How Sports Fan Bases Are Like Art and Literary Communities
(A Defense of Spectator Sports)
In the beginning of the pandemic, I missed out on what would have been my first club seat experience at Madison Square Garden. All of the Rangers games were of course cancelled.
Even more, I spent a lot of time voicing my grievances (read: whining) to every friend about it.
One of them, someone who I’ve known for over a decade since we studied art history in college together, told me I was being offensive. Pro sports was the “least important cancelled thing at the time,” she said.
When pro sports tiptoed back onto television sans live audience, more voices in her camp opined. Why sports but not this or that important thing? It’s dangerous. It’s irresponsible. So forth.
She clarified her stance to me with an argument I’ve heard more than once: When it comes to culture and community, sports players and teams are not proper representations or contributors because they can be bought and sold to cities they have no connection to. They go where the money goes.
An article posted on Medium in 2013 pronounced spectator sports a “sad and dangerous waste of time,” also claiming, “…if 95 percent of the team is from elsewhere that’s not Philadelphia anymore, dude.”
While few would deny the benefits of participating in sports, the endless number of internet listacles that rank sports fan bases by obnoxiousness reveal that much of society is less forgiving towards the dedicated sports fan.
Admittedly, fan bases can get overly spirited. Google the words “sports riot” and you’ll see what I mean.
Was the window smashing, uprooting of sign poles and trashing of convenience stores worth it to Eagles fans after Nick Foles exercised his free agency, thus leaving Philadelphia’s hopes of another Super Bowl LII in the doldrums? If sports teams really are inaccurate representations of community, these riots are that much more offensive.
Conceding to this, let’s dig into the notion that fan bases aren’t true representations of their communities — by comparing sports communities to communities of art and literature.
Here’s why: Generally, using athleticism for amusement came about due to leisure afforded by agriculture and economic stability. This origin isn’t any different than art and of literature’s. Yet, sports enthusiasts don’t always have the high-culture cachet that arts aficionados do. Is the sense of community truly “fake” purely because their players and teams aren’t indigenous to the community they play for, or even because they’re bought and sold?
Sports communities, like fine art and canon literature, exist as a result of human interaction. They aren’t “fake.” They are, in a way, similar to social constructs. Again, sports riots are dangerous and unacceptable. Relatedly, as artistic and literary traditions can bring a community together in a unified culture, art and literature can also be used for propaganda and corrupt calls-to-action. All human-made concepts can be, and have been, used for good and ill.
“Where the Money Goes” Applies to Art and Literature Too –and that’s okay:
Is it more offensive that Lebron James left the Cavaliers, his hometown team, to join the Heat, then the Lakers due to the athlete auction block, or that the late-great-Philly-born Kobe Bryant never played for the 76ers — also due to the buying and selling of athletes?
Since the days of the Medici, art has been reliant on the largesse of the very wealthy. While this model has clear pitfalls, it also brought us the non-turtle Leonardos and Michelangelos of the world.
Most art historians would deem Post-Impressionism a predominantly French art movement yet its biggest star, Vincent Van Gogh, was a Dutchman who simply worked in France.
Even if the agent is an expat bringing glory to the community, as professional athletes often are, they’re still contributing to its culture. To single out pro sports for being economically driven ignores how economic drivers are and have always been an important part of building a culture and community.
Into the everyday, people do often leave the communities they’re from because of opportunity and necessity — the auction block of employment, if you will.
The emotion and confusion that this can bring, when it happens against your desires, is palpable in an infamous clip of basketball player Derrick Rose. Rose finds out he’s being traded to the Knicks from the Bulls, his hometown team.
Anyone who’s been transferred to another branch in their company or has had to change schools has felt the way Rose does when his agent breaks the news to him. With a heavy voice, he laments about life’s twists and turns.
That a team can scout any player is an extension of the realities of life. If a citizen is economically driven to relocate to a new community, that individual is not any less of a member of that community just because of that. After all, Philadelphians are as proud of Kobe Bryant as Angelenos are.
