Has Your Fandom in Sports Grown or Dropped as you Age???

I could let go of the losses a little easier. Probably difficult for me due to where I live, because I never hear the end of it. And well, losing just sucks.

I no longer root for or care about the Detroit Lions in any way.  I do not think that my "fandom" will ever come back, even if they somehow started winning Super Bowls.   Its nice when they win, but in my mind they are just another NFL team.  I do not care and will only watch them when in the mood to see some NFL.

Pistons.  I used to like the NBA back in the late 80s with the Bad Boys.  I no longer watch the Pistons or the NBA.  The NBA play is too up and down for me and nothing matters until the final 2 minutes when its time out city.  The NBA is predictable and boring to me.  I could not name 2 current Pistons.

Red Wings.  I like the Red Wings and will watch an ocaissional regular season game.  I will definitely watch the Wings in the Playoffs.   I miss the late 90s early 00s teams... they pretty much have spoiled my expectations for the future.  No team will ever have that much talent and Scotty too.  However I am still a marginal fan.

Tigers.  I am a big Tigers fan and watch as many regular season games as possible. Its easy to have the Tigers in the background while working at home or in my office.  It was a dumb decision to bring Ausmus back.  He is a lame duck and will be gone after this year.  They simply do not have many seasons left to waste the talents of JV, Cabrera, JD and a whole bunch of other good players on their current roster.  I can not stand Ausmus as a manager and am mystified why they brought him back.

College football.  Love it.  Hate OSU, Sparty, ND and the SEC.

College basketball.  I used to go to a lot of Michigan games in the 80s and 90s but I live on the West Coast now.  I like Michigan BB and follow it but I dont have the time to get up all in to it these days.

Other sports?  Only passing interests.  I watched 0% of the Olympics this summer.  No time.

my mood on Sunday nights is still way too dependent upon the whether the Lions won or lost. Or maybe it's just the dread of another Monday at my dead-end job.

I am 44 and still find myself getting a little anxious before a big Michigan Football game.  So that part hasn't changed much at all.  I still watch every Michigan game.  I used to do the same with the Red Wings but I find myself caring less about them, although I still want them to win.  I am meh on the Tigers anymore but will watch big games if they're on in the local market.  I used to watch most Tigers games.  Never really watched the Lions and still don't.  So in general I would say that my fandom has gone down a little since I was younger but not really for Michigan Football.

Agree with OP. I care a lot about our season but the negative effects of a loss only bother me for a few hours. Granted the loss to MSU last year really bummed me out. I find myself not really caring at all about professional sports at all.

Don't watch boxing anymore. Watch NFL, NBA and MLB only at playoff time. Golf, only the majors and usually only the final round or two. Michigan, on the other hand, has increased. Not just football and basketball, but also softball and some volleyball.

Interest is there but found a career I love and got married/had a kid. No time/energy left to invest in fanhood after all that

with Denard and Company...Odoms got hurt that game.  I was pissed that they lost, but I was in Schembechler right after the game and the players weren't AT ALL upset.  making evening plans, joking around...gave me some perspective.  I shouldn't care more than they do.  I follow more closely, but am less affected by losses.  

I don't know. I don't really care that much.

I've come to realize nobody can take my Michigan degree away from me. Losses don't sting as they once did.

I have always been a big baseball fan, but over the years, Michigan Football overtook that love.  My fandom is not as intense since kids arrived, but I love watching College Football (everyone knows fall Saturdays are mine), still follow baseball (though not watch as much I used to) and only watch the Patriots (until Brady retires).  Will watch NFL if I have nothing else to do.  Greatest pleasure in the last year was taking my family to Orlando to see Michigan demolish Florida.

From about age 8 until maybe the early 80's, I "lived and died with the Yankees." My first sports love. Would not read the newspaper after a loss even regular season and couldn't eat after a particularly tough post season loss. I.e. Game 7, 1960 World Series. Now, still root for them but rarely watch all 9 innings (or more). Then some short lived extreme fandom fo the Jets especially during their Super Bowl and Bill Parcells years, some Rangers angst (hockey) and of course Michigan football and basketball starting in 1989 (my sons freshman year). Currently, almost all Michigan. Not such a good thing. Nervous on every play, except the last game:), blood pressure rising to maybe dangerous levels, really, not good. All for watching basically big "kids" play a game. Wish I could enjoy he action "but".. Oh, last October 17 was of course the worst. Well at least since the horror, the loss to Colorado in '94, the loss to Ohio in 2006 and...you get the idea. Michigan State 28-27 in 1990 when Howard dropped the 2 pointer from Grbac when tripped by Eddie Brown. After standing in front of my TV all game and sweating out a win, I was first in shock and then ...pissed, aggravated, almost irrational. Not healthy. Had to cancel dinner plans with friends that night. Trouble sleeping until Monday, eating normally that Monday. Hope I change.:) I am 68 and should worry about other things. Which I do just not on football Saturdays. Go Blue.

