Spectator Sports?
Every so often, I’ll get a phone call from one of my friends inviting me to come over and watch “the game.” If I’m not terribly busy, usually I’ll comply, not because I enjoy watching sports, but because I enjoy hanging out with my buddies. Recently, I only watch sports when I’m with my friends, in which case I view it as doing something with my friends rather than just killing time watching TV. So when I do watch sports, I don’t get very emotional about the game and I don’t really care about the outcome. That team X wins this championship really has no effect on my life, so why do I really care?
Almost all of my friends have a completely different take on spectator sports. They have favorite teams and favorite players, and are willing to defend their favorites from any attack. I just don’t understand where this fierce loyalty comes from. What have these players and teams done that merits your support? They haven’t protected and cared for you like your family, friends, and maybe even politicians or soldiers. They typically aren’t even people who you’ve met and found warm and friendly. They’re pretty much complete strangers who’ve miraculously earned your unconditional support. Please correct me if I’m wrong here.
What’s worse, is that people are (for some reason that I can’t grasp) emotionally attached to their teams and their moods change as their teams win and lose. I was with my friends watching when the L.A. Lakers lost in the playoffs of the NBA championship earlier this year. A lot of them are Lakers fans and they became pretty depressed for the rest of the day. It was really strange to see how my friends could get so affected by something that (in my view) meant nothing to them. However, there is the flip side, where my friends will be excited and energetic when their team wins, which is definitely a postive of watching sports. But I don’t even understand how someone can feel so close to people and things that they’ve never actually seen in person.
At any rate, I’ve never been that loyal to any particular team. I’ve never considered myself a devoted fan to any franchise or club. I’ve come across athletes that I enjoy watching but it’s mostly because they’re talented or fun to watch (i.e Rafael Nadal). When I watch sports, I enjoy the competitive atmosphere and the high level of talent in the players. I don’t really care who wins or loses, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good game.
When I was playing soccer competitively, I used to love watching televised soccer games. This wasn’t because I felt attached to any team (I would watch pretty much any game shown on TV regardless of who was playing or even what language it was in) but because I felt like I could actually learn about the game and become a better soccer player myself. To some extent I think this actually worked. I found myself trying to play like the athletes that I’d seen on TV, and in some aspects my soccer game improved. This made watching sports not solely about entertainment but also about self-improvement and gave me a motivation to watch.
I find it ironic that among my friends, I’m one of the more athletic ones, but one of the least interested in watching sports. I find it really strange how some of my friends will put off playing basketball until after the games over, when I’d much rather be playing basketball than watching other people play basketball. When I do watch sports, It’s usually not entirely for the entertainment, but also for the social experience or educational experience that comes with it. Either way, I’d much rather be doing something than watching other people do it for me.
Added: July 23, 2007: Prashant wrote a response to this article. Read it here