Sports are, more often than not, great fun for those who enjoy the sport. People tend to lose their minds when it comes to their favorite team and know one knows that better than people who are not sports fans. How many times has the frustrated girlfriend or bored little brother been dragged to a monotonous volley of some ball being smacked around? Is it common for someone to have amazing seats at a stadium, only to wonder how exactly people could enjoy cars racing in circles, men standing in circles, or people running in circles?
I enjoy sports, but I enjoy sports I like. There are those who just love competition and could find excitement in discovering new things as they watch the sport- and the madness of the attendees. But most people are not like that- most people need to be more open-minded. The Super Bowl for non-football fans is similar to Valentine's Day for the lucky single guys. You enjoy the Super Bowl party invite, but the party is not the same. People line the building talking about football and bad advertising tricks. Your only option is to be better than the Super Bowl. Do not sink to its level. Become so ridiculous and so amazing that people are talking about YOU and not some anticlimactic competition.
The Daytona 500 occurred recently, and people from all over collected in one convenient area close to home. Instead of avoiding the whole mess and the people wearing numbered hats, expensive Nascar lighters, and bright colored coats you should go to the event. You do not need to buy a ticket. You always have the option of hanging out in Daytona. Perhaps you can buy Nascar merchandise at a K-Mart and sell it there for profit. Sport fans know better than most the power of merchandising. Or more simply, try to meet people. See if you can manage two free tickets like I did for the Gatorade Run, the race right before the Daytona 500. I do not like Nascar, but I went and made the best of the event. I lived it through my father who enjoys the races, and was made better because of it. It would have been awful if I were not open-minded to the sport. The free egg rolls and stale brownies from the suite tickets made things a little more tolerable though.
But I got to see first hand, from the fanzone passes, the passion sports fans could ignite on cue. When fans saw the cars close up, or the drivers walking by in the distance, they became ecstatic. You cannot help but admire that, even though as a viewer it seems sort of silly.
The beauty of sports is that it gives two strangers an instant connection. "So you like football? Great!" Instant commonality. But it also holds the precious characteristic of being equally helpful as it is entirely detrimental to an image. "Oh you like the Cardinals? Their terrible, what is wrong with you?"
But the main concern I have with sports as a whole is the unnecessary seriousness of it. The fans take sporting events on an unfair priority over things that they should not excel. Non-sport fans take their dislike to a distraction that is undeserved. I think what makes sports more unapproachable than they should be is the fans. The fans thwart their own love of a sport by taking it far too seriously.
The basic principles in loving or disliking a sport, such as trying to make the best of an event, trying new things or staying open-minded is the same moral standings that apply to all of life. Sports are an outlet for fun, but just keep in mind; you live as a sport fan, not a sport slave.