What I hate about being a fan...

[Southpaw]

I will always love and support the pats, and I got a lot of crap from people at few different bars late last night for wearing my Bledsoe jersey.


But this is what I hate about being a sports fan in general: We get emotionally invested in something we have no power over. We have nothing to do with the action, no say over the outcome, and are essentially powerless in something that we all invest so much time and effort in. I think this is also why I can never get too invested in it. I have no say in it. Nothing I could have said or done(outside of drugging the giants d-line) could have changed the outcome of yesterday's game.

Conversely, in active activities we have a HUGE say in the outcome. If you're playing a game of basketball(obviously teammates effect this also), but my play alone can have a very large say in the outcome. Same goes for any other sports, especially individual ones like golf, tennis, running, etc. If I lose or play poorly in one of those, I only have myself to blame.

I guess thats what I hate about being a spectator of pro sports, the lack and pro-activity and ultimate powerlessness can be very frustrating. The big problem is, that the spectatorship and emotional investment can give us the feeling of pro-activity, i.e. we feel every big play, get excited about TDs or dissapointed about INTs. I think thats what makes it so addictive also, it gives us that false sense of involvement(and maybe thats true about TV in general).

I'll always love following pro sports like football and baseball, but one thing that will never allow me from investing fully in it, is this lack of involvement/powerlessness.

 

[thomas144]

Well said. It IS all really pointless.

At times like this, I remind myself of my wife's description of how all her cousins in Italy would be feeling for months after Italy lost the world cup in 1994, the game they lost in a shoot-out to Brazil in the finals in LA.

From our vantage it just seems kind of ridiculous, but to them it would really be like a death in the family.

 

[HarpoonIPA]

But you are involved in one way or another from sitting in the stands to watching it on TV or listening to it on the radio. From buying there merchandise to talking about it with your friends to posting here. You are involved, you have invested time as a fan, from cheering to booing believe me, you are involved just as I.

 

[PlayMaker]

I was thinking about that this morning as I was getting ready for work. It upset me that I was getting so upset over a group of grown men not winning a football game that they're getting paid an exorbitant amount of money to play in. Still... I can't help it.

 

[Southpaw]

But you are involved in one way or another from sitting in the stands to watching it on TV or listening to it on the radio. From buying there merchandise to talking about it with your friends to posting here. You are involved, you have invested time as a fan, from cheering to booing believe me, you are involved just as I.

True, i guess its just the level of involvement that bothers me. I'm by no means a control freak, but it just feels a lot better when you actually have some control and say in the outcome of things you invest your time in. I don't like deriving so much happiness or frustration out of others activities. I'd prefer to have some say in the outcome or control.

 

[chiefsgal*]

I will always love and support the pats, and I got a lot of crap from people at few different bars late last night for wearing my Bledsoe jersey.


But this is what I hate about being a sports fan in general: We get emotionally invested in something we have no power over. We have nothing to do with the action, no say over the outcome, and are essentially powerless in something that we all invest so much time and effort in. I think this is also why I can never get too invested in it. I have no say in it. Nothing I could have said or done(outside of drugging the giants d-line) could have changed the outcome of yesterday's game.

Conversely, in active activities we have a HUGE say in the outcome. If you're playing a game of basketball(obviously teammates effect this also), but my play alone can have a very large say in the outcome. Same goes for any other sports, especially individual ones like golf, tennis, running, etc. If I lose or play poorly in one of those, I only have myself to blame.

I guess thats what I hate about being a spectator of pro sports, the lack and pro-activity and ultimate powerlessness can be very frustrating. The big problem is, that the spectatorship and emotional investment can give us the feeling of pro-activity, i.e. we feel every big play, get excited about TDs or dissapointed about INTs. I think thats what makes it so addictive also, it gives us that false sense of involvement(and maybe thats true about TV in general).

I'll always love following pro sports like football and baseball, but one thing that will never allow me from investing fully in it, is this lack of involvement/powerlessness.

I relate it to rasing a child......you give them love and support, are always there for them......but sometimes they do let you down....does that mean you give up on them, or love them any less..............if it did.....then I wouldn't be a chiefs fan......