Watching sports is a great way to bond with your family. Getting behind the same team and rooting for them brings everyone together like almost nothing else, especially with all of the ups and downs that you all go through as your favorite teams go through their ups and downs during the games and the seasons.
It seems like most sports are pretty boring. Nothing more enticing than watching your favorite team play and having such an easy time rooting for them. It seems like there is always a winner and a loser in almost everything they do. And the awards keep that win percentage to an amazing percentage.
But when your favorite team goes to the brink of oblivion and the pressure is on to overcome a tough adversity and still not make it, watching sports is like eating sugar – it does nothing, but fill your heart with deja vu stress and keep you feeling anxious.
In sports, the drive is always to succeed in whatever you are doing and that includes winning. Success builds confidence and your focus is on that success. So the pressure of making sure your team makes the league worthwhile is intense for anyone.
Another terrific thing about watching sports is seeing all those grown men who still find time to play a game. These are the guys who are parents, work at restaurants and are active people. Who do you see years later on the covers of magazines and in newspapers with celebrities and sports stars being celebrated. These are the guys you see rooting for their team, while down in the stands cheering for each other. It just seems like these guys are having fun and hanging out and enjoying the game in some way.
Don’t make the mistake though of not wanting to be a part of it. As they say, “It’s the country club.” You can always be home a little later, you can always find time to watch it. To watch with your family. To sit around in the evening and watch it together. To take a night off from work and watch a game with the rest of your family.
Apart from the health benefits, it also empowers your kids to be independent and to know that nothing is beyond them. That they can do anything they set their minds to. And if they make it big, it’s only done because they’re family and because they love the sport.
So back to the question, “When’s it smart to root for your favorite teams?” That depends on what your perspective is. On one hand it may be a smart decision to root for your favorite team because of what it can do and what it stands for. On the other hand you may have a lesser knowledge of what your team stand for, or you may be a mama-about-the- trivia kind of person, and nothing that your team does or stands for matters.
I was a largish football and baseball player, but didn’t want to play those games after I graduated. Sports was not what I was interested in as a kid, and later grew even more so. I love sports, now, and football is still a huge part of my life, but baseball I kind of figured out was a little tough and not as big a thing.
But now I finally understand why baseball is so popular. Each league has their own character and aesthetics. Not every team in a league has the same style or vision. The most important thing – and I think this applies to all sports – is that no matter where your team is, they’re all a family’s team, so members respect the opposing team. Bold, daring and tasteful, like a good assuming that they stand for a certain thing, while fitting in somehow, like a good friend remembering the things they like about one of their teams. You can dress and behave and look the way you want to in the way you want, but your team is always a family team, and that makes sports a truly family affair!