Life as a Sports Fan

I know it's unwise to place my happiness, for any periord of time, at the mercy of a group of distant strangers. I just can't stop myself from doing it.

I'm talking about being a sports fan. There's no logical reason why the athletic performance of a group of celebrities in a distant (or even local) city should have any affect on my mood. If they should happen to win, it wasn't because I did anything to cause it. I don't make any extra money or gain fame or popularity because my team wins. My team winning doesn't magically take away work assignments or the need to cut the grass. It doesn't in any material way give me a better life if my team wins, or hinder my life if my team loses. So why do I care so much?

Some people cite some vague notion of civic pride, but I don't buy it. It makes sense in a few cases (rooting for the Saints is an approriate metaphor for rooting for the comeback of the city of New Orleans), but this kind of parallel is the exception, not the rule. Besides, I know tons of Atlanta Braves baseball fans scattered throughout the South who hate the City of Atlanta with a passion.

Don't get me wrong. I can explain rationally why I like to watch sports in general. In just about every field of life, I enjoy watching people do things that I wish I could perform but can't. I like the drama and inherent storylines that come along with competition. But I don't know why I can't watch sports they same way I watch a sitcom, where I'm entertained by the spectacle, but my life doesn't hang on the outcome. I don't know why I let sports ruin my day.

The other day, after my beloved Cincinnati Reds (who I adopted as my team many years ago team for no apparent reason) blew a 6-run 9th inning lead, I was surprised to remember about 30 minutes into my moping that this turn of events wasn't actually my fault. And that actually helped.

Maybe my fandom represents some improbable dream that I couldn't fulfill on my own that I'm trying to achieve through proxy. Maybe it's a way to add meaning to my life by creating a personal connection to each game, or a way to fool myself into getting excited something to help pass the time.

I think it's something a little deeper, though. I think, after a certain amount of time, your team's logo becomes interwoven in your soul and becomes a part of who you are. Your choice of team says something about you. Your collection of favorite teams, college and pro, reveals a fair amount about your personality.

I know a couple of Republicans who root for the Yankees and Cowboys because they appreciate that the owners of those teams worked hard to build the structural advantages that they enjoy. Other people enjoy rooting for underdogs or teams with tradition or flashy colors. The person who roots for the most geographically proximate teams from their childhood in every sport probably still lives near where they grew up. A person who grew up rooting for teams from across the nation probably does not. The person who doesn't care about sports likely hates competition and just wants everyone to get along.

Of course, I didn't think about what type of political statements I was making when I was picking favorite teams at age 7. At that point, I just wanted to follow sports and realized that the entry fee into fandom was picking a team with which to align my emotions. But one's personality has something to do with which allegiances grow stronger and which ones fade over time.

Mine keep growing stronger. I'm actually in the midst of the sports year of a lifetime. My undergrad alma mater Alabama won the national title in January, and my near-hometown New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl in February. Both events provided a few days of glee, but months later, those outcomes no longer turn grey skies blue. As I write this, my Reds are in first place and my childhood favorite hockey team is in the NHL Finals. It's been an entertaining run, but it hasn't made my problems going away. The joy of a win is fleeting and never as gratifying as a loss is devastating.

I know this. But I'm still going to watch the next game.

It's just part of who I am.