I just came to a realization about the love football/hate football argument..

[Fumesucker]

I get the distinct impression that for many of those who love football, HS and perhaps college was the best time in their lives and they look back on it with fond memories.

It's my suspicion that those who are negative toward the sport quite often share my experience, HS was the worst time in my life, I never even went to my graduation I was so sick of that hellhole, graduating was like getting out of prison.

Neither side is going to change the other's mind and I've said my piece so I'm done with this subject.

[seabeyond]

1. see... and i am in the middle. i didnt have problems, but i didnt love it.

made it thru and loved walking into the adult world. and have loved being in the adult world every since.

my son and i talk about it a lot.

he is doing fine in hs, but he has always been more adult-like.

[Odin2005]

2. High School pregame all-school "rallies" are like political speeches in the USSR.

If you didn't show enough enthusiasm and glowering admiration "bad things" happened to you.

[WCGreen]

47. Not until my senior year and I got to know a lot of the football

players from being with them in class did I start going to football games and actually watch the game.

We were lucky, the star quarterback was one of the most genuine and nicest person I ever met. I think the featured players set a tone for the way people view the game when they are in high school.

We use to go only because there was nothing else to do in our town.

High School was both fun and tortuous because the administration hated me.

I go to the reunions to catch up with Friends and not to relive old times although some stories are told.

It didn't define me then and it doesn't define me now.

Football is a great pass time as the weather changes.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I would be in your camp, Fumesucker.

It may come from my rural upbringing and the trauma of city schools' cultures when we moved into town.

I never adjusted to the larger school culture, the cliques, the jocks, and the whole shitty mess that, to others, seems normal.

I even avoided serious college for fear of 4 or 5 more years of that shit.

Thankfully, I found a very fine small college to attend and made it through the five year program and graduated.

In a class of 20 (for the school of architecture alone).

I'm with you.

:hug:

[Atman]

4. Doesn't hold water, at least in my case.

Some of fondest memories of HS are the Friday night football games. Many of my friends were on the team, despite the fact that was an "art" guy and an editor of the school newspaper. I was also Sr. President, and had to rah-rah for our team, The Fighting Minutemen. I enjoyed HS immensely, even though was not a particular good student, grade-wise.

I can't stand football, and I don't think I've been to a real football game since HS nearly 35 years ago. And I think Paterno, Sandusky, McQuery and the whole lot of 'em should be in jail.

[Scuba]

5. Doesn't fit here. We're all Packer fans despite very different school experiences!

[PeaceNikki]

13. I concur. We're a unique market, though.

GO PACK, GO!

[Scuba]

15. Go Pack, go!!!! Beat the Viqueens! (Is that sexist?)

[Marr]

6. I can only speak for myself here, but I had a good enough time in highschool.

I can't say I hate football, I just don't get it. I don't see how it can hold anyone's interest for longer than 3 seconds.

[Brickbat]

7. Doesn't apply to me. I was bookish and unathletic in high school. Loved football then, love it now.

In fact, I've gotten a lot more athletic and enjoy running and playing hockey. My kids are very involved in youth sports, including football at the high school. High school was most certainly not the best time of my life and I was happy to get out of there, and I like watching football.

There's no sense in trying to explain either side, really.

[blueamy66]

8. I am sorry that your HS experience was awful....

mine was the time of my life....Catholic High School....still live less than 1 mile from the campus...have great friends to this day....my guy is still in touch with his HS friends....wish I was 16 again....

Love Seton Catholic!

[GoCubsGo]

9. My distaste for it came when I moved South.

I was indifferent to it before that. Any bad times I had in HS were not associated with football, and I kind of enjoyed going to the games then. And, my undergrad school had no football team. My dislike came when I moved South to go to grad school. It's like a cult down here. It dominates TV programming (They televise high school games), the newspapers (The State charges more for their Sunday paper during football season), and just about everything else in life here. And, pity the person who lives in a college town. They have to put up with traffic jams, RVs parked everywhere, including places where they shouldn't, gauntlets of drunken football fans, and jam-packed restaurants. Forget about eating out, or even ordering in on the night of a home game. And, don't get me started on how football takes so much more precedence over academics in these institutions.

[trotsky]

10. I hated high school...

but I love football.

So much for your armchair psychoanalysis.

