I’m not into sports but I don’t see anything wrong with having threads about it. My initial reaction was to be against it, but after thinking about it more I feel like there is nothing wrong with it.
To answer noitall’s well stated points one by one: As far as bitul zman, I agree with all the posters above that yes its bitul zman but why is it worse many of the the other frivolous discussions here? Ideally all of us (myself included) should be using our time more productively but if we are going to be shmoozing online, its much better that it be in a moderated frum environment than somewhere else. That should include those who will find somewhere online to talk about sports. Better here than somewhere else.
as for the reason of idolizing, I doubt that anyone will begin idolizing sports players because there is a thread on YWN about that player.
As for the reason that “it’s just not suitable for a Yeshivish Frum Website” I disagree. Its only not suitable if one of the other 2 reasons you mentioned are valid. But if the other 2 reasons are not, then I don’t think this can stand on its own as an independent reason.