Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting event?

[maccers]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I'm like you, Kenny. I don't get it, at all. But I WISH I did because I do see people bonding over 'sports talk'. There's a hell of a lot more people to talk sports with than diamonds

The closest I get to bonding over sports is talking to others about the sports I play and they play - not watch, PLAY. I proudly walked into work today with a bit of a black eye from playing frisbee last night. This black eye evidence makes me giddy but watching soccer, hockey etc does not.

 

[monarch64]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I'm like you, Kenny. I don't get it, at all. But I WISH I did because I do see people bonding over 'sports talk'. There's a hell of a lot more people to talk sports with than diamonds

The closest I get to bonding over sports is talking to others about the sports I play and they play - not watch, PLAY. I proudly walked into work today with a bit of a black eye from playing frisbee last night. This black eye evidence makes me giddy but watching soccer, hockey etc does not.

Well, I can't hit a 95 mph baseball but I can sure as hell knock a slow-pitched softball far enough to make it safely to at least first.

A black eye from frisbee? Wow. I had no idea frisbee could be so dangerous!

 

[junebug17]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I don't really get it either - I do think people enjoy watching sports for entertainment, escapism, bonding with others, and living vicariously - but that doesn't completely explain why some people get really depressed and very upset when their team loses - I include my husband in that group. I'll never forget the one time his favorite football team had a particularly bad season and he looked at me with sad eyes and said "I didn't have a good football season this year." He was upset until football season started again! I had a hard time drumming up sympathy because I just can't relate lol. But, he really was bummed out, so it's a fascinating phenomena.

 

[kenny]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

Me suspects it taps into some primal tribal instinct that has few other outlets in modern society, except for war.

That would be understandable, but then why do some of us not feel it too?

 

[momhappy]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I don't get it either, kenny. My ex was sports-obsessed. Yuck. Not my thing I guess. I agree that it's a means of entertainment/enjoyment, but I've seen folks get pretty emotionally-involved in sports/sports teams (more so than someone who's engaged in some other form of entertainment like a book, a movie, a hobby, etc.) and that's the part that I truly don't understand. If I go to a movie that I don't care for, my whole day isn't ruined like it is for someone who's sports obsessed and their team just lost the big game...

You must not be familiar with The Fandoms.

There's actually quite a large community of people who get very emotionally involved with books and movies. Which, I think, is also the answer to the original question: Community. Diamonds, sports, Harry Potter...whatever floats your boat- finding like minded people who enjoy the same thing you do. It's a place to belong.

Oh, yeah… that's true. I forgot about people who get nutty over Harry Potter, vampire movies, etc.

 

[ksinger]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

Interesting.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-science-of-being-a-sports-fan-9227430/?all&no-ist

 

[kenny]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

Interesting.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-science-of-being-a-sports-fan-9227430/?all&no-ist

Fascinating.
Thanks for posting.

This quote from the article raises a question in my mind, "Basically, whether you played the game or watched the game, if your team won, your testosterone is probably going to go up."

Here is the question for you straight women in a relationship with a passionate sports fan:
Is your man more likely than usual to want sex after his team wins?
Is the sex different than usual?
If so, in what way?

Besides sex, describe how your man is after his team wins, and loses.
How long does this last?

IOW, what is a straight man like when his testosterone level is elevated?
I'm sincerely curious, and ignorant.

 

[mayerling]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I think caring in a world event is different than caring about teams alone. For instance, I don't care a bit about football, but now that the world cup is on and countries are taking on each other it obviously has a different feel to it than if ManU were playing Aston Villa.

 

[ForteKitty]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I'm surprised this hasn't come up yet: Money. My husband makes several thousands of dollars playing fantasy football every season in private leagues and also the bigger ones sponsored by some podcasts. I think the buy-in is very minimal compared to what he has won. Sure, if you calculate the total amount of time he spends researching and messing with his "teams", he's being paid less than $1/hr, but who's counting? He also gets the coveted emotional trophy, and rights to hold it over all his friends as the reigning champion for another year. Anyone watch The League on FX? One of the funniest shows ever.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

[quote="kenny|1403115902|
This quote from the article raises a question in my mind, "Basically, whether you played the game or watched the game, if your team won, your testosterone is probably going to go up."

Here is the question for you straight women in a relationship with a passionate sports fan:
Is your man more likely than usual to want sex after his team wins?
Is the sex different than usual?
If so, in what way?

Besides sex, describe how your man is after his team wins, and loses.
How long does this last?

IOW, what is a straight man like when his testosterone level is elevated?
I'm sincerely curious, and ignorant.[/quote]



Kenny...how come no answers to your Qs?...