[lonestarnot]

11. Nope disagree.

Sports may be the testosterone outlet, keep youth out of trouble in many cases, and that would be the only reason that I would have an interest. I hate professional sports as they are overpaid distractions for that which is important in life. Competitive muscles are just a coalescence of cells, usually not the brain type. A whole economy based on sports and industrial prison complex, what a fucking waste of time and says a whole bunch about us as a society of nasty carrrrrers.

[amyrose2712]

25. One of the reasons I enjoy a game on Sunday--sometime I need a distraction.nt

[Missy Vixen]

12. High school was not the best time in my life. I love football.

It's unfortunate that there are those here who believe they can give detailed analysis of someone else's likes or dislikes (and the reasons for them) without clinical training.

It's also unfortunate that there are those here who believe it's their right to allege the rest of us are unable to care as much about anything else in life as they are.

:eyes:

[Fumesucker]

14. You're reading things I never wrote..

[GoCubsGo]

18. Not "the rest of us".

Just some of them. And, it works both ways. I have been belittled and called such names as "UnAmerican" for stating that I don't care for the game. I grew up indifferent to this particular sport. It was the fanatics that drove me into disliking it, just like the Christian fundies drove me away from religion.

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. My high school years were, until recently, the most painful time in

my life. Football had nothing to do with it. My love of football is something I've always had. In reading the replies to this thread it appears your hypothesis is failing.

[Harmony Blue]

17. I loved high school more than middle (junior high) school

Yeah there was the pep rallys for football games, but even though I was a football fan I didn't care for them or the Friday night games. High school was an enjoyable experience for me because of the teachers and friends. Period.

[zonkers]

19. Football is about drinking beer for a lot of people.

[eShirl]

20. our high school didn't have football; loved high school, hate football. n/t

[pipi_k]

21. An exception...

I hated HS.

I hated sports. I hated gym class. I was always one of the last kids chosen...sometimes even forced on a team by the teacher.

But...I love football.

So, who knows...

:shrug:

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. The majority of posts on this thread are like yours. I love when we, at DU

can present, and hopefully destroy, long held stereotypes on why people do things. :hi:

[amyrose2712]

22. Never played any sport,never went to a HS game but love watching football.

[Logical]

24. I loved HS and football but my whole life has been good. So you are wrong.

[frazzled]

26. I didn't go to a college with a football team

Or if they had a football team, I didn't know about it. (NYU, late 60s). I never went to a football game at my high school. Basketball was frankly bigger. Also, we were the counterculture. It just wasn't all that cool. The only football game I ever attended was at Columbia in 1968 (a date took me). All I can remember about it is that the marching band was pretty much coterminous with the SDS chapter--they spelled out FUCK WAR on the field at halftime. That was fun.

But that doesn't explain why I don't really care for football. I like baseball and basketball well enough (though I can't say I watch either one full time at all). My parents used to be big college football fans when I was growing up. My father used to try to explain the game to me many times, but I blocked it out. Still don't understand it really. I just don't find it either intellectually compelling (baseball--for reasons unknown, but everyone agrees it is) or physically compelling (basketball, though less today than it used to be; it's a lot rougher). To me it's always just a lot of hurry up and wait for a bunch of beefy looking guys to run a little a few yards and fall down on top of each other. It's not compelling viewing to me--except on those rare occasions when a really miraculous play is made.

But I don't begrudge the obsession to everyone else. To each his/her own, I say.

[MineralMan]

27. Far more people do not care about football than do care.

It's important to maintain perspective. Even in a place like State College, PA, there are more people who don't pay much attention to football than do.

Those who follow football seem to care a great deal about it, but they're still a small minority of the population. They just all happen to come together at the same time over football.

Myself, I can take it or leave it. I was the band's drum major in High School, so I was at all the games, both home and away, since our band went to all the out of town games. I watched the games to the extent that I knew when to have the band play the school fight song. Now, I follow the University of Nebraska football team on television, but only because my late father in law was such a fan. It's an interesting game, I suppose, but that's all it is to me.

Some would say I'm a football fan, but I really don't care about football on a larger level than to watch one team's games for family reasons. It has never played much of a role in my life. I think that's true for something like 80% of the population of the United States - maybe more. But, that still leaves millions who are serious fans and focus hard on that sport.

