OT - Simmons on "caring" about sports

PBS NOVA did a good program about this a few years back.  Mirror neurons are responsible for the level of caring that we all understand and our wives don't understand (some do, mine doesn't).

Basically whether you smile or you witness someone smiling, your brain doesn't know the difference.  Mirror neurons fire either way.  So when we see Denard Robinson throws the winning touchdown in the national championship game next year, and the camera shows Coach Hoke turn into a gint pointer finger, we will all experience the same jubilation as him because of our mirror neurons.

I used to love his columns, especially his NFL columns.  I can barely read his stuff anymore.  It's hard to credibly reflect the working class underdog fan when you are sitting courtside at the Finals, chumming around with the former chairman of Disney on your podcast, or talking about your daughter's private school crush on Slash's kid.  Maybe it's just me.  

I miss the old Bill Simmons, the new one is talented and successful but a complete douche.

Thanks for the link.  I'm really starting to enjoy grantland.com.  I even enjoy their "Hollywood Prospectus" blog.

So aside from Michigan, when it comes to sports I generally think I would be a lot happier if I didn't care about them.

This really was a great read.  Losing is a much more relatable experience across fanbases, as some never really get to experience winning.  Simmons really nails it on this one, which is easily one of his best efforts since he started Grantland.

The last time I cried over anything sports related was when Bo died.

The last (and only) time I cried over the result of a game was right after the clock game in EL. I felt cheated, robbed, and helpless to do anything about it.

"Lurking underneath that surface, that's where all the good stuff is — the memories, the connections, the love, the fans, the layers that make sports what they are. "

This statement sort of made me think for a moment. I actually know someone whose primary interest in sports is statistical, and they have little emotional connection to the games themselves. To me, that's a bloody shame. It's one  thing to try and play the season on an Excel spreadsheet, but it is another to be there and - dare I say - risk the opportunity to be upset at the  outcome. 

There is so much more than the mathematics of the experience, if you will, or the raw reactions we have to different moments within the game or to the game itself. It is more about the fact that the emotions attached to these experiences - good or bad - are strong and enhance our memory of the experience. 

I also know where he is coming from when he talks about a spouse that doesn't quite understand. I have been asked numerous times by my wife on Sundays after Michigan has lost in football why I  look like I am depressed (she should get this at least intellectually by now, right? We have been married 8 years now), and it's hard to explain to someone who has not msde such connections how real the disappointment can feel, in those  case anyway. 

Reading that column, which he must have just whipped together on the plane back to LA last night, I marveled at his ability to capture the emotion of the sports fans' moment.  Perhaps he did this better earlier in his career, and I'm not going to bother reading his 2002 columns to have an informed opinion on the subject, but I look forward to reading all of his columns and think they are generally excellent.  Seeing this post about him being too rich and chummy with the rich and famous to write entertaining, thoughtful columns sort of pisses me off.  Too much complaining on this site.  Go start a complain about sports website or something. 

I had to struggle to get through the beginning, reading Bill Simmons try to talk about hockey is just painful. Plus the only heartbreaking thing about the 1993 playoffs was the Maple Leafs getting screwed so the NHL could have Gretzky and LA in the finals.

But other than the opening, it's a solid article

Simmons was so much better when all of his teams sucked, and he just bitched about the woes of being a cursed sports fan.  Hard to feel bad now that his teams have won 7 championships this decade.

I was crushed and cancelled the plans I had that night (Saturday night).  My older friends from back home "got it", but my newer friends where I live now (who I had plans with) were completely dumbfounded that something about sports could affect me in that manner.

We weren't a family that really went to very many sporting events.  We watched games, but I wouldn't classify my dad as a big sports fan or someone that kept up with all the Detroit teams.  But my dad did race cars as a hobby and Indy cars were a pretty big deal for us. 

In 1986, we got tickets to the Indy 500.  I was 9 and a HUGE Rick Mears fan.  The build-up to this is so intense, because Indy is a six-hour drive away.  You have to pack, the drive itself, etc.  It has the normal sports excitement coupled with the excitement of going on a vacation.

So we got down there and it's raining like hell.  My dad's races still went on when it was raining, so I didn't understand why this one didn't.  It got rained out entirely and we had to drive home.  Dad told me they'd probably race tomorrow (Monday), but we couldn't stay.  I was crushed.  As luck would have it, it got rained out on Memorial Day and they rescheduled for the next Saturday.  We would be able to drive down again and see it!  So back up the rollercoaster of emotion I went.

Rick Mears lead a majority of the race and was leading with 14 laps to go, but got passed by both Bobby Rahal and Kevin Cogan when a yellow came up with 6 laps to go.  They went green with 2 to go and he just couldn't pass them.  He finished 3rd.  I was SO disappointed and remember I had a hard time keeping it together.  Back down the rollercoaster I went.

The other event was fucking Kordell god damn Stewart.  I will never forget that play as long as I live.  My dad wasn't around that day and I got to sit in Dad's chair while my mom made me a steak.  It was glorious.  Then my mom said with 6 seconds to go -- "so they're going to win, right?"  BOOM.  I put the utensils down and just sat there in shock for at least 5 minutes.  I had really lost my appetite, but it was steak.  I sort of forced it down but didn't really didn't taste it because I was in such a traumatic haze. 

I would have no connection with my family without University of Michigan sports.

ehh I do not get too much into writers (internet generation) and having no actual affiliation with the school leads me to create my own deep memories from the moment at hand.

By sheer dumb luck, I've attended 4 of the top 10 recent instant classic Michigan moments and I can feel for the daughter in a fan sense, but I dont see how this article goes beyond the traditional "love my team. we lost" column that accompanies any big lose, especially among your first love.  

But damn their pieces are long!!!! (That's what she said, I know).

When you hug another guy you don't even know. That's what I did after Michigan's last TD in the UTL game. I was hugging everyone in the stands around me that I could reach. They were more than welcome to reciprocate.