I prefer watching sports very seriously. then look for non-serious aspects of sports
The first one
In fact, the iron barbells that athletes lift are not even proven to be iron. it’s just rubber stacked up
This is a perfect example of material engineering tricking our senses. Our brain automatically assumes: “Heavy and hard objects must be made of iron/steel.” In fact, in the world of modern sports, this illusion is deliberately created for very scientific reasons.
Let’s just dissect why “iron” is actually “rubber”:
1. Laws of Physics: Absorbing Kinetic Energy
In Olympic weightlifting), athletes lift weights overhead and then drop them to the floor.
If the plate is made of solid iron, when dropped from a height of 2 meters, the kinetic energy will destroy the concrete floor, make the iron plate itself crack/break, and produce an ear-shattering explosion sound (can damage hearing).
solid rubber acts as a shock absorber. It absorbs impact energy and converts it into a small amount of heat and reflection, keeping the floor, equipment and athlete’s ears safe.
2. Standardization of Diameter
This is the most brilliant technical reason and is rarely known to ordinary people.
In Olympic weightlifting rules, the barbell must always be at exactly the same height from the floor (22.5 cm), regardless of the weight of the weight.
If using pure iron: To make a 25 kg load, you need a large and thick iron plate. But to make a 10 kg load, the iron plate will be very small and thin. As a result, when the athlete lifts 10 kg, the barbell will be too low to the ground, changing the biomechanics of the lift and creating a non-standard movement.
If using rubber: The factory can make load plates of 10 kg, 15 kg, 20 kg, up to 25 kg with exactly the same outer diameter (only the thickness is different). So, the barbell is always at a height of 22.5 cm from the ground, making the athlete’s movements consistent and safe.
Bounce Effect
The rubber allows the barbell to bounce when it hits the floor. In competition, athletes often use this bounce to help them catch the barbell on their next move. Solid iron will not bounce; it will immediately die (dead stop) and can injure the athlete’s wrist.
This connects again to our favorite theme: Hyperreality and Perception.
In the eyes of the audience, the athlete is lifting “heavy iron”. There was an aura of iron hardness, sturdiness, and brutality. However, in material reality, they are lifting engineered rubber.
Image (Simulacra): Iron = Strength, Hard, Brutal.
Reality: Rubber = Safe, Standardized, Engineered.
Just as pink shoes at the World Cup are not about performance but about visual image, or mirrors that show the illusion of a rotten face when it’s just a neurological glitch, these rubber barbells are proof that what we see on the surface is often just “engineering” to support the system behind it.
Humans created “fake iron” (rubber) so that the sports system (weightlifting) could run safely, fairly and spectacularly.
This is the most intellectual and naughty way to watch at the same time!
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If you like looking for the “non-serious” aspects of serious sports, I guarantee you will find lots of funny theater dramas. Here is a gallery of unseriousness in the world’s most serious sport
Luka Theater (Oscar-Worthy Acting in Football)
This is the most unserious aspect wrapped up in total seriousness.
A player was kicked slightly in the calf. He immediately fell, rolling on the grass, clutching his face, wailing in pain as if his bones were shattering into pieces. The medical team ran in panic. The referee blew the whistle.
Then, 30 seconds later, the player immediately stood up, walked normally, and even sprinted after the ball.
It’s not an injury. That was high level acting. If there was an Oscar for “Faking Pain”, football players would sweep all the trophies.
Millimeter Obsession (VAR and Offside Line)
Football is basically a game that is fluid, emotional and full of human interpretation. But since VAR (Video Assistant Referee) appeared, this sport has turned into a rigid geometry class.
Seeing a referee use a supercomputer to draw axis lines on a TV screen, only to determine whether a player’s “toe” or “armpit” is offside by 2 millimeters… that’s not very serious for a dynamic game! We use satellite technology and AI worth billions of rupiah just to argue over whose armpit is more advanced.
Formula 1 Drama Radio
F1 is the pinnacle of human technology. The car costs 100 billion rupiah, driven by an athlete with godly reflexes, supported by a team of genius engineers. Very serious, right?
But try listening to their radio communications. F1 drivers can often be heard grumbling like toddlers who have had their toys snatched.
“He’s not letting me pass! Tell him to move!” (He won’t move! Tell him to move!).
Behind the sophisticated helmet and super-fast car, his emotions are as primitive as two kindergartners fighting over toys in the sandbox.
“Flopping” in Basketball. there is a term flopping. This is when a player with a body the size of a giant, is hit just a little by an opponent, then he flies backwards as if he was hit by a trailer truck, just to trick the referee so that the opponent gets a foul card.
This is a legalized form of cheating and is even a “strategy” in sports.
Superstition that Ignores Logic
Many science and physics athletes are very disciplined in training, but have very illogical superstitions.
There are tennis players who have to wear the same (and unwashed) socks during the entire tournament. There are baseball players who are not allowed to step on the white line when entering the field. Their scientific logic suddenly “died completely” when faced with this strange ritual.
Modern sports are sold to us as “A Test of Honesty and Pure Human Strength” (Reality). The narrative is: Whoever is the fastest, strongest and most honest wins.
But in reality, modern sports is an entertainment spectacle).
It needs drama, conflict, acting, and story to keep the audience watching. If everyone played 100% honestly with no drama, no acting, and no controversy, the sport would feel like a “perfectly running machine”—and that would be boring.
The sought-after “not serious” aspect is what actually makes sport human. He proves that behind the uniforms, sponsors and rigid rules, athletes are still ordinary people who can act, can grumble, can be superstitious and can be manipulative.