[dmallind]

32. You mean the town of 39k with a 110k seat stadium dislikes football on the aggregate? nt

[MineralMan]

80. Yup. The stadium is full of people who don't live in that town,

I'm sure. Go there on game day and drop into stores, etc. You'll see the townspeople doing their normal activities. Besides, I didn't say people "disliked" football, I said they didn't care about it. It's a real mistake to assume that most people give a crap about the sport. They don't. It's a minority that does. A rather small minority, really.

[dmallind]

83. Any evidence for that? Ratio of local to nonlocal is what?

Certainly there must be many nonlocal as stadium > town, but I can confidently state you have no evidence to claim anything more. Strangely I used to live in Lincoln, a much larger town with a much smaller stadium, and I would always do my grocery shopping during game time as the stores were about 1/8 as busy as normal. Parking in areas away from the stadium became infinitely easier, and the best way to spot someone in a crowd was ro tell them to where a color that contrasted with red. The entire town talked of little else on game days, and it was a good idea to make sure your route was against the flow of stadium traffic. I doubt an equally storied program with a bigger stadium in a town 1/6 the size is full of people who don't care about football, or at the very least tribal affiliation expressed via football.

[MineralMan]

85. Nope. I don't have that information, and am not really looking for it.

It is clear to me, however, that football fans make up a minority of the population - a small minority.

[dmallind]

86. How, precisely, is that clear to you?

[MineralMan]

87. TV Ratings.

It's that simple. Fans watch games. Non-fans don't.

[fishwax]

28. I doubt it's that simple

I am sorry about your high school experience, though.

[Balbus]

29. Did you come to those results after polling 1 person?

That 1 person being yourself?

[Motown_Johnny]

30. I know people who dropped out of high school that love football

your hypothesis is deeply flawed

[RKP5637]

31. When I look at my HS's website all they talk about is sports, and under greatest

achievers they just list a football star. Also suffices to say that over the decades they have gone from being one of the better schools in the state to now among the worse, and one of the worst taxed communities supposedly because of their schooling system It's just one giant WTF. Taxes on a $200K house are about $11K per year.

[apocalypsehow]

33. I think you may be on to something. I had a blast in HS, where I played contact sports, but in

college it was only elbow athletics, i.e., beer bong workouts and tequila slamming. Those were all good times, though in different ways between the two experiences.

By the time of my first post-grad year I started to come into the real world, night-stocking at a grocery store to make rent and spending my spare time building a reading list. Very different experiences, as late-onset maturity finally took firm hold, and an adult emerged.

As I said, looking back on my own experience, I think you're on to something. Kick, Rec.

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. And yet a good deal of the responses in this thread have thrown his/her

hypothesis right into the crapper. :shrug:

[apocalypsehow]

40. Of course it has: this is a BIG country. Even in the 70s we were bumping 200 million people.

My reply was predicated on my experience after filtering the OP's expressed experiences through those eyes. Not your experience. Not "a good deal" of anyone else and their experiences. Just mine vis-a-vis the OP's. The fact that the way others replied threw your analysis of the OP's "hypothesis" in the "crapper" has nothing to do with me.

In point of fact, you simply disliked the OP's "hypothesis" and my reply to it, so dreamed up some phony reason to snark & :shrug:. Please go bug someone else with it, thanks.


Edit: typo.

[ScreamingMeemie]

41. Snark? Please don't post if you don't wish to be replied to.

You invited the response with "I think you may be on to something"... The responses in the thread clearly show that he/she is not on to something. Many of us had less than happy high school experiences yet love the sport. :hi: It is a big country, isn't it? I'm glad there are so many different divisions and conferences to follow. :bounce: You try and get some peace, okay? :hug:

[apocalypsehow]

42. Physician, heal thyself: you're the one that dreamed up a phony reason to snark & smiley shrug to my

reply to a reply that had nothing to do with you, or your experience.

Now, once again: go bug someone else with it. Thanks.

[ScreamingMeemie]

45. I always reply to those who take the time to reply to me.

If you don't wish to have responses to your thoughts, then don't post them, I guess. :shrug: :hi:

[apocalypsehow]

48. But I'm not interested in your replies, the issues you raised having been addressed. Thanks. n/t.

[ScreamingMeemie]

50. You are more than welcome...

But I can never end with n/t. I've always felt it rather rude. :hi:

[apocalypsehow]

43. Cute edit. Regardless, he/she IS on to something regarding HIS/HER experience. My reply was in that

context. Now you're just looking for a reason to bicker. Your questions have been addressed: why don't you go bug someone else with your analysis?

