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    Disinterested or uninterested?

    I used to be all about THE FOOTBALL. I played twice a week, had a season ticket at the Villa, and would watch games between teams I sometimes had no idea where they were even from* if they were on my tellybox (*lies, as a geography nerd, I know where everywhere is). I wrote for the Villa fanzine and I subscribed to WSC, World Soccer, and even Four Four Two at one point, and many of my conversations would revolve around a football. Then my interest dipped. And dipped. And dipped some more. There were reasons for this: stopping playing, the Villa turning into just another big (don't laugh) club, and football's continuous march towards a land made entirely out of money. I'd still keep an eye on what was going on in non-league, and a weird obsession with reading Jefe's MLS updates, and BB&F!'s travelogues, but other than that I just did not give a single shit any more.

    The events of the past few days have brought something home to me. First Liverpool, then Tottenham, and now Arsenal and Chelsea, have made it to European Finals, some of whom in spectacular manner. Football friends are all over it, and I know the past me would have had a similar reaction. I've never been one of those people who supports English clubs in Europe, and even have a hard time with the national team lately, so my reaction SHOULD be one of absolute horror, disgust that this has happened (one of the few things I have retained is an absolute fear of Liverpool winning the title), and a dogged resolve to ensure that people who are enjoying it have it ruined for them. You know, like a fan does?

    But I don't feel anything. Either way, It's just a thing that happened. And this made me wonder whether I'm now disinterested in football (at least beyond the couple of things I weirdly retain an interest in) rather than uninterested in football. To my ear, there's a difference between the two, in that being uninterested can be reversed but true disinterest is bedded in? Anyone else - and I realise I'm asking this on ostensibly a football forum - feel the same?

    #2
    I think I can recognize two competing forces dragging me away from football, which may or may not correspond to your dis-/uninterested dichotomy. On the one hand, there is the pull factor of other attractions. I have plenty of other stuff going on in my life right now, most of which involves people themselves completely disinterested in football. As a consequence, I have lost touch with much of football, which makes me, in your terms, relatively uninterested. It simply no longer holds as important a position in my life as it used to. On the other hand, there is the push factor of things within football nowadays that are actively offputting. The fact, for instance, that Atlanta Bergamo are on course for a direct group phase spot in the upcoming champions league while the Dutch league champions find themselves in the third qualifying round, is actively driving me away. A Champions League with fewer than a third of the spots directly allocated to league champions is not something I want to invest substantial chunks of time in.

    Where the correspondence between what you describe and what I describe breaks down, is that both the push and pull factors are not irreversible for me. Another unlikely run like the one provided by Ajax or Eintracht Frankfurt can drag me back in. This comes and goes in waves, though, and I do not think that I will ever fully return to the deep interest in football I once had. Life has taken over.

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      #3
      The last couple of seasons I have attended 30 and 33 football matches respectively. Ten years ago I was lucky if I made double figures.

      I think I'm on the reverse pendulum swing to you both.

      It's helped that I've connected with a local(ish) club and going to games is easier than when I had to travel over 100 miles to a home game. Last night I went to a meeting for supporters who are interested in following Barry away in Europe. (Kosovo here we come)
      Last edited by Patrick Thistle; 10-05-2019, 11:23.

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        #4
        Just on the semantics, "disinterested" does not (or at least did not) mean "not interested" (which "uninterested" does mean). Disinterested means neutral or not influenced by personal gain. The referee should always be disinterested, but never uninterested (a quote from a UEFA style guide, I think!). Of course modern language being what it is the incorrectly used disinterested has evolved to also be interchangeable with uninterested.

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          #5
          Disinterested takes a disinterested position about how disinterested is (mis-)used...

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            #6
            I've been to fewer games this season than for a long time. I'm not sure if I've lost interest, or I just couldn't face another relegation season.

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              #7
              I think that this is a good place to put this. I have had a brilliant season following Bath City on-field (off-field, it has been a bit of a mare). However, this is what I posted about this last week's events - Look, the drama and excitement of , at least, three of the European games this week notwithstanding, these two all-'English' finals are an appalling appalling thing. Firstly, all it is is two extra Premiership games hundreds and thousands of miles away from their home grounds. Secondly, this is the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th placed teams from last year contesting the top European finals of this year. Thirdly, the 5th or 6th team gets into the "Champions'" League by winning the Europa League. Fourthly, the actual champions of Wales, Ireland, Estonia, Macedonia etc. just get a couple of matches against other minnows which earn them relatively nothing as a sop. Finally and, possibly, most importantly, Chelsea in a bloody European final of some sort. Football capitalism at it's worst all around.

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                #8
                Ha ha, wait, what? Man Utd finished 2nd last year?? Genuinely didn't realize. That feels about as plausible as Blackburn doing so. Blackburn Olympic.

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                  #9
                  Blackburn Olympic managed a third place finish this season. Admittedly it was in the second tier of the Blackburn Combination, which (last time I checked) doesn't quite get you into the Champions League.

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                    #10
                    Any good editors or journalists would have assumed this thread was about this major controversy:

                    https://twitter.com/arctictony/statu...06675773648896

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                      #11
                      Football is absolute wank, watched by 90% cunts.

                      It’s only purpose is being something to get the train to.

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                        #12
                        Preach, brother. There isn't a football match that wouldn't be improved by a rail journey there and back. I am so envious of my compatriots who are getting trains between Croatia and Hungary in a month or two's time to watch Wales.

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                          #13
                          My experience is very similar to the opening poster in that I have come to realise that football results don't matter anymore, other than as a mild diversion, something to check up at work on Mondays. I still attend games with my own team in the Norwegian League when I have the opportunity, I reckon about 10 games a season, and try to go and see some of the local lower teams a couple of times a season.

                          But I have no need to watch games from Champions' League, Premier league or the Spanish League anymore. Indeed, I watched a bit of both semi-finals last week, but turned off at 3-0 and 2-2 respectively to watch a TV series with my wife instead. I wouldn't have done that twenty years ago.

                          Whether football today is more insufferable than it was before I don't know, most likely it is just me who got to a point where I had watched enough football games on TV and moved on with my life to do other things instead.

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