> it just depends on the skill level of the players as to whether that is interesting to you or not.
The people denigrating football are referring to the Premier League, La Liga, etc. It’s nothing to do with skill and everything to do with snobbery.
> It takes years of learning and practice to be able to make even the most basic piece of software, whereas my 2 year old child can reliably kick a ball into a net.
You’re starting to sound like those people.
> Why does everybody have to enjoy everything?
I didn’t say you did, all I said was that it’s a sad cultural behaviour that I’ve seen to denigrate things other people enjoy.
I don’t even watch football that much, I picked it because of its popularity.
That seems like an unfair comparison. It doesn't take years of learning to write the "kick a ball into a net" of programming; most everybody writes hello world on their first day. Programming and sports both have vastly different difficulties depending on whether you're approaching it as an amateur or a professional.
In football anybody in the world who has legs and can walk can perform the main goal of football which is to get a ball into a very large net. It doesnt take any skill to perform the feat whatsoever. The skill only comes with who you choose to play against. From that angle, it is just 20 people chasing a ball around, it just depends on the skill level of the players as to whether that is interesting to you or not.
With programming, not everybody with fingers can achieve the end goal which is to write working software. It takes years of learning and practice to be able to make even the most basic piece of software, whereas my 2 year old child can reliably kick a ball into a net.
The difference between the two is that football, and sport in general, creates enjoyment by intense moments of tension and excitement in a small space of time. Programming is an intellectual activity, where its payoff is in solving mathematical and logical puzzles to achieve a goal. Its not far fetched to see that people who get enjoyment from one type thing might not enjoy the other.
Why does everybody have to enjoy everything?