"Find a sports game in which you have no preference as to what happens next, and I'll find you a game from which you're about to change the channel."
I think this may be argued, based on your next paragraph on the topic of admiration. Thinking of my own access towards sports in general, I often watch - almost any sport - without preference as to what happens next, waiting to see what happens next. Which I would admit - is hopeful in and of itself, as what I am hoping for, is something amazing, something artistic, something that will impact me in some way...but without care as to what team, or what side, achieved that feat.
I'll watch baseball, football, soccer, hockey, tennis, without any rooting interest, if I'm in the mood to "wait and see". Honestly, I'll sometimes watch just about anything - MMA, curling, even basketball (which is a sport I just don't enjoy as much as others), or poker (which really isn't a sport, obviously) - just to see if something interesting will happen. But it's the process of watching it unfold which is fascinating to me, which means that sports highlight shows really leave me unfulfilled. Interestingly, this wanting to watch the process unfold has led to me watching far less sports in my life over the past 18 months as my life has become more complicated with work and family. But I'm okay with it, because I can get some of my fix from the analysis I read on this and other sites online. I'm still connected.
Great subject.
Q. Skipping to the bottom line: in D-O-V's world, what is it about baseball that makes us happy?
A. Hope. (And admiration.)
In bits and pieces, we live vicariously through the Mariners, and Franklin Gutierrez' / Doogie Fister's / Jack Zduriencik's exploits provide us with a Vision Of a Better Tomorrow.
Everything that a human being does, she does for the sake of hope. She goes to work because hoping for a paycheck. She works hard because dreaming about better work conditions. She clicks on a blog link because hoping for something wonderful on the other side of it. etc., etc.
...................
Obviously, as we watch a baseball game, there are 9,000 things to hope for. If we were not rooting for one side or another, if there were nothing we preferred to see happen, we would find the sport unfulfilling.
An English soccer fan stares transfixed at a routine exchanges of passes at midfield, because he is thoroughly connected with Hope. At any moment, he might see "a great ball" scooted to a flashing winger. It's all about what might happen next, isn't it.
Find a sports game in which you have no preference as to what happens next, and I'll find you a game from which you're about to change the channel. Do you watch hockey? Why not? Is the level of artistry any less?
.
Q. And admiration, you say?
A. Hope relates to what we want. Admiration (often) relates to appreciating what others want. Admiration is a sub-topic under the Grand Theme of "love."
Other things in baseball revolve around hope -- in pursuit of our dreams, we sometimes get to observe real human virtue.
We get to observe Courage, as the 1995 Mariners face a Goliath of a -12.5 game deficit and calmly select smooth stones from the river bed to hurl at it. We observe Perserverance rewarded, as Russell Branyan waits 33 years to hit 33 homers. We observe determination and self-sacrifice, as the samurai Ichiro prepares with incredible discipline, and does his Duty.
We observe many wonderful human virtues, in microcosm, as the warriors battle admirably for victory.
.
Q. But what is it about baseball ANALYSIS that makes us happy?
A. What it is, that makes ME happy, is that sometimes I find something to hope about. :- ) Or something to admire, in another.
The joy of learning and discovery, also, is a factor. But beware of what Solomon advised us to be the problem with a life devoted to Wisdom: bad stuff happens anyway. You can be as smart as you want and still get the bad news from the doctor. You can draft Tim Lincecum and have him blow his arm out. Being smart doesn't save you, my friend.
Being smart is better than being dumb, quoth Solomon. But not by much. You get 80% as much of the bad stuff in life as the dumb guy does. Most bad stuff is inevitable.
..........
I love baseball, because when bad stuff happens there, I can turn off the TV and go play touch football with my son and his friends. Baseball's a vicarious reality that I can enter and leave at my own leisure.
Fister was pitching Sunday, so I stepped into the Alternate Reality of Vicarious War for a few hours. Felix went tonight, so I'm going to watch the tape now. If he sprains a shoulder I'll turn off the TV and play some Yug-i-Oh.
.
Q. How does the Mariners' hope look for 2010?
A. We could talk for a long time about 9 pitchers to make 5, couldn't we? :- )
The M's pitching situation is, um, pregnant with possibility. And the analysis is a lot of fun.
Hope springs eternal,
Dr D
Comments
Your preference is that something *interesting* happens next. ;- ) Back to square one on the Hope nature trail.
...................
Still, we are talking in simplified terms here. We could weave a lot of sub-themes into the tapestry, as you just did.
