I am doing a 365 daily prompt thing from WordPress.  You should do it, too, if you want.

Fandom

Are you a sports fan? Tell us about fandom. If you’re not, tell us why not.

It seems logical that people would become fans of sports they play.  They know the rules and how hard it is to be really good.  Makes sense.  I used to to play tennis, and Pete Samprass was my dude.  So many cool things about him.  He often dropped the first set against good competition.  Slow starter, I can identify with that.  But he didn’t scream and cry or throw his racket.  He buckled down.  He was classy.  He didn’t curse, and he appeared quite humble.  He didn’t give up, ever.  He would be dry heaving on the sidelines and then come in and serve a blazing ace right up the middle.  He is undoubtedly one of the the greatest tennis players the world has ever known.  When I watched Pete Sampras,  I would jump around the room and yell.  I hung on every point and helped him out with my encouraging comments, to the television.  It was an experience to “participate” in one of his matches.  I never went in with the intention to bounce off the walls, but it always happened.  Pete Samprass was a superhero, and I was his sidekick.

The notorious Conor McGregor.  In many ways the complete opposite of Samprass, in many ways the same awesomeness.  Conor is a hilarious, electrifying beast.  He is larger than life, and brings the thunder inside and outside the Octagon (UFC- mixed martial arts).  In a fight, he makes strong fighters look stupid.  They become disoriented as if facing some supernatural force shortly before the fight stops.  Outside the ring, I just think back to poor Chad Mendes, who he also mauled inside the ring.  Chad came at Conor with the compellingly witty question of “Do you know what wrestling is?” to which Conor replied “I can rest my balls on your forehead” which also addressed an earlier part of the conversation about height.  WHO SAYS THAT?  It was awesome!  The sort of statement that one would imagine in a frat house became an erudite response to a condescending question.  I am 99.99% I will never make that statement on national television, but Conor did.  He is the anti-hero.  He is the Punisher to Samprass’ Superman.  But they both say what they mean and mean what they say, and they back it up.  Both men represent extreme dedication to craft and a work ethic of superhuman proportions.  They inspire me to be bold and persevere because at the end of the today they are human just like me.

There are of course other bloodsports:  football, politics, shopping, and sewing among them.  We want to see conflict, and we want to see victory, in order to remind us that the first is inevitable and the second is possible.  A formal sport is nice and contained with rules and structure.  The world is not like this, and so it is often easier to lose oneself in the world of sports, for a time.