When I talk to some of my friends that do not follow sports, they look at me like I am crazy when I tell them that how I feel for an entire week is dependent on how my favorite team does in a single game.
Some of you reading are thinking I am crazy too, but the diehard sports fans reading, they understand exactly how I feel.
Sports might feel like a foreign thing for many people, so I will explain why people feel so profoundly about many athletes and players all over the globe.
Sports are more than just entertainment. For many people, sports bring nostalgia. I still remember sitting in my grandparents’ kitchen singing “Bear Down” with my grandpa as the Chicago Bears were playing on the television.
Going to games with a bunch of people that you do not know but can all get together under one common thing makes watching sports feel like you’re watching with family.
Junior Braden Boyer explained to me that “[Your team] feels like a connected family when you get to know the ins and outs of the organization.”
When you follow a team for so long, you feel like you know everyone in it even when you don’t.
Sports bring everyone from every walk of life together.
Rooting for your favorite team and feeling the passion the way players do is because of how invested people get into their team. As I have said before, one of the reasons is because it feels like family.
“I am so connected because it is something I put my heart into,” fifth year senior Marcello Woltmann said. “I go to the game, and I follow all the moves.”
Sports and the teams we support are hobbies for many people.
Everyone grew up differently, so some people fall in love with different things. Many people found sports and then found their favorite teams.
Some people fall in love with video games and can feel happiness depending on how good a video game is. Other people fall in love with books or movies. Other people fall in love with sports.
Some people may wonder how I can follow a team, the Chicago Bears, that has been bad for years and hope that they get better eventually.
Well, it is just like a TV show or music group that you have fond memories of. You will cling to those memories and hope that every subsequent season, or album, or game gets better.
Sports is just another thing that people can obsess over. Most people that love sports love it because of what it means to them growing up.
However, everyone connects to sports differently. Some people see it as a family, and other people just put a lot of time into supporting their favorite teams.
Either way sports have a deep meaning for everyone that watches them.
Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
