I should be proud because....

I suppose it is rooted in athletic events which demonstrated skills useful to be a hunter or warrior, like running, jumping, strength and accurate throwing of weapons.

As well as marvelling at those of the highest skill, it made sense for you to want your family, village or tribe to excel as it helped you feel safe and secure. As societies started to coalesce into bigger units of nations, so did the affiliation. 

For peoples who really valued oral tradition and artistic prowess, equivalent events developed like the eisteddfod. 

Late-period capitalism has distorted the media prominence of many aspects of society to favour those which can readily be monetised (sport being one, hatred and tribalism another).

For me, there are a couple of ways in which this can become problematic.

The first is when people's hearts are closed to the merits of those not of their identity, for example wanting athletes from nation X to fail or hating them.

The second is when one has a disinterest in, or active dislike of, the matter and writes off its validity for others who do find it interesting, possibly even disliking those who do have that interest. 

The human challenge for us all is to remain openhearted to those who are not like ourselves, and to have curiosity about their lived experience, and I think that marginalised groups like us understand that all too well.

I don't think you should have to be proud. I don't think anyone should have to care about anything really. If you don't like sport and don't have an interest then that's ok. I don't think you should be required to show support or feel pride because that's the social norm.

However, sport is something that is important to a lot of people. So if you are being very vocal on your opinion on it (not saying you are) I could see people being offended by that and they will therefore tell you what they think as it would them being put down.

If you aren't vocal about your dislike unless someone tells you you should feel proud then I think it's fair to share your opinion and how you feel. Both should be valid views but neither should be put down because the other doesn't agree with it.

I guess I understand this more for a team from a country, than teams within the country, as those no longer represent the area they are from. 

I think achievements to be proud of are those that take a lot of effort to achieve.

It is almost impossible to answer the bigger picture without getting into discussions of identity, nationality, the nation state, culture, etc. which is politically contentious.

Pride can also have a number of meanings and presentations, and can be good or bad. So it depends on how you interpret the word.

If you are just talking about the world cup, then it Is symbolic. It depends on whether you think the team in any way represent you or your country, whether you identify with them at all, whether them carrying your flag means anything. It is fairly trivial, a loss on the field says nothing about a country really. The managers are often foreign too.

But a flag means something. It always has.

I like watching sports but I was never any good at them.

People are more loyal to the TV than the Game. Humanoids roll that way.

Sport is fundamentally boring. I only find expertise in art and intellect as being praiseworthy, physical prowess impresses me not an iota. At least with today's plethora of media anyone wishing to avoid large sporting events can do so to a great extent. Back in the days of 3 TV channels World Cups and Olympic Games were unavoidable periods of sheer torture.

I have never understood people being invested in sports teams. Why does it matter so deeply to people when someone else scores a goal or a team that they are not part of wins a game?

How does one define sport?

Surely dog walking is sport at it's moving our body and because you and I and others do dog walking them we're taking part in a sport and should be proud

I couldn't kick a ball, in anger. But I love the sense of bondage among fans. (not that sense of bondage, of course)

I tried the Academic route, to success. No joy, either.

The problem is that our society pigenholes, and comnpartmentalises, us into cliques and interests; from School onwards. It's so systemic, working in a Team Environment is well-nigh impossible. And, for the likes of us, everyone is an enemy.

All the Football talk centers around what's on TV, rather than one's local Club. The issue isn't football, it's the media.

I usually find telling them to do something with lots of FF's in works fairly well, but then I'm curmugeonly and misanthropic.

I can do the good for them stuff, but people know I'm not being authentic, its the same when people read me thier poetry and I don't understand what on earth their on about.

If somebody want to make me into an enemy over sport then they're not the sort of person who I want to be around and I doubt if they'd want to be around me either. In a game of us and them I usually win by default because I just don't care enough

TheCatWoman said:

Can anyone give me a reason why I should care

The fact that so many people do care about sporting achievements means that there is a collective social involvement in them so by taking the stance that you think they are pointless then you are seen as belittling those who do care.

Empathy is useful to be able to appreciate this in others. Offering platitudes without having to actually care is the easiest way to do this - the sort of reply like "that's nice, good for them" will typically be enough.

I agree we should not be told what to care about but in a functional society there are unspoken rules or guidelines and it is safer to know these and not create friction through telling others how you feel.

If is fair - no. Society is not necessarily fair but if we want to exist within it then taking time to understand it is hugely helpful to avoid making enemies.