#sports are problematic

[pastelbunnygirl]

Football is so stupid I gotta be honest, I do not understand how people like it. Get so crazy they physically assault others for it, temu ad reference here but like in other times too.

Sports in general (football and soccer mostly) cause so much hate abd violence. Sexual and physical assault whenever a game wins or loses. Its terrifying seeing. They put out warning for women for when it happens because its just so normal. Im talking non-american soccer (football i guess) here for that.

I listened to a podcast recently (Pick Me Up I'm Scares ep 8, spotify) and it dives deeper into the implications of sports. It actually high lighted a lot of good points you don't think about. The whole podcast is really insightful tbh. I highly recommend it, it is very radical however down to earth still.

[blusical]

The 2024 Paris Olympics: Images of the Moment

(sorry for the weirdness, tumblr only allows 30 images so i had to combine them)

[rolandkaros]

i know it's just like. sports. and especially tennis. but it's annoying how out of touch players are. just like across the board.

[iwatcheditbegin]

You can be grossed out or uncomfortable (I am) but this “ hold her accountable” side of the fandom is always doing too much especially when you are holding her accountable for things others have done. This is basically like a coworker by extension.

[brakingpoint]

Im new to F1, what problematic things has Lando Norris done?

getting pole at the 2024 spanish grand prix

[fairweathermyth]

I’m losing my mind I can’t believe this article is real. They get it!

[musical-chick-13]

ANYWAY, I don't go here, but someone let me know if Rhaenyra and Alicent kiss.

[fated-mates]

There are no wallflowers in space!

Voyage back to 2019 when we first investigated SPACE ROMANCE.

[hertwood]

actually i'm gonna say my piece

it's been very freeing for me to just say, hey, all of these men probably suck one way or another, i'm just gonna enjoy the version of them in my head and enjoy the races and not get caught up in feeling morally good abt who i choose to support

do i support ppl going "hey that person did something shitty im not gonna support them" YES. but im not gonna hate ppl who keep supporting them anyway. this could very easily be a fight to the bottom. lewis is friends with jared leto and tom cruise, also an accused abusers. max has said his handful of racist things. you can just say, hey, i dont agree with any of that, but i'm still gonna have fun watching this sport and support who i wanna because life is too short to be constantly caught up in moral handwringing.

for me personally, i've survived too much to prioritize anything other than my happiness. i tried this whole fighting to only consume nonproblematic media when i was younger and it burned me tf out. life is too hard and too difficult to be an activist 24/7 and you dont need to experience life altering trauma like me to give yourself permission to prioritize your happiness and be imperfect with your likes and media consumption.

i changed my url bc it was due for a change anyway, but honestly i'm not gonna get mad if anyone continues to post abt daniel, as long as they don't defend what he said. you've made an attachment to him and in this day and age we need all the seratonin we can get.

[anakinh]

'comic con' cosplay count

Lots of BG3. Including one very hot Dame Aylin. This is interesting because I saw next to none the last year.

Lots of Genshin, but I don't know enough about it to gauge the real amount. Also, this is normal.

Lots of Star Wars and Marvel, but I was standing around where the Star Wars/Marvel panelists were (for obvious reason), so maybe I'm biased. The last few years I didn't see as many... but that last few years I was just at the ttrpg area and artist alley

A veritable deluge of Links and Zeldas, as usual

Quite a few crit role - more than the last two years, but I didn't see any Dimension 20 this time :(

Quite a few FFVII - and a Rinoa, which was the first FF8 cosplay I've seen. I saw some Geneses and Angeals but no Sephiroth, which was interesting since last time I saw quite a lot of Sephiroths, multiple Angeals, and no Genesis. Maybe Genesis got his wish? More likely I just didn't bump into Sephiroths since I was at the Star Wars area and not the jrpg area

One (1) person in a Supernatural t-shirt (in 2013 I made a mini-game out of counting Castiels)

Speaking of counting Castiels, several Crowley and Aziraphales. I wonder if they know the news and how they feel about it. I'm not letting myself judge

A small horde of Homestuck trolls. in 2024.

A truly uncountable and indescribable amount of people wearing dnd shirts. this includes crit role merch. how does one even find a black t-shirt with just a dnd logo on it? The cute little ones with the d20 on it is commonplace but, like, does wotc have a merch store? with shirts? (do they know what wotc is up to lately?)

[katt-sports]

Miiblr 👏

Can we all agree that no matter what pair he ends up in, Cole has malewife energy?

[blusical]

Problematic Players and You

(PT: Problematic Players and You)

Trigger Warning: This post discusses several triggering or otherwise sensitive topics, including, but not limited to, abuse sexual assault, bigotry, and violence. Reader discretion is advised. Additional Disclaimer: This is not a post defending the actions of athletes mentioned *nor* is it an attack on said athletes (or their fans!). This is about dealing with serious events involving players as a whole.

