Good post Ben. Nuanced take.

Broadly, I think participating in sports brings more value than watching sports, especially when you are young. There is some value to be derived from the excitement a game brings and the comradery/social element of fandom, inspiration from seeing the best in the world at their craft work, but many people have an unhealthy obsession with sports and connection to their "team".

I think like many things in life there are positives and negatives and the onus is on the individual to limit the negative effects and draw out the positives as much as possible. I watch sports pretty much every night, but a couple of things I try to do to make those few hours a night a good use of time instead of wasting time is I will often ride the exercise bike while watching a game or at least for an hour of the game. I will watch some of the game with my son so we spend some time together. I will play on the floor with my daughter while the game is on. Usually once a week I watch a football game at my parents house with my dad (not sure how many more years we will get to do that together). I text with a buddy of mine I haven't seen in years who also follows sports pretty closely and we talk about the game, work, family, life. I post on SN to try and connect with other stackers who are interested in sports, hopefully eventually using sports as a medium to bring more people in to SN and bitcoin.

Thanks for posting.