How Much is Too Much Emotion Towards Sports?

[sacker12]

The only time I remember being incredibly disappointed in the outcome of a game was our last game of the season against Florida Atlantic. If we won this game, we would have finished the season undefeated in the conference, and would have clinched the automatic bid to the New Orleans Bowl. Unfortunately, we lost 38-32, even after we came back after we were down by a large margin at the start of the 4th quarter. That is the only time that I remember crying after a game.

I can see how crying after a game is understandable after a game if you're a player or someone that is directly associated with the team. But, if a fan cries, or at worse saddened, if their team loses a big game, then I think that it may be a little too much.

[Mac the Knife]

If you're playing, go nuts if you want. Otherwise, keep an even keel.

If it's a professional team you're rooting for, keep in mind that you're rooting for a business. Granted it's in the business of entertainment via sports, but nonetheless it is a business. Rooting for a team to win the big game can be equated to hoping that Microsoft Vista will gain more market share in Q3 2008. Different means of pursuing the same end - separating as many people from as much of their money as possible.

If it's a college team you pull for and you're an alumnus, keep in mind that you're ties to that institution are nostalgic - and financial if you're dumb enough to send donation money to the school as well. My wife is a victim of this. She pores over sports pages in search of some nugget about her alma mater's team. She even (behind my back) periodically sends them a donation check. Never mind the fact that the school is building students luxury apartment buildings on campus to replace the dorms that were perfectly good enough for students of my generation, that they're spending millions on revamping the football stadium but virtually nothing more on that thing the students allegedly go there for - an education... and never mind the fact that my wife's degree had absolutely nothing to do with what she does today.

And while I've not read a single post in this thread, I'll just bet there's at least one or two yutz'es who refer to their team in first-person, as if they had something to do with a game's outcome. "We really took one in the teeth this afternoon," or "We really beat the **** outta those guys." Really? Did you get called up into the game from Section 313 or something? Does the club employ you in some capacity - player, front office staff member, peanut vendor? No? Then S T F U with all this "WE" ****. WE didn't do anything. YOU watched while THEY played. YOU enjoyed yourself (or not). End of story.

While I'm not saying don't enjoy sports - quite the contrary - I am saying remain at all times cognizant of what you're watching. It's entertainment, same as someone going to the opera, same as someone dropping a quarter in a video game at an arcade (those still exist in remote places on Earth, right?), same as going for a long drive with a girl you intend to **** but never marry: something to be enjoyed for the moment, but under no circumstances worthy of getting upset over.

[black_gold_capone]

no offense to the guy above me but I feel that sports is one of the most important things in life. It enables somebody to feel apart of somethin even without actually participating or making any decisions. It can pick you up when your down, some more but im too lazy to describe them all. I think its healthy to have love like that for a team.....especially when the whole family is apart of it.

[SgtCarp]

When I'm playing, I get emotional. Not sad, but mad. On the tennis court i curse and throw things when i start screwing up. Of course, when things work positively i yell things like "Come on!" and stuff like that. I guess I'm just really into what I do.

Watching a game, I have cried once. That time was when UVa lost to Tennessee in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. I was there in person, and when Sean Singletary launched that last shot, I thought for sure it was going in. When it rimmed out, I sat there and cried.

I get mad plenty of times, but not like a week ago when Virginia Tech beat UVa in our own house in overtime on a last second shot. When the ball dropped through I launched into a fit of swearing and nearly broke my toe kicking a cement barrier near my seat. I might have reacted differently if the loss hadn't been to Tech. Despite the fact that I live in Charlottesville, my school has its share of redneck Tech fans, so i had to take a bunch of crap the next day.

Sports are such a huge part of my life, and I get way into them

[Mac the Knife]

no offense to the guy above me but I feel that sports is one of the most important things in life. It enables somebody to feel apart of somethin even without actually participating or making any decisions. It can pick you up when your down, some more but im too lazy to describe them all. I think its healthy to have love like that for a team.....especially when the whole family is apart of it.