[ScreamingMeemie]

44. My edit was to add the following:

"You invited the response with "I think you may be on to something"... The responses in the thread clearly show that he/she is not on to something. Many of us had less than happy high school experiences yet love the sport."

I'm having a wonderful time speaking with you. Unless you can find some backup to support that the OP is "on to something", I suggest you open your mind to the differences of opinion. No need to get all wound up. I am not analyzing, just commenting on how this thread appears to disprove the OP's premise. ;) :hi: :hug:

[apocalypsehow]

46. You continue to reply to me after your analysis has been addressed by me above. I don't need "some

backup to support" anything. Once again: I reflected on the OP's experience, as he described it, versus my own. That was the only thing I addressed. I am not interested in speaking with you, interacting with you, or anything else regarding this topic. I am interested in you bugging someone else with your "analysis" now that your "questions" to me have been addressed. Thanks.

[ScreamingMeemie]

49. As I have said, I will continue to respond to your responses... See?

We're allowed to in our "big country". Now...if the OP's experience reflected one's own one could say "That has been my experience". Stating "I think you may be on to something", in this case, is rather misleading...especially if the "something" only applies to a handful of respondents in a thread versus the whole. If my "bugging" on a message board bothers you so, I suggest you use the "ignore" function. Otherwise we can continue to debate. Perhaps a nice soothing tea is in order as a mere comment appears to have flustered you beyond what is typically normal behavior. :hi:

[apocalypsehow]

51. There is no "debate," and never was: you simply did not like the OP, and did not like my reply to

the OP, so dreamed up a reason to start this back n' forth. Even though not one word of my reply had anything to do with your experience. Ever with the subtle personal attacks, of course, and the constant "last word" nonsense. Once again: go bug someone else with it, thank you.

[ScreamingMeemie]

52. There are no personal attacks here. Only a debate as to whether

being "on to something" is the proper term to use. There was no need to dream something up. It was right there. You claimed I edited something out...which I did not. I edited to add. Liking or disliking a sport, in my opinion, comes to down personal preferences, and not so much past experiences. But I cannot claim this. I can only surmise it. End of story. Again, it's the red X if it bothers you so. :hi:

[apocalypsehow]

53. So, now it's a semantics debate. I say my "term" (it's a phrase, not a term) was just fine.

You don't like my having used it. Too bad. End of "debate."

Now, having distilled such silliness - all of a sudden the entire "debate" is about a "term"! - to its essence by your own words and on your own terms, you have essentially confirmed my original premise in my very first reply to you in this sub-thread. Congrats.

[ScreamingMeemie]

54. It's not about the term. It's about the suggestion that everyone is the

same as you. Which, with a 0 rec (thanks to millions of recs and few more unrecs I am sure ;) ) and several posts that differ with the hypothesis, it appears they are not. But okay, if it makes you happy. Your very first reply in this sub-thread was a little convoluted, to be honest. My reason doesn't really appear to be "phony" when you hold it up against the number of people in this thread who actually go against the hypothesis. When someone is "on to something", the majority of responses would kind of go with the original OP... It's not really a matter of semantics. It's more a matter of mis-representation of the opinions put forth. That was your first reply, right? My reason was "phony"?

[apocalypsehow]

55. Now the back-tracking, subject-changing, and walking huge chunks of your original premises "back."

Priceless.

[ScreamingMeemie]

58. It's pretty much been the whole thing this entire time.

You said something that wasn't evidenced from the responses to the OP. It really is that simple. :hi:


Edited to add a "d" to evidence. Just in case you thought I removed something. ;)

[apocalypsehow]

60. No, it hasn't: in my very first reply I made it clear that my response was singular to the OP's

stated experience, after I had thought through my own. It had nothing to do with any other person's experience. I spoke of nothing about any other person's experiences other than mine. You posted a reply to me that had nothing to do with my reply, really, just your intent to "start a fight" about it. And here we are. It really is that simple.

[ScreamingMeemie]

61. I'm not fighting. Just commenting.

This is a fight? I merely commented that the OP was not on to something. Perhaps for the two of you, but certainly not on to what he suggested in his OP. :shrug: You were commenting on the OP, correct?

