So with the end of the NBA season and my realization of how painful it was to watch the Finals series alone I have been contemplating what it means to be a sports fan. There are different kinds of fans. There are the people who just like to watch the sport. And there are those who develop and attachment to the players and then there are those who develop an attachment to a team. I am in the last group.
In some sports I am more of a fan of the sport, I can watch soccer and not really care who wins. And I will watch pretty much any kind of football and not care who wins, or basketball. And this works so long as I don't have a team involved in the game I am playing. For example I watch the NCAA men's basketball every year and rarely because I have much of a rooting interest. And I really enjoy it because I don't really care who wins. The same thing happens in college football during the bowl season.
However, in pro basketball or football I generally have a vested interest, either because my team(s) is playing or because the result will have a direct effect on my team(s). But again, so long as one of my teams is not playing I can be more casual about the results and not explode if something bad happens to the team I am rooting for.
But, if one of my teams is playing... then I tend to lose control. Less so in football than basketball but I have been known to scream at the TV screen a few times during a Bronco game.
So here's the rub as it were: I know that I was effectively raised to be this way. My father was this way (and still is to some extent). And I want my children to learn to appreciate the joy that I get from watching and playing sports. And one of the ways to do this is to develop that rooting interest before they learn to appreciate the game for the game itself. James is starting to develop an interest in watching the games with me, but because he is 6 he really doesn't have the knowledge to appreciate a beautiful no look pass, or pretty shot, or great run or amazing tackle. All he really knows at this point is who wins or loses and is it our team. Any time I am watching a game he will ask who we are cheering for and in the black and white world of a 6 year old the concept of just watching the game for the joy of it doesn't make sense.
But I want to develop an appreciation of the sports themselves in him before he becomes just another screaming maniac, living and dying for his team. Because, in recent years, I have learned that approaching the games that way is a) not healthy and b) likely to reduce the enjoyment of the game. On the other hand I think that there is something to be gained from developing that attachment, it shows a willingness to commit to something. One of the funnier things about this recent series was when I was watching the second game at my Dad's and my brother said he wasn't much of a Laker fan any more, and James' reaction was "what? how can you stop cheering for your team?" Which I am not sure is a good thing or bad thing. I have gotten so much joy over the years from my sports teams winning, and just having a team that you follow can be an entry into a lot of conversations. So the thin line is how to encourage that without continuing the same cycle that has resulted in my not being able to enjoy the games and being brought to tears multiple times as a child by horrific losses.
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