Hey again
After the last post that talked about me coming out and was serious, i thought it's time to talk about something that is a little lighter and something funny,at least in my opinion.
I had a talk with a friend yesterday and he gave me the idea for this post.
All of us are also sports fans, we all know how much work goes in to a successful team. How teams practice almost 7 days a week and sometimes twice a day, in football,baseball or basketball.
How in the case of basketball we have 40 minutes a game that we need to give it all, run the plays, the defense and everything we worked on the whole week.
But there is something important we all forget and that's superstitions , how every fan has his favorite shirt, pants, hat or something he has to do in order for his team to win,
Also fans on teams I played on have the same ideas sometimes, if we lose a game they can say they forgot to wear what was needed or eat what they always do.
For me it's funny how all of us take such a great responsibility on the game,that we can change the result not by playing better or fighting more, but because a certain person in the crowd did or didn't wear his lucky shirt.
I love that thought, it gives fans a big feeling of been a part of the team and somehow been able to have a influence on the result, In my opinion the funniest thing is that almost every player has those superstition also.
Many players have to wear the same tights every game, the same socks, eat the same food, do the same warm up and so on and so on, i met many players that have weird and strange superstitions and I also have a couple.not weird,but just superstitions.
When I sit and try to think rationally it's just so strange, even the players that play on the court and have a big part of the result and the out come of the game still believe that the right shirt,right tights or right socks can influence the game more then another practice.
Maybe all of us want to have something to hold on to, more then just the work we put in or our believe in our ability, maybe to have something that can comfort us or give us confidence when things aren't going, that maybe if I did everything i usually do in the end things will work out.
I can just say that in this case it doesn't have anything to do with been gay,it's has everything to do with been a human being and just maybe trying to hold on to something bigger and better, but that's just my guess, would be happy to hear any other thoughts on the subject from anyone reading.
p.s - don't know about you, but I'm going with the Saints and Colts this week,hope u enjoy it......
I believe that it is referred to as "magical thinking", the belief that some action that we logically know can't really affect the desired outcome will magically give us the result that we want. It may be a defense mechanism to help people deal with the reality that we really don't have control over our life. We think that we do control our live, and we do have some control of course, but ultimately what happens in our life is mostly beyond our control. For instance, people can't control the economy and how it affects their job or the worth of their home, nor can they prevent a disaster such as the earthquake in Haiti. In your case, you can play a great game and your team can loose, or you can play badly and your team can win. That lack of control is frightening to many people, so they latch onto some superstition that if they do a certain action or wear a certain shirt that they do have control and their team will win. The lack of control over our life is one of the teachings of Buddhism that I find interesting.
ReplyDeleteI want to give you a compliment, but it sounds almost like an insult, even though I don't mean it that way. You are more intellectual than any of the basketball players that I had classes with at college. I am enjoying reading your blog.
if following a superstition allows your mind to better focus on the game, then it's done its job. The mental part of any activity is the hardest to master.
ReplyDeleteMaybe wearing the same tights increases confidence and relaxes the player, important components to mental focus.
hey there, just ran across ur blog, seems like ur a cool guy. this has nothing to do with ur post, but i read some earlier ones.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool u mention the whole garreth thomas thing and his coming out. I actually play rugby and am a wales fan, so yea its def a cool story. And yea there has to be other gay guys out there, but there just as scared as every1 else to come out. It is simply way less socially acceptable for athletes to be gay than it is for a fashion designer haha.
ne ways im adding you to my blog roll, feel free to check me out at th-outloud.blogspot.com
it's funny because I am definitely that way. I always put by gear on the same way- do most the same things before a game etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd as a fan I am worse. I find that if a game is going well I won't change what I'm doing- how I'm sitting- etc I don't want to trigger a change in the momentum LOL so crazy how we think we have more "powers" then we really do in controlling an outcome- but it makes us feel connected and more a part of things.
When I play sports, I wear "lucky" undershirts, but don't get nervous since I feel I have some control.
ReplyDeleteAs a fan, I echo hb9 -- I have a lucky sweatshirt, underwear and pants and wear them since that is the ONLY reason my team (the Colts) will win. ;-)