JOUR 420: B#9

The Motivations of a Sports Fan

Everybody knows those hardcore sports fans in their life. We all have family, friends, and acquaintances who devotedly follow their favorite sports teams and athletes. 

You know that one guy (or girl)...the one who watches every game of their team. The one who knows every player on the roster of their favorite team. The one who competes in fantasy sports leagues with friends and with total strangers...the one who loudly yells and cheers for their team while watching the game on TV or online, even though their team cannot hear them.

Trust me, I know that person, because I am that person...

I am a sports fan...a sports fanatic some might say. I share this common interest with many friends and sports fanatics. I do not share this interest with many other friends, who don't understand why so many people get riled up for sports, because after all, it's just a game.

I admittedly call myself a hardcore sports fan, especially with my favorite sport, American football. But why is that exactly? How did I become a sports fan, and why do I watch sports? Why do people watch sports at all? What motivates the average sports fan? 

In chapter eight of Sports Spectators, author Allen Guttmann goes over the motivations of the sports fan. Guttmann claimed that it's difficult to determine every sports fans motivations as to why they are a sports fan, 

He determined that the sports fans average motivations include economic/money (betting), political motivations, and religious. The most influential and complicated motivation however, is identification.

"As considerations of inclusion in or exclusion from talks about sports suggest, there is also a psychological component at work. Beneath the religious, political, economic, and social motives, all of which have appeared historically with varying intensity and in various forms, there is the need of the observer to identify with the actor," Guttmann wrote (Sports Spectators, 180).

Although all of these motivates are true for many sports fans, I would have to agree that identification is the most powerful motivator.

Why is that? Because sports serve as a representation of the fan -- You represent the team, and the team represents you. When a fan wears an athlete's jersey, they are representing that athlete. When a team wins a game, their fans feel a tremendous amount of pride, because that win represented who they are, represented the city/state they play for (or university if college sports).

So how do we get to that point? How does identification with a sports team come to be anyways? The answer depends on the person, as everyone has their own unique story.

For example, my favorite sports team is the Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL). I have been a Steelers fan since I began watching professional football in 2005. So how did a young California kid such as myself, identify with a team across the country that I knew nothing about at the time? I identified with them. Here's how:

1. Family Influence: I had family members who were also Steelers fans. They grew up witnessing the Steelers dynasty in the 1970's, where the team who was known as the "Steel Curtain" helped lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl championships. Watching them root for this team naturally got me more interested in the sport, while growing closer with family.
2. Athletes: Many sports fans become fans of a team after their favorite athlete goes to a certain team. There were many players that I enjoyed watching in that 2005 season for the Steelers...players such as Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Joey Porter, and Aaron Smith. The player that caught my eye the most was Troy Polamalu, a young and explosive safety in the NFL at that time. Being that I am from California, I was a USC fan, which is where Polamalu played college football. This immediately made him my favorite athlete and was very influential in choosing my favorite team.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers SS Troy Polamalu and future NFL Hall of Famer.

I identified myself with the team through family and the athletes. It became part of me. In 2009, I would attend my first NFL game -- Pittsburgh Steelers at the Denver Broncos in Colorado -- and the experience was phenomenal. One of the most amazing things about this experience was actually meeting other Steelers fans that weekend...fans who had traveled from California like us, many from Pittsburgh, many from other states all around the country. Even a few Steelers fans from Canada. Even though none of us personally knew each other, there was a sense of family and belonging. Wearing team colors and the same jerseys connected fans together; complete strangers struck up conversations and showed so much love to people they had never met because they were simply part of the "Steelers Nation." We all identified ourselves as Steelers fans and with each other. These are moments that I will always remember.

Pittsburgh Steelers fans during a game.

As time went on, I taught myself the rules of the game. I learned the history of every NFL team. I began collecting football trading cards and sports memorabilia. I started creating my own NFL mock drafts. And I began to play fantasy football three years ago.

This weekend alone, I watched the 2017 NFL Draft. I have been watching the entire draft for years...all seven rounds, since 2008 now. Many fans would have no interest in that, but I do. On Thursday, I had watched the first round at school with a few classmates...my fellow sports friends were in the room, watching intensely with me, while a few other friends who are not football fans, wondered how we could possibly all watch such a boring sporting event for over three hours.

Fans making their way to the 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia.

Then I looked at the fans in attendance of the event in Philadelphia this year. The passionately booed and cheered for hours on end, from one day to the next, for hours on end (probably around 10-12 hours total for the three day event). 

Some may call us crazy, but I say that we're just dedicated and loyal sports fans to our favorite team. When I really do reflect on it, Guttmann is right, identification is a powerful thing, and that is the strongest motive that a sports fan can possibly have...take it from me. Hopefully you can understand what may drive the mind of a sports fan a little more now.

JOUR 420: B#7

Lions and Tigers and Bears, (and Dogs and Cocks), Oh My 

I can tell you right now that I'm definitely not talking about Kansas. And this isn't Oz either. Nope, I'm gonna take you back, way back...back into time of England and Great Britain.

Within the first two chapters of Sports Spectators, Allen Guttmann explained the violent world of blood sports, where athletes would fight for survival rather than just fame. All of this would be done in a coliseum as a form of pure entertainment. Some would be put in a ring with lions and tigers. The more bloodshed the better. These sports were simply barbaric.

In chapter three, Guttmann discusses Englishmen and more modern times in sports. One of the sections in this chapter that I am going to focus on most is animal sports. Compared to the book's beginning chapters, we see a sharp change in sports and what was considered moral...we made a change for the better...kinda...well not really.

Bloodsports for entertainment remained, just not as much with humans. Instead of people finding excitement and pleasure in seeing other people murder each other, they found it in watching animals murder each other...which to some people, may actually be worse than people vs. people violence.

