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Sunday, October 12, 2014
Too old to root?
My wife grew up in Baltimore, so our family is rooting for the Orioles in the ongoing American League Championship Series--as I told a student, I now am an Orioles Fan-in-Law. And it is utterly exhausting to care this much about a team and to so badly want it to win.
So my question: Does there come a point when we are old to root passionately for a team? Mind you, I am not talkng about caring about sports--I regularly watch (and obviously write about) baseball and other sports and it always will remain a pleasure.* I am talking about living and dying with a particular team, the way I did as a kid or even a younger adult. I was catatonic for days after the Cubs blew the 2003 NLCS and my wife understood. But 11 years later, in a series that it does not even really involve "my team," I cannot work up the energy to be sad or worried about losing. And it even is hard for me to watch, because it feels like too much work to care.
* Although the NFL and I are on a break right now, my response to domestic violence and the gladiatorial nature of the game.
Worse: Maybe the dirty secret is that I am glad and take relief that the Cubs (and, to a lesser extent, Northwestern, my college rooting interest) regularly stink, because it saves me the pain of disappointment when they (inevitably) lose.
Now get off my lawn.
Posted by Howard Wasserman on October 12, 2014 at 11:56 AM in Howard Wasserman, Sports | Permalink
Comments
A good question, Howard. I suppose that in his own way, he was rooting for the purity of baseball. But as I say, this wasn't really the query that you were raising in your original post.
Posted by: Ian Holloway | Oct 13, 2014 12:25:54 PM
I think it is really difficult to completely adopt a new team, regardless of the very good reasons to do so. Sure, you root for the Orioles, you want them to win, but it won't ever be the same as your connection to the Cubs. Heck, I root for the Cubs ON YOUR BEHALF, because I just feel so sad for you. In my mind, something extraordinary would have to happen in order for your level of allegiance to the Orioles to match that of the Cubs. If the Chicago Cubs were contracted from baseball all together (obviously not going to happen), you might be forced to identify a new team to fill that void. But then you might just remove baseball as a sport you follow given the moral wrong of contracting your beloved team. My point is, there would be a void in that circumstance. There is no void now (because there's always next year!). This theory (or rambling) means that fan interest and energy is finite. I think there is some truth in that.
Posted by: Alex Pearl | Oct 13, 2014 11:59:13 AM
Ian: I'm confused--who was he rooting for and in what? Rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers is like rooting for the Mudville Nine.
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Oct 12, 2014 3:40:36 PM
Howard - this is not exactly your point, but I once worked for a guy who rooted - passionately! - for the Brooklyn Dodgers ... forty years after they moved. In his case, it wasn't just nostalgia for his youth (though there was that); rather, it was a palpable active engagement with the team. I can't articulate it better than that, but it was real. And this guy was in his late 60s.
Posted by: Ian Holloway | Oct 12, 2014 2:37:31 PM
I think it's possible that one can be too old to find a new team to root for. I was a childhood fan—and by that I truly mean a fanatic—of the Milwaukee Brewers. We had a falling out, the Brewers and I, over the antics of their then owner and his bid for a new stadium. Since then, I've occasionally tried other teams on for size, but though I always enjoy the game, and may even enjoy it more when the team I'm cheering for wins, I've lost the ability to become a fan. To truly become a fan may require not having gained a level of cynicism that inevitably comes with age.
Posted by: Eric | Oct 12, 2014 12:43:22 PM
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