[apocalypsehow]

64. You seem to be fighting most with yourself, r.e. #52 & #54. Putting that aside, what you're doing

now is (1) striving for that ever-precious "last word" and (2) trying your hardest to get the sub-thread deleted, for reasons that are manifest.

[ScreamingMeemie]

66. Really? I am...If I wanted to get a subthread deleted I would

(1) personally attack you or (2) alert the mods. There is nothing in this sub-thread that would call for its deletion. Or am I missing something? It boils down to the original statement that the OP's hypothesis was pretty much in the crapper (how that amounts to snark, I'm still wondering) somehow got under your skin.

[apocalypsehow]

68. It "boils down" to what I stated in the very first reply to you in this sub-thread: one and all can

scroll up and read it.

It is a reasoned explanation that I was speaking strictly for myself, in light of the OP's stated experience. And a polite request that you bug someone else with such nonsense as motivated your first reply to me (ignored). It has gone downhill from there, for the predictable reasons.

[ScreamingMeemie]

71. And yet, here you are. Your comment agreed with the OP, that he

was on to something. I disagreed. You felt bugged. I can't help that.

[apocalypsehow]

75. #52 vs. #54 awaits a reconciliation. As for the rest: the one who "felt bugged" was, obviously, you.

As repeatedly seen.

[ScreamingMeemie]

88. Okay.

:hi:

[apocalypsehow]

57. "It's not about the term" - "Only a debate as to whether being 'on to something' is the proper term

to use."

Which one of these things is not like the other? Comedy gold.

[ScreamingMeemie]

59. It is? I think it's rather straight forward.

That being, apocalypsehow doesn't like it when someone disagrees with him/her. :shrug:

[apocalypsehow]

62. Now, deflection. The quotes in the reply you're responding to come from #52 & #54 in this thread,

where you brazenly contradict yourself within the space of two posts. But by all means keep digging.

[ScreamingMeemie]

67. Straight forward. It's been the same thing.

No deflection here. :shrug: The OP stated one thing, you concurred, even though the thread (and at least DUers) had, thus far, proven otherwise. Where has it changed?

[apocalypsehow]

70. #52 vs. #54 awaits a reconciliation. As for the rest: nonsense, and anyone with a working mouse is

free to scroll up through this sub-thread and confirm it for themselves.

[ScreamingMeemie]

72. It's been the same comment the entire time, apoc.

Which is the OP does not appear to be on to something. While it is awesome that you two have something in common, the hypothesis, as it stands, does not appear to have a lot to prove it here.

[apocalypsehow]

76. The OP appears to be on to something from my perspective, having filtered it through my own uniquely

different experience. As you have repeatedly been told.

Your analysis of the "hypothesis" does not interest me, as I have stated repeatedly.

[apocalypsehow]

78. Oh, and by the bye: #52 vs. #54. Comedy gold. n/t.

[Romulox]

34. My realization is that you simply throw out any data that doesn't match your experiences.

:shrug:

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

36. I played football, but have no love for my HS or college, and really dislike CFB (and CBB), but...

...I love the NFL.

I definitely became disillusioned over college athletics the more engrossed I got into it. It's a sick, cult/tribal culture of yahoos, elitists, idols, sacred cows, and wealthy white men.

I couldn't be more pleased than to see the demise of college football gods.

[Union Scribe]

37. How distinct is that impression after these replies? nt

[SoDesuKa]

38. Jocks and Their Sense of Entitlement

I don't dislike football as such, but the whole rah-rah thing around it is off-putting. I do not like jock culture - either the jocks themselves, or the coterie of people around them. The fact that George Bush was a male cheerleader was sufficient reason in itself for me not to vote for him.

Guys in business suits seem to swagger when they're carrying a racquetball racket on their way to work. It's their Real men play sports attitude that annoys me, and they present themselves that way on the job, too.

[applegrove]

39. I played football in my back yard as a kid. In grade 8 I played on the flag football league. I loved

it. We never had a team in highschool. We had a local professional football team and I went to a few games. I hate watching football. I know all the plays. I just think it is boring as hell. Would much rather watch hockey or basketball.

[cemaphonic]

56. I liked high school just fine, and have never had any interest in football

I think you're probably just projecting.

