Do you think that certain sports attract people with certain ideologies? I know this is pretty dismissive of me, but I've always assumed that the voluminous presence of liberals on these boards could be accounted for by the fact that it's a basketball fan forum. I've always thought that football and baseball attracted more conservative clientele, and that basketball, hockey, and soccer (when being followed in America) attracts a more liberal one. Of course, this is all purely anecdotal, and to say that it's a rule would be absolutely wrong and insane, so don't think that that's my intent. Also, there's no refutation to any opposing argument I could make that isn't anecdotal, and I know that geography also plays an essential role, but I do notice this trend across the internet. Do any of you guys notice it as well?
Yep. I feel the same way. Most of my friends that like basketball tend to be liberal. I think football is becoming increasingly popular among minorities like South Asians, though it still has a conservative vibe. The Deep South/Bible Belt will always have strong football ties, especially in high school and college. I think tennis and lacrosse also cater to certain groups namely liberal, wealthy people.
I always thought soccer attracted communistical natsis... it is highly unAmerican. Pick up the damn ball and run with it ya weenies! Anyway, there might be something to your thesis, but the only thing I can validate through anecdotal experiences while in college is that baseball players are the dumbest jocks. You'd think football, but no... baseball guys are really dense.
submit without comment: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_hidden_brain/2011/01/the_national_braindamage_league.html
Very interesting... that graph kind of dispels a lot of my preconceived notions. I wonder what it is about big market national league sports that attracts more conservatives than liberals in general. There were a couple of results that stunned me, like WWE and Monster trucks, and how NHL is more skewed to the right than the NFL and MLB. This is actually pretty interesting the more I think about it--the majority of my friends are not into sports one bit and they're all almost exclusively liberal. The ones that ARE into sports were the ones that were generally raised in a more conservative/traditionalist household. I suppose focus and attention on sports is more likely to occur in a traditionalist household.
For what it's worth, when I go to one of the rare libertarian gatherings I notice that there seems to be a disinterest in team sports in general. Not for eveyone, not even for most of them, but it seems like a greater ratio of libertarians have no interest in team sports than can be said for the general population. Like OP said. Completely anecdotal, but this is impression I get.
I used to like polo, but now with all the horses getting all tatted up, and having so many illegitimate foals and colts, I can hardly stand to watch it any more.
Based on how my high school class turned out, I don't think the people that people think outgrow liberalism really outgrow liberalism. Most who this label would apply to were never very political to begin with, they just indulged in a lot of bad actions... dope, drinking, screwing around, not caring about money, etc. Once they mature a little, get married, have kids, the usual stuff expected after age 25-30, they tend to settle down and even recoil against some of their younger actions by going in the opposite direction, like going to church a lot, teetotaling, and become tightwads. I think this tends to get classified as going from liberal to conservative when it really is something more social and much less political. While there are some prominent public examples, I know very few people who followed or cared about politics at a young age who switched from liberal to conservative. The one I could say that about with certainty suffered a traumatic life-altering event and found solace in the church. And before it comes up in this thread, that Churchill quote is false:
