Damn Daniel back at again with the Over Unders and using dead memes. This time another topic I love. Sport. The great community builder.
Don Bradman
Underrated
Like criminally underrated. Dude is easily the sporting GOAT. And it’s depressing that he’s not more well known about. I could easily write a long essay on him about why he’s so great. In fact, I just might.
But seriously the bloke is just light years ahead of all his peers. Including his peers both back then and even today. No one can even come close.
Also if you ever happen to be around county New South Wales, near Bowral, I highly recommend going to his museum. I was an absolute cricket nutter but it was easily my favourite museum ever. So much information from the great man you can learn from.
Sports Betting
Overrated
Mega overrated. Can’t beat the bookies without them shutting your account. Addiction and mental health problems as well to boot. See my Gambling and Australia post just to see how much I despise them. TL:DR? They are slimy and shady af. You can’t even profit off them as they’ll just shut you down. They encourage gambling addiction. Not to mention their obnoxious constant advertising too!
So overrated.
NBA
Underrated
We are living in the NBA century. My big call is that by 2100 NBA and basketball will be well and truly the most popular league and sport.
Given the head injuries associated with the NFL and a lot of other contact sports, the NBA is in an awesome position for parents choosing a sport for their children.
Culturally, the NBA is also one of the most relevant sports leagues around as well. Every time someone wears a soccer, NFL or baseball jersey, I’d bet there are at least five others who wear an NBA jersey. It’s crazy how commonplace it’s becoming. NBA jerseys are in music videos all the time.
Gym
Underrated
Lifting things up and putting them down is mad cool.
There are the health benefits, the emotional benefits of feeling good after a workout, plus it’s a relatively cheap hobby! And I do view it as a hobby rather than a chore. I find positive framing really affects my views towards the gym. Maybe give it a try if you don’t think the gym is for you?
But either way, look good feel good baby. The gym is that good.
We’re all gonna make it brah.
Live Sport
Underrated
I, like many, love streaming my sports. But nothing compares to being there. Especially with a good crowd and a decent atmosphere. It’s just multitudes better than on a screen.
Nothing like the goosebumps you get towards the end of games and you can feel the crowd get louder and louder. The tension in the air is thick. Even maybe some sweaty palms. It’s unreal.
Also, I think watching live gives a greater appreciation of the sport. In the example of AFL, watching the television broadcast only provides a snapshot of the game. When at a stadium, you have the whole ground view. So you gain a greater appreciation of all the background work and running players might do, only to touch the ball for a brief second! TV broadcasts won’t show the defender who ran 100m from the backline, busting is gusts, to help set up the goal. And watching live gives a better glimpse of just how fast, fit and strong the players are. TV doesn’t do justice.
Live sports, highly underrated.
Recovery
Underrated
Adding sleep into this as well. It’s becoming more mainstream and accepted both sleep and recovery play key roles in peak performance. But it’s still so underrated compared to its overall usefulness. There’s the thought of “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”. Or “while my competition sleeps, I’m working”. And similar, sleep is for the weak type bullshit. But recovery is just as important as doing the work itself. When you do a gym workout, that workout isn’t causing muscle growth. It damages the muscle fibres so you can start to recover and get bigger and stronger. If your recovery is shit, well it’s almost a waste of a workout?
LeBron apparently spends over a million dollars each year on maintaining his body. A lot of this is going towards recovery. Physio, personal chef and trainer,
Player Fanaticism
Overrated
I love watching sports. And I love watching elite athletes do their thing. But there’s a fine line from enjoying sports to all-out fanaticism over a certain player. It’s as if the player or team matters before the supporter themselves. And their whole life revolves around watching them and supporting them. People can do their own thing. And should do whatever makes them happy. I get that. But at least put yourself first before the player or team. Besides, it’s gotta be awkward as hell for the player too.
There’s a more sinister side to this as well. Yung Snuggie talks about this is his famous /r/NBA rant about the players’ and the girls who go after them.
“they aggressive too; they’ll find out what hotel you’re staying in and sit and wait in the lobby for you. I used to work the front desk at a swanky hotel where most of the NBA teams stay when they play here; you’d literally have to shoo bitches out of the lobby like they’re homeless people or something.”
“The NBA hoe game is a literal profession for a lot of chicks. All-Star Weekend is their Super Bowl. There’s literally an entire subculture of women who’s main objective is to fuck/get pregnant from/marry an NBA player.”
The worst part about player fanaticism is fans forget that athletes are humans too. Fans will abuse other players who slight their favourite. Even turn against their own players when underperforming. The spotlight and criticism of players is monumental. And I understand that this kind of fanaticism often fuels a part of their large salaries and popularity. But it’s just wild to me. Overrated.
San Antonio Spurs
Underrated
To achieve what they have is nothing short of incredible. Here are some quick stats before an explanation.
5 Championships since 1999. Highest winning percentage among active NBA franchises.
Highest winning percentage of any franchise in the major professional sports leagues (the US and Canada) over the past three decades.
From the 1999–2000 season to 2016–17, the Spurs won 50 games each season. So 18 consecutive seasons going above 50 wins. Which is no small task!
For comparison, the Charlotte Hornets (and Bobcats previously), have never gone above 50 wins since the 04-05 season.
Honestly, those numbers from the Spurs are just unreal. To be that consistently good. Year in, year out. I want that consistency of excellence in my life.
Summary
How the hell am I even meant to summarise this? If you liked this format, check out my Underrated or Overrated for Finance and Investing.