Have you ever woke up one day and found out that your favorite race car driver said some not-so savory things? Have you ever checked the news one day and found out a hockey player you love was accused of rape? Are you a new sports fan who did research on an athlete you like only to find out they're a straight up creep? And have you ever asked yourself: “Where the hell do I go from here?” when it comes to merch you’ve already bought or the amount of gifsets you’ve made for them? Well, you’ve come to the right post! Because let’s face it, we’ve (probably) all been there, done that and got the t-shirt (Err, jersey). 

First off, what defines a problematic player?

Well... there's not really a set definition. Everyone has a different idea of what's 'problematic' and what isn't. However, there are some deeds that athletes do that are... kind of ick, so any of the following could make them be considered very problematic:

-Bigotry (ex. Racism, homophobia). -Cheating (as in cheating on your spouses. Not cheating as in using PEDs even though that too is also kinda trashy). -Abuse, sexual assault, etc. -Questionable/not so great political opinions.

And then there’s athletes who’ve been involved in so many off-ice controversies and allegations that it’s reached a point where regardless of how many are true or not, and no matter how much new information is revealed, they won’t be well liked by fans (Patrick Kane, anyone?). Okay, but why do athletes do this crap in the first place?

Well... there's a couple theories on why some do these things.

Sometimes mental and environmental factors can influence an athlete’s decision making. Say, if an athlete was abused by a coach when they were young, that might factor into any actions, good or bad, a player makes in the future. In cases of bigoted opinions, athletes are raised to have such opinions.

Age can also play a factor into a player’s actions. The younger they are, the more likely they’re going to do stupid shit (Or so I've noticed, please correct me if I'm wrong lmfao). Again. The theories are limitless. However most of the time athletes do these things because... they chose to do that. And a part of that is being because sports culture. Yeah. Sports culture sucks. Who would've known?

So do problematic athletes... stay problematic forever?

Well, yes and no.

As much as our first instinct is to “cancel” said athletes and pressure them to take accountability, we should also give them a chance to grow when they do take accountability instead of pushing the issue further.

However, that also depends on if they chose to grow. Hell, it depends if they even admit to making a mistake or admitting to guilt at all (which is, unfortunately, very impressive in a society like this). If they don’t.. Well, that’s their choice. Best we can do as fans beyond that point is just spread awareness. Remember: 99% of the time celebs won't listen to their fans. Some will. But do not expect your favorite to do the right thing. You will be disappointed. Another thing to keep in mind is that even if changes to character are made, people (us included) will still probably continue to view them differently for a while. As much as we’d like to put the past behind us, that just isn’t easy. (And besides, in the long term this is probably a good thing, since as fans it’s not our place to forgive; that’s up to the people affected). Actually while we’re at it..

Help! What should I do when an athlete (including my favorite) gets into controversy?

It’s always stressful (and sad) when an athlete you’ve admired and looked up to is eventually outed as a terrible person. It’s even more stressful when you’re a newer fan to sports and you just find out about said problematic deeds.

Well, first thing's first: process your emotions, and feelings. And once you're done crying, screaming, whatever action you're doing to process your feelings, spread awareness if you feel comfortable enough doing so. When spreading awareness though: DO RESEARCH AND ONLY SHARE RELIABLE SOURCES. Unfortunately serious allegations almost always have misinformation popping out. Hell, sometimes "allegations" may just be someone causing trouble on the internet (Corey Perry situation, anyone?). If the source is from a random Twitter user (that doesn't work in journalism), or the source is from a site like Deadspin and/or TMZ or any other site that has a history of clickbait, odds are, it's best to take it with a grain of salt. Team fansites (like RMNB, a Caps site) are also not always reliable, so take caution when reading through them as well.

It's better to stick with actually known sources like ESPN, Bleacher Report or a journalist like Elliotte Friedman. Rick Westhead and Katie Strang are really good journalists when it comes to issues relating to hockey. Additionally, do not expect to know *all* the information. Do not demand all information to come out. Sometimes not everything can be shared for legal reasons. Be patient and wait for everything to come out. And even then, don't expect it to be everything that happened (because again, legal reasons). Also, don't expect other people to talk about the incident in question! Do not guilt others into discussing it, do not force others to post about it. Focus on what you can do before focusing on what others can do! After most information (if not all of it), it's up to you to come to your own conclusions. Lastly, regardless of what your decision is, whether you decide to stop supporting them or you choose to believe they did nothing wrong (for any reason), but you're stuck on what to do anyway... Well... and this is probably anticlimactic I know, what to do is... up to you!

