OT - Common Courtesy in the Age of the DVR
I managed to make it, all day, in a work environment full of futbol crazy foreigners, without hearing about the outcome of the US-Slovenia match today. It required a constant vigilance of who was approaching me and the look on their face. It would take both hands and both feet to count the number of times I had to insist, right as a coworker was opening his mouth, not to speak of the outcome of the game.
It was totally worth the effort though, and that was an exciting match, great comeback, yadda, yadda... right up until the Michigan Hockey level hose-job by the ref at the end. But all of the effort required simply not to hear the score got me thinking. In the age of DVR capabilities, will it ever dawn on anyone not recording a live sporting event that maybe they should tread carefully when they know the outcome? Once I informed them of my reasons, every single person understood and respected my wishes. And to their credit, none of the women that I knew had interest in the outcome even attempted to talk me up about it.
It probably is too much to ask that it not be talked about at all, but I hope to see a day when people ask first if you are recording before diving into the specifics of the outcome. Especially on a Friday when we are all at work and no one has had a chance to see the game live.
PS - I totally realize that this position is unreasonable and that my dream of DVR courtesy is a pipe dream.
Your dedication is inspiring. Bravo seuir.
The only problem i could see with that happening is when a "big" game is played or if the game is super exciting.
start by asking "did you see __________" before talking about most stuff sports related. /shrug
I wish everyone did this.
that once and it back fired on me once... me and one of my buddies are/were huge F-1 fans and i asked him if he had seen the race earlier that day... he said he hadn't, so i went on to tell him the outcome of the race... he looks at me all pissed off and says "thanks, i taped it and i was going to watch it when i got home"... i simply said to him "you should have said that in the first place"...
that says "Don't tell me the score. I'm taping."
Like I said, I realize my position on DVR courtesy is unreasonable. If it ever did become something people would think of, I would imagine several hours on weekends or until next we meet on workdays would be great. The responsibility really falls in the hands of the one taping the game though.
I really try to be one of those people that dvr a game and watch it later but i often find myself checking espn for the score and then watching the game after, even though i know if my team won or lost already. I just want to know the result as soon as possible.
I do hate it when i get text messages from friends during the game when i know i will only miss the first half or so, and then i can almost catch up by th end of the game.
I had practice during the beginning of the Cepital One Bowl following the '07 season. By skipping the commercials I made up a lot of ground so that I was only about 20 minutes behind. I had left my phone in my car so as not to be able to guess by frequency or lack of calls what the outcome might be. My wife got a text from her friend, read it and said "I wonder why Cathy texted me 'Go Blue!'. Ohhh!"
I've been working at gun ranges some weekends and I always used threat of violence if someone said the score out load, not that I would shoot someone but I always make it sound pretty intimidating. I have to give a saftey brief before the event and I work that little nugget in there. The worst part is driving home in "radio silence" . It ruins the rest of the college football day unless I DVR every game (yes I try to watch all Big Ten games). Most people know my dameaner and enjoy my suffering, on of the perks of being in the service. FML.
"I've been working at gun ranges some weekends and I always used threat of violence if someone said the score out load, not that I would shoot someone but I always make it sound pretty intimidating."
Maybe a bit too much time at the gun range? ;~)
I hear ya on the radio silence. Usually I can listen to NPR at least, but they seem to love giving scores for the National Team.
Is my friend when its working. Well at least I'm not deployed and miss entire seasons.
I taped the US-England game because I was at work. The other 5 people in my family who were home knew the score and knew that I was taping it so they were quiet. At least until it was tied up 1-1, and primetime tv was available to be watched. At that point, my mom asks me if I really want to watch the rest of this game. She never said it, but it was clear that there would be no more scoring. Sucks, but oh well.
I can't watch sporting events on the DVR. Either before or while it's happening I get so nurvous and or impatient that I either look up the game or FF to through it to find out what happens. If I miss it live, then I just miss it.
If you aren't dedicated enough to commit to watching a sporting event in real time, then you have no right to complain when others do want to talk about it.
... always an office or family favorite...
November 1st, 2012 at 1:56 AM ^
Thnx for making a great post about the dvr. I have only one question and that is, does the age of the dvr cards matters?