How Much is Too Much Emotion Towards Sports?

[rmackman]

When I left Section 103 Row 32 Seat 6 at Lambeau Field with my 3 cousins, my aunt, and my uncle on Sunday night I was in shock. I was numb from the cold, and I was numb from what I saw on the field. My family and I just talked about anything we could that wasn't about the Packers just to avoid the subject. It was difficult to do. On the ride home I just wanted to go to sleep so I didn't have to read my friends' text messages or listen to the voicemails. Surprisingly most of the ones I got were actually consolation messages. Even the girl that I'm seeing who usually thinks it's silly when I got all riled up over a game sent me a message that said "Honestly if I were there right now I'd give you a hug because I'm sure this is a big deal." I mean even she got the jist of it.

I've never cried over a football game. I'm pretty sure I never will. However looking back on the NFC Championship...I think I almost did. When Tynes missed that field goal to send it into overtime, I felt like Brett Favre would make it happen. When the Packers won the coin toss...I knew Favre was going to make a game winning drive. I knew then and there that my flight and drive up to Green Bay was worth it becaue I was going to see a peice of Brett Favre and Lambeau magic that has made the Packers what they are.

It didn't happen. In fact the one person I was glad to have in the game was the reason the game ended the way it did. It made the cold weather feel that much colder. It was like being in a morgue. Now two days removed from the episode I still find myself pretty broken up about the whole thing. It's kind of like when you break up with a girl you've been dating and think to yourself, "Gosh...we just spent every weekend together for seven months and now it's just so empty." I mean that's a bit extreme, but that's all I can really come up with. I guess it will just take a few weeks to deal with. Strange. Never thought I'd get THAT emotional over a game. I guess there's always next year right? Go Pack Go.

[Sport]

In the 2006 season the bengals at 8-6 lost in week 16 by way of a botched extra point and lost in week 17 by way of a missed field goal and a trick play in overtime to the hated steelers. After the week 16 loss to the Broncos I calmly walked out to the backyard ripped a birdhouse off of a tree and smashed it to pieces on the patio. After the week 17 loss I calmly walked out to the backyard picked up a wooden hockey stick and spent the next minute destroying it against a basketball pole. A win in either game would've sent the Bengals to the playoffs and they blew both, but it wasn't appropriate action to take and I admit that I went over the top, especially considering my grandparents were there both weeks.

[Thad]

Sometimes sport is an outlet for emotion and I don't know how much emotion is too much it depends on the person I think. I know shooting people, rioting, and killing others after a game is too much.

I know I shed a tear or two on senior night in high school. For a team I didn't play for, I don't remember ever crying. I've come close in the 1996 World Series.

[BlueSky]

I understand your feelings over the Packers' loss but have to say to you that at least whatever lows you ever experience, you have some balance because you have felt the pride and excitement of seeing your team win championships. They play at arguably the world's greatest sports venue and have a long history of tradition and success. They're an icon of American sports, and for the right reasons.

You want tough? Try being a Saints fan. This was supposed to finally be our season. We went 7-9. It takes mental toughness to stay loyal when you've known little but heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss.

You have no option now but to look forward with hope to next season. Saints fans have been doing that every year since the Saints came into the league in 1967.

[BB61]

As much pure torture as being a Philadelphia sports fan is, the only two bouts of sports induced depression I've received were caused by the Oilers in '87 and Joe %#$% Carter in '93. That said, I was only 5 and 12, respectively, when both happened, so I was a little more sensitive to things then.

Whenever a team flops in the playoffs, I generally try to avoid the local media for about 72 hours, or in the case of the Eagles, 2 weeks. I don't think I've ever resorted to physical violence in the wake of a loss, though I have dropped a few lighthearted F-bombs on the subway home.

