Is the average fan now smarter or dumber than 10-15 years ago?

[Rodgerwilco]

Dumber AND more cocky AND more lazy AND more loud-mouthed.

The entirety of recorded human knowledge is at our finger tips at any given moment and people can't even take 7 seconds to look up and/or confirm what they're saying before just spewing nonsense.

 

[njdevils1982]

self parking cars exist so yes, the whole world is dumber than it was 10-15 years ago

 

[SomeDude]

15 years ago people more often than not had to present their ideas face to face with other humans and had the opportunity to hear differing opinions and discourse that can help make for a more well-rounded outlook.

Now everyone can throw their ideals out into the void and it lands with people who agree (who may or may not be humans or AI designed to help amplify their beliefs) and they group up and convince themselves they are right and everyone else is out to get them. Having your opinion change or evolve is now seen as a bad thing for some reason. You’re supposed to dig into your belief and fight for it until death.

So, probably the same…just more organized.

 

[Mr grumpy]

Comes down to perspective. Many of the newer, younger fans base their opinions on playing EA sports or other on line games and believe analytics is the end all to be all. Many never played hockey at a high level or sports at a high level. The older generation uses out dated ideas to defend their positions.

 

[NYRfan85]

People in general have become dumber than 10-15 years ago. Thank social media for that.

Analytics have made the average fan THINK they're smarter, when they often make fans give some really bad takes on things. I will die on the hill that analytics are ruining sports!

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I think the average fan is probably *smarter* in the sense where we can actually watch every game on the planet for free , fans are alot more trollier tho.

Maybe not smarter but the access to see all these players for free on the internet whenever you want is a pretty big deal

 

[JKG33]

Probably dumber. Hockey naturally skews to the dumber side of the spectrum like conspiracy theorists. Brain damage is linked to such views as is currently taking down a certain former global superpower. Doing drugs and playing sports are linked to brain damage.

It's math. Hockey fans are largely dumb as shit.

Now wait until you hear about basketball

 

[SomaliHackey]

I'd say smarter just due to the fact that there's AI with smartphones and social media now.

 

[Guy Larose]

I em naught domer and no meye hokey.

 

[Offtheboard412]

idk bro Reddit fans are pretty dumb and the most ridiculous opinions get upvoted the most. I'd say fans here are generally much more knowledgeable.

Sure you have your trolls and homers but the hockey knowledge on this site is truly invaluable and irreplaceable to other mediums.

Reddit is the worst place to go if you want actual informed discussion. So many bad takes and comments from people who you can just tell have been watching hockey for about 6 months get upvoted there.

It is nice to use for news and highlights though.

 

[Fripp]

It's probably about the same, but the amount of dumb people confidently proclaiming their dumb opinions has increased. It's like how people who hold niche beliefs that would otherwise not find validation are able to find likeminded people on social media who will reinforce each other's positions.

 

[Primary Assist]

Way smarter. 10-15 years ago people didn't even know about players like Kucherov, Bedard, Matthews. Now almost nearly half of all hockey fans know those names

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

Considering the average human appears to be dumber now, it's safe to assume the average hockey fan is also dumber.

 

[Gerulaitis]

Dumber. Blame social media

 

[BruinLVGA]

Way dumber.

 

[NyQuil]

I think people have a lot more resources available today if they choose to be informed.

Back when I was a Rangers fan in the late 80s and early 90s, I read the box scores in the Ottawa Citizen, read the odd article in THN and watched the handful of games they played against the Habs and Leafs on CBC.

There was no real 24 hour sports television station so the highlights were whatever could fit in the 10-minute sports component of your daily newscast.

You don't have highlights, analysis, advanced stats pages, cap websites, entire podcasts or interviews with players available with a click.

It doesn't mean you automatically are smarter, but you can certainly be more knowledgeable.

 

[Romang67]

A majority of posters in this thread didn't have constant discussions about whether Tobias Enström were a better hockey player than Mark Stuart 15 years ago even though he was short.

 

[Victoire HuGo]

A majority of posters in this thread didn't have constant discussions about whether Tobias Enström were a better hockey player than Mark Stuart 15 years ago even though he was short.

Still Stu-ing on that one eh?

 

[BB79]

Whats a hockey?

 

[SEALBound]

20 years ago people had WAY better coping mechanisms when faced with information they didn't understand or didn't agree with so there was actually a conversation you could have. People today are armed with "more information" and have better access to it but that doesn't mean they are smarter in how they interpret or use it. So I might suggest that people are "better informed" than 20 years ago but are generally dumber in how the information is used and presented.

 

[Sega Dreamcast]

I'm sure I'm not alone in simply having less time to watch hockey than 10-15 years ago. I keep up with my team and watch most of their games, but I'm mostly clueless about other teams.

While it has become a lot easier to watch games and find hockey analysis, there's just so much other entertainment out there competing for our attention that fans are bound to be less informed.

 

[ValeriKamensky]

Look at the Flyers Twitter and threads, where fans dream to add Rossi (5’9) and KHL star Shabanov (5’8) to a team which is 30th in height and 32nd in weight, and you’ll find the answer

 

[Bear of Bad News]

You think people are dumber now because of recency bias.

Fortunately, we had HFBoards fifteen years ago. People were just as dumb.

And if you want to see true treasures from days of yore, check out rec.sport.hockey. Unmoderated gold.

 

[mogs]

People in general seem dumber, but the internet has made it almost impossible to ignore dumb people. You used to be able to easily ignore dumb people. Talk to someone dumb? Okay, I won't talk to that idiot ever again. But now dumb people have so many platforms to spread their stupidity, you can't really avoid it. And man dumb people are loud too.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

People in general have become dumber than 10-15 years ago. Thank social media for that.

Analytics have made the average fan THINK they're smarter, when they often make fans give some really bad takes on things. I will die on the hill that analytics are ruining sports!

People have been dumb for generations. Social media just gives everyone a megaphone, so we're all more painfully aware of the stupidity around us.

And, idiots using analytics wrong doesn't really suggest the analytics are the root of the problem.