Concept of Karma and Rebirth in Hinduism and Buddhism

Sports Fandom

At first glance the world of sports looks simplistic and unencumbered. Regardless of the sport in question the fans come, they watch the sport take place and then they leave. It is only when one takes a closer look that the complicated underpinnings of sports fan behavior becomes evident. Sports fans support their teams in many ways. They purchase millions of dollars of merchandise each year, they attend games and cheer their teams on, and they remain loyal in the face of losing seasons. Individually most sports fans are law abiding, calm and reasonable members of society, but when they get into a group, or they attend a sport events they often become loud and behave in ways that they never behave elsewhere. Sports fans have caused injury to other fans, to players and to the other team. They have rushed onto the field at games, as well as been thrown out of stadiums before they start. Sports fans, who otherwise dress and act conservatively will paint their entire bodies in the colors of their favorite sports team and make public spectacles of themselves. The psychological pay back that is provided for the actions of sports fans feeds the continued behavior. Sports fans are consumers. The psychological impact of their behavior as individuals and as a group continues to drive the sports fan industry.

THE FAN PHENOMENON

Sports fans are fiercely loyal to the team or athlete of their choice. They will ride out season after season of losing scores, and still pack the stands and cheer them on each game. Sports fans whose team wins display a similar loyalty. The sports fan actions as a group cause a type of electricity among the group members according to some sports fan experts (Hawkins pg 35). The safety in numbers mindset seems to take over and the electricity that is generated in the group by its actions and the teams actions gets amplified. The individuals who are sports fans get many things out of being a sports fan. One of the things that they get from it according to experts is the feeling of belonging to something larger than themselves (Hawkins pg 35). The group cheers in tandem, purchases team merchandise, discusses the team season and argues with the fans of other teams about who has the better team or athlete. All of these activities provide the sport fan with a feeling that he or she is not alone, and is the member of a large and loyal group. It provides a type of commodore for them to latch onto.

Once you get together in a group and you are practising something you all take very seriously, it generates a kind of electricity," he says. "That gets amplified, the group reaffirms its solidarity and out of that they get this sense of belonging to something bigger than they are as individuals (Hawkins pg 35)... "

When sports fanaticism remains innocent in its endeavors it allows the fan to have a feeling of well being.

It's why Henry Williams has stuck by the unglamorous Upper Hutt rugby team for 54 years. Williams, 74, hasn't missed a game. He bikes to Maidstone Park every Saturday or takes the bus to away fixtures (Hawkins pg 35)."

Many of the actions of sports fans are harmless and provide the fan with an outlet for the need to belong and be a part of a group, but there are times that the behavior of sports fans becomes less than stellar. Sports fans have been known to become violent and it is a phenomenon that is not sport specific (Riot pg 02C). It has happened in football, hockey, tennis, and soccer with media attention providing the fans with their 15 minutes of fame. A professor of Sociology recently conducted a study about sports fans behavior that becomes violent. This same professor predicted the violence that occurred outside the Staples Center in Los Angles following the win of the NBA championship by the Lakers. In that instance several police cars were rocked and vandalized by sports fans including the setting of fire to the squad cars that were there in the line of duty (Riot pg 02C).

According to professor Lewis there is a formula that drives sports fans to do what they do in the arena of violence. Hundreds of fans who otherwise lead quiet and law abiding lives suddenly turn violent and according to Lewis it is due to this formula of three criteria (Riot pg 02C).

A if a team takes its first championship in more than 10 years, if the series goes longer than a few games, if the score of the final game is close, there will be trouble according to Lewis (Riot pg 02C).

One study about sports fan behavior was conducted over a 25-year period and it showed that riots for the purpose of celebrating are not a new thing. The psychological reward for such behavior is the feeling that the fan is able to accomplish something. They cannot dunk like the star basketball player, they cannot throw like the star quarterback and they cannot kick a goal like the star soccer player, so they riot to feel as if they are accomplishing something. It provides a feeling of importance according to those in the mental health and social health field and it allows the fan to feel that they are elevated above normal and mundane society much in the same way that the sports team and its members are elevated.

According to the study the "perpetrators are overwhelmingly young, white males, he said (Riot pg 02C).