I'm like others, but I think my appreciation of college sports has gone up as I've gotten older. Maybe some of it is being a professor and watching students come and go, passing through the university (not UM). For me, the teams represent the students -- I can root for the kids in a way I just don't for the pros.

I still follow the Red Sox (raised in Boston) on MLB TV and of course this season I'm hoping Tom Brady is so successful that Roger Goodell's head actually explodes. But that's more about hanging onto childhood dreams.

30, male, getting married soon.

Care much less.  Spent years abroad, realized I didn't miss sports.  Don't watch much TV either, so not naturally inclined to watch something when I have free time.  

Also adopted 'The Bronx Tale' Mickey Mantle mentality, so when I watch sports it's purely entertainment.  In this light, I wish they let them use PEDs, it'd be better entertainment.  \

2-3 times per year I'll watch or keep up with a big M football game.

Mine is about the same because I actually had a verbal agreement before I got married that college football Saturdays and the Rose Bowl gameday were exclusively for Michigan Football. She agreed and has become a huge Michigan fan.

I've been married for 25 years.

Life is good.

 

 

I literally used to cry myself sick as a teenager when Michigan lost. While a student at U-M, a loss still hurt, but its effect was mainly the difference between "Hey, let's go out, crash parties and drink" vs "Let's stay home, pout a little, and drink." 

Now, north of age 50, the tears are gone. The RR and Hoke years turned me into a pragmatic fan. I've always loved my team, but learned to temper my expectations - expect little and be thrilled when nice things happen. Like others have posted, I see this changing again now that Harbaugh is back and we're on the rise. I don't see the tears ever returning, but the bloodlust I felt last Saturday watching the Rutgers game felt very strange. Hadn't felt that rabid in ages! This isn't at team that will let me wear my cloak of indifference.

 

 

Having children sucks away your soul, freedom, and checkbook. Don't tell Mrs. MGoCue I said that. She wants kids.

and from the age of 5 I have been going to Michigan football games.  My parents moved to Indiana when I was in jr. high .... but my fandom has never waned.  I've been a season ticket holder for the last 15 - 20 years and I regularly go to away games every year.  My love of Michigan football includes tailgating and being in the stadium every chance I have.  Watching on TV is brutal (hate the announcers, commercials and the fact that you ONLY see what the TV shows you).  

So now I'm in my 60's and football (with Harbaugh) is as much fun as it has ever been.  So I've thru Bump, Bo, Mo, Lloyd, RR, Hoke and now JH ... and I cannot think of anything else I'd rather do on a Saturday in the fall, than spend the entire day at a Michigan football game !  We only have 12 Saturdays for football, I have plenty of time left to do other things on the other 40 Saturdays.

Go Blue!

 

I would say may fandom (as messured by how emotional I would get after a loss) peaked in my 20's.  Since I've had kids, and as I've gotten older, I am able to accept losses much better than I used to.  

However, I still follow the team every bit as closely.  How does that figure in to my fandom?

Grown but oddly I don't get as mad as I use to

Has been extreme since I was 8 years old in '71. As a kid in the 70s I was a big Lions fan and thought they would go on and win the super bowl after the '78 season with Bubba Baker and then Billy Sims in '80, and I continued to be a big Lions fan through Wayne Fontes era. But now I consider the Lions a big disaster and have not really cared about them since Barry Sanders retired.  Still a Tigers and Red Wings fan. Interested in the Pistons when they have good teams.

Has been extreme since I was 8 years old in '71. As a kid in the 70s I was a big Lions fan and thought they would go on and win the super bowl after the '78 season with Bubba Baker and then Billy Sims in '80, and I continued to be a big Lions fan through Wayne Fontes era. But now I consider the Lions a big disaster and have not really cared about them since Barry Sanders retired.  Still a Tigers and Red Wings fan. Interested in the Pistons when they have good teams.

Definitely has dropped. I love Michigan, but a new season, a win, a loss, etc doesn't have the impact it used to. I'll be 42 soon.

I'd say my fandom has increased dramatically, but my emotional responses have decreased.  

