/sp/

Submission 24,501

Part of a series on 4chan. [View Related Entries]

About

/sp/ (abbreviated from Sports) is 4chan imageboard focused on the discussion of mainstream sports throughout the world, including football, soccer, basketball, and more. Like other 4chan boards, /sp/ has become a spawning ground for memes, including Why, He Does It For Free and George Costanza.

Origin

The board was created in April of 2006,^[1] along with other trial boards such as /co/, /mu/, and /tv/ among others. However, while all the other boards became full fledged boards, /sp/ was initially deleted. In 2008, the board was recreated during a second wave where multiple boards were added, including /toy/ (toys) and /fa/ (fashion).^[1] This time the board gained larger following, but was widely ignored by the moderator team from 2010-2013.^[1] However, in May of 2013, mods had begun to crack down on /sp/ shitposting, which had been growing increasingly since 2010.

Board Culture

Costanza.jpg / George Costanza Reaction Face

Costanza.jpg is a reaction image based on a still image of the Seinfeld character George Costanza (played by actor Jason Alexander) holding a baseball bat with a look of contempt on his face. On 4chan, the image is typically used to express disapproval towards greentext implication posts that would be considered out of social norms. It has also become closely associated with the phrase "I Seriously Hope You Guys Don’t Do This" (ISHYGDDT).

Tony Kornheiser's "Why"

Tony Kornheiser's 'Why' is an image macro series featuring a photo of American sportscaster Tony Kornheiser with a large caption reading "Why." In discussion forums and imageboard communities, Kornheiser's pictures are often used as reaction images to patronize others' opinions or viewpoints.

He Does It For Free

He Does It For Free is an expression used to mock 4chan moderators, also known as "janitors," who are accused of abusing their power or being overly sensitive. Is it often associated with images of the anthropomorphic cartoon dog John Morris from the cartoon television series Arthur, who is employed as an elementary school janitor on the show. The expression originated in /sp/.

The Philmarilion

"The Philmarilion*:https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-philmarilion/ is a 97-page document containing exhaustive notes, poems and other artworks centered around 4chan user “UTV," authored and released by “the archiver” in October 2013.

Lelbron

Lelbron is a photoshop meme featuring a photograph of the Miami Heat professional basketball player LeBron James wearing pair of black-rimmed glasses and a smile. The meme involves superimposing a cutout of LeBron's face into other base images of various settings and contexts.

8chan Board

In 2013, the site 8chan was created, rivaling 4chan, including a /sp/ board. The 8chan board has gained notability for their 4chan GETs, and heavy levels of shitposting.