Why does a favorite team's huge win or loss affect rabid fans so much?

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

If you're a rabid fan of a team (pro, college, whatever), why/what makes you so rabid that a huge win or loss can either make or break your day?

Yesterday, I was in a bad mood knowing my team was going to lose. I even refused to watch the game. Lo and behold, this morning as I woke up I mustered the courage to go to my iPhone and check the score out... turns out my team actually won and in a rather show-stopping fashion with a last second three pointer at the buzzer...

and now my day is going smoothly, I feel like I could conquer anything and I feel like I have more and more energy as the day progresses.

I wonder why some of us humans get attached to a team or a sports figure in such a way that we let it affect how our day goes. It's crazy... I wonder if some armchair psychologists and psychiatrists can illuminate and ruminate.

[HopeHoops]

1. My favorite team is Team Obama. If they lose in November, we're fucked.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

3. Well, I would argue that a President and presidentail elections will trump a sports team anytime

simply because of its importance to everyone's lives.

[Rambis]

2. Because my life is empty and void of meaning

Things like this make me feel alive!

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

4. My life is pretty full and interesting

but seemingly trivial wins over big rivals and/or championships do make it more enjoyable for sure. I just want to know why sometimes such things (which are - let's face it - trivial) can make or break a rabid fan's days.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. social identity theory

part of our own identity is shaped by membership to a group.

[Yooperman]

6. I have wondered about the same thing...

I see people going crazy after the team they root for wins.... or to watch soccer fans kill each other as what happened a week or so ago with rioting in the stadium (I think it was Egypt)....

But I guess it underlies the fact that people want to identify with someone or something. We are social animals and we need the group reassurance we are not alone.

Right or wrong it doesn't matter...from the Hell's Angels and the KKK to your local Eagles or Elks or the church down the street....most people want to associate with like minded individuals. Supporting a team is very similar. I still enjoy supporting Michigan State Basketball because I really like the coach (a fellow Yooper). When I was living in Salt Lake City I was a huge Jazz fan with John Stockton and Carl Malone leading the way however, I can't bring myself to support any NBA team anymore as I have lost that connection that I had while rooting for the Jazz.

Human Nature....

YM

[libodem]

7. Hormones

Testosterone levels go up when your team wins. Bet someone could post a link.

[bluedigger]

8. Bill Simmons just wrote about that following the Superbowl

This was a night that made you say, "Why does this matter to me so much? Isn't it fundamentally stupid that this matters so much?" This was a night when you try to keep everything in perspective by going through the checklist of reasons why you shouldn't be depressed — "Are my kids healthy?" (CHECK) "Do I love my significant other?" (CHECK) "Are my parents still alive and healthy?" (CHECK) "Do I like my job?" (CHECK) "Do I have a good group of friends?" (CHECK) — and just by doing that, you feel like the biggest moron on the planet.

I have never been able to answer the question, "Why does this matter to me so much?" That's just the way it's always been. Ever since I can remember. You get older, your life changes, your friends change, your house changes, family members start dying, your kids start morphing into miniature people … and yet, one thing never changes for anyone who truly cares about sports. See, there's no feeling quite like watching your team blowing a big game. It's devastating. It's paralyzing. It's the only feeling that a 6-year-old, a 42-year-old and a 64-year-old can share exactly. You never get over it. You never stop thinking about the three or four plays that could have swung the game. It becomes something of a sports tattoo. You live with it forever, and then you die.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7547184/searching-silver-linings-indianapolis

[OriginalGeek]

9. I dunno whatcher talkin about

<------


but this was a shitty year.

[KamaAina]

10. Yes, but everyone else in your office wants to drink Drano

all other Dookies, of course, being in New Jersey or DC or someplace.