It's always thrilling and exciting to watch huge sports events and for some, this is a serious business. This is why last year was quite challenging for many sports fans as many sports leagues had to cancel or postpone events like the NBA, the Indian Premier League, the English Premier League, Championship League, and many more.
Fortunately, it only took a few months before these leagues were able to recover. It didn't take too long before the EPL came back and so do other sports events. Soon enough, fans were able to do football, basketball, and cricket betting live.
Somehow, the return of sports eased the stressful situation that many people were in. In the UK, the government also believed that the return of the EPL last year would somehow help people feel better and so the government was highly involved in allowing sports to return in the country. This just shows how sports can be beneficial in different ways.
The Pros and Cons of Being a Sports Fan
There was a 2008 study from the University of Chicago regarding how sports, particularly hockey, could affect the brain and a community. Psychology professor Sian Beilock found that when hockey players and fans talk about the sport that they like, they were able to trace activities from the brain regions that are used to plan and select well-learned physical actions.UBC Public Scholar and Ph.D. psychology candidate Zarina Giannone explained how being a sports fan could affect a community. "Fandom helps people develop a social identity, by creating membership in a specific group that has personal and social significance. Valued by them but also by the larger society," "Fandom helps people develop a social identity, by creating membership in a specific group that has personal and social significance. Valued by them but also by the larger society.
"It allows them to hold a social role. When people select teams, it's usually in groups that have the most potential to contribute to the identity they hold and other psychological constructs like self-esteem and confidence," Giannone explained.
However, despite having pros, being a huge sports fan can also take a toll on a person. There is a so-called sports fan depression which sounds unusual. However, Anthony Centore Ph.D. who is the CEO of Thriveworks said that this does happen.
He recalled that there was a time when one client came into his office and said that he was feeling depressed because his favorite hockey team lost the championship game. Centore noted that during the session, the client explained his feelings that are all common symptoms of depression. He also found that another clinician at the practice also felt the same on the same game. This is when he figured that sports-related loss is a common experience but for some, it's just really more painful.
Centore discussed in his article that if anyone is experiencing sports-related loss or depression, there are a few things to do, like taking a step back and looking at how it shouldn't affect his or her life. Staying social is important and trying to find things to do that can fill the void and talking about it will also help.
How Fans Were Affected by the Lack of Sports Last Year
The pandemic resulted in many major sports events getting canceled or postponed. For a while, people just didn't have many sports to watch and follow. The Guardian reported that people had mixed feelings and emotions regarding what happened.Some saw how sports like football meant to them as they missed it. "I'm a QPR fan and I miss the season-ticket holders I've gotten to know over the last decades. I miss buying a new pin-badge from the lady in the pub on Uxbridge Road and letting linesmen know exactly how I feel about their eyesight. The absence of sport has made me realize how much I love it and how invested I am in the human stories it creates. Triumph, disaster, glory, and failure are all such vivid aspects of the human condition – extremes of emotion that echo through communities," shared Tom McFarland.
However, there also others who realized that how much sports have taken so much of their time that it's good to know how they can get by without it.
"I was concerned at the prospect of months without the distraction, but soon found other ways of passing the time. I picked up my guitar for the first time in years, made some ropey attempts at home curing, and started writing. It's good to know I can get by without sport," said football fan Tom Hurles.
