Question For Boston Metro Area Sports Fans: What is the Bigger Story, Celtics or Bruins?

[lrfox]

^That's the right attitude.

Not to get all philosophical on everyone (in a sports thread, of all places), but sports is more than "silly games." It allows many grown ups an outlet for emotions that may not be as socially acceptable in many other areas of life. For example, enjoying violence is considered morbid by most. However, watching a boxer, UFC fighter or even football and hockey players beat the snot out of an opponent is not only acceptable, it's the norm. It also allows grown men to uninhibited in their passion for something (aside from women). If a man ran around wearing Van Gogh "Starry Night" shirts, he may be made fun of. A Celtics shirt? That's fine (especially if it's a cool one with a funny slogan). Many grown men are afraid to fully express how they feel about their closest male friends for fear of being labeled as a homosexual. However, with sports, you can plaster "Tom Brady" all over your body (even on your bare chest if you're one of those guys) and have pictures of him in your bedroom and bathroom with no questions asked. More than that, watching sports is an escape from reality. For me, there's no better way relax than watch my favorite team play.

Of course some people take it WAYYY too far (like the idiots who fight fans of opposing teams or even murder them). More power to the people who don't have those inhibitions in everyday life. Still, sports are more than just "silly games."

[gosling357]

Originally Posted by lrfox

^That's the right attitude.

Not to get all philosophical on everyone (in a sports thread, of all places), but sports is more than "silly games." It allows many grown ups an outlet for emotions that may not be as socially acceptable in many other areas of life. For example, enjoying violence is considered morbid by most. However, watching a boxer, UFC fighter or even football and hockey players beat the snot out of an opponent is not only acceptable, it's the norm. It also allows grown men to uninhibited in their passion for something (aside from women). If a man ran around wearing Van Gogh "Starry Night" shirts, he may be made fun of. A Celtics shirt? That's fine (especially if it's a cool one with a funny slogan). Many grown men are afraid to fully express how they feel about their closest male friends for fear of being labeled as a homosexual. However, with sports, you can plaster "Tom Brady" all over your body (even on your bare chest if you're one of those guys) and have pictures of him in your bedroom and bathroom with no questions asked. More than that, watching sports is an escape from reality. For me, there's no better way relax than watch my favorite team play.

Of course some people take it WAYYY too far (like the idiots who fight fans of opposing teams or even murder them). More power to the people who don't have those inhibitions in everyday life. Still, sports are more than just "silly games."

Maybe we should be addressing the social ills that create these deep-seated inhibitions in men, rather than allowing them only one outlet for all their feelings. No wonder some people get so passionate about sports...apparently everything else is off-limits to be passionate about!

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by lrfox

^That's the right attitude.

Not to get all philosophical on everyone (in a sports thread, of all places), but sports is more than "silly games." It allows many grown ups an outlet for emotions that may not be as socially acceptable in many other areas of life. For example, enjoying violence is considered morbid by most. However, watching a boxer, UFC fighter or even football and hockey players beat the snot out of an opponent is not only acceptable, it's the norm. It also allows grown men to uninhibited in their passion for something (aside from women). If a man ran around wearing Van Gogh "Starry Night" shirts, he may be made fun of. A Celtics shirt? That's fine (especially if it's a cool one with a funny slogan). Many grown men are afraid to fully express how they feel about their closest male friends for fear of being labeled as a homosexual. However, with sports, you can plaster "Tom Brady" all over your body (even on your bare chest if you're one of those guys) and have pictures of him in your bedroom and bathroom with no questions asked. More than that, watching sports is an escape from reality. For me, there's no better way relax than watch my favorite team play.

Of course some people take it WAYYY too far (like the idiots who fight fans of opposing teams or even murder them). More power to the people who don't have those inhibitions in everyday life. Still, sports are more than just "silly games."

The thing that kills me is all these testerone filled men having another guy's jersey on. If it wasn't sports people would look at them and think they have a man-crush or are homosexual, but like you said it sports...it is the norm.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by gosling357

Maybe we should be addressing the social ills that create these deep-seated inhibitions in men, rather than allowing them only one outlet for all their feelings. No wonder some people get so passionate about sports...apparently everything else is off-limits to be passionate about!

I hardly disagree. We're getting better. Still a long ways to go. I don't think everything else is off-limits (many men are passionate about cars, electronics, and other hobbies). I just think that it's easy to overlook the "obsession" that goes along with sports whereas it may be scrutinized in other ares.

Originally Posted by LeavingMA

The thing that kills me is all these testerone filled men having another guy's jersey on. If it wasn't sports people would look at them and think they have a man-crush or are homosexual, but like you said it sports...it is the norm.

I know. I think it's OK for a kid to wear his/her favorite player's jersey. It's pathetic to see an overweight 40 year old drunk guy wearing a Brady jersey and yelling at a TV. In high school, I played baseball and we had home and road jerseys. I always gave my friend my road jersey (with my name on the back) so he could wear it in the stands for laughs. Our friends thought it was funny, but a lot of people said it was "gay." Really, how's it any different than wearing a pro jersey? If anything it's a little LESS "gay" that a friend was supporting another friend as opposed to wearing the jersey of some millionaire stranger.

[Gabe1972]

Also, if sports is just a silly game, measure the general attitude of people in New England, say, the weeks following the Sox winning the Series in 2004 vs them losing the Series in 1986. How much nicer people may have been being to each other, how much people were smiling vs how they may have been behaving in 1986. Like it or not, sports, whether pro in the Northeast or college in the South are a cultural touchstone and really can and do affect the overall mentallity of a region.

Sorry haters!!!

[ogre]

Good point by Gabe1972 about how big moments--positive and negative--in the history of Boston's teams really affect the mood of the New England region. Check this out:

List of largest peaceful gatherings in history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

It's a list of the largest peaceful gatherings in the world's history. Many were Islamic or Hindu religious gatherings in the Middle East or India. You have to get pretty far down the list to reach the largest peaceful gathering in U.S. history. That one is something like 19th or 20th. Scroll down and check it out. The largest peaceful gathering in the history of the United States? The victory parade for the Sox after they won the Series in '04.

View it positively or negatively, or take a neutral view, but the fact is that sports are really important to a lot of people.