No offense taken. When I was young and lived up your way (Indiana/Johnstown area, to be specific) I thought the same way. Once I got older, and particularly once I left Western Pennsylvania which eats, drinks, walks, talks, sleeps, ****s sports to a degree that now astonishes me (e.g., the last time I was up there I walked into a restaurant in Johnstown. I didn't know a soul, but within minutes I was almost literally dragged away from my wife and into a conversation about the Steelers defense), I was able to separate myself from it enough to be more rational toward it.

It's good to be entertained, however you get that entertainment provided it doesn't inflict harm on others. It's just not good to be emotionally involved to a point where your existence even remotely revolves around it.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Old man cane-shaking deleted

Boy are you a grump. You're one of the both-ways-uphill crowd too, huh?

And before you take to much offense, I have a similar proclivity towards thinking my generation did everything right and it's everyone else who is wrong. But then I realize that kind of attitude leads to yelling at small children to stay of my lawn, and I try to tone it down a notch.

[Billy B]

Well, I've never cried or even broken something when a pro or college team has lost. I was really mad after the Bears lost the Super Bowl, but as another Bears fan stated that was just anger. I've just become immune to the Cubs losing in the playoffs so that it didn't phase me really when they lost this year.

Now when I'm playing, that's a different story. The first time I cried during a game was in 6th Grade. We were playing our rivals in football that hadn't lost in two years and were winning 12-7 with 30 seconds left. It was 4th down when we had the quarterback wrapped up, then he lateraled the ball behind his back to the running back who took it 40 yards to win. I also cried when we lost our semifinal playoff game in 8th Grade. In high school, I haven't cried in two years of football so far. It's been more of an angry mood when things don't go right. I almost cried when we blew a 17-0 lead to a team that had no business beating us, but shook that off knowing we get to play them again next year.

[DEAD!]

Old man cane-shaking deleted

Boy are you a grump. You're one of the both-ways-uphill crowd too, huh?

And before you take to much offense, I have a similar proclivity towards thinking my generation did everything right and it's everyone else who is wrong. But then I realize that kind of attitude leads to yelling at small children to stay off my lawn, and I try to tone it down a notch.

... I thought you lived in an apartment? ...

[Chief.]

I hurt my wrist slightly after smacking a chair to the ground in my room after Kansas lost the championship game in basketball to Syracuse. It was the first championship game I've seen in my life with one of my teams participating, so I feel that one violent action was perfectly acceptable. After I left the stadium in the Chiefs 38-31 loss to the Colts in the 2003 season, I just didn't say a word to anybody throughout the 4-hour ride home. I didn't lose it like I did in the KU game, I just kept my mouth shut and relaxed for a while to let it all sink in. I know it sounds bad to have that much emotion invested in sports, but I feel its human to be passionate about anything, including your favorite teams.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Old man cane-shaking deleted

Boy are you a grump. You're one of the both-ways-uphill crowd too, huh?

And before you take to much offense, I have a similar proclivity towards thinking my generation did everything right and it's everyone else who is wrong. But then I realize that kind of attitude leads to yelling at small children to stay off my lawn, and I try to tone it down a notch.

... I thought you lived in an apartment? ...

They don't have

in Canada?

(yes, it's the best video I could find.)

[DEAD!]

Old man cane-shaking deleted

Boy are you a grump. You're one of the both-ways-uphill crowd too, huh?

And before you take to much offense, I have a similar proclivity towards thinking my generation did everything right and it's everyone else who is wrong. But then I realize that kind of attitude leads to yelling at small children to stay off my lawn, and I try to tone it down a notch.

... I thought you lived in an apartment? ...

They don't have

in Canada?

(yes, it's the best video I could find.)

... try doing that in the winter

[rams80]

I don't cry during games. I have been known to swear at times, and I do usually keep something soft close by in case I feel a need to throw something.

Oh well....

[Mac the Knife]

Old man cane-shaking deleted

Boy are you a grump. You're one of the both-ways-uphill crowd too, huh?

In the snow, buster. Without any shoes. LOL

Strangely enough, the fact that I run an amateur sports organization has if anything tempered my thinking along the lines of not getting too emotionally involved. Sports has become too commercialized, too much about things other than the games themselves.

[pcgd]

Old man cane-shaking deleted

Boy are you a grump. You're one of the both-ways-uphill crowd too, huh?

