The Interesting World of Sports Fandom

image from here

The Super Bowl is soon upon us- next week, the Baltimore Ravens take on the San Francisco 49ers for the NFL title.  The match-up is exciting, but leaves me in a dilemma- do I root for the team I want, or do I root for my own well-being?

Let me explain.  Ignoring other variables, I'd be cheering for the Ravens, no question.  I'm a Philadelphia Eagles man first and foremost, but the Ravens are my second team.  After all, they wear purple, are from Baltimore, and are named after one of the greatest poems of all time.  Here's the problem, though: many of my friends are Ravens fans, and whenever Baltimore wins, I get to "enjoy" no small amount of heckling from them.  I get picked on to no end when they do well.  It leads me to the point of this post: the world of fandom.

In a perfect world, I'd root for my favorite team, and be happy for my friends when their favorites did well.  This isn't a perfect world, though, and one way that manifests itself is in the ownership we take in choosing sides.  We pick a team to enjoy watching- no problems there.  But then, we hitch ourselves so closely to them that their performance dictates our mood and enjoyment of the game.  We take something that has nothing to do with us- a team's performance- and decide to own it.  That's the first problem.  Then, we add another issue- we harass people when their teams do poorly, and we shamelessly gloat and act superior to others when our teams do well.  Why do we do this?  What's the point?

I've thought a lot about this recently, as it's something I've struggled with my whole life.  To this day, I have a hard time watching the Eagles play, because I get so easily worked up.  Why?  It's because, for some reason, I've so invested in the outcome that it determines my mood for the week.  I have decided to take ownership in something that's not mine.  When the Eagles win, I somehow feel as though I've won; when they lose, I smart as though I just came up short.  And, I always know how my friends' teams perform, too, so I can compare them to my team and gloat or wallow in sorrow accordingly.  The net result is that I find myself rooting against my friends' teams, just so I don't have to feel inferior.  That's pretty sad, when you think about it, and is worth more examination- again, why do I do this?

I think the answer to my situation is two-fold:

1) humans enjoy taking the accomplishments of others and treating them as their own
2) humans enjoy feeling superior to others, and will find any means necessary to do so, even it they must rely on things entirely outside of their control.

To support claim 1), let's look at our heritage as an example.  "I'm proud to be an American," goes the popular song.  And it's true- I am proud.  I take great pride in the accomplishments of my nation, even though my nation is what it is today through nothing I've done.  I didn't win the war for Independence.  I didn't fight in WWII.  I didn't participate in the industrial revolution.  I boast about my heritage, but I contributed nothing to those achievements my country is known for.  I may make some contributions during the course of my life, but they will be infinitely small in comparison to what's already been done.  In short, I'm taking credit for something that's really been won for me by others- I'm standing on the accomplishments of others.  Why do we do this?  I believe it's because we aren't happy with our own personal accomplishments, so we look to those of others for feelings of worth.  We know we fall short, so we look for someone successful to hang on.

Looking at claim 2), I think this one is obvious.  Kids tease other kids because they want to feel better about themselves.  People bully, harass, and hurt each other because, deep down, we all feel inadequate, powerless, and like failures, and one way we divert those feelings is to attack others, and look for ways to be- or at least to feel- superior. 

Put 1) and 2) together, and we have my problem, and the problem of many others out there.  Basically, we're inadequate and inferior, and we know it, so we invest in the success of other humans, pin our hopes on that success, and compare it to others, looking for the opportunity to feel superior.  How desperately sad!  And, predictably, this leads to nothing good.  Instead of enjoying games, regardless of outcome, we put too much into them.  Instead of supporting friends, and being happy for them when their teams are doing well, we silently (or openly) root against them, so that we don't feel inferior by comparison- misery loves company.  We take something good- athletics and competition- and we twist it into something harmful that sucks the joy out of the game.

If we take this one level deeper- and this is as deep as I'll go, I promise- I think it shows that we as humans look at the world around us, see the problems and despair, and then look desperately for something to make us feel complete and secure.  I should find that in God- that's where the only true security and completeness is to be found.  If I did that perfectly, I could enjoy victory and defeat, both personal and in my teams, without undue emotion or sense of loss, knowing that no matter what, God is still there, and He still accepts me because of what He has done.  But I don't do that perfectly, so I look for fleeting things outside my control to hang my hat on.  That never ends well, does it?

Well, this has been more rambling and less focused or inspired than I'd hoped.  From now on, I'll try to do better- try to put my trust where it should be- and cheer with my friends, instead of against them. Go Ravens- beat those 49ers.