Alternative Uses for an Unused Pool Table (Silverton Style)
December 28, 2012
Deriving Happiness From Your Rage
January 11, 2013
Everybody around these parts seems pretty excited about the immediate future of the Denver Broncos football team. They’re talking play-off domination and Super Bowl. I like to think a person shouldn’t count their chickens before they hatch.
Word Count: 1050
The All Consuming
Sports Fan
Ok I admit it. I’m obsessive when it comes to being an active individual. My little sister is the same way when it comes to following a certain professional football team. Their exploits a lot of people in Colorado follow like zombies attracted to fresh, live, human flesh. She also walks more than I run these days, but that’s the subject of another essay for another time.
My sister’s fascination with the Denver Broncos got me to start thinking about the way various sports teams have established this weird, almost Godlike stranglehold on people’s loyalties. Additionally, how strange it must seem to an outside observer that allegiance to a team can result in bizarre superstitious behavior on the part of their die-hard fans. It’s all over the country. Heck its all over the world too if you count all those obsessive soccer fans over in Europe and South America. Those of us that live here in Colorado can’t blame it on lack of oxygen at these higher altitudes. Although lower O2 levels does seem like a legitimate excuse in certain situations.
I first took note of this die-hard fanaticism while living in Kenya. Two of my Peace Corps buddies and myself attended a soccer match between the countries main rivals, and got caught smack dab in the middle of a full-blown riot. We should’ve felt the tension as we plopped ourselves down right in the middle of the stadium between the two teams. It probably wasn’t a very good place to be when one of us noticed that an empty bottle flew over our heads. Pretty soon you had more debris flying back and forth than an over filled landfill that’s just been invaded by a flock of seagulls. Our location right at that moment wasn’t such a good decision on our parts. Needless to say two of us ran straight to the infield, while our buddy who grew up in Queens, N.Y. remained seated. Just so he could witness the action from this primo location.
Following that adventure I traveled through Europe in the dead of winter and discovered that there are indeed people as fanatical about watching competitive ski racing as I am. Many was the time I’d stand outside an appliance store with lots of other die-hards to watch a World Cup race unfold on the boob tubes in the window. Disregard the fact that it was 4 degrees below zero with a wind chill factor 10 or 15 bone chilling gradients below that. In those moments I realized what the logic is that’s going through the minds of Canadian hockey and Green Bay Packer aficionados.
While attending art school back east I became party to the live-or-die lifestyle of fanatical Boston Red Sox’s and New York Yankee followers. One of my roommates who grew up in the Boston area lived for the exploits of the Sox’s when he wasn’t reading and drawing from comic books. Another was a fervent follower of the Yankees, but decided to root for the N.Y. Mets in the World Series of 1986. Primarily to spite the Bean town fellow.
When the Sox’s managed to grasp defeat out of the jaws of eminent victory the upstate New York fellow decided to rub it in by playing taps on his trumpet. Outside the room of the Boston dude no less. A few of us from various other locales were then forced to act as referees and separate the warring factions.
This fanatical loyalty to a particular team or sport is not the exclusive domain of the United States. While living in Australia I noted that many people live for the feats of their favorite rugby union team. So much that I actually witnessed a loyal fan intentionally slam his head into a brick wall out of glee when his favorite team scored points in the championship match. Quite possibly he was slightly inebriated. More that likely he’d just found out his health insurance could cover the cost of that splitting headache?
Then it totally cracked me up while watching the Vancouver winter Olympics three years ago during the first week of the competition. Apparently the Swedes were winning cross-country ski races that the Norwegians consider their exclusive domain. Another sure sign that the Apocalypse is approaching when I listened to a radio report that said the Norwegian parliament was seriously considering new legislation. Specifically to increase funding in the wake of this outrageously grievous national scandal.
These days I’ve become an indifferent follower of most sports teams. Being a staunch individualist, I still regularly log onto the website for the U.S. Ski Team to check out race results. Enjoy watching the occasional NBA basketball game, and like a good Colorado sports buff follow the trials and tribulations of the Broncos every week. Nothing like my little sister and numerous friends though.
How many of people can say they plan an entire weekend around viewing their favorite NFL team’s game on Sunday? Their daily routine on the day of the match being exactly like the last time the team won? They require purchase of the same in-game snacks, drink the exact same refreshing beverage, and then sit at the precise spot where they viewed the match last week. During the contest they refuse to watch certain field goal attempts since it just might jinx the kick if they do.
You can always tell whether or not the Broncos won just by the simple behavior of their fans on Monday morning. If they lost, the person moves around like their best friend just relocated to Mongolia. If they won, the person walks around like they’d just discovered that winning lottery ticket on their nightstand.
So what can we conclude from observation of this psychological phenomenon? That many people can and do swear undying allegiance to their favorite sports team. You can always tell a “true” fan by whether or not they stick with the team through thick and thin. Root for them despite the team winning or losing.
Then again, one of my favorite shows to listen to on the radio is a National Public Radio sports program appropriately titled, “It’s Only a Game.” That pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject.
