What watching sports and reading books have in common
We went to our first (and hopefully not only!) baseball game of the year yesterday.
We missed the Royals when they were in Chicago in May to play the White Sox and this was our last chance to see them here this year (during the regular season, anyway…). Steven’s brother, Andrew, hooked us up with four tickets (we went with Bobbi and John!) as an early birthday present for me. Thanks, Andrew!
Our seats were in row 2, along the middle of left field. It was awesome to sit right by the field and see so many plays up close! It was hard to tell what was going on with the pitching (and funny to hear people around us saying things like “that was totally a strike!” – how could you possibly see it?!) but I would trade being in a more central seat, to being so close to the action, again. And Andrew even found us on the broadcast of the game:
Did you find us? Look for Steven’s beard.
Thankfully, it was mostly overcast yesterday, and only in the high 60s. It was in the 90s on Saturday, and all day Saturday (as we worked in our hot attic, ha!) I was thinking about how happy I was that Andrew picked Sunday’s (and not Saturday’s) game for us to attend. I have sat in a ballpark, drenched in my own sweat before and… eh. It’s no bueno.
All week I kept telling Steven how excited I was to get a vegan hot dog at the game. It got to the point that he asked me if I was more excited about that, than the game. Ha! No…
The hot dog totally lived up to my expectations. I love that ballparks have vegan options!
And I love that the Royals won yesterday – yay!
Having an interest in professional sports is new to me. It’s not something I was raised to do or ever understood. I wondered, “Why do people care so much?” To try to understand it, I just compared it to the way we all have hobbies we’re extremely passionate about that other people just will never get – but can definitely respect and still show interest in!
Then, I read this paragraph from an excerpt from Shoe Dog (a memoir from the Nike creator, Phil Knight) in the June issue of Runner’s World, and it explained it to me in a different way that makes more sense. Knight is talking about watching Steve Prefontaine race:
Knight was there to watch the game – not race, yet he felt like he was racing – he even felt sore afterward!
For many people, watching sports is more than a hobby. It’s living another life, like you do when you read a book. It’s a chance to get a taste of an existence that will never be your reality. Maybe it’s even a bit of an escape at times… with a definite guarantee that there will be times of highs and lows.
And that’s not where I am, but reading this really helped me understand sports culture a lot better!
Themocracy
Such a super fun day! Thanks Andrew!! I may never again get to sit that close 🙂
Maybe we can sit that close… at a minor league game! 🙂
Look at those seats! Amazing! I’ve always enjoyed going to sporting events. We rarely went to pro games when I was a kid (everything was either three hours away in Chicago or three hours away in Detroit), other than I think one or two Tigers games when I was in high school, but it doesn’t really make a huge difference to me what level the athletes are on, whether it’s collegiate or pro or something else. I just love watching games. I think one of the things I like the most about it is that you get such an emotional rush, but it doesn’t *really* affect you (unless you’re overly invested in your team, that is. Anyone can take anything to unnecessary extremes). And then there’s the unity thing, too – I really love being in a stadium with thousands and thousands of people feeling like we’re all cheering for the same thing. It’s kind of like running a big race, in that sense: there’s something really special about being surrounded by tons of people invested in the same thing you’re invested in!
So it sounds like your family went to non pro games together? Did you watch them at home too, or do you prefer to go (I do!).
Those are definitely perks of going – especially the unity when your team does well! And that part is totally like running – in that sense you can start talking with a random person about the event and have so much to share and connect on, even though you are complete strangers!
That’s a great description of why there can be such a visceral reaction for sports fans. I’ve never seen that quote before but it really is insightful. And that’s so cool that the ballpark has vegan hot dogs!
I had never seen anything that explained it that well and really appreciated it!
The ballpark in KC has vegan options too! I wonder how many do now. It’s greatly appreciated!
That is AWESOME that the Cell offers vegan hot dogs! They have MUCH better food choices on the South Side than Wrigley Field does.
I’m having trouble finding you in that TV screenshot. I can see Steven’s beard but I don’t see you. =(
As you know, I am a HUGE sports fan. For me, the reason I love the teams so much is because I love the guys on the team. The Blackhawks in particular do a phenomenal job of letting the fans get to know the players, their personalities, their families, what they do when they’re at home, their quirks, etc. Obviously their athletic skills and talents are all mindblowing! But at the very heart I root for them because I like them as PEOPLE and I feel a connection to them as PEOPLE.
Also, being a runner, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to train hard from watching professional athletes. It has made me appreciate what they do much more when I myself am struggling during the last few miles of a run. Their will to win, and their perseverance, is very inspiring to me!
