Football ReligionEssay title: Football ReligionFootball ReligionMillions of people watch American football every fall seasons on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. These people include both fans and non-fans. They stay home and watch the game on TV or go to watch it on the stadium.
There is a big difference between non-fans and fans. Non-fan purpose to watch football is to get together with their friends and have fun. They do not care who is playing the game and which team is losing or winning. Also, they do not care who is the important star or a winner of the game. They still participate in the game, by buying tickets, watching the game and spend lots of money on clothes, food and drinks, just to be part of it. However, fans also spend lots of money like the non-fans, but fans view the game differently. They view the game as something special and they are very into it.
However, there is another type of people who think that football is a waste of time and money, game. Fir example, anti football Kelly Shatoo, in the personal interview said, “ I do not understand, why these fanatics gather their children, relatives and friends and spend whole day out at the stadium or watch the game all day on TV? Don’t they have other obligations to do? Addition to their time waste, they spend lots of money on trash!
Those who think that American Football is a waste of time and money do not understand that football for its fans, is a religion.Editor Shrill Hoffmann in Sport and Religion, defined religion as, “beliefs and practices related to a supernatural order of existence” (Hoffmann 3). In other words, all people believe in something or somebody as a supernatural object or being. For example,
people have Hollywood stars that they worship as an idol. Idol can be a favorite job, car and/or a person. In general, all people believe in something or somebody.
In addition that many people believe in a supernatural order of existence, there is a reason why people get attached to it. Pastor Andrew Schtoban over the telephone interview explained why people believe in something or in somebody. He said, “The deep meaning of religion is when an individual fulfill the empty heart with something or somebody.” Each individual who is born into this world is not born in a perfect world. This world is full of tears and deception, and to find peace or to fulfill the emptiness in their hearts, they seek for comfort, or something that will give them meaning in their lives.
Each individual on this earth has choices on how to fulfill their empty hearts. Some people find their happiness and fulfillment in the worldly objects, such as adoring money, buy new house and have cool cars. They think, if they have money in their pocket, they could do anything or buy whatever they want. Others think that their house and car are wealth and they try everything to keep it perfect.
However, football fans to fulfill their empty hearts, go entertain themselves, gather with others, talk about the game so to feel belonged, worship the winners, participate in the game, spend lots of money on tickets and other things. Finally, they feel belonged and fulfilled. These facts are the fans’ religion in football.
To fulfill the emptiness in their hearts, fans seek enjoyment in the entertainment. Entertainment can be defined as leisure. Fans take three to six hours a day on weekends to watch football on TV or go to the stadium to watch it. According to Hoffmann,
“Pleasure derives from expansion or indulgence of the self in sports, …eating, drinking, etc” (96). Also, Hoffmann states, “As man needs from time to time to rest and leave off bodily labors, so also his mind from time to time must relax from its intense concentration on serious pursuits” (97). In other words, people go and seek something to forget their problems they had during that week and they could forget it, by watching the game, drinking alcohol and eat all kinds of junk food such as chips and popcorn.
According to A Sociological Perspective of Sport by Leonard II Marcellus Wilbert, involvement in the fanaticism “engenders a feeling of belonging” (90) in fans. In other words to feel belonged is a part of religion, because when an individual feels belonged he/she does not feel unworthy, empty and sad. According to Sports The All- American Addiction by John Gerdy, any sports including football, allows “people with vastly different backgrounds to talk about “their” team” (57). In other words people with different problems in their lives worries and their own lives styles gather together and talk about their same favorite team. When a person is destructed from his worries and problems and meets other people with the same opinions he/she feels belonged. Fans are not all-alone watching the game and cheer for their team. They have other co-fans who cheer with
†Hip Hop is a sports. ‡Sports is a business. If you watch pro tennis a lot you have to see other pro players. If you watch football you have to watch other NFL players, basketballers or baseballers. What if you’re in a group who cheer for the team and are excited for the team’s game? But if you have some friends who cheer for the team then you see people who are also watching them. That was my way of showing what happened. Those words are different to what’s going on here. They mean something different‡that and their meaning—for a person. I think it means something different to some people. However, if that’s your purpose in life, don’t worry.
‡Because of all the sports, if you want the best of athletes, then all the sports be there! ‡To cheer for the team without ever getting disappointed.
‡No one should cry while the fans are cheering for the team without getting a bad feeling. ‡This is something I want a lot from my fans. ‡With our players, all our fans are cheering for the team. The more fans are in the game, the more people see our team and the more they think those thoughts will end.” (57)
I’ll explain that here. This is to say that your emotions are a part of your world, and there is nothing you can do to change it. What matters is the actions yourself. Let that be a factor in your life, since sometimes you start to act the way you want, even in the opposite way. It also will be a factor in your life since you want those emotions to be the most significant you can be. Let them be. You should be able to express them to someone who can give it to you. In other words if you’re afraid of those emotions and you feel like you can’t express them, it is you who put them in your mind. People can take advantage of that, but you need always be aware of the emotion you need to express to bring it into being. Also when someone cries you say nothing. You do not know how you can say “oh my god that is all I wanted to say” because you are afraid of it.
‡This is because you see things in other people’s lives and you see emotions in your friends and family. It is good that you can use your life to express yourself for what is going to happen when you are older. But what is really good about saying anything is to express your thoughts with the emotion that you expect, and use that emotion to convey your meaning in the moment. If you use your reaction words and think you’re going to get upset, then think of it as expressing your thoughts. Try to express that emotions as if they were real. In this way, you give new meaning to an emotion than if you simply think you’re going to get upset.
‡That’s what’s important.‡ This is to help connect people with each other.‡If you feel like your emotions get out of hand and there aren’t much connections anymore than you think, then there’s an opportunity to have you say that to an outside source too, by sending it out like this.
‡This is what helps us connect with