Internet wise, your internet space is your space! Your Tumblr blog is your blog! If you wanna stop posting about that player and also delete every single mention of said player outside of spreading awareness? Great! That’s your choice! Wanna keep said posts up but tag them and/or add a disclaimer! Also great! Wanna keep posting them or writing fics about them? Completely fine! Just tag it accordingly and keep in mind why these folks may not like said players. And *please* continue to be critical of said players when they do something wrong. Your favorite is not immune to criticism.

(In other words, yes Hawks fans, you’re allowed to post your Kane gifs and 1988 fics. Just tag it accordingly. And just know that people *will* probably judge you for it).

One thing you should not do however: DO NOT CENSOR NAMES. This fucks with filters and screenreaders (More in-depth post on this here!).

And because apparently this still needs to be said, don’t wish injury or death on the players and for the love of Wayne Gretzky don’t fucking send harassment to their families (seriously why do people do this fucking garbage holy fuck).

Secondly, don’t buy their jerseys or other merchandise from official sites! They will profit off that. If you've already brought it, don't just throw it out. Instead, leave it in storage, sell it or, if you're good at tailoring, try making something new out of it! Additionally (especially in cases of rape, violence, etc), SUPPORT THE VICTIMS INVOLVED. They need it the most.

What about the folks that continue to support said athletes?

If someone continues to post an athlete that’s done not great things, it’s tempting to educate them and tell them (which, if you’re going to do so, please tell them gently and not yell at them, especially if they’re a newer or younger fan who has zero clue what’s going on) But if they already know (which odds are they probably do unless they’re a newer fan), and/or they refuse to stop posting about them after being told, the best plan of action is to just… leave them alone. Just leave them be. Do not bother them further. Do not harass them. Do not send them threats. And for goodness gracious don’t make a callout post or blocklist of every single supporter of said athlete.

(Seriously attempting to make a long blocklist never ends well, especially since half the time the users on said blocklist turn out to be literal children).

That said though, if your friends/mutuals are actively defending bigoted comments and/or making statements that borderline towards abuse apologism, it’s not a bad idea to hold them accountable in a private setting. Yes I said private setting because most drama can be avoided with a private DM. But other than that... someone still writes 1988 fic? Leave them be! Someone still makes gifsets of Alex Ovechkin? Leave them be! Hell, someone still talks about the Staals? Just leave them be! The best course of action is to… just use the block button and/or filter posts accordingly. That’s literally it lmfao.

But why do people continue to support these athletes anyway?

Well it all comes down to the following: A. They have trouble grappling with the fact that they are, in fact, problematic. B. They’re Neurodivergent (especially autistic or individuals with ADHD), or struggling IRL, and kinda rely on those people to function or get through the day. 

C. Detaching yourself from a problematic figure is… really easier said than done. It is not easy at all lmfao. D. They're refuse to listen to info. E. They genuinely have no clue what's going on. Either way. Don't judge too harshly. Not everyone can just stop supporting a person/media and guess what? It's not as easy as 99% of Tumblr dot com thinks. Not everyone can just stop enjoying/liking something. And guess what? That's actually O-KAY. Last thing to know.

Lastly, you, yourself, *could* probably be supporting a problematic player right now! And you would never know until much later! At the end of the day, 99% of athletes have done problematic things one way or another. And honestly, if we tried to get rid of every problematic person... there probably wouldn't be any people left on Earth at all. Yeah, some actions are more shittier than ever, but trying to make everything "unproblematic"... is never going to work no matter how you look at it, and that is OKAY.

Remember the most important rule (stolen from someone on discord with the second edited by me!):

Now get out there and cheer for whatever player you'd like.

(Special thanks to @hard4softthings @saucerfulofsins @tapejob @youneedtolookatthis @restingbuchface @bedardconnor and a bunch of other folks for providing most of the advice/info/tips for this post!)

[masonjarsmoments]

Disappointed and actually surprised that Casper didn't knew the most successful Norwegian Tennis player at the olympics was Anna Margrethe "Molla" Bjurstedt Mallory who won a bronze Medal at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 and won the US open eight times.

As Casper she reached a career high of No.2 (what is crazy because in 1922 she was in the Wimbledon final and won the US open) she also is the author of the book Tennis for women.

[whatbigotspost]

While we’re shit talking football, just gotta add…it’s real fun to specifically refer to it as American Football to other “Americans” whose brains melt when you do that esp if they are lovers of this heinous sport.

[moonmoonthecrabking]

"kitty's feelings for yuri came out of nowhere" it was set up better in the show than when i realised i had crushes on girls in real life

[kaylor]

my christ how many people can say they're employed by a company that's only ever made 100% good moral decisions. be so unbelievably for real.