[quantum]

I try to keep my emotions in check since dealing with the pain of the Pack losing to Dallas in the early 90s. For the game against the Giants, I knew this would be a bad game after the first possession. After watching them all season, you can sense when the team is flat. I was excited when Tynes missed the two FGs, only because it provided some hope. Still, watching the Pack's uninspired play kills the excitement for the game. I knew this was the NFC championship, but you couldn't tell that by watching the Packers. The Giants played a solid game, and just seemed to have wanted it more.

[njmeadowlanders]

I was at Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS at Shea...

...and when it was all over, I wasn't really accepting of it...you know?

And over the next couple of weeks it began to sink in and all of that...but I was too "shellshocked" (for lack of a better term off the top of my head) to really come to grips with the fact that such a fun, exciting season really was just over like that...

...and this collapse back in September of '07, coupled with a bad Jets season and all that stuff, let's just say I wasn't too happy about that either...

Now, I'm not the kind of person who throws the remote or goes and punches a hole in the wall or screams at everyone and whatnot, but I do let it get to me and replay things over and over and all that stuff--I really am affected by it...

So I imagine I'd probably have handled myself the same way if I were a Packer fan and was in your (very cold) shoes...

And hey--it could be worse...you could be a Jet fan... (Or a Browns, Cardinals, Lions, Saints, etc. fan...)

[TFoA]

The only time I've ever cried over a sporting event...Playing football in my high school days, we were up 26 points at halftime of my sophomore year homecoming game...we lost by 2 on a last minute touchdown drive...The entire team was bawling.

That was loss #7 of an 9 year homecoming losing streak...we didn't win a homecoming game until last season (the year after I graduate...lame.)

[pcgd]

I've never gotten that emotional about a professional or college team I cheer for. I say 'we' too much, and I feel bad and shocked if a player dies on the team (Darryl Kile, Jack Buck, Josh Hancock for The Cardinals), or that used to play (Matt Heldman for Illinois) but never have been brought to tears of sadness over a game or anything. I can maintain a certain detachment, even though I would certainly call myself a die-hard fan of the Bears, Cardinals, and Illini. But my emotions are left at the gate, on the couch, or on the barstool. I don't stew about stuff or cheer about stuff much beyond the final buzzer.

I've cheered, been insanely happy, and been insanely angry. But I can't ever recall feeling like I was going to cry. I almost cried with joy when the Cardinals won the world series in 06. And I remember being very upset when Illinois lost in the National Championship game in 05. The Bears losing the super bowl angered me more than anything.

I cried my eyes out my last high school football game however. And when we my team was the first to lose in 45 (I think..it was 40 something) regular season games. And it was against our arch rivals and it was something like 48-0.

I almost did my last HS baseball game too. We were up 8-0 in the 3rd inning in the regional championship, and it would have been our schools first. The other team eventually got within 2 in the top of the 7th and we gave up a 3 run homer. That was very emotional.

But a team I've never physically been a part of? Never that upset.

Now, sports movies get me almost every time...

[Discrim]

pat said it all...I've been crazy excited, insanely happy, and pissed off to the point where I smack myself on the head. About the only things I aint done are get sad to the point of crying, and squeezing my balls like them crazy Aggie fans (yes, I know not all Aggie fans do this). With a bit of unrelated help, sunday's game almost brought me to tears, and honestly I don't wanna think about either right now.

[ericcartman19]

In the 2006 season the bengals at 8-6 lost in week 16 by way of a botched extra point and lost in week 17 by way of a missed field goal and a trick play in overtime to the hated steelers.

[Viper]

For the game against the Giants, I knew this would be a bad game after the first possession. After watching them all season, you can sense when the team is flat. I was excited when Tynes missed the two FGs, only because it provided some hope. Still, watching the Pack's uninspired play kills the excitement for the game. I knew this was the NFC championship, but you couldn't tell that by watching the Packers. The Giants played a solid game, and just seemed to have wanted it more.

Yup. As I menioned in the playoff thread, the Favre interception in OT was just the last straw. He missed his target on more than one other occasion that night. Stupid penalties on defense didn't help matters any either. My disappointment was tempered by the fact that playing like that would only have gotten them slaughtered by the Patriots in the Super Bowl, even if they had managed to get in.

