Yes, the problem with sports (in some circumstances) is that people will think less of you for not knowing some ground-level information. On most topics (the news, TV), people are more excited to explain the basics to you, at least in my experience. If people have to explain the rules of basketball to you, they're likely to think you're an idiot.
I hate sports, and don’t really follow them. I do research standings and stuff before going out because I want to know if someone brings it up, if they’re an “underdog” kinda person or just loyal to a team. Most sports people will quickly discover that I only have surface-level knowledge though, but I ask questions and people seem super happy to tell me how things work. In fact, most of what I know about pro-sports comes from what people tell me at parties.