Economic drivers that build community and culture can also be more inclusive than legacy and heritage. Even the World Health Organization dedicates an article in their Community-Based Rehabilitation guidelines publication regarding the benefits of sports, including spectatorship, for those with disabilities.
Some benefits include improved well-being and empowerment among those with disabilities, and in fact, the development of inclusive communities.
Legacy and heritage are unquestionably important layers of building community and culture, and there are plenty of studies that prove how having the same language or religion makes for more unified communities. Art, literature, and spectator sports, however, have lower barriers to entry and can allow anyone to feel part of the community, regardless of race or birth. That money influences all three is a different conversation, but one not specific to sports.
“Reflected Glory.” Socially Constructed, Measurably Beneficial:
Quantifiable benefits of art and literature are well documented, and as it turns out, so are the benefits of sports followings.
Western Australia’s Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries developed sport and recreation policies based on research revealing that communities with sports followings are not only more inclusive, but safer, with higher rates of social capital and volunteerism.
Presumably, sports riots are the exception not the rule.
Most professional sports teams and sports leagues have community outreach and charitable branches. While it’s easy to be cynical about the intentions of these initiatives, professional and collegiate athletes do indeed spend time doing local community service. In October of 2014, Boston Bruins hockey players visited a local children’s hospital for Halloween dressed up as Disney characters.
And yes, being a sports fan benefits people in their individual lives. In his 2001 study of the psychology and social impact of spectator sports fans, psychologist Daniel Wann finds that sports fans tend to be less lonely and have higher self-esteem than non-sports fans. There’s a “built-in connection” among fans rooting for the same team. I imagine that since humans are a tribal species, this is why being a sports fan and simply watching sports is so powerful. By identifying with something beyond ourselves, a positive correlation between the actions of our team and our own self-esteem is set forth. Psychologists call this phenomenon “reflected glory.”
Now, the customary counterpoint: Reflected glory is not real. You, dear Patriots fan, are not Malcolm Butler and you did not intercept that throw meant for Ricardo Lockette with 20 seconds remaining during Super Bowl XLIX. I propose replacing the phrase “not real” with the word “fiction” then re-contextualizing this concept into art and literature.
Is it not empowering to see someone like you in works of fiction, to root for a fictional character in a story, and to feel your identity is represented in fiction?
Dynamic women may see themselves in Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth Bennet; effectively, they’re on the same team as her. When these readers who identify with Elizabeth follow her journey, and are happy to see her win at the end, this is an example of reflected glory. They temporarily feel as if they’ve won as well. In the long term, and most importantly, the readers are given a message that builds self-esteem. Someone like me, she may think, can win in life.
Charlotte Hilton Andersen, a writer for Shape Magazine, published a quote that perfectly sums up the Shakespearian drama in sports: “In sports, like in life, the worst team can beat the best. There are often remarkable shows of humor, caring, sportsmanship, love. Every human story is played out on a sports field.”
Even though being a sports fan isn’t the same as being on the team, it’s certainly the same as being in a community. Sure, this notion is high-tone and conceptual, but it has down-to-earth effects on the individual and therefore the collective.
Watching Sports Boosts Brain Power and Happiness:
The Simpsons, season 5: Homer point-blank asks his family if they think he’s slow. Marge responds, “…It’s not like you go to museums, or read books or anything.”
Now let’s talk about the stereotypes pitting the brilliant nerd against the dumb jock, or the worldly art connoisseur against the unsophisticated sports fan. Homer has participated in a few sports riots himself through the show’s 30-season run, after all.
These aren’t just false binaries, but outstandingly incorrect (just try getting into Harvard without any sports participation).
Actually, watching sports is beneficial for the mind. Research at the Human Performance Lab at the University of Chicago found that those who watch sports call on additional neural networks in their brains to help their everyday language comprehension. As previously reported in Bleacher Report, the head researcher of this project, Dr. Sian Beilock, maintains that, “…watching sports has enduring effects on language understanding by changing the neural networks that support comprehension to incorporate areas active in performing sports skills.”