Do they? I haven’t been to Wrigley in forever!
Steven is wearing white and looking forward and smiling and I am to his left, wearing blue, with my head turned 🙂
That is cool the Blackhawks do such a good job with that! Bobbi was asking why I got a Perez jersey – why I like him – and it was the stuff you mention. It was sad on Sunday when one of my fave players wasn’t there cause he’s off for the season! I have to get to know the new guys 🙂
Oh man, yes! It’s so cool to see how they train to perform! I love seeing that about any sport, even the ones I don’t understand. It’s always impressive how much they do to prepare to play!
Sports fandom psychology really is so interesting. I don’t know these people and the outcome of their game has literally no effect on my life…so why am I ecstatic when they win and heartbroken when they lose?
I like the comparison to reading books – it really is very similar in that both are forms of escapism, a chance to live vicariously through someone else for a while. I also think for many people, pro sports provide an outlet for feelings of competitiveness and tribalism that we don’t get to express in our day-to-day average joe lives.
Of course, some people can definitely take it too far. Nothing wrong with frinedly rivalries and getting that vicarious thrill from a tense game, but some fans really seem to lack in perspective sometimes. I know this all too well living in Packers country.
And that is what I was never able to understand – the why are we so affected by it! And your second point is very good – about getting to experience something we want to, but can’t in our day to day lives.
LOL! Yeah… there are always those fans!!!!
A vegan dog!? I have never…how great is that!?
I use to go to baseball games when I was young and loved it! As I got older, I just lost the passion for it. Now I am all about racing…lol I get how people get so invested. It is totally an escape for me.
Maybe we all need something like that, right? A little escape?
Haha, I love that you got excited about the hot dog and were talking more about that than going to the game. That sounds like something I would do too!
However, unlike me, you are such a nice, considerate person, trying to see things from the perspective of sports fans. I just told Harrison about how impressed I was at you trying to understand about sports culture, and he was like “Hm…nope. You don’t try very hard. At all.”
(This being said, I am not completely stubborn on this. I get that a lot of people hate musicals when I really enjoy them. And it’s ultimately for similar reasons — getting to marvel at people being so talented in a way we never can be.)
Ha ha ha! Ballpark food is a fun treat for me and I was totally excited about it!
I’ve just had so many people be rude about my interests that I try to ask questions and understand theirs a bit – IF they are kind to me – because who knows?! Maybe I’ll learn something. And it’s nice to get to talk about your passions to someone who will listen and ask questions and make you feel like an expert 🙂
Steven’s beard is the absolute best way to spot you guys!
Watching sports has made us sad here, this morning. Our Belgian soccer team, for which our entire country had high expectations, lost their opening match to Italy in the European Cup last night. It feels like the whole country is in mourning. Hopefully they can turn it around and do better in their next two matches.
But…vegan hotdogs at the ballpark??? How cool is that!
Ha ha ha, it is, right?!
NOOOO!!! I hope they do turn it around!
I love this! I am a huge sports fan and I love that you’re trying to understand the crazy culture of sports fandom. It can be crazy how a loss can affect my entire day or a win can make me so happy, but I feel so strongly about my teams and sports as a whole.
I originally read “Steven’s beard” as “Steven’s hand” and was like “I don’t see his hand, but I think I see his beard!” Bahaha.
That doesn’t seem crazy to me – probably because even though I’ve never understood it, I’ve always known people like that! 🙂
LOL!!!!
I *love* sports, although I think that some of them are boring or suck (ha ha), and, to be honest, I always go through a bit of “what am I going to do now” when a certain event or season is over (for instance, there is serious downtime after March Madness). I remember a few years ago when the Broncos lost one of their many important games – either the Super Bowl or a play-off game – and Michael said “I feel as though I have an emotional hang-over”.
Baseball, I’ll confess, is not a game that I really follow. However, I think the experience of going to a baseball game vs. watching a game on TV is vastly different – going to a baseball game is MUCH more enjoyable, and part of that, I think, has to do with the food! What else are you going to do at a baseball game? So glad that you were able to partake in the baseball tradition of a hotdog!
I bet – when you are that invested you’d totally feel that way when your team ended sooner than you thought! See, you gotta watch baseball cause the season is SOOOOO long… then there is a break and spring training starts! LOL. I am just kidding 😉
YES! THE FOOD! That is a HUGE reason why I love the games. They are easier for me to follow in person, too. I really enjoy watching when I am there!