I met a man one time who just didn’t get sports. He asked me: “What is it about sports that captures people, causes them to become so dedicated to a team or sport, and sometimes draw near to the brink of insane behavior?”
At the time I gave him a generic answer, “sports are fun, entertaining and real.” It worked for the moment, and I moved on. But now I come back to the question. Why are people so dedicated to sports?
I have been around sports for as long as I can remember. Growing up with brothers who always played in some sport or another, I was constantly watching a game or playing with them in the backyard or the cul-de-sac. As soon as I was old enough, I too joined a sports team for every season, even attempting to sign up for football.
Even when I wasn’t out playing a sport, I couldn’t get away. My older brothers almost always controlled the remote, so it went without question that sports dominated the TV. When our family finally got cable, one justification was that it would give us greater access to various sports channels such as the plethora of ESPNs. That is, quality TV versus the typical mainstream dramas and movie channels.
This experience with sports is not unique to me; sports are a large part of many people’s lives. In general, society accepts this. No one questions it, besides maybe some wives who want their husbands to spend a Sunday afternoon with them rather than the television set and a six pack.
We can look back into ancient history and find sports there, for example, the ancient Roman gladiators and the Greek Olympics. Humans have been fixated by sports for thousands of years.
The most basic properties of a game are winning and losing. Psychology has shown that it is basic human nature to feel more pain from losses than pleasure from gains. As humans, we want to avoid losing. So, instead, we look to win. We want the pride that triumph brings, and by further assimilation with the winning party, the more joy we get. Hence we find those people who are fanatical supporters of specific teams, for instance all those Patriots fans popping up everywhere. This is the most basic explanation I can give, but for most, it is not sufficient.
Sports aren’t all about winning. For many the beauty of sports is the struggle. The competition, the essence of sports, is all that matters. We saw this to be true during the recent college football BCS games. Multiple games were blowouts and critics were all over the uneventful and uncompetitive games.
Companionship is another plus of sports. Within teams you often find those people who support you most, know you best and rely on you. People form bonds in the environments that a sport demands teammates create.
People also talk about the adrenal rush sports give. It’s an amazing feeling to watch the game-winning play, or sink the unbelievable shot. Need I mention Hibbert’s game clinching three-point shot this past Saturday against UConn? No doubt this is one thing that keeps people coming back.
For my final reason I return to the last part of my original answer: real. Sports are a raw display of an individual’s physical talent. When players take the court or field, they are prepared to perform based on what they have developed through their hard work, commitment and self-discipline. They show what the sport has formed them into.
Furthermore, each and every game is an original. None is like another, and none is 100 percent predictable. Sports are real. That’s why players keep suiting up, and fans continue to file into stadiums. Anything could happen. It just can’t get any better than that.
