Why Sport Thrills

Why Sport Thrills

It was 30 March, 2011. A Wednesday evening. It was a regular working day with no holiday or a long weekend. In fact, it was a day close to the end of the fiscal year (in India). But the streets were quite vacant. Lot of office goers were huddled up in their homes, either having taken an off, a half day or working from home. Malls, restaurants & cinemas wore a deserted look. The smaller proprietary shops had even shut down. Even a large number of VIPs & celebrities had taken a break from their otherwise busy schedules. It was definitely not a war situation. Was there a strike? Or a natural calamity? Or something else? What was it that had brought a nation to a standstill?

To answer it simply, it was just a game of a sport called cricket. But from an Indian perspective, it was the game of cricket. Precisely, the Cricket World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan. Need I say anything more? I am myself a huge fan of the game and had returned early from work planning to park myself in front of the idiot box for roughly 8 hours. But the devil’s advocate in me is always busy. It set the thoughts rolling…          

What is it in a game that puts brakes on all activity? Why do millions of people want to watch a few individuals playing? As such, a sport isn’t really something that’s going to change anyone’s or for that matter any nation’s future. It’s not like a political development, a technological invention or a scientific discovery that can uplift human life. It’s not going to eradicate poverty, improve food supply or impact the fortunes of anyone watching. Whether your team wins or loses, you still have to go back to work the next day, you still have to eat, sleep, ear n money and carry out your usual stuff that required for a livelihood. After all, it is just a leisure activity. Then why do other forms of entertainment (like movie, outing, shopping etc.) take a backseat when a game is on? So, why so much passion? Why is it that entire nation feels that everything is at stake?  After all, isn’t it only a game?

Well, for starters, sport thrills because it offers unpredictability. Unlike a movie or TV series, it cannot be scripted. Every now and then, a minnow will stage an upset victory over the game’s Goliaths (Remember Ireland doing it so many times over the past decade). Requiring a single to win in four balls, a strong South African team lost their nerves to crash out of a World Cup semis. And we have our very own story where Kapil Dev’s team crushing the all time great West Indians to win the 1983 World Cup. Ranked 125th before the tournament, Ivanisevic was the only wild card entry to have won the Wimbledon. In a stunning run in Euro 2004, Greece beat defending champion France and the Czech Republic in the knockout stages, then beat the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo 1-0 in the final. Sport can indeed offer such surprises.

In movies, the leading actor will always triumph in the end and virtues like hard work & honesty pay. But not so in sport. It can cruelly deny a batsman from scoring just four runs in his final innings which would have given him a perfect average of 100. Inclement weather can rob a country of a World Cup, ask South Africa. A foul play, whether knowingly or inadvertently, can often be the difference between a win and a loss. Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ or Zidane’s headbutt still provoke strong reactions. And then, there have been numerous decisions of referees / umpires changing the course of matches or even careers. Who can forget Darell Hair singling out Muralitharan for chucking and the horrendous umpiring decisions that cost India a test win in Sydney. At the same time, sport can also give us movie style endings. The six from Dhoni to win the World Cup at home is fairy tale ending at its best!

Sport thrills because it’s the closest we can get to experiencing superheroes. The image of an outstretched Jonty Rhodes in mid-air reminds us of Superman. Usain Bolt clocking 100m in 9.58s is our real world equivalent of Flash. Dipa Karmakar’s produnova vault is no short of physical wizardry while weightlifters are the Hulks of the world! To win the high jump, an athlete must have the most controlled technique, power, and ability to extend his or her body to its fullest. These are all physical attributes that create awe as we see an athlete striving to fulfil the maximum human potential.

Watching sport is far more than just pure, dumb entertainment. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat is something that every sports lover thrives on. The rush of adrenaline when your team is on the cusp of victory or the nervous nail-biting moments is something that enriches one’s life. Watching sport is an activity with aesthetic, emotional and ethical dimensions. Watching the emotional outbursts and victory lap after India’s World Cup win is in itself an experience. It’s our chance to feel part of one’s country. But what even more interesting is that viewers will regularly watch games even when no one from their own country is in the reckoning.

So that is why sport thrills!

*****
















                                                                                                                                                                                                  

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Anurag Mittal said…
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June 8, 2017 at 2:18 PM
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