 

[craighnt]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I am on the same page as Kenny. I just don't get it. Growing up my parent took me to football games and It was just like torture. Why did they keep stopping the clock! I want to go home!

Even now, I just don't get why anyone is into a team if they have no personal connection. It is not the same as here where people are basically sharing personal experiences. How may sports fans know actual sports figures personally?

To each his own, but I actually feel like the one left out of a big party. Some of my east coast friends are so into sports they bought some of those stadium seats from the tear down of a famous stadium and put them in a prominent place in their house! Plastic seats, that thousands of people sat on, spilled on and did god knows what else on.

You can lead a horse to water... I guess that's me. Unfortunately even some of my gay friends where sports was not a thing is now a thing. I get dragged out with a group to a bar to watch "the game". Turns out, all I care about is the commercials.

 

[kenny]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

This quote from the article raises a question in my mind, "Basically, whether you played the game or watched the game, if your team won, your testosterone is probably going to go up."

Here is the question for you straight women in a relationship with a passionate sports fan:
Is your man more likely than usual to want sex after his team wins?
Is the sex different than usual?
If so, in what way?

Besides sex, describe how your man is after his team wins, and loses.
How long does this last?

IOW, what is a straight man like when his testosterone level is elevated?
I'm sincerely curious, and ignorant.

Kenny...how come no answers to your Qs?...

Apparently with the world cup going on all those ladies are too ... uhm ... busy ... to post.

 

[NOYFB]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I had always despised sports until a few years ago when NHL games began being televised and my DH wanted to host NYE/Winter Classic parties at our house. I actually sat down and watched a game and instantly became hooked. Of course, living in Chicago, I became a huge Blackhawks fan and still am a diehard fan. Why? To be honest, I like the camaraderie of it (We've won 2 Stanley Cups in 4 years). It really brings the people of this city together. For instance, notice the difference in the LA Kings Stanley Cup parade this year and the Blackhawks parade last year.



I also have a lot of respect for hockey players because they will get their teeth knocked out and suffer other serious injuries, and will get right back in the game. They also always emphasize a "We" mentality as opposed to an "I" mentality, and I like the fact that the players represent themselves as a team and not an individual superstar. I don't see that in any other sports.

That being said, I am not interested one iota in the World Cup. In fact, I'm appalled that my administration has installed a TV in our administrative conference room (I work in a hospital) for the sole purpose of watching the game, and has sent out an email invitation to all employees to come down and watch the game tomorrow. Seriously? Healthcare workers have much better things to do than watch a soccer game. I, for one, do not have time (or the desire) to watch TV while I'm at work.

 

[star sparkle]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

That being said, I am not interested one iota in the World Cup. In fact, I'm appalled that my administration has installed a TV in our administrative conference room (I work in a hospital) for the sole purpose of watching the game, and has sent out an email invitation to all employees to come down and watch the game tomorrow. Seriously? Healthcare workers have much better things to do than watch a soccer game. I, for one, do not have time (or the desire) to watch TV while I'm at work.

Would you be just as appalled if it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and the Blackhawks were playing, and your administration did the same thing (pretend hockey games are played in the middle of the day)? Being the die-hard Blackhawks fan you are, I suspect you wouldn't be quite as against it if that were the case.

I'm a huge sports fan (mainly hockey and soccer), but I don't know how to explain it to non-sports people. For me it's just another hobby/interest, much like jewelry or anything else.

 

[NOYFB]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

That being said, I am not interested one iota in the World Cup. In fact, I'm appalled that my administration has installed a TV in our administrative conference room (I work in a hospital) for the sole purpose of watching the game, and has sent out an email invitation to all employees to come down and watch the game tomorrow. Seriously? Healthcare workers have much better things to do than watch a soccer game. I, for one, do not have time (or the desire) to watch TV while I'm at work.

Would you be just as appalled if it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and the Blackhawks were playing, and your administration did the same thing (pretend hockey games are played in the middle of the day)? Being the die-hard Blackhawks fan you are, I suspect you wouldn't be quite as against it if that were the case.

I'm a huge sports fan (mainly hockey and soccer), but I don't know how to explain it to non-sports people. For me it's just another hobby/interest, much like jewelry or anything else.

I would be just as appalled, yes. If that circumstance ever arose (hockey games were played during the day), and I wanted to watch the game I'd take the day off. I wouldn't jeopardize patient safety.

 

[mayerling]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

That being said, I am not interested one iota in the World Cup. In fact, I'm appalled that my administration has installed a TV in our administrative conference room (I work in a hospital) for the sole purpose of watching the game, and has sent out an email invitation to all employees to come down and watch the game tomorrow. Seriously? Healthcare workers have much better things to do than watch a soccer game. I, for one, do not have time (or the desire) to watch TV while I'm at work.

