On the Value of Sports
I admit that I am almost as annoyed by all of the recent football status updates on Facebook as I was with all of the political ones. I am quite tired of seeing them.
I admit that this is probably a case of me being "highbrowish". (I stole this term from C.S. Lewis, who felt the same way about sports as I.)[1] It is a flaw in my character; it is prideful. I apologize for that. I don't mean to insult anyone. I'm not offended by your enjoyment of sports; I am just bored out of my mind by it.
But still, it stems from not being able to understand how anyone could be so obsessed with something I find so relatively trivial and un-beneficial, and from a feeling that one can place a greater value on some entertainments than others.[1]
I have wanted for some long time now to post about sports and try to analyze what it is that people value about observing them. Consider this post an analysis in progress.
Note that I enjoy playing (many but not all) sports. The playing of sports has great value in my mind. There are huge health benefits; it teaches personal discipline; it teaches teamwork, submission, and leadership; strategy engages and improves the mind; and the challenge of competition encourages perfection. I find all of those things both beneficial and fun.
But those benefits are not gained by someone watching sports -- with the possible exception of the strategizing part. (Watching sports with others can also have an added social value; this is also true.)
Also, note that I do (very) occasionally watch sports. I have enjoyed some Super Bowl games because the level of competition is high, so "entertaining" things happen. I can be impressed by the level of skill in the players. (But I never care who wins or loses.) Entertainment for entertainments sake is fine... in moderation. But I feel that time could be better spent on something both beneficial and entertaining.
What benefit/value is there in watching sports then?
Here are some possibilities, in no particular order. Take a read, disagree, find my flaws, etc.:
Sports are aesthetic.
It was ubersecret who first pointed out this possibility to me. (It took me over a year to track down where he said it, but I finally found it. [2]) He said:There is an aesthetic to sports just like there is to music and art. I don't get it, but I know it's there. There are patterns, degrees of beauty, and so on. I would submit that watching and truly comprehending sports can be as useful and valuable as looking at a nice painting or listening to a beautiful piece of music.
I think this is a good observation... in some cases. But maybe I am wrong and I am just oblivious to it.
I can totally see how one could find beauty in artistic sports -- such as gymnastics or figure skating. The human form is a thing of beauty, and its movement can be like a work of art.
I can also see this carry over into the more traditional sports, such as running and javelin-throwing.
I have a much harder time seeing it in team sports. I am sorry, but a mass of fat (albeit strong) men crashing together in a huge pile to gain a yard is not beautiful.
ubersecret and shadewright both argued that the harmony of a "good play" in a team sport is akin to the harmony found in music. I at first was opposed to this idea, but now 4½ years after that conversation, I think they may have been onto something.
Beauty is often found in order coming from disorder, and this certainly could occur when an amazing catch is made in the midst of multiple defenders.
Is this type of beauty subjective or objective? I'm not sure. It may seem subjective only to one who does not understand the rules of the game or how hard it is to play, but perhaps it is obvious to the ones who are sports fans.
I could see, then, how, depending on the specific situation, each of my three types of beauty could be found in sports.[3]
But is this truly why people enjoy watching sports? It may in part. But it certainly doesn't explain the obsessions of reading about sports and/or "choosing a team".
People enjoy sports for the violence.
I have observed that I myself and other men (and some women) seem to be entertained by violence and destruction.[5] Now, for my part, I only like such things if no harm comes to any human or animal, so by "violence", I only mean "intensity of force". I enjoy seeing things explode, for example. I admit that it is also really cool to see two men charging into each other at sprinting speeds and one slide tackling another.
Perhaps it is some genetic tendency to fighting that brings this out it most men, and perhaps sports are enjoyed for genetic reasons. Sports are known to have started as a "safe" way of "practicing" for war, and maybe this is why more men seem to enjoy them than women.
But this does not explain "team-picking" or following sports news either.
People like sports because they are expected to or because everybody else does.
I call this the "Emperor's New Clothes" Effect.[4]
Do people simply pick a team -- much like I think many people pick favorites in other things, such as colors or numbers -- because there is early-life pressure to do so?
People certainly act as if I am a freak of nature when I say I don't have favorite teams.
I wonder if social psychologists have studied this....
People watch sports to support a team.
This seems obvious at first, but it isn't necessarily the case. I would actually posit that more people support a team because they like to watch sports.
Now, I have certainly attended sports events to support friends, classmates, and even my college, despite not really enjoying the games.
Supporting a team could be seen like supporting troops. Players and soldiers certainly gain morale from knowing they have supporters back home, and they perform better.
But here is where I get really confused. People support the troops ultimately so that the home country is not destroyed or conquered. But sports fans are not always like this. I can see that one would cheer for the Ravens if they really loved the city of Baltimore and wanted it to flourish, hoping that this would increase the morale of the team, increasing the amount of Raven wins, increasing the amount of Baltimore publicity, and ultimately increasing the amount of income to Baltimore City.
But I don't think patriotism is why most people support teams. Maybe I am wrong.
And if you are cheering for a team not from where you live, isn't this almost unpatriotic? And why support a team of people you do not know personally nor gain any benefit from if they win? (I suppose that nowadays, with fantasy teams and all, things are different and there are benefits.)
