(“you” as in me)
Ok, that was a disappointing loss for the team that I was rooting for. It was made even more disappointing by the fact that I stayed up quite late watching the game, despite having work the next day. What an incredible effect on my mood it has had. It reminds me of how I felt Les Bleus let us down last summer…
What is it about sports that make people identify with a team? What team to cheer for?
Most people who cheer a particular team are far removed from the action and in no position to contribute to that teams success. Further, while the teams are loosely based upon geography, the players for the team themselves don’t usually come from the same geographic region, and their loyalty to the team often ends when a higher payout is made by a different team. Yet they are viewed as representing that geographical region and cheered as such.
It’s not rational. It must be some primeval urge to associate with a tribe and to deal with “threats” from outside the tribe. When your team loses, you all lose; it’s a survival mechanism.
Of course, this carries on outside of sports, too. Going just a little “outside” of sports, we reach “politics”. Arguably politics is inherently somewhat more rational than sports. But it’s not always so easy for politicians to convince people with discourse. So the game of most successful politicians is to exploit peoples inherent tribalism whereby people vote based upon a positive tribe association and a visceral mistrust of the “other side”.
Despite not identifying with any party, I do view one party as more of a “threat” than others. It’s lead me to experienced a similar disappointment after each of the last few election cycles in the U.S. (except the most recent). Of course, unlike in sports, the stakes are much higher.
Ok. Anyways. No more sports for me for a while. No more political blogs either (easier said than done)…