[CS85]

The teams we root for are an extension of ourselves, as we bond with that team for any number of reasons, so like life, we're bitter when we think we've got something won and things fall apart.

I actually used to have a collection of $1 laundry baskets next to my TV room in my lounge growing up, so whenever the teams would lose a hardcore game in the playoffs or whathaveyou, I'd just destroy those things without mercy.

The only time I've ever broken down crying was the 2003 Bartman cubs. I didn't get angry I just got sad and hung up the jersey. I almost cried about the bears losing this past superbowl, but it was more anger than sadness. I don't find anything wrong with outbursts as long as you don't take it out on your family and friends.

[habsfan1]

After the week 16 loss to the Broncos I calmly walked out to the backyard ripped a birdhouse off of a tree and smashed it to pieces on the patio. After the week 17 loss I calmly walked out to the backyard picked up a wooden hockey stick and spent the next minute destroying it against a basketball pole.

pat said it all...I've been crazy excited, insanely happy, and pissed off to the point where I smack myself on the head.

For a long time, I never thought anybody would get that angry over any sports game.

[Alphabet Man]

This is from Mike Brady's song Up There Cazaly. It's an Australian Football song, but I think it sums it up.

Now there's a lot more things to football

That really meets the eye

There are days when you could give it up

There are days when you could fly

You either love or hate it

Depending on the score

But when your team run out or they kick a goal

How's the mighty roar (hooray, hooray)

When your team gets so close and loses, you naturally want to dig a hole and hide.

It's like all that work for nothing when you fall a game short.

However, I think i'd rather lose in the penultimate game than in the final.

Those lyrics sum up the emotions of sports fans.

[Telemundo219]

Yeah, it's hard to admit but I've cried a couple times. The most disappointing time for me had to be the 2000 Western Conference Finals between Portland and the Lakers. Man to see the Blazers lead by 15 at one point and have the Lakers come back like the always did devastated me. Then that alley from Kobe to Shaq put the nail to coffin to the emotions. Man.... that was bad. Plus the Mets Game 7 loss to the Cardinals made me shed cause I truly thought and hoped that Beltran would come through in the last at bat...but... he didn't.

[Sport]

In the 2006 season the bengals at 8-6 lost in week 16 by way of a botched extra point and lost in week 17 by way of a missed field goal and a trick play in overtime to the hated steelers.

I've been meaning to ask you, what do you think of your username?

[Sport]

In the 2006 season the bengals at 8-6 lost in week 16 by way of a botched extra point and lost in week 17 by way of a missed field goal and a trick play in overtime to the hated steelers.

I've been meaning to ask you, what do you think of your username?

[infrared41]

I used to get all wound up in The Browns, Buckeyes, and Indians but I noticed that it took away from my enjoyment of the games. Now I am over it by the first commercial break at the end of the game. There's no future in any real emotional investment in a sports team.

My guess is this will be a very unpopular position but...To answer the question "How Much is Too Much Emotion Towards Sports?" I think anything that lasts longer than a few minutes is probably a good sign that we need to reassess our priorities. If you're beating birdhouses, breaking things, and crying then you're probably a little too wrapped up in your teams. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of my teams but I don't ever let their fortunes or lack thereof ever cross into my "real life." If they win or if they lose my life doesn't change one bit. There is no enjoyment in getting depressed or violent after a loss. If I'm not having fun then it's not worth the bother. Sorry but that's just the way I see it.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The worst I've ever done is turned off the TV and throw the remote on the couch. However, during Gerry McNamara and Syracuse's miracle run through the Big East tournament in 2006, I convinced my girlfriend to care about the games. She and I would watch the Big East tournament together -- it was really the most thrilling week of basketball of my life, perhaps even eclipsing the 2003 NCAA's. Anyway, I bring it up, only to say this: because she saw how wrapped up I was in the team, she was especially nice at consoling me after SU got bounced by Texas A&M in the first round.

I think that's the good kind of emotional investment.