscene now. I’ll be mindful of your sanity and mood, and not break down how fucking over the top it is, but it’s pretty much a commercials show, with some football breaks.

    • @[email protected]
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      289 months ago

      I’m European so I have a bias but I never understood how Americans watch a sport that stops so many times for ads. It just feels like the ads are the show and the game is the second plan.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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        199 months ago

        That’s actually why soccer never took off over here. The networks felt that there aren’t enough breaks for commercials, so they never marketed soccer as a good sport.

        • @[email protected]
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          109 months ago

          I’ve just started binging Schitt’s Creek. Couldn’t work out why the episodes are only 20 minutes long, then realised why the screen goes black for a second, every 5 minutes. WTF, these are ad breaks?!? That many?!?

          Even had one literally a minute before the end.

          I just simply wouldn’t watch a TV channel that had so many ad breaks. That shit just wouldn’t fly where I live; why do people put up with it?!?

          (Also, the repeating pattern for series - episode 1&2 - funny and interesting. Episodes 3 to 12 - generic 1970s sitcom that’s 90% soap-opera filler rammed with ads, obviously. Episodes 13&14 - funny and interesting again to sell you the next series. Not worth watching after S03. This applies to every American series I’ve watched in the last 5 years )

          • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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            149 months ago

            why do people put up with it?!?

            I ask myself this all the time, and about way more than just broadcast television. I think the reality is that there are billions of people who will put up with a great deal if they think that’s what they’re supposed to do, and corporations have figured this out now that they have accurate data to track every change they make. They used to have to keep things in the realm that they thought was tolerable, since they didn’t have a billion data points to check people’s reactions. A miscalculation could be very costly in multiple ways, including brand image damage. Now that they have that data, they’ve seen that there are enough people that will tolerate just about anything if there’s a shiny bow on it. They don’t care that they’ve lost the people who won’t tolerate it, because they’re making more money this way than they’ve ever made before.

    • @[email protected]
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      29 months ago

      I don’t understand why the ads are so absolutely boring and stupid. It’s also the same ad over and over again. I mean, make an ad which is a story line which you run throughout the game. At least make people laugh.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
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        29 months ago

        They’d rather just pound it into your subconscious, so when you need a widget in 6 months you pick their brand without even knowing why.

    • @[email protected]
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      119 months ago

      Yeah, even my friends who were really into sports barely watch any anymore, the superbowl generally being the first they stopped watching. Number one complaint? It’s more ads than game now.

      • DigitalTraveler42
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        9 months ago

        See to me and my family the ads are one of the best part, not because we want to buy any of the crap or support the companies, but some of the ads are legitimately funny, and often some new movie or show trailer is shown as well which interests us if it’s something appealing.

        Edit: tbf this years ads being full of “He gets us” pandering, RFK Jr bullshit, and a local Injury Attorney wearing maga bullshit, makes the ads far less enjoyable, fuck this religious and political bullshit.

        • @aubeynarf
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          49 months ago

          i definitely know which insurance company not to patronize now.

        • @[email protected]
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          29 months ago

          So says everyone who watches the superbowl but isn’t big into football. See also the half-time show watchers. The people I am talking about are there for the sport.

          • DigitalTraveler42
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            29 months ago

            Yeah I’m not big interested football, I only played until college, play fantasy football every season for almost two decades, once had a blog about my team, but sure I’m not that big into football at all. /s

            I don’t understand why you have to make assumptions about me based on your personal biases? Especially when you’re wrong. Also not sure why people can’t just enjoy non-football things while watching football.

            Not liking the commercials or the halftime show doesn’t make you more of a fan than somebody else, it just makes you sound like an elitist douche buzzkill, let people like things without being a prick about it.

            • @[email protected]
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              19 months ago

              I haven’t watched a single superbowl, so I don’t care about whatever elitism you read into that. I also have never met a single person who feels that the commercials are an important part of the entertainment who are really into football. First time for everything. Assuming you didn’t just make up shit to back an argument, you decided to have with someone about their elitism, around a subject they don’t care enough about to have elitist, or gatekeeping, sentiments about.

              Maybe what I said came off in a different tone to you than it did for me.

              • DigitalTraveler42
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                39 months ago

                I mean you’re judging me based on finding a little bit of entertainment from commercials during a game, how else am I supposed to take it? Also don’t turn this around on me, you’re being the judgemental prick here about something dumb AF.

                Also a pretty weird stance to take considering how you’re saying you’re not a fan, like who are you to judge my fandom especially when apparently you are not a fan?

                Again, this all goes back to how about not being a judgemental prick and letting people enjoy what they enjoy?

                • @[email protected]
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                  19 months ago

                  Wasn’t a judgemental statement as far as I am concerned. Unless you think someone assuming you don’t prioritize the sport of the game you are watching because of your statement on the commercials is somehow a judgement on your character. I was bringing up that the people I know who stopped are there for the football, not the extras.

        • @[email protected]
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          29 months ago

          Yes, this and the crazy stupid region, provider, service restriction nonsense, the, often large, mark-ups for sports packages, and the fact that cable was the only place you could get most games, for so long, when so few of the people my age even had cable anymore.