 

I love all things Michigan a lot more than I did when I was younger, but I haven't had the emotional rollercoaster I did when we would suffer big losses or big wins.  

 

 

at least with respect to the amount of time I spend watching sports. Im down to 2 football games a week. I only watch playoffs if my teams are involved. Back in the late 90's/early 2000s I watched each and every NBA and MLB game for my teams, now I follow games on Twitter more than anything (or, for MLB Ill put the radio on and do stuff outside). And, if my teams aren't playing I rarely watch (even if its a Sunday or Monday Night football game).

There are a few elements that have contributed to this, and Im sure Im no different from many of the posters in this thread. Family has trumped free time.  If the kid wants to go to the park, I cant in good conscience say "just wait til these two teams I really dont care about are done playing this game you dont understand".  Second, My Dad died when I was 20, and my family history really blows, so I am acutely aware of that, every day. Im going to do everything I can to ensure I spend as much time with my son as humanly possible. Third, it just doesnt mean as much to me as it once did. When I was under 30, I used to watch every playoff or Finals/World Series/ Superbowl game, and used to tell my GF (now wife) you never know when you might see something that has never happened before. It may have just been an excuse to drink with my buddies though (and I stopped doing that as well. Hangovers and kids mix as well as Potassium and water)

I still like to follow my teams, but more by keeping up with them via following sports media, and reading as much as I can.  

The only team I make sure to try and clear my schedule for is Michigan football. And even that, lately, has slipped into "set the DVR" territory 9although I watch it as soon as we get home from the park or wherever).

Age-ist much? Yeah, my wife has noticed I don't get nearly as upset when my teams lose, especially Michigan. Mostly, I believe it's because I approach losses different. Usually I can look at the game and see my teams deserved to lose so I don't trip.

A lot of you have lessened your fandom when you had kids.  Me too ...........until they were out of the house at college.  Then with more time on my hand, I've grown back to where I used to be.  This has resulted in no other scheduled activities on Fall Saturday's.  LOVE college football more than ever. 

Pro football - eh

Dropped. As much as I love sports, I simply don't have the time to keep up with all of the things anymore. Michigan sports remain the last stalwart as I have mostly excised serious following of professional sports.

UM has become like programs we used to poke fun at. Growing up in the golden age of Bo and Woody spoiled me. Football today is being run by television networks, NIKE, and schools who are more like NFL minor league factories than institutions of higher education.

I still never miss a UM game but do so from the convenience of my HDTV flat screen man cave. Brandon's era caused me to give up my season tix and I honestly don't miss it.

 

Unquestionably, dropped. As a youth, my goal was to make my career in sports. I followed it through, including my first few professional jobs after U of M. However, as time has gone on, I have realized that each game is less important than I thought, and that there are other things in life which I care as much, if not more about (outside of the typical stuff like family and the like). Things like public policy, current events, justice/law, etc. I always cared about those things before, but I'd say I care about them much more as someone in their mid-30's, and that has been to the detriment of my sports fandom.

Also, the fact that as I age I see the cynicism in the structure of most sports leagues-- particularly the NFL-- doesn't help matters. I guess what I'm saying is that while I'm still an ardent, die-hard sports fan and watch sports every day and read about sports every day, it isn't as important to me as it once was when I was, say, 20, when it was more or less all I read about for fun and all I watched on TV. 

That being said, I still think I care more about sports in general than 99% of the U.S. population, so I may have had only one direction to go; I doubt I could have cared much more about sports than I did as, say, an 18-24 year old. As in, I don't think I had/have the capacity to care about something like that (i.e., not family) much more than I did, so I could kind of only like it less as time went on-- would've been impossible to like it more, for me.

Really difficult thing to answer. I'm so numb to it all.

I attended nearly every home Michigan Football game from 2008-2011. I loved that era even though we didnt win many games. I love that style of offense. I still go to many of the games and it's exciting and we win and I love it but it's kind of a chore.

If we ever win it all "I will have earned it" as they say, through the bad times, and it should be about as great a sports moment as I could ever hope to expect, but something tells me I won't be *that* happy. And if that's the case I really shouldn't spend so much effort, time money and emotion in this thing... But then again I love the fall. The fall is college football to me. Crisp air, cracking that first  beer under the canopy at the tailgate.

I think the NFL is rigged.

The NBA is rigged.

The Tigers break my fucking heart, but I watch as much baseball as I can. Win or lose.

The Red Wings were really my first love and they are in decline, but they will still be fun to see grow.

I just don't know.