Why did I wake up today in such a "funk?" Probably the same reason I was in a funk when I was brushing my teeth before bed last night. Football. No, I did not play (I haven't put on a helmet in over 22 years, and I hardly ever won back then). My favorite NFL team, which I have been following for over 35 years, just lost the NFC Championship. They lost a GAME, as I sat there in my horns, purple retro-80's- Zubas pants, Vikings boxers, and Vikings jersey - in New Jersey! They just finished playing A GAME, and I was sad.
I didn't lose any money (I don't gamble), nobody near or dear to me died or was hurt, I still had a beautiful wife and two wonderful children, and for a 42 year old, I'm pretty healthy. America is still Free, and I still have a place to go try to make a living. So why does this phenomenon of fandom have such an impact?
As a Vikings fan, I seem to go through this each and every year. I start training camp in the summer all excited and announce that "This is my year!" The season progresses, and on a Monday morning prior to Super Bowl Sunday, I end up going to work or school sad. Today it is raining to add to the melancholy.
Now, I know it is just a game, and that the Vikings or Yankees don't even know I exist, and that they look at it as more than a game, it is their job. That being said, why do we as fans get so emotionally involved?
Before you go on and make a rash assumption, this is NOT a guy thing. The Vikings played my wife's beloved 49ers this year and beat them in the last second of the game, and she had the same funk working for her for a couple days, so this is not gender-specific. (On a side note, how lucky am I, as a football fan, that my bride goes into a funk when her team loses? Too bad she's not a Vikings fan, or she would REALLY be perfect! LOL)
We all go out an buy our licensed apparel, throw pillows, and some really crazy people even get tattoos of their favorite team. We scream at the television, we wait on hold for 45 minutes to get a point across on our favorite sports radio program, we listen to sports-specific satellite radio stations dedicated to our favorite sport, and we start and end our days watching SportsCenter. As I write this, I look in my reflection in my Yankees clock and again ask, "Why"
The world will not be cured of hunger, disease, homelessness, unemployment, and crime if the Yankees win the series or the Vikings win the Super Bowl. I will not be richer (financially) nor will my family be better off. I ask again, "Why all the hype?"
Maybe its our need to be part of something bigger than us in a way that is actually viewable. Something that we can experience and witness firsthand. People tell me they attend church to be part of something bigger than they are, to be part of a community, but there are no licensed apparel for Team Jesus. Following Jesus' career is like following Muhammad Ali's boxing career - he will not be fighting on HBO this weekend, we know he won the "Thrilla in Manila" just like Jesus rose on the third day (depending on your creed - not trying to get religious here, just making a parallel) and Jesus will not be defending his title against Satan again in the spring. The Yankees, however, will have another opening day, another shot at the playoffs, and another shot at being the World Series Champion (for the 28th time).
Maybe it is not unlike those who enter into these fantasy worlds of second-life, Dungeons and Dragons, video games, etc., and use sports as a "fantastic" (Fantasy-based) release from reality. Maybe its the crazy camaraderie we experience connecting us with other people. When you go to a game live, you are high-fiving everyone in your section. For that 3 hours, you are part of a group. . . .you BELONG.
It could be that sense of needing to belong, or living vicariously through the trials of athletes doing what many of us dreamed of when we played wiffle ball in the back yard, or touch football on the street, that attracts us. Whatever it is, it touches us in places that are unique to any other experience in our lives. Being a fan connects us to the world in an unusual and very safe.
So for a fleeting moment when our team wins we have a rush of what it feels like to be a winner - the thrill of victory, or when they lose, the agony of defeat. However, unlike those athletes who have dedicated their lives to their sport, and have been able to rise to the heights of having fans, we will quickly come back to reality and live our lives without any lasting affects of our victory or our defeat. Back to our lives anonymity.
Maybe, just maybe, we will be inspired by the efforts of these men and women we cheer for, to excel in our own lives to be world-class teachers, parents, writers, doctors, (or whatever we do). Hopefully their efforts and passion will inspire us to become champions in our own lives. Whether its the story of the 40-year-old quarterback defying the odds, or the city whose team's success has helped them heal as a community from Hurricane Katrina -somewhere in the game there are lessons for us to apply to our lives. We only need to look beyond the final score and the "winners/losers" and find them.
Maybe that is the purpose of sports and of fandom. To connect us with others who share a passion for something that can inspire us to rise to heights of world-class performance.
This morning, I will lick the wounds from my team's defeat last night. I will put away my Vikings gear for another year, and go out and try to be the best father, husband, person, American, I can be, inspired by the great efforts these men demonstrated. The lessons of teamwork, fortitude, and community that lie beyond the game.
Maybe next year will be "Our Year" That is the beauty of sports. . . there is always another chance. . . Always a "Next Year."
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