Not getting as excited about watching sport like a NT would

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I was not really into sports growing up and I noticed when watching sports with friends (usually Australian rules football) I could not get excited for my favourite team like they did. It was like if they did not wriggle and jump around and yell at the TV their team would not score.

I assumed it was due to my lack of knowledge of the game but I learnt the rules and still did not see the logic of the game as it was a frantic game of get the ball and score points through goals with not much in the way of structure. It never got me excited like it did for them.

Once I got diagnosed with aspergers. I wondered if it had something to do with the fact I have a hard time being able to emphasise with people and not being able to imagine standing in someone else's shoes.

I managed to find the following YouTube video and it finally made sense why I couldn't get as excited as my NT friend about watching sport.



Anyone else think the same?

NTs and sports is a stereotype, just like Aspies and math.

I've actually run into a couple of aspies online who were pretty intense into sports. I've never been into sports myself, but I can see why it would appeal to some other aspies, especially when you start getting into player stats and such.

When you really think about it, fantasy football isn't THAT far from Dungeons and Dragons.

Never thought of sport that way. My friend always try's to get me into sport but he usually try's to get me to just embrace the game and feel the struggle of the players and such which I can't do( I have tried) but maybe if I look at it like you say and focus more on stats and stuff I may enjoy it more. Thank for that input I'm going try that and see if that helps.

I never cared for sports either. I never understood rooting for your hometeam. If anything I'd cheer for the team that looks best on paper and support a proper team, not the one that happens to be from where I live.

But even with that; nope...

To me it's ridiculous people get that excited for watching other people do something. I mean; i'd be happy if I was playing and actually be winning, but that's about it. But I guess that's with so many things; I rather do it myself and be happy for myself that way rather than be happy by watching others.

The one sport I sometimes watch is MMA or UFC; though I don't even watch it for the sport. I just like to see people beat each other up, lol. If anything I'm bummed out there are actual rules.

I suppose the thing about mirror neurons could be true... I never was much of an empathic type anyway.

I find it quite funny though; as someone who seems unable to be in someones shoes, I frequently acuse people of the same. People have a hard time putting themselves in my position that is pretty devoid of empathy and the ability to relate in general. Quite the paradox I suppose...

I do feel a bit jealous of others who can get emotional about a game together. I kind of feel left out and also feel a bit awkward. I then fake enjoyment just to fit in.

I never cared about sports even though people around me liked sports so much lol, I always found it boring when I tried to watch it lol.

I've never understood people's fascination with the sportsball. I don't know if it's an ASD thing or just me, but I don't see the point of competition - especially competition of an artificial variety such as one sees displays in sports. The idea of favoring one team over another due to an accident of geography is incomprehensible to me. Why should I dislike Team A and like Team B just because everyone else around me feels that way?

That being said, about once per season I do enjoy going to see the local semi-pro hockey team play. I don't really care who's winning, and I don't understand the finer points of the game. I mostly go to see beer-swilling fans cheer during the occasional fight, enjoy some overpriced concessions and just take in the overall carnival atmosphere of the venue. I don't yell or cheer or do anything else but observe. But once in a blue moon is about all I care to see. (Ironically, nearly all of the players are Canadians "imported" to play here in Tennessee.)

I like sports. I'm on the Spectrum.

There are many NT's who can't stand sports.

There are many other ways to ingratiate yourself with people other than talking about sports.

I never liked sports until I began living with my wife. She likes sports, but is not an extreme fan of a particular team. I learned from her that it is possible to pretend to care about the outcome of events in the game and enjoy the experience.

I do think there is something different about the way I like sports than the way a real fan does, but I can appreciate the talent of the best players teams and enjoy pretending to care about points and so on. In order to do that, you have to learn enough of the basics of the game to have a sense of what is going on. Once you can see an attack forming up and then succeeding or being beaten by a well executed defense, you can then pretend to be a partisan for one side for the duration of the game.

Using this method, I am able to join my wife in watching American football games, basketball games, baseball games and football/soccer.

I have always enjoyed watching some of the olympic sports like high diving, long ski jump, rowing, sprinting, biathlon, biking, marathon, etc. This is less team oriented and more appreciating the pure physical prowess of the individual athletes.

This is very much the same way that I enjoy a lot of modern dance. I don't think I have much of an appreciation for the more complicated aesthetic aspects of it, but I enjoy the dancers' amazing skills and the pattern and basic visual design.

I've never got the sports thing - either watching or playing. In fact, I can't bear the sounds associated with sports - the crowd cheering or engines running motorsport. It also triggers miserable memories of when I was forced to do it.

This dislike of sport has been one of the things that I've felt has set me apart from a lot of men. Some of them have no other topic of conversation and if you say to them "I don't really follow football" they look at you as if you have simultaneously insulted their wife, keyed their car, spat in their beer and jammed your hand down their underpants. There really is no recovering the conversation after that.

People getting excited by sport: cheering and yelling and jumping about is totally alien to me. I don't respond naturally like that ever, to anything. I've been to Sex Pistols and Iron Maiden gigs and watched in silence, applauding politely after each song

Ew... sports...
The idea just disgusts me. I am philosophically opposed to college and professional sports. Nor have I enjoyed them. I love games, my interest is games. Yet, the games known as "sports" aren't any good.

LOL. I know exactly the response you're talking about. It's not that I care if other guys have their own special interests, but what does irritate me is the implicit cultural expectation that I automatically share in it. I love photography, and love to talk about it to anyone who will give me the time of day on the subject. But I'm realistic enough to realize that only certain people share that interest. I don't think it's strange that other guys don't like photography, so it doesn't make sense to me why they'd react negatively to my equivalent disinterest in the sportsball.

Sports are incredibly boring.

As someone who's played, and enjoyed both, this stands fully true

I like sports.
My favorite sport is baseball, and my favorite team is the Boston Red Sox.