    • Admiral PatrickOPM
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      39 months ago

      Heh, we’ll see, I guess. I fully expected a flurry of downvotes right out of the gate, but I’m also thinking the timing may be skewing the results a bit.

        • Admiral PatrickOPM
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          29 months ago

          Trust me, this is not that. lol. I honest to gods thought I was going to get ripped a new one for daring to say anything bad about the Superbowl.

            • Admiral PatrickOPM
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              69 months ago

              Fair point. That’s on me. I was treating it as “General Unpopular Opinion” and not “Unpopular Opinion on Lemmy”. I agree there is a difference. lol

  • rynzcycle
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    329 months ago

    I’m not into sports and I have no plans to watch the Superb Owl today, but I do have a big appreciation for humans being awesome, and for that I can usually appreciate watching even if I don’t care who wins.

    Watching a 300lb man accelerate like a freight train or someone jump several feet into the air, twist over backwards, catch a ball and land where they meant to is definitely something I enjoy, because they do work their asses off to get that good and I can appreciate anybody’s passion at that level.

    That said, totally agree on the money side, it taints so many things (looking at you IOC).

    • Admiral PatrickOPM
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      69 months ago

      but I do have a big appreciation for humans being awesome, and for that I can usually appreciate watching even if I don’t care who wins.

      Agreed. I just wish it were possible to observe that kind of spectacle without every sense being exploited to sell me crap I don’t need. lol.

      I dislike so many “normal” things simply because they’re so over-commercialized. Sports, Christmas, Olympics, most of the internet now, etc. The old joke “well, just go live in the woods then” is starting to sound pretty appealing.

    • @[email protected]
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      49 months ago

      Freight trains don’t accelerate well at all. They carry momentum well, which is what the linebackers send into the receiving team.

      • rynzcycle
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        9 months ago

        You are 100% correct, I could not have used a more incorrect turn of phrase if I tried, hahaha. I fully admit not thinking that through at all.

        Take my shamefilled upvote.

    • @[email protected]
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      49 months ago

      I’m not into sports and I have no plans to watch the Superb Owl today

      That’s really too bad because there’s been some hot competition between two teams going on over in [email protected] and you could have been enjoying it!

  • @[email protected]
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    289 months ago

    Players aren’t even that rich

    The superstars are, but most of the players are destroying their bodies for 2-3 year careers.

      • Thassodar
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        19 months ago

        Whenever I get signed for anything over 50k I’m talking to an accountant, or banker at the very least.

    • DigitalTraveler42
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      9 months ago

      N ot F or L ong

      Even the players seem to embrace this as a motto around the NFL.

      The career span of an NFL player is crazy short, and you’re one hundred percent right, these guys are often permanently damaged from decades playing football just to get to the NFL.

  • @[email protected]
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    9 months ago

    Life is nothing more than sleeping, shitting and dying.

    You can attach that pessimism to anything… But in reality, the Superbowl is a celebration and something millions of people to look forward to. It brings a large group of people excitement and half of them happiness

    Why take that away?

    • @[email protected]
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      129 months ago

      Why?

      How about: Taxpayers paying to build stadiums that they cannot afford to buy seats in just so an already disgustingly profitable private company can have a huge subsidy?

    • Admiral PatrickOPM
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      89 months ago

      At no point in my post was I disparaging anyone who enjoyed it. You do you, friend. I was just giving my unpopular opinion on why I don’t care for it.

      • @[email protected]
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        199 months ago

        oh yeah, I’m just responding to it?

        but, when you cut down shit to something like “Star Trek is just a bunch of rich people role playing for nerds” or something… I do think there is subtle disparagement, right? Doesn’t mean it’s wrong to have an opinion.

        • @[email protected]
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          189 months ago

          You’re right. He is disparaging the Superbowl by using the words “nothing more than”. It implies that the Superbowl is low, base, and common (which is generally true). But it also implies that he’s above that; he’s better and more intelligent because he doesn’t watch it.

          “Pro athletes are richer than the average person” isn’t an unpopular opinion. “Championship ads are expensive” isn’t unpopular either. His real opinion is “I don’t like the Superbowl and that makes me special.” That’s not unpopular, it’s just boring and false.

    • @[email protected]
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      69 months ago

      There’s a pretty long list of reasons why professional sports, and especially the NFL, shouldn’t exist. All I can do is not contribute. If trogs want to waste their money muh teeem, I guess I don’t give a shit anymore.

        • @[email protected]
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          39 months ago

          Would be cool if it wasn’t any rapists. Would be cool if there weren’t brain injuries on live TV every season. Would be cool if the 750 mil public subsity Vegas spent on the sb stadium went to a more underserved community.

          Some of those catches are fire, though. Worth it.

  • @[email protected]
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    229 months ago

    Next you’re gonna tell me that the Marvel movies are nothing but watching rich people pretend to be fighting each other while poorer people pay to go watch. And WWE wrestling is…well actually the same description.

    They are rich because we pay (with money or ads) to watch them. We pay because they entertain us.

    • @[email protected]
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      19 months ago

      Yeah yeah it is all a fake conflict between millionaires orchestrated by billionaires. I still enjoy the MCU.

  • @[email protected]
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    9 months ago

    I’m downvoting because I agree completely.

    Grown men chasing a ball bitching about how much they’re paid to chase the ball.