Sports Fans are Hypocrites - rudyjuly2's Blog

rudyjuly2's Blog

Sports Fans are Hypocrites

Posted on December 12, 2008 at 10:23 AM.

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Everybody loves to root for the underdog. If you aren�t a fan of two teams in a game or playoff series, many people have an underlying desire to root for the upset. We boo teams like the Yankees who use their wealth to give them a competitive advantage. We boo the BCS for not giving little teams like Utah or Boise St. a shot at the national championship. We fill out our NCAA Basketball brackets trying to pick that #12 seed upset and rooting against the top teams from going the distance. But what we say and what we really want are two different things.

The New York Yankees are being blasted as the bad guys for spending a lot of money to �buy� a championship. But what happens when you get a St. Louis � Detroit or Philly � Tampa World Series? Nobody watches. Ratings go in the toilet and set record lows. All of you BCS Busters that wanted Hawaii to get a shot at the title last year didn�t do a great job of watching the game. Hawaii got blown out and it was the least watched of all the BCS bowls last year. But a game like Michigan � Florida, which featured two popular teams, did very well in the TV ratings. It was the third most watched bowl game last year despite not having its own time slot.

The real truth is that we love to watch popular teams. We love and need the flagship franchises in sports. We tune in to cheer them or boo them. That #11 seed that made it to the final four gets a sentimental spot in our heart but not on our TV set. The low payroll squad that upsets the Red Sox to get to the World Series gets praised but we choose sleep instead of watching them. Deep down our desires are not as utopian as we think. We don�t want a truly level playing field and our actions speak louder than words.

Comments

# 1 matt8204 @ Dec 12

Maybe we want to see the top dogs get to the big dance and then have them lose. Losing in the World Series hurts a lot more than losing 90 games in the regular season. There's something about being so close to the top that makes losing harder to take than when you just flat-out stink. Plus, it's hard to hate a team that's awful. After awhile, you kind of start to feel bad for them and the venomous feelings fade away. Who could hate the Lions right now? I pity their fans, if anything. I can't imagine rooting for a team that's so bad year in and year out. Most of the time, teams are hated because they're so damn good. At the same time, there's still a grudging respect for them.