Only Suckers Pay for Entertainment

OK.  This news came across my desk, and I've got to rant about it.

I once had this co-worker who constantly derided me for my love of movies.  "Movies is the lowest form of entertainment," he'd tell me.  "All you do is sit in the dark and stare straight ahead for two hours.  Why the heck would you pay $15 for a movie ticket when you can download that stuff for free?  Only suckers pay for entertainment in this day and age." 

No, according to him, the highest form of entertainment -- the pinnacle of humankind's achievement -- is sports.  Specifically, his beloved NFL.  He'd go on and on about his plans to visit every NFL stadium and watch a football game in each one. 

"Really?" I'd say.  "So you're planning on buying plane tickets, hotel rooms, and finally, a $500 football ticket?  Why the heck would you spend all that money when you can stay at home and watch that stuff on TV for free?"

"Sports is different," he'd grumble.

"Despite what you think, I have been to a few sporting events in my time," I continued, "and a lot of it seems to be, you know, people staring straight ahead in silence while they focus on the game."

"Sports is just different."  He was starting to get flustered now.

"Yeah, it is," I said.  "In sports, you stare straight ahead in silence for FOUR hours." 

"SPORTS IS DIFFERENT!" and he'd walk away in a huff. 

Eventually, the only argument he'd come up with that I couldn't counter is that sports is unpredictable...you never know the outcome.  I had to give him that one. 

However, his arguments were enough to start me off on a side project.  I'm now looking for evidence to show that sports fans are the biggest, whiniest fanboys on the planet.  Seriously.  When you want to talk about "suckers paying for entertainment," sports fans are the biggest suckers out there.

For example, the news that came across my desk today.  For the SuperBowl this  year, the NFL is looking to charge fans $200...to stand in the parking lot at the stadium. 

Well, not the parking lot.  A patch of grass next to the stadium.  And you get to watch the game on an HDTV.  Oh, and you have to buy a minimum of four tickets to get in. 

So, let me get this straight.  I'm sure most sports fans have upgraded to HDTV so they can fully enjoy the game.  But still, NFL fans are lining up around the block to fly down to Dallas, book an overpriced hotel room, and then spend $800 (remember, you have to buy 4 tickets at $200 each) to stand outside...and watch the game on HDTV. 

Yeah, that's right.  You keep buying your expensive travel packages for the privilege of standing next to a big event and watching it on TV.  I'll keep being a sucker and spending $15 on a movie ticket. 

Here's the original article