Sports: Better Water Cooler Chat

These days at work I find myself shooting the breeze with co-workers around the watercooler, it is likely we might be talking sports.

First of, we don't have a watercooler...so let me correct mystatement and say we're shooting the breeze around the Flavia Coffee Dispenser (pictured right).

Now, I like the idea of the coffee dispenser, and I drink coffee from this regularly, I just wish the coffee it brewed actually tasted good.

As you know, I'd far rather have a discussion about movies like Rachel Getting Married or who's going to get nominated for best actor at this year's upcoming Academy Awards.

But, it's far easier to talk about this weeks upcoming college football line-up with male co-workers, than it is to talk about how I'm hoping to get a chance to see the movie An Education soon.

But the fact is with so many media options, it's hard to have relevant discussions about media in most circles because everyone is consuming different media.

That's what's somewhat different about sports. Unlike movies, television, and books, sports are live.

If I miss a game I want to watch, I'm not interested in watching it later on TiVo or DVR, or renting it on DVD, or watching it on YouTube. No, I want to no the score, the way it finished it up. The intrigue is in the live event and the results. There's no waiting.

I'm not going to go to work and say, "Don't tell me how the game turned out, I haven't watched it yet."

No way! What type of nut would I be taken for?

I sometimes sense the romance of sports in this regard is somewhat waning because not everyone is glued to there sets and reading their papers about the big sports events like the World Series like they might have in years past, not to mention there are more sports channels, websites, and different sports to care about all the time.

But regardless, there are few live events with high entertainment value and low controversy that you can talk about.

So when I can talk college football with co-workers who also want to talk college football, I say, "why not."

Now, I'm not saying I can hang with the old men talking sports on Thanksgiving Day as they compare stats on the Phillys and Yankees from the past 60 years, but I do know, there's something valuable in sports that I have a growing respect for.

One things for sure, I've been to ESPN.com more times in the past year then I think I've visited it in my lifetime. It helps that my alma mater is having a great college football season, so it makes the conversations all the more natural.

Watercooler Photo from AZ Central. Flavia coffee from Revive Vending.