Professional sports as opiate of the masses
While watching a baseball game a few weeks ago, I wondered why people have affiliations with sports teams. What makes them care so much about the fortunes of an organization from which they receive no tangible benefit? More surprisingly, why is it that so many people care more about the progress of the sports teams they follow than they do about things that directly affect them in significant ways, like local and national politics or environmental dangers to their health and well-being? I have a friend who eschews the nightly news in favour of ESPN. Newspapers have long known that they could finance the rest of the paper by selling the sports section. Why is this?