On Sports Fanaticism

Having never been the competitive type, I've never gotten that into sports myself.  Still, I think they're a great form of exercise and recreation, and they're great in teaching kids cooperation, coordination, and all kinds of other skills.

But why do people go so nuts over professional sports teams?  Why do sports fans act as though they passionately HATE every member of every team other than their own arbitrarily chosen favorite?  In fact, why does anyone care who wins any game ever?

Perhaps a person's family all loves the Jets.  OK... Who the hell cares? Does that person listen to the same music as their parents do too?

Maybe someone loves the Yankees because they're born and raised in New York.  Yet, that person will probably tell you that they hate the Mets.  Not to mention, the players could be hired from anywhere in the United States.

Do the Mets have a different "style" than the Yankees?  I kind of doubt it.  I think both their styles are "play baseball very well."

Of course, Mets and Yankees fans will all agree that both teams are better than the Red Sox.  What about in 2004 when the Red Sox won the World Series?  Did all the Mets and Yankees fans say, "well clearly the Red Sox were better this year, so I like them now"?  Nope.  Clearly, all professional baseball teams have very skilled baseball players.

Let's say a citizen of Brazil goes raving mad over the results of an Olympic soccer game (which would probably happen regardless of whether Brazil won or lost, for some reason).  Does that team kicking around a ball, competing against a handful of people kicking from another country trying to take the ball away to kick it in another direction, really represent Brazil and its pride/masculinity?

OK, is it whoever's uniform looks the coolest?

Do most of us have friends on any professional team?

Are girls picking whichever team they think has the hawttest guyz?

Are dudes picking whichever team they secretly think has the hawttest guyz?

The only reason I can think of to even remotely give a shit who wins or loses any professional sports game EVER is if I get a share of a team member's yearly salary.  And the only reason professional football and baseball players "earn" millions of dollars a year from a job description like Going Outside to Play is because fans actually accept to pay hundreds of dollars for front row tickets and 13 dollars for a hot dog and a cup of cheap piss beer.  To watch grown men go outside and play.  Even if I was into sports, I think I'd boycott it based on price alone.