Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am just not talking about the US. I am speaking world wide. No matter where you go in this world guys are crazy about some particular kind of sport. And I have NO IDEA WHY!
I will admit that I am a geek. I play video games and I watch the tournaments. However, I am not crazy about that it. I generally wait until its cut down so I can watch the highlights and the crazy plays. I do not spend a single dime on it either I just watch them on Youtube or other websites that cater to them and those are all FREE. I do not even have a favorite team--in fact I dont even know their names (maybe one or two but I certainly have no idea on what they look like. Ive no patience for a 2-3 hour long match. I watch them for the spectacle and most importantly the belief that I could pull that off in a game one match. That is a practical and tangible thing for me to say because I actually play the game! Yes I could watch a tournament see some wild play or a tacit I have never seen before and possibly apply that in a game I actually plan on playing.
But all of these guys who are CRAZY (!) about a Football/Basketball/Soccer match even tho they NEVER (the mass majority do not) play the sport themselves. I could see if they did every now and then but they NEVER DO. So why are they crazy about an activity that they only spectate.
Are they truly that sucked into a fantasy ? If so, then what is the fantasy.
I honestly need this explained to me because after seeing and hearing about all of the emotion money and energy that is poured into sports I honestly do not see why everyone is so crazy about it and I am not.
I've thought about this before. It boggles my mind to the point where I almost find it frightening. A few weeks ago at work two of my coworkers were having an extremely heated discussion about football (US). One of them was screaming nearly at the top of his lungs and was obviously very agitated, waving his arms around and pointing. They kept talking about this one specific subject for at least an hour, yelling, screaming and gesticulating the entire time. When did any sport become interesting enough to warrant that kind of vocal volume or emotional investment? It was so unbelievable it was almost mesmerizing to watch them go at it. I almost felt like I was an impartial observer watching a group of animals out in the African savanna or something. The only thing that was missing was an old, calm-voiced British narrator. Of course, neither of them play football, and neither of them has a physique that would allow them to even attempt such a thing.
My personal hypothesis is that the vast majority of people need and/or want some kind of group they can connect their ego to, and within which they can eventually subsume it entirely. There is no separation between their self and their chosen group, be it a sports team, a religious organization, their home city, their country, their preferred political group, or any number of things. When their group succeeds at something, it is a personal victory for them they can feel happy about. When their group loses or is questioned or insulted in any way, it is a personal affront. There is no difference in their minds. They probably don't even realize what has happened to them. You can see this kind of behavior for yourself on this very forum, especially in the state and city sub-forums. People will become completely enraged and irrational if someone posts a negative opinion of their favorite city or hometown, even if said opinion was well-expressed and non-inflammatory. It doesn't matter to them. You might as well have sent them a private message telling them they are a horrible person. In their mind, the two are exactly the same. I just don't get it. People say bad things about my city (Portland) all the time. I do not care. I like it, and that is good enough for me. Other people's opinions about it are completely beneath my notice, except as a purely intellectual curiosity.
I don't think I will ever be able to fully understand it. I am me. What constitutes me and what goes on inside me is not equal to and cannot ever be connected to or made equivalent to anything that exists or is happening outside myself. The very idea is preposterous and sickening. But this apparently puts me and others like me in the extreme minority. I do not care. I've seen the kind of psychological distortions that go along with this kind of ego-connective behavior and I want absolutelty no part of it, ever.
Last edited by Lunar Delta; 12-08-2014 at 02:49 AM..
I think its a sense of community and a bit of tribalism. Belonging.
A fortnight ago, we had a sporting player die after being hit in the head with a cricket ball, during a game
The outpouring of emotion, across the country was unheard of. I read stories of men weeping in their cars, people put their cricket bats out as a sign of respect. It wasn't manufactured, just an expression of a life lost too soon.
Sport can be good, and sometimes it brings out emotions that aren't expressed in any other community space.
The outpouring of emotion, across the country was unheard of. I read stories of men weeping in their cars, people put their cricket bats out as a sign of respect. It wasn't manufactured, just an expression of a life lost too soon.
Don't you find that disturbing though? The VAST majority of those people had never met this person, and probably never would have. They knew nothing of any real importance about him, his habits, his beliefs, his life story, his memories and experiences, his responses to stimuli, or anything else. For all they knew he might have hated them if he had met them. And yet their ego-selves were so perfectly absorbed into "the game" and the players who played it, they were actually crying over it? I don't find that moving at all. I find it extremely disturbing and borderline sickening. It just seems to be so incredibly unhealthy. All around the world, hundreds of thousands of times per day, lives are lost in FAR more tragic and unfortunate circumstances. Children's lives. The lives of innocent men and women who simply had the bad luck to be born at the wrong place at the wrong time. And yet I guarantee the vast majority of people will never be weeping for them. Maybe they should have tried to make it onto a major sports team. Perhaps then someone would have cared.
Don't you find that disturbing though? The VAST majority of those people had never met this person, and probably never would have. They knew nothing of any real importance about him, his habits, his beliefs, his life story, his memories and experiences, his responses to stimuli, or anything else. For all they knew he might have hated them if he had met them. And yet their ego-selves were so perfectly absorbed into "the game" and the players who played it, they were actually crying over it? I don't find that moving at all. I find it extremely disturbing and borderline sickening. It just seems to be so incredibly unhealthy.
No, not really
He was 25 & died doing something that shouldn't mean your family won't see them again.
People actively said they realised they did not know him, but to think a young life is gone from playing a sport that well, we all have at some point.
Different perspective I guess. People from all over the world in the cricket community expressed their sorrow, which brings me to the point that it's a sense of community.
I understand there are boorish behaviours when it comes to sport. It was an example that it's not always over the top screaming antics.
The same reason you are into alcohol and video games and I'm not. I do not get the attraction to either.
People are people and into different things. If it brings one enjoyment by watching the strategy of a game and seeing exciting, skilled plays then let them have at it.
Life is tough enough and for many it's a good release from the pressures of daily work and life. Maybe even a fantasy for some but who cares.
The same reason you are into alcohol and video games and I'm not. I do not get the attraction to either.
People are people and into different things. If it brings one enjoyment by watching the strategy of a game and seeing exciting, skilled plays then let them have at it.
Life is tough enough and for many it's a good release from the pressures of daily work and life. Maybe even a fantasy for some but who cares.
It's just something to get interested in. You can mince plays, statistics and management issues with other fans of the sport. Non-offensive way to meet new people. Spectator sports seems to be one pastime that you can carry with you for your entire life, without looking weird to outsiders.
A 50-year-old can have a spirited conversation with a 23-year-old about the game last weekend-- not as easy to do with music, video games, or other pastimes.
Very deep and mostly valid responses by everyone.....sports is just one of the many institutions us humans use to bond with each other absent any familial/tribal ties.
I don't keep up with it, though, sometimes I wish I did since it seems to break the ice very effectively, especially for business networking and just trying to make new friends in general.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
