5 Reasons Why Fans Love Sports

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.

#1. Common Ground. If you are walking through the mall and see someone with a jersey or a t-

 

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.

#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.