The Psychology of Phandom

Last night's devastating loss and subsequent inability for me to fall asleep brought to mind some thoughts about the nature of being a sports fan. Now, I will be the first to admit that I have not been a life-long Rays fan, only having really been following them closely for the past 2 years or so, mainly because they were horrible but had some talented young players whom I found interesting and I'm a sucker for an underdog with a glimmer of hope. But for 15 minutes after that loss last night, it felt like the worst thing in the world, just a complete and utter disappointment, and I had a boiling rage of hate for the Red Sox players, fans, ownership, anyone living within the Greater Boston Area, and had vowed to never drink a Sam Adams ever again. Which is obviously a pretty stupid reaction to the result of a game featuring a bunch of grown men chasing a ball around a field wearing ridiculous pants.

So why do we grow so attached to the results of certain sports teams? (Besides the ones we bet on, of course. The profit motive is very powerful. I totally understand why we can get passionate about that situation... like, um, the 2008 Final Four. /shameless self-promotion) The irrational hatred of the Yankees by the Red Sox and vice versa by those who are passionate about those teams is one of the reasons I find it difficult to support those teams (well, that and the sense of entitlement). Clearly some (arguably negative) aspects of human nature (such as grouping and the "us-vs-them" mentality) are tapped into very well by sports teams and the response is not unlike the irrational way people look at countries, primarily their own. Nationalism is a pretty big beef with me, and there are some obvious parallels - to the point that I feel guilty for loving the Olympics as much as I do. For the most part, objectivity is thrown out the window for the fan, just like the lover of country. It is an emotional activity that centers on our feeling of belonging to a group and the thrill of competition against The Others. There is likely a pretty powerful evolutionary root for this part of human nature, but it's probably best for us to step back every once in a while and realize what we're getting all excited about.

So I'm gonna shut off my heart and go look at some VORP projections for next year. After all, I've got a fantasy league to win!