I don't watch soccer specifically because it's not a hopeful sport. Not as played in international tournaments, anyway. It's a struggle to stop from being crushed by life...at best you're hoping for a stalemate or the slimmest of victories..there is no optimism in soccer for me...thus...I far it hopelessly boring. Hockey, Lacrosse, Baseball, Football, Tennis, Golf, even Bowling...they all hold some fascination for me that soccer lacks. I think Doc hits the biggest reason I love sports (especially baseball) though, when he talks about seeing the greatness in humanity, even if expressed in ways that aren't universally recognized. What I love about people is that they rarely stop trying to make things better. The world is full of dissatisfied, struggling people who fight hard every day to make things better for themselves and for others. It is in the nature of humanity that we are motivated to progress, to achieve, and to be a great race. This is also why I love science fiction (imaginning the possibilities for our future, seeing the same human themes depicted on a much larger and more fantastic scale, etc). I am basically optimistic about people and it leads me to the desire to study people...how they achieve the great things they do (why I'm a sabermetrician), to study nature (and how we react to it...why I'm a scientist) and to feel proud when my team does something wonderful, even if it's "just a game".
of sports that doesn't quite fit into either hope or admiration, but still brings a tremendous amount of joy is Connection. Connection with family, friends, and strangers alike.
I attend Oregon State Beaver sporting events quite often and it is one of my favortie things to do with my Dad. One of the most vivid things I remeber about the incredible upset of USC last year wasn't Greg Layborn intercepting Sanchez' pass and sealing the game, it is the 3 solid minutes that my Dad and I held each other jumping up and down screaming and laughing like little school girls as Gregg Layborn intercepted that pass, and not feeling the least bit self concious about it. In fact I will also never for getting the two fellow sitting next to us (Bill and Chris) who even though we only knew in passing we were also hugging, high fiving and screaming with.
One of the things I truly enjoy about sports is it washes almost every sterotypical aspect of another person away (except for their fanhood) and lets complete strangers, people who would otherwise never associate with each other (like a young weatherologist from New York and an older umm... what do you do as a day job Dr. D? chess player from Seattle), and allow them to connect on a real, deep, emotional level.
In fact I would say that connection is a PREREQUISITE for me to watch a sporting event. I am not one that can just watch a game alone, I either have to have someone physically with, chatting with someone on line, or at least thinking of the things I will chat about with someone after the game.
Was that referring to me? Or are you also in the weather? LOL
In any event, that's why I like the gameday threads at MC...
As I don't have any Mariner fan friends anywhere near me to connect with,
I need to be able to chat about the game live...even if it's over the interwebs
Big reason that I will watch sports is for a DISTRACTION.
Whether it is a distraction form the treadmill or stairmaster beneath my feet or from the worry that I don't know where the next mortgage payment is coming from, the ability for sports to distract me from my day to day is very important.
Certainly that can be a double edge sword, and while I try not to to let sports (and other forms of entertainment, TV, Video games, etc.) distract me to such an extent that it is detremental to my way of life (like the WOW addicted folks who lost their jobs and familys to the MMORPG), a 3 hour vacation is certainly the battery recharger that can get me through the rest of the week unscathed.
I don't think this one applys to everyone however. My wife for instance wouldn't be able to sit through a 30 minute sitcom let alone a 3 hour football game if there was something pressing on her mind that needed to be done, even something simple like the dishes. Where as most of the time if I can take a short break from something with a half of basketball, or a few innings of a ball game I can come back to the task at hand reinvigorated and ready to work twice as hard as if I had just tried to slough my way through it.
Does that make sense or did I lose eveyone yet :)
:)
I know the tearm is Meterologist, just having a little fun ;)
Plus my daughters Berenstien bears book confims that it is weatherology so there :P
On topic though, I totally agree I either have to be with someone to watch a M's game, or On the MC Gameday threads. As a side note I have tried venturing over to the LL threads because they get so much more traffic, but half the stuff they talk about has absolutly nothing to do with baseball, or is an inside joke that I don't get, and the other half I can't stomach even with my eyes half closed, so I guess even with the connection that sports bring you still need to have SOME similarities. I won't ever connect well with the drunk guy dropping F-Bombs that regularly sits behind us and Beaver games ;)
The LL community has become an exclusive one...I'll never understand how that group functions.
I kind of wishh the DOV crowd would actually USE the chat function of this site...like if we coordinated so everyone was here during the game, we could be chatting live. But I'll take what I can get. :)
I'll glad watch a ballgame when I get bored just so I can stop worrying about other things and think about the strategy of the game or the implications on the standings or appreciate the players etc...much better than some of the stuff I deal with on a daily basis.