Enjoy It, Blue Jays Fans

For younger millenials and Gen Zs it's the first time that they're witnessing the Blue Jays go to the World Series. It's been thirty two years.

Our parent’s generation told stories about the out of body experiences of watching Carter’s home run go over the fence. There were echoes of it in 2015 & 2016, and now George Springer has delivered another spectacular moment.

These moments define the connection made through baseball and sport. Those connections are unique in the modern context. Times like these remind us of people important to us. For me, it brings back wonderful memories of my late grandfather and how he would exclaim “Blue Jays! Blue Jays!” whenever they were on a roll.

Last Friday, we were all suffering in the living room. We were watching the Mariners take advantage of the Blue Jays relief pitching when my good friend‘s wife exclaimed: “I just don’t get it, why does anyone actually like this?”

At that moment, it was difficult to justify. The duality of sport, the dark side that ruins nights and weekends was in full effect. She had a great point: Why does anyone actually like this?

On any given day, Toronto sports fans can focus on all the misery, the Maple Leafs losses, the 2015 & 2016 ALCS disappointments, etc. It begs the question: why would a rational person set themselves up for that kind of dejection?

What’s the goal? Entertainment perhaps. Or watching human beings seek greatness in strength, athleticism, hard work, determination, virtue, etc. They are unique and positive and there is something ancient about them. Especially poignant when we contrast sports to a rival form of entertainment - reality television.

It is a tad troubling that shows like The Bachelor are a focal point of the zeitgeist. These shows push and promote superficial ideas of love, relationships, and commitment. This sensationalizing of romance cheapens relationships and trains our society to focus on the wrong things. So it's no wonder many young people can’t figure out how to navigate relationships, but that’s another article…

The point is that sports are a much more noble pursuit. This is the attraction for the casual fan. Those for whom game seven was the first bit of baseball they’ve watched all year. That was the level one answer I could have given as to why anyone would actually like this particular brand of masochism.

If you go deeper and get to the diehards though, we start to enter a far more interesting realm.

Professional sports teams tell you that they are in the business of winning championships. Most players genuinely believe that narrative. It leads to the notion that often comes after advancing in a playoff series: “we aren’t satisfied”. You hear it during the celebrations in the locker room. That’s also why NHL captains won’t touch the conference championship trophies.

Monkey see, monkey do. Fans have been trained to emulate this outlook. The more invested you are, the likelier it is that you will focus entirely on championships. “Just one before I die”.This is referred to as “Championship culture”. But the truth of the matter is that sports franchises (or the practical apparatus of them at least) aren’t in the business of winning championships, they are in the business of making money. They are very good at making money. Just look at the increasing value of their franchises in the last twenty five years.

There’s a disconnect there, and the fan is typically left paying the bill. The deal is that a sports fan pays all the ticket fees, sports package subscriptions, and still takes on all the risk. The owners meanwhile get to collect the cheques, sit in the boxes, and eat the $30 chicken fingers.

So in that sense sports might actually be worse than reality TV. In reality TV, you don’t have the same stakes for who you want to win. There is essentially no risk profile.

With regards to risk, sports betting has become a major feature of the sports mainstream in the last five years. But gambling isn’t new to sports at all, and not just because of bookies, and the black sox, and fantasy sports. It’s because if you’re a diehard sports fan, simply watching the game was always an exercise in gambling.

It’s not with money, but you’re gambling with your emotions, and the odds aren’t great. All things being equal on any given night your emotions are subject to a coin flip. it’s a 50% chance that you’ll leave the stadium or turn the TV off happy. For a given professional team, just to make the final - it’s about a one in fifteen chance year over year. 94% of the time, you will be left disappointed. To win it all, and reach the green fields of sports fanatic Elysium, it’s one in thirty.

That’s a 3% chance of being satisfied, and that is before we consider factors like team management, market economics, state taxes, salary caps, etc. The point is that the odds are stacked against every die hard sports fan. They are depending on a team for happiness and the numbers are not in their favour. If you run the calculations, over a thirty year timespan, you're only about 63% likely to see your team win a championship.

Nevertheless, millions of fanatics still readily employ this losing strategy for happiness. There’s a better way, and it’s to lighten the dependence on championship culture. We must instead be clever and focus on enjoying the little things.

When your team does get the two points (wins a game), allow yourself to be happy about it. When they finally sign that big free agent or win the division, that should be a cause for celebration. Visibly enjoying something is not resignation that the journey is over. It's not a jinx. It is a taste of what it is like to be rewarded when you put your faith in something else. When that faith pays off, there is a tonne of sweetness to be savoured in those little moments.

When your team finally does make the World Series, go dancing in the streets. Allow yourself to release that inner child. If you’re new, get on the bandwagon! Don’t be ashamed or guilty or allow yourself to be gatekept. Participate and enhance the joy of your fellow fans. Those successes are good for everyone, rising tides raise all ships. If you don't understand the intricacies of the sport, you are still entitled to enjoy the moment. That joy, that shared humanity is the end game. Allowing yourself to be swallowed up in the wave, having fun, and believing.

Ultimately, sports are an expression of the human yearning for faith and belief.

They are a real world tangible example where you can see your prayers being answered in real time (sometimes at least). It is a kind of religion. It is an opportunity to worship idols, relinquish control, act irresponsibly, and be superstitious. It is a forum to express yourself in ways that aren’t appropriate in other contexts.

Sports are also a way to affiliate. Humans want to be part of the tribe, row in the same direction, care about the same things. With sports you’re not directly involved, but you get to feel all the feelings, and if you have a couple hundred dollars to shell, you can even buy and wear your own uniform.

I love relaxing to sports radio. My favourite host: Sportsnet's JD Bunkis likes to point out that sports is a meeting ground. He describes it as a lingua Franca for people from all different walks of life. In a city as diverse as Toronto, those connections are so needed. This is an “eyes down while you’re on the subway” kind of town. But if you’re wearing a hat with a bluebird on it today, you’re looking up and you’re smiling. You're giving props to total strangers. That is what life is about in its best moments. Seeing each other, sharing things, dreaming, and believing.

To my friend’s wife, I should have said that the best way to understand why we love sports is because it’s an exercise in what it means to be human. An opportunity to let yourself go a bit - affiliate, commit, suffer, and celebrate.

That means making sure we celebrate wins like the one the Blue Jays had last night. It means deliberately moving towards a culture of enjoyment. Letting yourself actually be happy when you’re witnessing something amazing. Letting yourself be happy when you witness something positive but small. It means realizing the math is not in your favour, that you’ve been gambling with your emotions this whole time, and that you deserve to celebrate the wins. These lessons can be learned by seeing your team win a pennant, but they should be applied to all of life's successes. You have to enjoy the wins. Savour the good fortune when it visits. Don't be too focused on the end goal.

I am doing my best to practice what I preach, though I must say, it would be really nice if they could get one before I die... Go Blue Jays!

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