It’s this time of the year again – in between funny-smelling April showers and college graduation ceremonies – when major sports obtain major ratings via post-season tournaments for trophies, recognition, and boatloads of bragging rights. Springs are a ripe time for NBA and NHL Playoffs, but they never seem to receive the attention given to other major sporting events, e.g., the World Series or the Superbowl. “The Finals” just doesn’t sound as cool.
But it’s a lot of fun and entertainment for the fans, especially supporters of teams playing for the aforementioned trophy. In this age of 50% divorce rates and a lack of job security or loyalty to the workplace (to be fair, it’s well-reciprocated by firms in return), sports fans wear their loyalty to their chosen team as a badge of honor.
To cheer for the local team (or perhaps the team in your hometown, so many years ago), through thick and thin, wins and losses, victory champagne and conciliatory beer, crying when they win but crying more when they lose, it’s all a part of being a fan.
Sounds kinda silly, doesn’t it?
Sillier is when fans talk to each other, which through the magic of the intertubes is all the time. I’ve never really understood what fuels the fascination with sports predictions (you know – team x is going to beat team y because players a and b will destroy players c and d); everybody has a different opinion on what will happen and usually no one ever gets it right.
Inevitably, some fan gets lucky and picks a winner (sheer cold probability dictates somebody will get lucky with their predictions…), serving only to reaffirm their belief that they have some special insight into the sport and are a modern Nostradamus above the ignorant masses, like that kid in 6th grade who walked home with you everyday and told everyone he could control the traffic lights with his eyes. Never saw that car coming, that kid.
So yea, sports makes grownups act and think like little kids. Silly? Sure, but enjoyably silly.