SiD’s Sphere!!

The Champions League just ended. I doubt there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know what that is, but for those who don’t, its one of the most prestigious football tournaments around. The title winners are crowned the king of European football.

I was never a fan of watching sports. Ask me to play whatever sport you want me to and I’ll be the most eager player you’ll find but following a sport was never my thing. But then, I had to start following European football for the simple reason that that is all anyone at school talked about in the last few months. I had the choice of either sitting blankly at stare at faces; force people to talk about something else; or joining in the conversation. I’ll have to admit though that I have only gone as far as knowing team names and a few players and of course, quite a little about FC Barcelona history, thanks to an ardent fan.

I have seen a few games. Read up on some history of the teams, yet I still cant relate to the fan following of the game. How people can get so intensely involved in a sport is beyond my comprehension. So much so, that sports and certain games become more important than everything else in a fan’s life. Here’s an example from Good Will Hunting(psst..if you still haven’t seen the movie, you’re surely missing out):

Will: So, when did you know, like, that she was the one for you?
Sean: October 21st, 1975.
Will: Jesus Christ. You know the fuckin’ date?
Sean: Oh yeah. ‘Cause it was Game 6 of the World Series. Biggest game in Red Sox history.
Will: Yeah, sure.
Sean: My friends and I had, you know, slept out on the sidewalk all night to get tickets.
Will: You got tickets?
Sean: Yep. Day of the game. I was sittin’ in a bar, waitin’ for the game to start, and in walks this girl. Oh, it was an amazing game, though. You know, bottom of the eighth, Carbo ties it up at 6-6. It went to twelve. Bottom of the twelfth, in stepped Carlton Fisk. Old Pudge. Steps up to the plate, you know, and he’s got that weird stance.
Will: Yeah, yeah.
Sean: And BAM! He clocks it. High fly ball down the left field line! Thirty-five thousand people, on their feet, yellin’ at the ball, but that’s not because of Fisk. He’s wavin’ at the ball like a madman.
Will: Yeah, I’ve seen…
Sean: He’s going, “Get over! Get over! Get OVER!” And then it HITS the foul pole. OH, he goes apeshit, and 35,000 fans, you know, they charge the field, you know?
Will: Yeah, and he’s fuckin’ bowlin’ police out of the way!
Sean: Goin’, “God! Get out of the way! Get ‘em away!” Banging people…
Will: I can’t fuckin’ believe you had tickets to that fuckin’ game!
Sean: Yeah!
Will: Did you rush the field?
Sean: [surprised at the question] No, I didn’t rush the fuckin’ field; I wasn’t there.
Will: What?
Sean: No – I was in a bar havin’ a drink with my future wife.
Will: You missed Pudge Fisk’s home run?
Sean: Oh, yeah.
Will: To have a fuckin’ drink with some lady you never met?
Sean: Yeah, but you shoulda seen her; she was a stunner.

Poor Will can’t believe someone would miss a game for a woman.

That, I guess, is still acceptable. Also acceptable to me is how men and women who are otherwise known to be impassive and are hardly seen expressing any emotion can work themselves up over a game. But where the fanaticism crosses its line when people kill themselves or others following a defeat.

Sports, today, was one of the most healthiest activities around. Up till now, I considered the fan following to be healthy because it provided people with a much needed escape from the stress of their own lives. Fans are even important for the game itself. Its a proven fact that teams perform better on home grounds because of fans cheering them on. But now, I have my doubts. I am wondering why people need to be able to relate to a team to boost their own self esteem, or derive happiness or sadness from it.

Apparently, I’m not the only one grappling with the sports fans’ behavior. An interesting article, SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY; It Isn’t Just a Game: Clues to Avid Rooting tries to explain behavior from an evolutionary perspective:

One theory traces the roots of fan psychology to a primitive time when human beings lived in small tribes, and warriors fighting to protect tribes were true genetic representatives of their people, psychologists say.
In modern society, professional and college athletes play a similar role for a city in the stylized war on a playing field, the theory goes. Even though professional athletes are mercenaries in every sense, their exploits may re-create the intense emotions in some fans that tribal warfare might have in their ancestors. It may also be these emotions that have in large part fueled the explosion in the popularity of sports over the last two decades.

Another article in National Geographic, Sports Riots: The Psychology of Fan Mayhem reasserts my point. It says:

Experts say fan identification with sports teams is psychologically important for many people, particularly in our increasingly transient and insular society.

and also

“You’re finding satisfaction in a team that you’re not finding in your own life,” Najimy said. “When people lose perspective, that’s when the trouble starts. Don’t take the game too seriously—it’s not your win or loss, it’s the team’s.”

The importance of fanfare can not be denied. Especially not by marketers who are willing to pay through the nose for an ad spot during the Super Bowl ( Advertisers pay millions of dollars to run ads during the game.)Even psychologists admit to benefits to both the teams and the fans themselves:

Daniel L. Wann, who heads the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Special Interest Group on Fandom says the following about the impact on teams:

Athletes want to live up to a high paying contract, as well as fan expectations. It is the same with Olympians who strive to live up to expectations. Athletes may say they are immune to fans, but we know better. It is like an adolescent who says they don’t care what their parents think.

He then mentions the positive benefits of supporting a team for the spectator:

Fans who make a connection with a local team have better societal connections. Identification with local teams have been shown to be related to lower depression, lower loneliness and feelings of alienation, higher self esteem, higher energy levels and greater levels of trust in people, as well as greater satisfaction in social life.

It is obvious that sports has become more than entertainment. It has become an escape from reality for many. It gives people an opportunity to yell at something, be euphoric, be angry… but excess of anything is harmful, and that is where I think the problem. Football Fever is getting out of control, and a few deaths here and there might escalate in the coming years unless teams and authorities act more responsibly. The world, as it is now, is already divided along too many fault lines. Sports does not need to become another dividing line…