Still Eeyore
New member
Re: Transfers thread
No, that is not all that you've asked. You have asked that athletes hold themselves to a higher standard than people elsewhere. You are transferring your ideal about what sports should be and imposing it on them. You are correct that it is true that everyone, barring some of those who own a sole proprietorship with no employees or investors, has others who are counting them on the job. That was the genesis of my original post to the effect that the people criticizing the idea of transferring are likely throwing rocks out of glass houses. I don't disagree with a single thing you've written in this post up to this point. The problem is that it contradicts what you have written in several other posts.
I'm going with what you have written. You're the one who wrote, "Immediate play transfers also rub me the wrong way. It's yet another case where individual self-interest takes absolute priority over "old fashioned" values like loyalty," which is vastly less nuanced than what you said above. You may claim that you haven't attacked any individual transferring, but that's only because you attacked all of them. You are the one who decided that the word "absolute" belonged in that sentence, with the inescapable implication that the transferring athletes lack loyalty.
You're the one who wrote, "But an immediate play transfer? Setting aside current loyalties in that circumstance feels just a little too easy," which undercuts the disclaimer you made at the start of that same paragraph and which you later cited.
You're the one who wrote, "But loyalty to teammates should factor into these decisions," which implies that the athlete looking to transfer doesn't factor it in.
You're the one who wrote, "Even fans, who give up whole weekends at time to support their team, deserve a little consideration," which started the argument that this is at all about you.
You're the one who wrote, "I am suggesting that they hold themselves to a slightly higher standard than would be required by most other endeavors. But I've always believed that sports should be a bit of an escape from the business world. A place where concepts like team and loyalty continue to matter . . ." which means that the athletes have some sort of obligation to relieve your disappointment with the rest of the world.
If none of that is what you meant to say, the problem isn't that your posts aren't perfect. It's that they consistently send a very different message than what you intended. You should probably stop to think about what it is that you want to say before plunging in.
It isn't so much that I'm detached from what you feel is central to the experience as it is that I think that what you (or I; after all, I wrote a novel whose basic thesis isn't very far off from what you're laying out here) feel is central to the experience is an inappropriate way to judge athletes who transfer to another school. Your posts are long on what you think is important. They're long on what you think sports are about. They're long on what you think are problems with the world in general. They're long on trying to protect what you see as an escape. You want today's kids to have a positive experience as you define it.
What your posts are really short on is letting the athletes decide for themselves what is important and what makes for a positive experience for them. I respect that you don't get to know the players; I'm the same way. But that means that both of us are completely out of touch with them, and that it's presumptuous of us to make judgments as to what they want. (I strongly suspect that the fans who do think that they've gotten to know the players are kidding themselves and aren't any better informed about this than we are.) Stop making this about yourself, and let the athletes decide for themselves. If that kills what makes sports meaningful for you, then you need to find a different escape.
No, that is not all that you've asked. You have asked that athletes hold themselves to a higher standard than people elsewhere. You are transferring your ideal about what sports should be and imposing it on them. You are correct that it is true that everyone, barring some of those who own a sole proprietorship with no employees or investors, has others who are counting them on the job. That was the genesis of my original post to the effect that the people criticizing the idea of transferring are likely throwing rocks out of glass houses. I don't disagree with a single thing you've written in this post up to this point. The problem is that it contradicts what you have written in several other posts.
I'm going with what you have written. You're the one who wrote, "Immediate play transfers also rub me the wrong way. It's yet another case where individual self-interest takes absolute priority over "old fashioned" values like loyalty," which is vastly less nuanced than what you said above. You may claim that you haven't attacked any individual transferring, but that's only because you attacked all of them. You are the one who decided that the word "absolute" belonged in that sentence, with the inescapable implication that the transferring athletes lack loyalty.
You're the one who wrote, "But an immediate play transfer? Setting aside current loyalties in that circumstance feels just a little too easy," which undercuts the disclaimer you made at the start of that same paragraph and which you later cited.
You're the one who wrote, "But loyalty to teammates should factor into these decisions," which implies that the athlete looking to transfer doesn't factor it in.
You're the one who wrote, "Even fans, who give up whole weekends at time to support their team, deserve a little consideration," which started the argument that this is at all about you.
You're the one who wrote, "I am suggesting that they hold themselves to a slightly higher standard than would be required by most other endeavors. But I've always believed that sports should be a bit of an escape from the business world. A place where concepts like team and loyalty continue to matter . . ." which means that the athletes have some sort of obligation to relieve your disappointment with the rest of the world.
If none of that is what you meant to say, the problem isn't that your posts aren't perfect. It's that they consistently send a very different message than what you intended. You should probably stop to think about what it is that you want to say before plunging in.
It isn't so much that I'm detached from what you feel is central to the experience as it is that I think that what you (or I; after all, I wrote a novel whose basic thesis isn't very far off from what you're laying out here) feel is central to the experience is an inappropriate way to judge athletes who transfer to another school. Your posts are long on what you think is important. They're long on what you think sports are about. They're long on what you think are problems with the world in general. They're long on trying to protect what you see as an escape. You want today's kids to have a positive experience as you define it.
What your posts are really short on is letting the athletes decide for themselves what is important and what makes for a positive experience for them. I respect that you don't get to know the players; I'm the same way. But that means that both of us are completely out of touch with them, and that it's presumptuous of us to make judgments as to what they want. (I strongly suspect that the fans who do think that they've gotten to know the players are kidding themselves and aren't any better informed about this than we are.) Stop making this about yourself, and let the athletes decide for themselves. If that kills what makes sports meaningful for you, then you need to find a different escape.
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