A Few Thoughts on Mavs 117, Spurs 110

[SportPsychMav]

I hear what you're saying, and it makes sense.

 
Still, people move on from bad sports teams all the time. The Knicks supporters seem to be a particularly long-suffering and intense group. It fascinates me a little, in a morbid kind of way.

Maybe they are fascinated with the Knicks in the same way?

Maybe some are. I think most are more emotionally involved than that, though, the "morbid fascination" mode requiring a certain degree of detachment. 

I used to follow a blogger on some recognized Knicks site. Over the course of a couple of seasons, he unravelled due to the disappointing Knicks performance over that time frame. Detailed how he was becoming increasingly super depressed, to the point that at the end he could hardly function and ultimately disappeared from view. I suppose it could have been a put-on, I never looked into it or anything, but it sounded pretty real. It was sort of horrifying, really. 

I'm not suggesting that all NYC fans would allow their lives to fall apart over the goldanged Knicks, for heaven's sake. But some do seem to unflaggingly show up to rabidly support a team that has been more glitter than gold for decades. Reminds me a little bit of the Cowboys, tbh. (I'm still one who watches every week, more in the morbid fascination mode than anything, lol.)

Sports fandom is living through others. Hard truth but that's what it is.

It seems more complex than that to me. 

Watching a game with your buddies. Attending your kid's soccer game. Going to a game and being part of the crowd. Learning the lessons about life that sports can teach. Ultimately, a fan's experience is his/her own, no one else's. Of course, all of the above actions involve an element of living through others, in the same sense that looking at a friend's travel pics does. 

I realize that it is possible to become unhealthily obsessed with the activities you mention, or any other addictive issues. Hopefully, everyone on the board will find education, an opportunity to share views, and a spirit of community here, all as part of (and not a substitute for) a meaningful life. 

Thanks for ur thoughts!

Didn't say it's necessarily toxic behavior. Still fact haha.