NAOS
Well-Known Member
...And yet here we are: at the biggest pay-per-view total ever. So, yeah.
Look, whether you want to admit it or not, the martial arts are ur-sports. If you like sports, this is can't-miss.
Mayweather VS. McGregor
- Thread starter JazzMan4Life
- Start date
...And yet here we are: at the biggest pay-per-view total ever. So, yeah.
Look, whether you want to admit it or not, the martial arts are ur-sports. If you like sports, this is can't-miss.
7StraightIsGreat
Well-Known Member
I love sports and I can't wait to miss this. Am I in the minority? Almost certainly. It was a sideshow idea from the get go and the clips I've seen of their little publicity tour only reinforced that idea 100x fold.
Obviously there's a lot of interest in the event but for me it's right up there alongside: man wrestles bear, Michael Phelps-v-Shark, or a battle of the sexes type of tennis match. Yup, it's generated a ton of pay per view purchases but what lemmings spend their money on isn't any of my business. I'll save my entertainment dollar until the powers that be find a way to finally get Tiger Woods and Caitlyn Jenner to face off in a high stakes Curling match.
NAOS
Well-Known Member
It's basically pointless to have refinement with sports. You sound like a modern day Philistine. The NBA is a ****ing joke, too, if you want to have a serious discussion about all this. Save all that discernment, 'refinement', and choosiness for the cultural forces that actually contain genius -- like literature, music, philosophy, science, etc.
7StraightIsGreat
Well-Known Member
The NBA might be a joke, but at least it's the best basketball players in the world facing off against each other playing the same sport. I realize that boxing and MMA are both classified as fighting sports but they're not even close to being the same sport. I'm sure that's something that we can all agree on.
That being said, they're taking 2 fighters from completely different worlds and asking one of those fighters to do something that he's never done before against a guy who's pretty much perfected the art. I wouldn't presume to tell you what you should find entertaining any more than you should tell somebody that they're dumb for not watching, but let's be honest about what this is: a gimmick fight that's being sensationalized for the sake of getting our entertainment dollar. Nothing more, nothing less. The long term ramifications this fight will have on the sporting world as a whole will be slim to none. It's simply a gimmicky exhibition that will see both fighters laughing all the way to the bank.
NAOS
Well-Known Member
A huge part of the NBA is gimmick. There's been a slow march toward parity and a level playing field, but we're still a long way off from that. So don't give me some 'same sport' **** when front offices can be run with highly contrasting philosophies/tactics that correspond to market size ($$$$).
Back to this fight: why not behold the gimmick and hype in its pure form? You assumed that I wanted to watch this fight for the window it provides onto some 'pure human art'. You're wrong. It's for the window it provides onto the gimmick and the hype, which, even though you want to hypocognize it, defines all mass-market sport to alarming degrees.
But then there's also the chance that McGregor lands a big left. Instead of cherry-picking my one post, why don't you look at the others? I pretty clearly acknowledge the tilted odds... and that's part of the intrigue.
7StraightIsGreat
Well-Known Member
I think you're over complicating our debate. You basically said that if you're a sports fan, you'd be "dumb" not to watch this fight. I consider myself a pretty big sports fan, so I took the time to point out why this fight holds little to no intrigue for me. If this sort of thing floats your boat (or anybody else's), I've got not problem with it. I just don't think my lack of enthusiasm for this event makes my choice not to watch it "dumb" or diminishes my sports fandom in any way, shape, or form.
About as interesting as watching Ben Johnson racing a horse. Mayweather will stop him inside 6 if he's not taking the piss, I on the other hand will be drinking piss in a pub that hasn't got the modern equivalent of bearded ladies on the tellie ruining the ambiance.
NAOS
Well-Known Member
You're obviously a barrel of laughs.
And I do think your lack of enthusiasm is a bit of a diminishment RE: your sports fandom. Most of the good stuff will be things outside the lines, but, as I've been trying to say, all of that stuff is a huge part of the sports you enjoy, and here it is in huge quantities.
And are you like seriously busy with baseball right now or something? NFL preseason? The timing of this fight is even more of a slam dunk.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
I think jazzman's stance is absolutely fine and I get it but I also get NAOS's and would just add that part of the huge intrigue of the fight, at least for me, is the David vs. Goliath aspect of it. Everyone loves underdogs. Everyone. And I think everyone wants to see if a badass mother****er who's never truly boxed can take down an undefeated all-time stud. It reminds me of the moment in Rocky when Apollo and his rep are going through a Rolodex of possible opponents and come across Rocky Balboa, the Italian Stallion, and he goes on his little monologue about Chris Columbus, America and the love for the underdog.
That's what this is all about. Sure, the hype is cool and CM can talk trash with the all-time greats but I want to see if the underdog can pull it off.
That's what this is all about. Sure, the hype is cool and CM can talk trash with the all-time greats but I want to see if the underdog can pull it off.
7StraightIsGreat
Well-Known Member
I'm not busy with anything that night aside from a Fantasy Football draft earlier in the day and one the following day. It's just not a situation where I'm gonna plop down $100 (or whatever the cost is) to view the fight. I'm also not interested in paying $10 to watch it with a group of people. However, I'm actually pretty interested in your theory that my lack of interest in the event somehow reflects on me as a sports fan and your blanket assumption that if you're really into sports, you should be into this fight.
My last PPV purchase was the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight and it was so unbelievably boring, I swore I'd never spend my money on anything Mayweather ever again. Wes just mentioned the David-v-Goliath appeal to this fight and while I can see the intrigue there, I'm just too cynical to bite. That's the EXACT angle that these promoters are hyping up and people are giving them their money hand over fist. People in their heart of hearts wanna believe Connor can pull this off, but in the end, it's going to be a snooze fest where we see Mayweather play cautious defense all night while McGregor struggles to land any type of punch. Even if Connor pulls off the miracle, the narrative will be that Floyd is old, he wanted one more payday, and he mailed it in. Basically, I've done the math and there's no possible outcome that gets me even a little excited.
Maybe, maybe if it was two different personalities, I'd be able to talk myself into it but I just can't get inspired enough to find myself pitching in to help these two assholes get even richer.(especially Mayweather)