Sports Fans

Evil - That which one believes of others. It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake. H.L. Mencken

When I was younger I was a rabid fan of sports. My football team was the former Baltimore Colts. I watched them on Sunday afternoon on a small black and white TV in my Atlanta, GA home. All the players were my heroes and I wanted to be just like them.

In the 60s I moved to Chicago and became a devoted fan of the Chicago Cubs, who lost more often than they won. I would wait with anxiety for their next televised game when I would sit in the basement and watch as I smoked a cigar and drank Old Style beer. When my team lost I was depressed and could not sleep.

As I started traveling I realized teams in other cities would have the same format coverage of their teams. The sportswriters all had the same generic lines about their teams.

I met some professional athletes and realized they were normal people with exceptional skills in their fields, like computer geeks who later became superstars in their fields.

I have lost my enthusiasm for sports. I see professional sports as entertainment. But my interest now is more in the fan behavior, the same radical behavior I used to exhibit. I see the camera pan the fans in the stadium and their hopes and fears are shown on their faces. Some are praying to their god for victory, as the opposing team's fans pray to the same god for their team's victory. God will apparently give victory to the most virtuous team, not the most talented. And the joy and jubilation when victory is achieved is exhilarating. A loss is devastating.

I saw the same exhilaration when our troops invaded Afghanistan. The flag waving and cheering for our team and praying for victory. When victory is not achieved the fans become depressed and they call for a change. A new coach is appointed, and the games continue, and the cheering continues, and the praying continues. On both sides.

Bilbo Baggins
From his hobbit hole in Hobbiton