The euphoria of sport

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

There was a debate on radio a few days ago on this topic, "is there any euphoria that matches the euphoria of sport?" For an hour they debated, and I was mesmerized by the discussion.

The guttural cry of triumph when Tiger sinks the final putt. The final minute goal in a Livepool-Barcelona Champions League game. The last ball Sharjah six by Miandad that caused deaths due to the euphoria it caused. What can match it?

Not just that, all the pain, the anguish, the absolute agony that accompanies the journey to the destination. It builds and builds and then it erupts.

Why do fans travel on a rainy, gloomy Tuesday night in a cramped bus, half-dead, across a 1000 miles stretch in a godforsaken small town, to watch a league 3 game they know they will lose, with a handful of crazies like themselves? Travel back in pain and be ready to the whole thing the next week again? And when they win a game they are expected to lose, can anything match that euphoria that accompanies it?

Closer to home - why do we erupt with joy with one victory after 11 straight defeats as a mid-table team - knowing the next game against a minnow may send us back on that wretched, misery cycle?

A sport fan lives on the torture bus - with years and years of pain, maybe some golden years of triumph - and then back again. But he/she seeks those euphoric moments, nay lives on them, like a drug addict.

The only other occasion that could be in the same league - and I am being dramatic here, but only just - is the birth of your first child.

A successful closing of your lifelong company IPO? A promotion? When she says yes? All great, joyous occasions? Euphoria? Don't think so.

There is no euphoria like the euphoria of sport, and there is nothing like all the pain that precedes it.

Those who do not love sport are condemned to never know it.

 

[Mamoon]

Man has always had a thirst for war, conquests and glory. As the world developed and warfare and conquests became less feasible and more costly, we replaced with it sports.

Sports fulfills man’s sadistic and vile cravings without putting life at direct risk.

Competition, proving yourself better than others, seeking joy at the expense of someone’s disappointment, enjoying the thrill of victory all serve to satisfy our ego without the expense of risking life necessarily.

 

[Technics 1210]

Man has always had a thirst for war, conquests and glory. As the world developed and warfare and conquests became less feasible and more costly, we replaced with it sports.

Sports fulfills man’s sadistic and vile cravings without putting life at direct risk.

Competition, proving yourself better than others, seeking joy at the expense of someone’s disappointment, enjoying the thrill of victory all serve to satisfy our ego without the expense of risking life necessarily.

This is a thread on euphoria, not chronic depression. I doubt your views are applicable here.

@OP - Totally agree, there is no euphoria like sport! Man U winning the 1999 Final for the treble, Pak fans with 1992 and CT17, Ashes fans 2005, so on - supporting your own team through tick and thin, through the trials and tribulations, through the ups and downs, never give up hope!

 

[Mamoon]

This is a thread on euphoria, not chronic depression. I doubt your views are applicable here.

@OP - Totally agree, there is no euphoria like sport! Man U winning the 1999 Final for the treble, Pak fans with 1992 and CT17, Ashes fans 2005, so on - supporting your own team through tick and thin, through the trials and tribulations, through the ups and downs, never give up hope!

Apologies if my post flew above your head, but it is important to explore the vile reasons due to which we enjoy sports and why it gives us euphoric feelings.

 

[Technics 1210]

Apologies if my post flew above your head, but it is important to explore the vile reasons due to which we enjoy sports and why it gives us euphoric feelings.

Your post did not fly over my head, it landed right in my lap. Instead of discussing how following sports can result in euphoria, you are predictably criticizing the nature of sport itself by calling it vile. I won't even get into why you follow sports, but frankly speaking you need help Mamoon. What ever is troubling you, you need to sort it out, because if there is any one who needs to experience Euphoria, it is you.

You are wrong about why sports give us Euphoria, other experiences in life also can give us euphoria, sports is just the common method.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Ooh I love this exchange *pop corns*

Both are right really. Underlying instincts are primal but probably not to the level of self flagellation

 

[Mamoon]

Ooh I love this exchange *pop corns*

Both are right really. Underlying instincts are primal but probably not to the level of self flagellation

We have all agreed that sports give us euphoria, but what is the point of this thread if we don’t discuss the reasons behind it?

OP stated that sports gives us euphoria, me, you and a few others nod our heads in acknowledgement and there goes the thread. Do you see any purpose in that?

You do have a talent for pointing out the obvious, i.e. other things in life gives us euphoria as well, but sports is a replacement for warfare, because it satisfies all the cravings without bloodshed.

We enjoy sports because we share the same instincts as our ancestors. We have the same lust for domination, winning at the expense of others and proving our superiority. All of these instincts are now being satisfied through organized sports.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

We have all agreed that sports give us euphoria, but what is the point of this thread if we don’t discuss the reasons behind it?

OP stated that sports gives us euphoria, me, you and a few others nod our heads in acknowledgement and there goes the thread. Do you see any purpose in that?

You do have a talent for pointing out the obvious, i.e. other things in life gives us euphoria as well, but sports is a replacement for warfare, because it satisfies all the cravings without bloodshed.

We enjoy sports because we share the same instincts as our ancestors. We have the same lust for domination, winning at the expense of others and proving our superiority. All of these instincts are now being satisfied through organized sports.

Good point. But sports and wars have coexisted for a long long time. Today there are enough wars and of all kinds to not think sport has replaced them - probably as many wars all over the globe as there have ever been. Some fought on the battlefield, some through white collar machinations.

But I'd argue wars and sport, though both primal, stimulate different parts of the human brain - one side way more sadistic than the other. Wars usually (but not always) bring no joy - because they are so endless.

Beyond that, there was no purpose of the thread if there are no contributing philosophical viewpoints on this. I was just bored of same old threads discussing same old issues of who plays, who rests, and Imam ul Haq.