Overly Emotional Investment in Sports and Politics

I sometimes get excited about watching sports, I admit it.  It's more fun to pick a team or athlete and fervently root for them to win than it is to just dispassionately sit there and "objectively" follow the proceedings.  Having said that, though, I have to say that this passion can be taken too far: when the emotion invested in pulling for one side's victory becomes so overwhelming that one cannot walk away from it afterwards and function in a calm, rational frame of mind.  Although I sometimes go a little overboard with this myself, I have learned to temper my disappointment (or elation) over the years.  The turning point in this for me was a regular season-ending game in the NFL, in 1977, between the Baltimore Colts and the New England Patriots.  And which team was it that I was so fanatically and fervently following? The Miami Dolphins!!!

That I would get so emotionally caught up in a game that didn't even feature the team I cared about points to how irrational things can get.  But the situation was this: New England was already eliminated from the post-season playoffs, and Miami had just finished their season.  If Baltimore won this game, they would finish with the same record and go instead of the Dolphins because they beat them twice during the year.  If New England won, Miami would play on.  So I ended up allowing myself to get sucked into rooting for a team (the Patriots) that I seriously disliked...

Having blown a big lead over the Colts, New England was struggling to keep Baltimore's offense from a late fourth-quarter touchdown that would give them the lead (and almost certainly the win).  Then, miraculously, after Colt quarterback Bert Jones had driven his team down the field and was about to score, he fumbled the ball and a Patriot defensive player fell on it, taking the ball back for New England and ensuring them of victory (and the playoffs for Miami).  But wait, an official had blown the whistle too early, nullifying the fumble and keeping the football in the Colts' hands.  They then proceeded to score the winning touchdown...and I was very, very angry at the unfairness of it all.  Afterwards, I could barely even speak to anyone because of my negative feelings, and then I realized that something had to change: it simply wasn't worth it to allow myself to get so involved like this.

In the decades that followed, I have observed others going off the deep end emotionally, not just with sports, but also with politics.  Especially presidential politics, and MOST especially presidential elections.  This year may be the worst I've ever seen in terms of people speaking in hyper-emotional, irrational terms about the opposing candidate and political party, which is generally seen as the "enemy" (regardless which side they are supporting).  People, step back and take a deep breath. It isn't worth it.  Get a hobby.  Form new friendships (away from politics).  Take a nap.  Watch the Sprout Channel to gain a perspective.  Read a good book.  Study a foreign language.  Go for a run/swim/walk/bike ride.  Do some sudoku/crosswords/jumble/kakuro. Take another nap. Clean out the garage. Go to the park.  Shop.  "Chill" out at Starbucks. 

In other words, get a life!