[October]

63. Not for me -- not by a long shot.

There is no one answer. We're all individuals with unique experiences. It is frustrating to hear one's experiences characterized as "norm" for all -- no matter which side.

[kentauros]

65. I was in marching band; I didn't give a damn about the games.

They were fun, mostly because band was fun. It made high school fun, too, though my band-mate friends helped considerably in that regard. So, there's a third "side" you're forgetting: those of us indifferent to football (and every other sport.)

I don't hate it, but I also don't love it, either. I simply don't care about it. While y'all are spending all of Sunday afternoon/evening watching your games, betting on them, having tailgate parties, et cetera, I'm off doing something I like that has zero to do with any sport. Out of sight, out of mind :)

[nutsnberries]

82. i'm with you. i was going to say, ...

I love going to football games AT HALFTIME!

I love a good halftime show. I don't understand football and have never had any interest in learning.

and for the record, I enjoyed my time in high school and college, a lot! :)

[kentauros]

84. One thing I learned about football in band:

Don't ever play frisbee-football with your fellow band-mates! (I still have some shoulder pain from being tackled by a rather large percussionist :P)

As for enjoying high school, my suspicion on this is that the more creative you are, the more likely you'll be able to find ways of making it fun. Of course, it may also be that you are more likely to get into trouble, too! }(

Those that stick with marching band through college can also end up in a cool pastime if they pursue it: drum corps!

These guys blow me away time I watch: Top secret Drum Corps :wow:

[Prometheus Bound]

69. I played football for one year and became known as a bully.

I was 10 years old and played in the community league. I was the skinniest kid in the league, but I could run like the wind, so I became the second highest scorer in the league. We ran the same play every time, me around the end, and nobody could catch me. I didn't know a thing about football. They just gave me the ball and I ran. I always ran into the end zone between the posts because I thought that was the rule.

Anyway, one day as I walked through the community club, I saw people pointing at me and whispering about me. Then I heard someone whisper in awe: 'He's the guy who broke X's leg.' As it turns out in a game the day before, X had taken a dive at me and missed and broken his leg. I had seen someone being carried off the field but didn't know it had anything to do with me.

Anyway, I somehow became known as a bully. All people heard was that I had broken some poor guy's leg. Older guys who might normally have beaten me up just for fun gave me room. It was the strangest feeling. I was slightly indignant, telling people it wasn't my fault, but the reputation stuck for the rest of the season, and I have to admit, for a skinny little kid, it was an interesting feeling.

[ScreamingMeemie]

74. I bet it was. My daughter had a somewhat similar experience.

She was tall for her age. She loved playing soccer. Because she was tall (but not any more skilled or coordinated than the rest of the team) she was labeled as "a bully". We were more than indignant when parents requested that she be "kicked off" soccer. It didn't bother her in the least but it really bothered us.

[Prometheus Bound]

79. Now that's really unfair.

There would have been no danger of that in my day. Parents didn't get involved and didn't even watch the games. My coach was such a jerk, I think he bragged about my supposedly having broken the poor kid's leg, even though I didn't even touch him. And the other coaches would have appreciated it too.

That's why I stopped playing. The coaches.

[ScreamingMeemie]

89. It happened a few times, to a few different kids, with sizes seemingly

so different these days.

A good friend had the same issue with her daughter. It's just ridiculous.

[defendandprotect]

73. Nah -- I think it's very popular when the violence is ignored -- and also

the injuries to players --

Can't imagine why we'd expose kids to this crap!

[JVS]

77. I like watching football, I enjoyed HS, college, and being done with college for various reasons...

I've never heard of being required to attend pep-rallies, and this is odd considering Football being a big deal in my school (they won state when I was in school). I had friends who were on the team, I had friends who didn't play. I took stats for them one year when I was in Jr. High. I didn't notice them getting special treatment, then again as one of the top scholars in the school, some would argue that I got special treatment. These kids took classes like everyone else, had interests like everyone else, and some of them were able to parlay it into a way to pay for colleges they couldn't otherwise afford (not many I-A recruitees, but scholarships to private colleges were not uncommon)

[LanternWaste]

81. I began enjoying it ten years out of high school-

I began enjoying it ten years out of high school, never gave it much thought prior to that either way-- irrelevant to both high school and my enjoyment levels of it.

Let's not try to project our own anecdotal experience onto the whole.