I was kicking around this idea (pun intended) that football and soccer (American football and football for everyone else) and other sports are just the continuation of man’s inner nature which was first revealed by waring city-states. Basically it keeps us from actually fighting each other without going insane at the same time. Any statistics on this? Rise of intercity and international sports to the decline of war? Doubt it, but that would be cool.
Anyway, I think back to ancient Greece. Citizens had pride in their city, some cities had rivals, there’s strategy and politics…all these characteristics are found in modern sports.
That could help explain the emergence and the appeal of sports.
I also wonder if sports aren’t a way to keep the masses down and complacent, like the lottery in 1984. I’ve worked with some people who make a few bucks above minimum wage and insist they aren’t smart enough for any other job, yet they can spout sports statistics, strategies, and politics ad nauseum; not to mention they can spend some of their hard-earned minimum wage on team apparel. I don’t think it’s a deliberate process, but I think it is an unforunate side-effect.
i really am not meaning to follow you around. that said, i was just thinking about this to myself today. i agree with you, but I decided that there are other things to consider. regardless of the outlet (war, sports, whatever), i think we are hardwired to want to experience (directly or vicariously) domination, triumph, or victory. we have a need to relate to physical success. war and sports are both outlets for this. so are others
i would like to see the correlation between fascination with sports (operationalized in any number of ways) and education level, cognitive ability (IQ), race, and various other interesting variables.