(no subject)

[eirias]

Interesting post about mass culture from someone I don't know named cmeckhardt. (Read it or not, but don't expect what I write to make sense if you don't.)

I'm wondering to what extent sports fandom follows the same patterns. Certainly basic sports knowledge sets up a lot of metaphors that are necessary for full communication with American English speakers ("Three strikes, you're out"; "This project is a slam dunk"; "Andrew Sullivan needs to shut it with his Monday morning quarterbacking"; "I scored last night"). But I don't know whether sports themselves are about creating metaphors to simplify communication. I do know that sports, like other mass culture, serve some important social functions. The first one that comes to mind is a sort of toothless mock tribalism, where you get to bond quickly and easily with "your people" about something and get to playfight with the rival "tribes" through the hallowed ritual of trash-talking. It also gives an easy, safe conversational topic to which you can turn in awkward social situations where you don't know someone very well.

Yes, I do get a weird pleasure out of overanalyzing ordinary social foo. I should thank my lucky stars I didn't turn out to be a sociologist *;).

*See, social scientists can talk trash with the best of them.

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

cmeckhardt is an MIT type I don't know very well, but who's on the other edges of some of the same circles.

Your last paragraph: you should read Freakonomics and/or google Stephen Levitt. More later.

[drspiff.livejournal.com]

Recently I said to a good friend that maybe we should "call an audible" and change our plans. She gave me a blank look and said, "What do you mean, 'call an audible?'" So I had to explain the origin of the phrase from american football.
I think that partially these sayings are in vogue because they convey more meaning than just saying, "we should change our plans." To some extent sports are a widely shared cultural phenomemnon and since common cultural ground is necessary to cultivate such colorful metaphors. If say knitting were a widely experienced cultural phenomenon we'd probably be saying things to each other about winding yard.

[roamin-umpire.livejournal.com]

At the recent games symposium here at RPI, an executive from Electronic Arts (one of the few who aren't particularly evil) was talking about sports games and the reasons people watch sports: so that they can feel part of something larger, and so that they can second-guess the actions on the field.

This rolled around in my head for a while, and then I came up with another (perhaps larger) reason people watch sports: It provides something "safe" to feel passionate about. Most things that engender passion are capable of causing quite a bit of emotional pain when they do not turn out the "right" way. Sports (usually) cause no such backlash, so you can let yourself go and really get into the game, and even if they lose, by tomorrow it's no big deal, except for the ribbing you'll get from the fans of the other team.

Actually, it occurs to me that the trash-talking is actually a major part of the bonding mechanism. You generally will only feel comfortable criticizing people you are close to. Trash-talking about sports is fair game for anyone, making you feel closer to the person in question.

Of course, all these ideas are nice. But they kind of blow up in my face when fans start brawling with players (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1927380), or each other. Or when one guy kills another over actions taken by their respective kids during the game. (http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/01/25/hockey.death.verdict/) Or when players start taking things out on the officials. (http://oklahomacity.cox.net/cci/entertainmentnews/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D89G32S80) So much for something "safe."

Sorry for rambling, but this is a topic relatively close to home for me.

frued might say...

[cognative.livejournal.com]

I dunno if sports fans like being over analyzed. Sometimes a football game is just a football game ;)

Re: frued might say...

[eirias.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're not supposed to be reading LiveJournal!! Get back to your prelim. :)

(Unless of course you're already done, in which case major kudos to you!)

Re: frued might say...

[cognative.livejournal.com]

quick breather. I'll be back to work soon.