I won’t go into the details of the fMRI experiments described, but you should — it’s fascinating.
Lastly, a notable benefit for those who watch sports and those who are loyal to a team is that they’re generally happier. It’s no surprise that anyone with deep interests are happier people overall.
However, the consumption of art and literature starts with the individual: To you, what does Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles mean? What emotions are stirred up in you when Nel approaches the grave at the end of Toni Morrison’s Sula? These discussions can bring people together via book club or museum tour, but the experience must first pass through each person singularly.
The experience of spectator sports starts with the community. Sports fan bases are different than the art and literary communities because sports fan bases are initially social. Admittedly, this is why it’s so easy for sports fan activity to spiral into mob activity in its worst manifestation. However, it is also why sports fan bases are so inclusive and an easily-built community in its best manifestation.
Going back to Daniel Wann’s research findings, he reports in his book Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators that not only do those who identify as sports fans have higher self-esteem as previously mentioned, but they also have lower rates of depression than those who don’t identify as sports fans. Even if strangers, fellow fans have something to share, something to talk about, and an initial bond based on being in the same community. Sports fandom increases social connections with others, to measurable psychological health benefits.
Sports movies make you feel good, right? Think The Mighty Ducks or The Natural. There are several inspiring stories on and off the field during a sports game.
Whether it’s the players, managers, coaches or the staff, any given game is a chapter in many singular long journeys (if I can wax poetic).
Fans are heartened to know that Tom Brady’s journey started as a 6th round draftee and that Michael Jordan didn’t even make his junior varsity basketball team.
Furthermore, fans bring teams as much joy as they give their fans. Bleacher Report previously mentioned that the Seattle Seahawks want to trademark the number 12 as homage to their fans who they consider the 12th Seahawk.
The Humanities: Art, Literature, History, and equally, Sports:
Economic prosperity makes way for the leisure of art for art’s sake. Economic drivers then provide access to influential platforms that art needs to shape culture. These platforms may take shape as prominent art dealers looking to break the last notable sales record, or the world of academia tenanted by art historians looking for undiscovered paradigm shifters of yesterday and today.
Our cultures belong to us because our ancestors and we constructed it. Either we took fundamental ingredients indigenous to our specific community, infused it with outside influence — then funded it. Or, we took several ingredients from several traditions and built it on our soil to create something uniquely of our community — then funded it. It’s human-made. It’s why art, culture, history, and literature all fall under the humanities.
The “fakeness” in professional sports is no “faker” than other human-made constructs that bring communities together. Nothing justifies a sports riot, and nothing justifies dangerous activity regularly powered by art and literature throughout history.
On a less serious level: Jerks would be jerks with our without professional sports fueling drunken obnoxiousness on game day, and jerks would be jerks with or without art and literature fueling dogmatic or pretentious snobbery.
As far as “reflected glory” goes, it is indeed unserviceable to use someone else’s win as a way to feel successful without having done anything. Harry Kane’s success is his own, as is Elizabeth Bennet’s. But, the inspiration and self-esteem granted by their wins can empower others to succeed themselves. The feeling of belonging brought forth by art and sports are strong enough to have the conferred measurable benefits for society because they’re human-made social constructs, not despite it.
If you’re averse to spectator sports, know that this position is subjective, and that there’s no reason to reduce fandom as depraved or useless. For newbies open to spectator sports: Office pools often have low barriers and are great for morale. Dipping into your family’s legacy of fandom to see where it takes you is also accessible. Additionally, Super Bowl or World Cup parties don’t have dress codes. Try something. You just might make a friend.
During his 1993 ESPY speech, Jim Valvano said of sports, “…You should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day.” Seems a day watching the Rangers dance with the Flyers is not much different than a night on Broadway to me.
