I’m feeling this way about a lot of people in my life right now. In my opinion, it is a combination of a splintering pop culture (we aren’t all following the same things), splintering foundations of identity (even facts seem to be subjective these days), and simply being overwhelmed.
Most media is selling doom these days, and the source of that doom is completely contradictory based on who is selling it. If you want to talk about something serious, you inevitably wind up parroting your sources, or eliciting others to parrot theirs. The more you dig, the worse things get, until the argument feels personal.
Under those conditions, subjects like sports seem like a safe option that is unlikely to expose a raw nerve.