Would you be just as appalled if it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and the Blackhawks were playing, and your administration did the same thing (pretend hockey games are played in the middle of the day)? Being the die-hard Blackhawks fan you are, I suspect you wouldn't be quite as against it if that were the case.

I'm a huge sports fan (mainly hockey and soccer), but I don't know how to explain it to non-sports people. For me it's just another hobby/interest, much like jewelry or anything else.

I would be just as appalled, yes. If that circumstance ever arose (hockey games were played during the day), and I wanted to watch the game I'd take the day off. I wouldn't jeopardize patient safety.

How can we even compare a world event that comes around every four years with something that's national and is around every year? Like I said, I don't follow sports, but a world competition is certainly different from a national one and probably warrants a bit more attention - that's not to say that I agree with jeopardising patients.

 

[iLander]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

Kenny, apparently some people take sporting events WAAAAAAYYYYY too seriously:

Domestic violence in England increases by as much as 38 percent when the national team loses a World Cup game, according to a harrowing PSA released yesterday following England’s post-elimination game against Costa Rica (they tied). Created by Tender Education and the Arts, a charity that combats domestic abuse, the video is based on a study by the University of Lancaster of the 2002, 2006, and 2010 World Cups, Jezebel reports. The correlation between abuse and soccer isn’t limited to losses: The study also found that when England won or tied, reported incidents of domestic violence rose by 26 percent.

http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/06/what-the-world-cup-means-for-abused-women.html?mid=twitter_nymag

Horrifying and ridiculous!

 

[kenny]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

That's very depressing iLander.
Beating up your wife/girlfriend because "your team" lost OR WON?

I just don't get it.
I just don't get it.

People vary.
Some suck.

 

[kenny]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I just saw this and thought it was funny.
Again I'm not putting down people who play or view sports.
There is something funny about ALL of us, and I welcome humor about any group I belong to.

 

[Sky56]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I used to hate sports. Gym class sucked, especially if you were picked last for teams or bullied. Then, when I was 30, I started playing a team sport. I got good, then proficient and then excellent. It has rounded out my life as my interests, work, and hobbies involve sitting, and there is nothing I love more than sitting & reading.

Watching live major league baseball games or on my big screen - I find watching baseball games extremely relaxing as there is a pattern slowness and action, and it seems civilized in comparison to many other sports, plus it is a cool, unique sport. I think about how being in a stadium watching a baseball game compares with stadium sports of yesteryear - Gladiators, animals bathed in blood battling to the death.

Like kenny, I loathe the rabid sports mentality when people are overly emotionally involved with who wins and loses. I suspect a lot of that is tied into all the gambling people do!

 

[blackprophet]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

That being said, I am not interested one iota in the World Cup. In fact, I'm appalled that my administration has installed a TV in our administrative conference room (I work in a hospital) for the sole purpose of watching the game, and has sent out an email invitation to all employees to come down and watch the game tomorrow. Seriously? Healthcare workers have much better things to do than watch a soccer game. I, for one, do not have time (or the desire) to watch TV while I'm at work.

Would you be just as appalled if it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and the Blackhawks were playing, and your administration did the same thing (pretend hockey games are played in the middle of the day)? Being the die-hard Blackhawks fan you are, I suspect you wouldn't be quite as against it if that were the case.

I'm a huge sports fan (mainly hockey and soccer), but I don't know how to explain it to non-sports people. For me it's just another hobby/interest, much like jewelry or anything else.

I would be just as appalled, yes. If that circumstance ever arose (hockey games were played during the day), and I wanted to watch the game I'd take the day off. I wouldn't jeopardize patient safety.

I don't know what your work is like, but I know at a lot of workplaces the people interested would do what you have suggested. But if every one did it, then the work wouldn't be able to function.

My father used to be a union steward and during the last world cup they had to negotiate with managment for flexible shifts during the tournament, because if they didn't people would just call in sick, or not show up. And the amount of people who would be willing to do this would jeopardise the business.

Better to try and control it by putting the game on at work, then to have people sneaking it, or just not showing up.

 

[packrat]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

Whew, it's a good thing to know our priorities are on the right path.

The only time I get wound up is if I happen to be watching MMA w/JD and someone gets hit hard or gets out of a tough hold or something, and I'll holler OH! OOOO DAMN! and possibly even clench my hands at the same time cuz you know that had to hurt.

