TRUMPCHUMP wrote:
EaglesFan wrote:
Grown man here who is bawling like a baby. We have been waiting for this for so long. So many people counted us out. And yet here we are.
Who's "we"? Are you on the eagle's team? Didn't think so...
We
Sports in a vacuum don't mean anything. In a vacuum they are no different than a spelling bee or watching somebody do math. It's a bunch of people doing arbitrary things following arbitrary rules.
We care because we choose to care. We choose to invest emotional energy. The whole point is to feel emotions. This is what people who say "it's just a game" miss. If it was just a game I wouldn't waste my time. It makes me feel. It's like music and movies and literature. I'm here for the feels.
So where does the "we" come from? It's because I choose to make the team part of my self identity. They become surrogates for me, I feel through them. We become so engaged because emotionally they represent us out on that field, and if they didn't, we wouldn't waste our time watching.
Over time, this sense of identity becomes stronger. The team becomes we, my, and ours in the same way I saw "we Americans" when talking about wars or space exploration even though I am not a soldier and have never been to space.
I have seen many people who don't follow sports get behind Olympic or World Cup teams because it has the country's name on it. Team USA had a big following, and most of those people couldn't tell you how many players were on the field. That seems easy and obvious to them because country is clearly a part of self identity. Well, sports teams are the same way, it just isn't as obvious to the un-initiated.
I say "we" because I choose to say "we," because if I choose to say "they" I will have lost the reason for watching in the first place.
Edit: Changed "b/c" to "because" for reasons.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/2zl97m/why_we_say_we/cpjyft5/