I do not classify myself as a sports fan. That is, I don’t actively seek out sporting events. I do not know all the rules. I don’t even recognize famous players on our local teams. I do, however, enjoy an occasional opportunity to watch and experience sporting events with friends and to see from a new perspective what a large portion of america does.

Maybe I just don’t get it or maybe I have somehow “matured” past what it is that people see in football (the american type). By in large, fan involvement with football seems more often than not over the top and mind-numbingly superficial. People go crazy for their team, whichever that may be. The team receiving fan support is so often not because they are the “best” team in any concrete way but because the person decided at some point that they would whole-heartedly support a professional group of athletes for no reason other than their friends or family traditionally supports it. I have a hard time grasping these types of actions. People walk down the street wearing team paraphernalia (expensive stuff, I should add) all over their body, their cars, and their home — and for what? To pronounce their allegiance to make them feel somehow more closely associated with a team? To feel as one with this group of high paid athletes as they work their way through a ladder of games against competitors where they play widely televised and commercialized games against other groups of people? It seems so. At least from my perspective, it seems a little crazy.

This sort of behavior is visible in other situations such as when people choose to wear clothing that is designed to primarily advertise for a private brand or enterprise. I imagine most of the time people wear it because they want to associate with certain ideals — with an “image”. It helps people offload an amount of their need to express themselves uniquely by associating with something that people can easily draw from their preconceived notions about a brand/concept to make assumptions about a person’s ideals and place in society.

I don’t mean to over-emphasize the image aspect of associating with sports, though. It’s also a highly socially accepted way to spend “off” time without requiring a great deal of investment or experience. People can gather and live through this alternate universe that is the football system where nobody is (or can be, for that matter) held responsible for their actions on behalf of “their team”. Millions of people greatly enjoy football (and sports in general) for these very reasons and embrace that fact.

Football (and sports in general) is not a bad thing, but I just don’t see how I could legitimately get involved in such a tradition without feeling at least a little bit foolish and detached from reality. That being said, I’m in no way innocent from spending my time and associating with similar type phenomenons. I just feel there are so many more interesting and enriching things to spend time and money on than football that I would rather get involved with. For example debating, making things (anything), exploring music, contemplating ideas and theories, learning about interesting people and things going on around the world, or so many other things that bright people get involved with. I would rather obsess over something that I can grow from and learn from than pitter away in support of a corporate sports team.