When I left the terrible, horrible, no good Michigan State game I was devestated, distraught and not drunk enough to cope. But upon looking to the left of me, I noticed my friend was none of the above. In fact, she had already moved on to figuring out what she wanted to eat. On the other hand, I was looking at my phone, concerned that the Cardinals were down in the ninth against their competition for the wild card spot. I explained this to my friend, and she responded with a nonchalant “What does that even mean?” It then dawned on me how much easier life would be if I didn’t care about sports. Instead of panicking about mutiple outcomes at once, I could also be focused on food trucks. But, much to my dismay, I am emotionally invested in the outcome of some sporting events, and it certainly is an emotional rollercoaster.
At first…
Caring about sports is great at the start of games. You’re psyched and optimistic your team will win, even if the odds suck. You get to bond with fellow fans and pre-game with purpose. You’re not just in it for the tailgate–you have a goal. Then the game starts and what you’ve finally been waiting for, the thrill of the game, begins.
The Game…
Normally a game provokes a range of emotional reactions, from utter despair to bursting excitement. When the team makes a good play or scores it’s somehow like you live vicariously through them. For especially crucial moments, you can’t contain your joy when the team succeeds.
At the same time, a close game often has moments where things seem to be slipping away. These times are when the emotional investment becomes quite the burden to bare. It’s like you can see everything you really-haven’t-worked-for-at-all falling apart. How tragic for you?
I think we can all see what she’s saying…
Unless it’s a complete blow-out, the rest of the game usually fluctuates between extreme anxiety and subtle, heart-pounding anticipation.
Losing…
As seen by the “it’s fine i’m fine” shirt campaign on Facebook, a lot of people took the loss against Michigan State particularly hard, including myself. At the time of the loss, eveything seems hopeless, and in the case of Michigan State the rest of the season is pretty much just that. Honestly, it’s really ridiculous to let something you have basically no control over dictate your happiness, so instead you might try to act like you have it all together, but for avid sports fan, it’s miserable for a while.
It really begs the question, really, why care at all? Which brings me to my next point.
Winning…
Watching your team win makes the emotional commitment worth it. There’s nothing like watching them accomplish something so spectacular and feeling like you’re a part of it (even if you really just got drunk and cheered). How watching someone else do something great can bring about such ecstasy is beyond me. Maybe it’s partly inspirational, but at the same time I think it’s just because sports are something easy to root for. Whatever it is, being emotionally committed to sports makes a win all the better.
It’s quite absurd that I somehow find so much time (probably too much, tbh) every week to invest in watching sports, even if it’s just in the background. And basically I’m saying I just do that on the off-chance that my team will win? Well, yeah.
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