Anyhow, there is my very long entry on sports. I would love to hear your thoughts and observations.
I admit that this is probably a case of me being "highbrowish". (I stole this term from C.S. Lewis, who felt the same way about sports as I.)[1] It is a flaw in my character; it is prideful. I apologize for that. I don't mean to insult anyone. I'm not offended by your enjoyment of sports; I am just bored out of my mind by it.
But still, it stems from not being able to understand how anyone could be so obsessed with something I find so relatively trivial and un-beneficial, and from a feeling that one can place a greater value on some entertainments than others.[1]
I have wanted for some long time now to post about sports and try to analyze what it is that people value about observing them. Consider this post an analysis in progress.
Note that I enjoy playing (many but not all) sports. The playing of sports has great value in my mind. There are huge health benefits; it teaches personal discipline; it teaches teamwork, submission, and leadership; strategy engages and improves the mind; and the challenge of competition encourages perfection. I find all of those things both beneficial and fun.
But those benefits are not gained by someone watching sports -- with the possible exception of the strategizing part. (Watching sports with others can also have an added social value; this is also true.)
Also, note that I do (very) occasionally watch sports. I have enjoyed some Super Bowl games because the level of competition is high, so "entertaining" things happen. I can be impressed by the level of skill in the players. (But I never care who wins or loses.) Entertainment for entertainments sake is fine... in moderation. But I feel that time could be better spent on something both beneficial and entertaining.
What benefit/value is there in watching sports then?
Here are some possibilities, in no particular order. Take a read, disagree, find my flaws, etc.:
Sports are aesthetic.
It was ubersecret who first pointed out this possibility to me. (It took me over a year to track down where he said it, but I finally found it. [2]) He said:There is an aesthetic to sports just like there is to music and art. I don't get it, but I know it's there. There are patterns, degrees of beauty, and so on. I would submit that watching and truly comprehending sports can be as useful and valuable as looking at a nice painting or listening to a beautiful piece of music.
I think this is a good observation... in some cases. But maybe I am wrong and I am just oblivious to it.
I can totally see how one could find beauty in artistic sports -- such as gymnastics or figure skating. The human form is a thing of beauty, and its movement can be like a work of art.
I can also see this carry over into the more traditional sports, such as running and javelin-throwing.
I have a much harder time seeing it in team sports. I am sorry, but a mass of fat (albeit strong) men crashing together in a huge pile to gain a yard is not beautiful.
ubersecret and shadewright both argued that the harmony of a "good play" in a team sport is akin to the harmony found in music. I at first was opposed to this idea, but now 4½ years after that conversation, I think they may have been onto something.
Beauty is often found in order coming from disorder, and this certainly could occur when an amazing catch is made in the midst of multiple defenders.
Is this type of beauty subjective or objective? I'm not sure. It may seem subjective only to one who does not understand the rules of the game or how hard it is to play, but perhaps it is obvious to the ones who are sports fans.
I could see, then, how, depending on the specific situation, each of my three types of beauty could be found in sports.[3]
But is this truly why people enjoy watching sports? It may in part. But it certainly doesn't explain the obsessions of reading about sports and/or "choosing a team".
People enjoy sports for the violence.
I have observed that I myself and other men (and some women) seem to be entertained by violence and destruction.[5] Now, for my part, I only like such things if no harm comes to any human or animal, so by "violence", I only mean "intensity of force". I enjoy seeing things explode, for example. I admit that it is also really cool to see two men charging into each other at sprinting speeds and one slide tackling another.
Perhaps it is some genetic tendency to fighting that brings this out it most men, and perhaps sports are enjoyed for genetic reasons. Sports are known to have started as a "safe" way of "practicing" for war, and maybe this is why more men seem to enjoy them than women.
But this does not explain "team-picking" or following sports news either.
People like sports because they are expected to or because everybody else does.
I call this the "Emperor's New Clothes" Effect.[4]
Do people simply pick a team -- much like I think many people pick favorites in other things, such as colors or numbers -- because there is early-life pressure to do so?
People certainly act as if I am a freak of nature when I say I don't have favorite teams.
I wonder if social psychologists have studied this....
People watch sports to support a team.
This seems obvious at first, but it isn't necessarily the case. I would actually posit that more people support a team because they like to watch sports.
Now, I have certainly attended sports events to support friends, classmates, and even my college, despite not really enjoying the games.
Supporting a team could be seen like supporting troops. Players and soldiers certainly gain morale from knowing they have supporters back home, and they perform better.
But here is where I get really confused. People support the troops ultimately so that the home country is not destroyed or conquered. But sports fans are not always like this. I can see that one would cheer for the Ravens if they really loved the city of Baltimore and wanted it to flourish, hoping that this would increase the morale of the team, increasing the amount of Raven wins, increasing the amount of Baltimore publicity, and ultimately increasing the amount of income to Baltimore City.
But I don't think patriotism is why most people support teams. Maybe I am wrong.
And if you are cheering for a team not from where you live, isn't this almost unpatriotic? And why support a team of people you do not know personally nor gain any benefit from if they win? (I suppose that nowadays, with fantasy teams and all, things are different and there are benefits.)
Anyhow, there is my very long entry on sports. I would love to hear your thoughts and observations.