Living in the United States of America means being a huge sports fan. Americans simply love sports. Our favorite sports are baseball, football and basketball. I always wondered why is it that we love sports so much what is the cause of the excitement that we get when football season approaches or when we go see our favorite baseball team play. Why do we get so darn excited?!
Go PSU!
According to an Michael Weiss of Cantonrep.com in his article he say that psychologist say that rooting for sports teams and athletes gives fans a sense of belonging which is known as sports identification. Rooting for sports teams boosts our self-esteem.
In a story by Erick Fernandez of Sports.Mic.com he that talks about why people love watching sports and finds some pretty cool information about this. Whenever our team wins we feel invincible?! This happens because your levels of testosterone rises but when our team loses our levels of testosterone reduce and that an other things have a big influence on aggressive behavior; among this feeling we also feel happy. Study’s show that fans feel happy when their team or player does good; and they feel this way because of a charge of dopamine. According to the story it is a process where neurotransmitters help balance our compensation and happiness levels.
One of the most interesting things, if not the most interesting thing I found was why is it that we get so into to the game. Why it feels like were out on the field actually playing. We have cells in our brain called mirror neurons. The mirror neurons turn on when were watching sports. The job of the mirror neurons is that, it allows us humans to make sense of the actions of others and put ourselves in their positions. So pretty much feeling what they’re feel which is known as empathy. No wonder whenever a one of the Penn State lineman sacks the opposing teams quarter back we get so pumped up!
So after all being a sports fan isn’t easy. We go through a roller coaster of emotions which isn’t that fun because when we experience a win we feel like we are the greatest and our teams are unrivaled but when we lose we feel distraught. But the sure thing is we love our teams and no matter what happens we stay true to them.
Sites: http://www.cantonrep.com/x1350924790/The-psychology-of-sports-Why-do-fans-care-so-much
https://mic.com/articles/104224/science-reveals-why-we-re-obsessed-with-watching-sports#.GYfBeIvMH
Images: https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–vMsBdrXS–/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/1501250719838527152.jpg
https://victorybellrings.com/2016/08/26/prediction-roundtable-many-wins-will-penn-state-get/
I can absolutely relate to this topic. I wrote an article that is similar to this in that how these rabid fans impact the game. I for one am a rabid fan anytime I am watching one of my favorite teams play. Growing up outside of Philadelphia I have always been die hard to the local teams. It’s great when you see a team succeed when the community rallies around the team and unites, it truly happens. I will never forget the 2008 Phillies parade I attended, it was truly the greatest unity of one city through sports I have ever seen. Here is an article on the parade on halloween day 2008.
It is a really good topic. Even though I love watching football games, I never think about that emotional changes before. From your essay, I learned how our emotion changes. It taught me a lot. And actually I learned things about mirror neurons too. The concept can be applied to our childhood when learning our parents’ actions. Here is the video explain more about mirror neurons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ojl2glKPY.
Growing up right outside of New York City , you are basically born to be a die hard sports fan, mostly because its such a prominent thing. The area has such a rich history in winning and people see that and instantly attach on and become die hard fans. Once you become attached it becomes part of your blood and its something that never goes away. Personally, for any of the sports teams that I follow, I become really dedicated and whenever they lose, I take it like I am part of the team. Sports also has an emotional part to us that during hard times can bring people together. Especially right after the 9/11 attacks, people came together at the New York Yankees and Mets games, and saw that as an opportunity to come together and pay tribute, but at the same time helps you forget everything that is going on. Seeing your favorite team ultimately boosts anyones self confidence because it makes that you think that you can do anything, mostly because your favorite team defied all odds. This is going to be something that never changes, people are always going to have an emotional connection their favorite sports teams.
Attached is a link that talks about the psychology of being a sports fan: http://www.sportsnetworker.com/2012/02/15/the-psychology-of-sports-fans-what-makes-them-so-crazy/
Being from Philadelphia, where sports is a huge part of the city’s culture, I really enjoyed this post! I have been to many sporting events, and I can totally agree that the excitement in the crowd does create a uniting feel. I like that you explained the scientific explanation behind this. I had no idea the role that neurons played in these situations. After reading this article, I wonder if the only reason I get excited at sporting events because others around me are, or if I am genuinely excited myself.
A post where everyone from anywhere can related to ! Sports is what unites us all. I really enjoyed reading this article and did some research on it myself. I feel like you could have added more studies to back up your claims. This article http://www.medicaldaily.com/mind-and-body-sports-fan-sports-games-388444 also a very interesting study that you might want to look at and it also have similar explanation to your post. You should definitely check it out !
Hey jessy! I found your post to be very interesting. At the last football game I noticed that we get excited even when we don’t know what’s going on. A girl next to me had her head down and she was texting and we happened to score a touchdown. She didn’t know at first that he had gotten a touchdown but she, along with everyone else, began to cheer. Your explanation of mirror neurons was compelling and i wonder if that same theory applies to my situation. I wonder if she got excited because she sensed that the people around her were excited?
Hey Jessy, this post was pretty interesting considering I’m a huge sports fanatic myself. I agree completely that rooting for and feeling passionate about sports teams creates a sense of belonging. I just never knew there was an actual scientific term for it! This informative article I found on Columbia Journalism Review that came out after the World Cup in 2014. It describes and analyzes the science behind passion for sports.