Lovable Losers Losers No More! - Why we create story lines in Professional Sports

Congratulations, Cubs!

In the tenth inning of what some are calling the best Game 7 in World Series history, the long-maligned Chicago Cubs brought their amazing season to an end.  Billy Goat Curse be damned, the Cubbies are World Series Champions for the first time since. . .

Wait for it . . .                   (The Cubs Fans sure did)

1908.

This has been the narrative of the entire playoffs, and World Series: Will the Cubs break the curse?  "But Shane, curses aren't real, and sports aren't [supposed to be] scripted." (Looking at you, Black Sox).  Tell that to Joe Buck!  Because a huge trend in sports is, and has been, the narrative.

Anyone who watches professional sports has seen how narratives are worked into sporting events.  When my 6-1 Dallas Cowboys played the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend, the narrative was about the battle between two rookie stars, Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz.  When Payton Manning, former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback, played his replacement on the Colts, people made up a narrative about revenge or redemption.  When the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series to decide who would go to the World Series, another story about curses and overcoming them was what everyone talked about, and the Sox eventual Championship that same year reminded us all of how the Curse of Babe Ruth was finally lifted from Boston's baseball team.

So why do we attribute plot to events determined by skill and luck, not scripts and plots?  Because humans love stories!  In the same way that we like to attribute heroism to people who save lives because it's their job, or because they just made a split second choice that made a difference, fans like to have reasons to root for their teams.  I'm a much bigger football fan than I am a baseball fan, and this current season started off like a horror flick for my Cowboys:  MRI Reveals Fractured Bone in Romo’s Back.  2015 was a nightmare with Dallas's Star QB under center, going 4-12.  Every fan was wondering what would happen with their team.  Could the rookie Dak Prescott handle the spotlight, where so many veterans failed last year?  It was worthy of a movie the likes of Remember the Titans (minus the Civil Rights Movement setting and the racial undertones).  Six wins and an opening day loss to the Giants later, the story is now, Will Dak remain the starter, or will Jerry Jones (the owner of the team) insist on his favored son (Tony) returning to the throne?

These are the stories we tell ourselves with sports.  They make the game more interesting and draws even the those with no emotional investment to partake of the event.  Otherwise, I would have had no interest in the Series unless the Mets were involved like last year.  Because let's be honest.  These games have no effect on our lives beside the rush of endorphins we receive during the excitement of the game.  Sorry, but that's just a reality.  That said, LET'S GO COWBOYS!

The Weekender: Sports Fandom

Why we love to be stressed out on the Weekends

This will be short.  I just wanted to rant about sports for a minute.

Why is it that we love to stress ourselves out watching sporting events?  Is it the cycle of anticipation followed by the reward of watching a team you like winning or the disappointment of watching them lose?  Is it like gambling?  Where you know you have no idea what will happen next but you can't wait to see it?  If I wanted to dig out my psych textbooks I could go into it all, but the answer has something to do with both of those things.  We are addicted to the exhilaration of victory, even vicarious ones.  We clearly gain nothing from watching Dez Bryant catch a last second pass to win a football game or watching David Wright blast a baseball into the upper deck, but we love it?  And when a quarterback throws an interception that costs the game or the batter hits into a double play it hurts and makes you a mix of angry and sad.  But we do it every weekend.  This weekend all of my teams, The Dallas Cowboys, The New York Mets, and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, lost games.  The odds are so rarely in our teams' favor but we watch and hope and sometimes are rewarded, but usually we're disappointed.  Goes for every sport, and (almost) every team.  Some teams are lucky and have a long history of success.  The Cowboys have been contenders many years, and have won like 10% of all Super Bowls played.  Only 4 of the other 32 teams have done that.  But the Mets...  I'm lucky and blessed and so happy to watch them play in the World Series after such a crazy season.  We have our best pitcher on the mound tonight and I hope when I wake tomorrow to get ready for school that the Mets have won and a World Series  Title is still a possibility for the Mets.  But if they lose, the Royals take it home to KC and I have to hope for next year.  I don't know why we do this to ourselves, but I think, no matter what, we will always have sports to stress us out, and sometimes fill us with pride and exhilaration.

Have a good night, and LETS GO METS!