There
are many different types of sports, and many different levels. All of these
different levels have fans cheering them along the way along. Fans play a huge
part in sporting events. Can you image attending a game with no one in the
stands? American’s like sports so much that we even created a sport for it:
cheerleading. In Felisa Rogers essay “How I Learned to Love Football” at first
she doesn’t enjoy football but after she realizes why the Packers (NFL Football
team) put a sparkle in her husband’s eye she concludes, “Football fandom is a
source of comfort, common ground where one can meet with friends and rivals
alike, and equalizing arena where your option is just as valid as the next
guy’s, economics or expertise be damned. Simply watching the game gives you the
right to believe, wholeheartedly and without reservation, that your team
deserves to win” (533). I decided to
investigate why fans enjoy sports so much and came up with 5 reasons. Sports
aren’t only important to the players; they are just as important to the die-hard
fans.
shirt
with your favorite sports team you could easily talk to that person about that
team. Even if you do not like that team, you still have a common ground of the
sport. Common ground is like a meeting place, where you can meet and be
neutral. When at a game and you are walking around rooting on your favorite
team, there are hundreds of other fans doing the same thing working for a
common goal, to win.
#2. Rivals.
The atmosphere of games when a rivalry is present is much more intense than a
regular game. Fans like to be competitive, which can be fun against friends and
family cheering against
opposite teams. It is fun to be competitive, but
sometimes people have taken it to a much higher level. When their teams win
they are happy, but when they lose it can be a different story. Rivalries are
like college parties; they are fun until they get out of hand. Sometimes the rivalries have gotten out of
hand when a team loses, I have heard lots of stories of riots and other
activities caused by a team’s loss.
#3. Comfort.
Watching a sport can help to relieve people from stress. An example of this is
when my brother has a bad day or is super stressed he comes home, flicks on the
TV to sports center or a
game that’s on and watches it. By watching this it helps him forget about whatever else he has going on and allows him to focus on something he really enjoys. Watching a sport is like a trip to the beach, relaxing and carefree. Sports are able to comfort him and help him forget what else he has going on.
game that’s on and watches it. By watching this it helps him forget about whatever else he has going on and allows him to focus on something he really enjoys. Watching a sport is like a trip to the beach, relaxing and carefree. Sports are able to comfort him and help him forget what else he has going on.
#4.
Community.
In Wilfrid Sheens essay “Why Sports Matter” he states, “Schools and colleges
also teach something by their very natures, which is that you are now playing
for a whole community and not just yourself, and that if you win, the community
will join you in experiencing a kind of crazy collective
joy..” (498). They will celebrate their wins, and mourn their losses with them.
“This is a city, after all, where Wrigley Field has been filled for many
successive seasons, even though the Cubs haven't had even a playoff chance
since 1989” (Para. 6). Fans from a
community are more than just fans, they are family. My brother
was a football
player and after I understood what was going on, I loved to cheer him on. As he
moved to the college level here at SDSU, I followed. Not only because he is my
brother, but because I am a fan. The entire community supported him and often
asked how his seasons were going. He was always featured in the paper with the
community supporting him.
#5. Social Events.
I think that this is the biggest reason why fans love sports, for the social
aspect. No matter for what level of sports: high school, college, or
professional, there is always social activities involved. Going to the games
are social because of all the people that are there and often friends attend these games
together. If you aren’t going to a game and just watching one, friends are
often involved. An example of a social activity is tailgating; friends and
family will often meet up before games to have a little fun. In college when I
go to football games here on campus, I always go and tailgate first. Sports are
extremely social for fans.
Throughout
my life I have been a huge sports fan, I love to watch them and I love to play
different sports. Sports have been a huge aspect in my life and I came up with
these 5 reasons from personal experience, and through friends and family.
Sports are extremely popular and the fans continue to grow with the love of the
games.
Works Cited
Carlson, Lois Rae. "Why It's
Helpful to Live In a City That Loves Its Team." Christian Science Monitor 05 Oct. 1998: 9. EBSCO MegaFILE. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein,
and Russel Durst. “They Say/ I say” : The
Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. 2nd ed. New York:
Norton, 2012. Print.
Rogers, Felisa.
“How I Learned to Love Football.” Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst 529-36. Print.
Sheed, Wilfrid.
“Why Sports Matter.” Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst 489-511. Print.
Images
Works Cited
Figure 1.
Florida Fans. Nbcnews.com.
Nbcnews.com, 2006. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Figure 2. SDSU
vs USD. Photo by Author.
Figure 3. Sports
Fan Watching TV. Nielsen.com. The
Nielsen Company, 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Figure 4. Fan at
Wrigley Field. Theguardian.com.
Guardian News, 24 July 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Figure 5.
Tailgating at Nebraska vs. SDSU. Photo by Author.