In the snow, buster. Without any shoes. LOL

Hot potatoes in your pocket to keep your hands warm?

Which of course was your lunch for the day.

That's what my dad always said anyway...

[Mac the Knife]

Old man cane-shaking deleted

Boy are you a grump. You're one of the both-ways-uphill crowd too, huh?

In the snow, buster. Without any shoes. LOL

Hot potatoes in your pocket to keep your hands warm?

Which of course was your lunch for the day.

That's what my dad always said anyway...

We couldn't afford potatoes, you whippersnapper! We had to use heated rocks we picked up from the street!

And no putting them in the oven jazz, either, boy-o. We had to light a fire using two twigs and flint stones!

[tBBP]

The only time I remember being incredibly disappointed in the outcome of a game was our last game of the season against Florida Atlantic. If we won this game, we would have finished the season undefeated in the conference, and would have clinched the automatic bid to the New Orleans Bowl. Unfortunately, we lost 38-32, even after we came back after we were down by a large margin at the start of the 4th quarter. That is the only time that I remember crying after a game.

I can see how crying after a game is understandable after a game if you're a player or someone that is directly associated with the team. But, if a fan cries, or at worse saddened, if their team loses a big game, then I think that it may be a little too much.

...And somewhere, I think them two girls might still be crying about North Carolina losing to Maryland in the Dean Dome.

[Jigga]

I think when you start talking about killing yourself on a message board, your relationship with sports is unhealthy.

[JQK]

1994

13 years old

Stephan Matteau

I cried like a baby for an hour straight....

[BlueSky]

In reading this thread, most if not all the responders spoke of crying due to a loss. The closest I ever came as an adult - my eyes welled up pretty good - was because of a win.

In 2000 my then-GF and I lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She surprised me with a Christmas gift of tickets to the Saints-Rams Wild Card playoff game. IIRC, the Saints were either 0-4 or 0-5 in the playoffs at that point. I'd been a Saints fan since attending my first game at age 8 in 1969. The Saints beat the Rams that day, ending 31 long years of personal disappointment and frustration. So yeah, I'm not afraid to admit I was feeling a little emotional as the last seconds ticked off the clock, especially since the Saints had, in keeping with tradition, managed to come VERY close to blowing a 31-7 lead in the 4th quarter. It took this to settle the issue. That clip features Jim Henderson's play-by-play from the Saints Radio Network, one of the classic calls of all time as far as I'm concerned. "There is a God after all!" sums up perfectly what every Saints fan was feeling at that moment.

It was also one of the nicest, most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.

[tBBP]

In reading this thread, most if not all the responders spoke of crying due to a loss. The closest I ever came as an adult - my eyes welled up pretty good - was because of a win.

In 2000 my then-GF and I lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She surprised me with a Christmas gift of tickets to the Saints-Rams Wild Card playoff game. IIRC, the Saints were either 0-4 or 0-5 in the playoffs at that point. I'd been a Saints fan since attending my first game at age 8 in 1969. The Saints beat the Rams that day, ending 31 long years of personal disappointment and frustration. So yeah, I'm not afraid to admit I was feeling a little emotional as the last seconds ticked off the clock, especially since the Saints had, in keeping with tradition, managed to come VERY close to blowing a 31-7 lead in the 4th quarter. It took this to settle the issue. That clip features Jim Henderson's play-by-play from the Saints Radio Network, one of the classic calls of all time as far as I'm concerned. "There is a God after all!" sums up perfectly what every Saints fan was feeling at that moment.

It was also one of the nicest, most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.

Speaking of which, Russ, I been meaning to ask you...you ever get around to sending Az-Zahir Hakim a thank-you gift after that game??? I'm sure he would have cried, too.

Oh--and speaking of crying and showing emotion due to a win, well, I have these words for you (as well as fans of the 49ers):

OWENS!!! OWENS!!! OWENS!!! OWENS!!! OWENS!!! CAUGHT IT--HE CAUGHT IT--HE CAUGHT IT--HE CAUGHT IT!!!

(From the 199-something playoff game between the Niners and the Pack, in which the Niners ended up beating GB. And a young T.O. ended up shedding tears.)