Go Sports Team!!!

I went to a sports bar the other night to get some of those potato wedges with cheese and sour cream. There was a football game on the TVs and everyone was shouting and cheering whenever a big play was made. I don't know anything about sports, but the cheering got me really excited. I tried to figure out what moments were appropriate to cheer for or get upset about, but after a few failed attempts, I decided to just wait until a split second after everyone else started cheering and just join in.

I should learn more about sports so that I can fit in more in situations like these. Imagine how many high fives I would get if I painted my face and wore the appropriate colors. There seems to be some kind of primal urge within people to be a fan of something. I don't understand how people can form a bond with each other based purely on shared preferences for a specific group of individuals playing a game together. They seem to take great pride in the moments when the team they prefer triumphs over the opposing team. I don't think I even get that excited about my own achievements, let alone the achievements of complete strangers. It's also interesting to me how aggressive they can get towards one another when the opposing team dominates.

I obviously have a lot to learn about sports if I am going to blend in better. I feel like I understand the basics of why each sport is popular. It's just the specifics that I need to research more. For example, why do boxers wear gloves? I understand the thrill of watching one man fight another, it's just the gloves that I don't get. Most sporting equipment is designed to make the game's goals easier to achieve. For example, in football, the pads make it easier for the players to get from one end of the field to another without knocking each other out. In boxing, the goal is to knock each other out. It just seems counter productive to the goal. It would be like letting some of the air out of a basketball or making a hockey puck white.