Some of the most popular sports in England from the 1600's-1700's included dog-fighting, cock-fighting, bull-baiting and bear-baiting. Although know what dog-fighting and cock-fighting is, as these activities still exist today, bull and bear baiting was the act of capturing either a bull or a bear, and then sending dogs to attack the captured predator. The end result of each of these sports was a fight to the death.

Even Queen Elizabeth was a noted fan of the barbaric animal death rings. "All in all, it was a rude and dirty past-time," Guttmann writes. "Although the middle classes were the first to turn away from the 'butcherly sports,' there were plenty of middle-class Englishmen who relished them." (Sports Spectators, p. 55).

Yeah, this wasn't a whole lot better from those barbaric Roman gladiator days.

The view of these sports have changed greatly since. What used to be entertainment and sport for kings, queens and royalty, is now considered animal cruelty and is an illegal activity.

Seeing anyone take part in vicious activities such as this are rare to hear nowadays. One of the most controversial stories involving dog-fighting and a celebrity athlete happened about a decade ago.

Former Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick

Former Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick was indicted in July 2007 on federal offense and state felony chargers, for his involvment in an illegal interstate dog fighting ring known as "Bad Newz Kennels." Vick was involved with the criminal enterprise for six years.

Vick, at the time of his dog fighting scandal, was one of the most explosive and talented athletes in the NFL.

Vick's 15-acre property in Virginia, which housed over 70 pit-bull terriers, was seized. Vick pleaded guilty and spent two years in federal prison before making his return to professional football.

Vick walking with his lawyers during the 2007 trial process.

The now recently retired QB seemed to have come out of prison as a changed man, deeply regretting the activities he took part in beforehand. However, people never forgot about his actions. Some quickly decided to forgive Vick for his actions, believing that the QB deserved a second chance. while others, such as animal right activists, protested his return to pro football. Many still have not forgiven Vick for his actions to this very day.

Unfortunately, these activities continue to happen all of the time today, not just for entertainment, but for greed and money which comes from betting on certain animals. In the same way how one can find ISIS and graphic terrorists video's online which include blood and death, there are also many video's and photographic evidence of dog fighting, cock fighting, and bear / bull baiting. 

Although these "sports" may not be talked about much today, they still exist, and that's one of the saddest things to know, that so many people continue to participate in these activities. There are many athletes and spectators who dispute the violence in today's professional sports, but they do not compare whatsoever to the brutality of any bloodsport.

JOUR 420: B#6

A Love for Sports or Violence?

Times have changed greatly compared to the old mid-evil times and the gladiator days where Rome ruled all. One thing that has stayed the same since then is the popularity of sports, which were often violent and involved death. Crowds from all around would gather to see sport and death for entertainment. Although we are not as barbaric now, we still enjoy to watch violent sports, and as fans, can get violent if provoked enough.

So what factors separate sports and how we view them today compared to gladiator times? Here are the three main factors:

1. The Sports That Are Played

Sports sure have changed over the years, and thank God that they have. 

Ancient depiction of two Roman gladiators fighting.

In ancient Rome, the only sports that there was were "blood sports" which basically meant that there was some form of mortal combat, where the athletes participating had only one goal -- survive. Common sports back then included chariot races, gladiator duels (a fight to the death between two individuals), and survival rings against wild animals such as lions.

Today, sports are well-organized and highly respected. More than ever before, the health and safety of athletes is a concern and is taken into consideration for violent sports such as American football, hockey and boxing. Helmets and shoulder pads were created to protect both football and hockey players, and a boxing or MMA match is ended with a knockout, not death. As injuries such as concussions have arisen, people have been driven away from contact sports, fearing for the health of themselves or loved ones.

2. What Athletes Play For

Why do athletes play sports? The answers are simply. 

In the old days, athletes played for their life. It's as simple as that. Either kill to win and survive, or lose and die...those are some tough odds.

Clemson football teammates celebrate after winning the 2017 NCAA National Championship.

Clemson QB Deshaun Watson kisses National Championship trophy after victory over Alabama.

Today, high school and college athletes play for many things. They play for pride, for their team, for their family, for trophies, they play to be the best, and they play to win. For professional athletes, many play for a hefty paycheck, while others still do passionately play the game that they love.

3. Why We Watch Them

With all that said, do fans still enjoy violence? Of course they do! Are today's sports still violent? Of course they are! They just are not as barbaric as they once were.

In the mid-evil days, fans would gather around to see blood and death. If death was not involved, they would be disappointed and angered. Now, we watch sports for the stories, the players and the teams that we love most. 

However, as time as passed, new ways have been created to watch and follow sports, such as written articles, radio, television and social media. We are the spectators, and even if we can't attend the game or the event, we can still watch it and know what's happening.

According to Allen Guttmann of Sports Spectators, his definition of a sports spectator is "anyone who views a sports event, either in situ or through visual media such as film or television." (Guttman 5).

It is important to note that watching it at home compared to being at the actual game brings a completely different experience.

Whichever way we view it, one thing that sports has always been is entertainment.

Although we may have cleaned up our act as fans of sport over the centuries, we still are not very innocent. Thankfully, most sports fans do not want to see the death of an athlete, but do enjoy watching the brawl that may occur.

The whole premise of watching a boxing match is to watch people beat each other up; and many of us are attracted to fights. For example, that's why so many students make a big deal out of a school fight -- it causes excitement and an adrenaline rush for the spectator. Even if they are not actually fighting, they are involved in the fight. 

Many people watch football for the big hits and tackles, which are always exciting. And many watch hockey for the fights that commonly take place in between games after two opposing players get into a dispute.

To many, organized violence for sport is just a great form of entertainment. As a huge sports fan, I'm not innocent of this either, but I also have no regrets.