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Why do you think people care so much and become so obsessed with their fandom?
Some spend more money than any of us make on season tix, traveling, gear, memorabilia, tailgating, etc.
Some watch games and all 22 like itÂ’s their job. Some probably even put more time into it that the players and coaches themselves.
Some get incredibly high after wins and incredibly down after losses.
The current health of the team seems to have an impact on manyÂ’s current quality of life and mental health at times.
I noticed a conversation between a die hard and casual fan recently and even think there could be a phenomena in the current world that many perceive that thereÂ’s a measure of fandom. If someone doesnÂ’t commit to the level of fandom that another is willing to commit to, then that lesser fan could be looked down upon or perceived as annoying for not being all in or understanding to the expertÂ’s higher level of understanding.
IÂ’m interested to better understand why we get sucked in. ItÂ’s just a pastime. ItÂ’s just something to fill in some gaps in our lives. EveryoneÂ’s got gaps in their lives and we need to fill them to pass the time. I guess it comes down to what you want to fill in your gaps doing.
Some people want to do something in those gaps and change the world, or do something meaningful, or do something for others. Some just want to have fun and escape. Not sure what drives one to want to accomplish things vs wanting to sit back and watch others accomplish things. But I was thinking that if we get so emotionally invested it might be an indicator that we wish we accomplished things but havenÂ’t figured out how to redirect that energy so we may just be trying to vicariously accomplish things thru our passive fandom.
But then I started wondering, why do we choose football and the Steelers. Even if we just want to be a passive observer of the world and not really involved as a fan, why not be a passive observer of something more meaningful. Like why not wear the outfits of doctors trying to cure cancer or something? Why not buy tickets to go watch them do surgeries and cheer them on?
Im not sure why my mind went there, but I was listening to 2 people arguing over their fantasy football teams and it just got me wondering why thereÂ’s so much emotion around this stuff. Why do people get so happy, so mad, so whatever? And is the extreme emotion just a microcosm of whatÂ’s going on in life more broadly these days? Does everything else in peopleÂ’s lives bleed over into their fandom making this a bigger emotional roller coaster than it ever was before. And I ask that because I sense as a kid everyone enjoyed their home town sports team a lot more. Now I perceive we collectively have no patience to enjoy anything any more.
I sense life impacts our reaction to sports more than we realize. And it makes it less of a fun escape from reality.
Some spend more money than any of us make on season tix, traveling, gear, memorabilia, tailgating, etc.
Some watch games and all 22 like itÂ’s their job. Some probably even put more time into it that the players and coaches themselves.
Some get incredibly high after wins and incredibly down after losses.
The current health of the team seems to have an impact on manyÂ’s current quality of life and mental health at times.
I noticed a conversation between a die hard and casual fan recently and even think there could be a phenomena in the current world that many perceive that thereÂ’s a measure of fandom. If someone doesnÂ’t commit to the level of fandom that another is willing to commit to, then that lesser fan could be looked down upon or perceived as annoying for not being all in or understanding to the expertÂ’s higher level of understanding.
IÂ’m interested to better understand why we get sucked in. ItÂ’s just a pastime. ItÂ’s just something to fill in some gaps in our lives. EveryoneÂ’s got gaps in their lives and we need to fill them to pass the time. I guess it comes down to what you want to fill in your gaps doing.
Some people want to do something in those gaps and change the world, or do something meaningful, or do something for others. Some just want to have fun and escape. Not sure what drives one to want to accomplish things vs wanting to sit back and watch others accomplish things. But I was thinking that if we get so emotionally invested it might be an indicator that we wish we accomplished things but havenÂ’t figured out how to redirect that energy so we may just be trying to vicariously accomplish things thru our passive fandom.
But then I started wondering, why do we choose football and the Steelers. Even if we just want to be a passive observer of the world and not really involved as a fan, why not be a passive observer of something more meaningful. Like why not wear the outfits of doctors trying to cure cancer or something? Why not buy tickets to go watch them do surgeries and cheer them on?
Im not sure why my mind went there, but I was listening to 2 people arguing over their fantasy football teams and it just got me wondering why thereÂ’s so much emotion around this stuff. Why do people get so happy, so mad, so whatever? And is the extreme emotion just a microcosm of whatÂ’s going on in life more broadly these days? Does everything else in peopleÂ’s lives bleed over into their fandom making this a bigger emotional roller coaster than it ever was before. And I ask that because I sense as a kid everyone enjoyed their home town sports team a lot more. Now I perceive we collectively have no patience to enjoy anything any more.
I sense life impacts our reaction to sports more than we realize. And it makes it less of a fun escape from reality.
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