I dated a guy who was INTO the races and Raiders and Notre Dame football. Like-IN TO IT. I couldn't buy Tide b/c the Tide car was a Ford and he "didn't like" the driver. (not that he KNEW any of them personally of course) He was a Chevy man, so #3 ruled. He would be in a pissy mood if he missed a game or race, would tape them and watch them obsessively. How many times did I have to drive out to his house b/c I got off work earlier and press record b/c he was at work...gah. I'd walk in and find him in front of the tv, hands on either side of the top of it, squatted down, balanced on his toes, watching. One time the baseball players went on strike and he was soooo melancholy, just completely turned inside out b/c of "how they were being treated" and we almost broke up over it. He likened their "strike" to what happened numerous times at the packing house where we worked, when they would strike. Ohhhh honey...no. nope nope nope.

 

[Calliecake]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I had always despised sports until a few years ago when NHL games began being televised and my DH wanted to host NYE/Winter Classic parties at our house. I actually sat down and watched a game and instantly became hooked. Of course, living in Chicago, I became a huge Blackhawks fan and still am a diehard fan. Why? To be honest, I like the camaraderie of it (We've won 2 Stanley Cups in 4 years). It really brings the people of this city together. For instance, notice the difference in the LA Kings Stanley Cup parade this year and the Blackhawks parade last year.



I also have a lot of respect for hockey players because they will get their teeth knocked out and suffer other serious injuries, and will get right back in the game. They also always emphasize a "We" mentality as opposed to an "I" mentality, and I like the fact that the players represent themselves as a team and not an individual superstar. I don't see that in any other sports.

That being said, I am not interested one iota in the World Cup. In fact, I'm appalled that my administration has installed a TV in our administrative conference room (I work in a hospital) for the sole purpose of watching the game, and has sent out an email invitation to all employees to come down and watch the game tomorrow. Seriously? Healthcare workers have much better things to do than watch a soccer game. I, for one, do not have time (or the desire) to watch TV while I'm at work.

I've never been a sports nut but it's different when your team wins a championship. I've seen the Bulls take multiple championships, the White Sox win a championship, but there was really something special when the Blackhawks won the last two. The players went driving around with the cup all over Chicago stopping to show people. They even would talk to people at stop lights and have them pull over to touch the cup. It really was pretty cool. As you can see by Lil Misfits pictures, the parade was awesome. There was no "I" mentality with this team and they could not wait to share everything that goes with winning with their fans.

 

[partgypsy]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

I can't get super excited at all about pro sports, as the people are not from the actual area, traded yearly, etc so I think it is funny when people get so possesvie of their pro sports team (I know sacrilige!). But yes, I have been known to get caught up in it.

When I was going to school (Duke) even though I was a graduate student it was not to catch the infectious excitment of going to a bar to watch it with lots of other people, the trash talking etc. I mean I would see the players in the classes I was a TA for, it felt personal. I mean even when I don't even watch the team, we live close enough to student housing we can tell from the yelling or the silence how well we are doing (and what everyone's mood will be like the next day!)
Same way if my kids ever join a team in HS or elsewhere, I will definitely root for their team.

I am rooting for USA and Greece for the World Cup, but I am not as emotionally invested in it. But of course I want them to win!

Maybe it's irrational, but our ability to form affinities and groups and us versus them membership goes so far back in time, you can see the same behavior in chimpanzees. We are very social creatures and so evolutionarily in our past it was of the upmost importance to support your group, and hate the other group. Even when it is almost arbitrary groupings it is hard to undo our wiring.

 

[partgypsy]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

Kenny, apparently some people take sporting events WAAAAAAYYYYY too seriously:

Domestic violence in England increases by as much as 38 percent when the national team loses a World Cup game, according to a harrowing PSA released yesterday following England’s post-elimination game against Costa Rica (they tied). Created by Tender Education and the Arts, a charity that combats domestic abuse, the video is based on a study by the University of Lancaster of the 2002, 2006, and 2010 World Cups, Jezebel reports. The correlation between abuse and soccer isn’t limited to losses: The study also found that when England won or tied, reported incidents of domestic violence rose by 26 percent.

http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/06/what-the-world-cup-means-for-abused-women.html?mid=twitter_nymag

Horrifying and ridiculous!

this article is for those who fail statistics.

 

[iLander]

Re: Why does anyone care which team wins any pro sporting ev

Handy phrases for non-sports people.

I've used these phrases to blend in with sports people and somehow they seem to work. It doesn't really matter what sport you use these phrases with, just say them with authority.

They came to play!

That was quite a game

Did you see that ref's call?

I'm not sure the teams were equally matched

(or) Those teams were equally matched (look for conversation clues)

That was a match up!

Those guys (or women) are real athletes

They left it all on the field (or court, again, conversation clues)

So, do you think they have a shot? (the response will be at least a half hour, take a rest)

But, just like using a book of traveler's phrases, the natives' responses will be unintelligible to you. Just look concerned throughout.