[dylan604]

Professional sports are all about entertaining the fans. If they can live a gladiator's life and ask "are you not entertained" and want to die in the lions den, then might as well let them.

Amateur sports like colleges or olympics could continue to have the traditional rules to keep things "competitive", but might as well let the pro-sports just go full tilt.

[impossiblefork]

If it's really about entertainment, then it has no appeal. Then you end up with professional wrestling. Professional sports are interesting because there's something fundamental, something challenging where someone's skill can shine.

[dylan604]

> If it's really about entertainment, then it has no appeal. Then you end up with professional wrestling.

Do you not see the contradiction here? Professional wrestling is huge. It has very loyal fans. The fans pay for pay-per-view and live event sales. They buy merch. Nobody attends a WWE event expecting Greco-Roman style wrestling. They all know exactly what they are getting.

[impossiblefork]

Only among certain kinds of people. But a European PM doesn't go watch professional wrestling, but if his country is doing well enough in association football and there's nothing incredibly important going on he will go to the match.

This is because winning in this game is seen as an achievement, and a natural and reasonable achievement-- after all, there are many world records that nobody cares about.

[dylan604]

Well, if we're limiting the rules of sports in any country based on what a European PM does...

[impossiblefork]

The point is more that a different kind of person can be interested in something where it's not entertainment per se.

There's a reason someone might prefer a sport over seeing a circus performance.

[dylan604]

Did you miss the part where I said other levels of sports could still be available for the more stringent rules? If you don’t like the rules of a professional league, don’t watch.

You’re arguing that others should not be allowed because you don’t like it.