Only five minutes into the LSU vs. Arkansas game in Death Valley, Arkansas fans begin to hear a loud cry: “Oh you suck! Oh wee oh, you suck!” LSU fans chant in unison, with cupped mouths and swaying bodies; these words are the hymn of many spectators who love sports.
Such savage expressions are just one side of sports fans’ fascinating and often puzzling behavior.
Whether people are at a football game or watching one on TV, some fans believe they play a significant role in the outcome of the game. As fans watch the game and talk about it afterward, they naturally refer to the team as “we.”
“I couldn’t believe we won.” LSU student, Bobby Nichols, 22, said about the LSU versus Alabama game.
David Ezell, clinical director of therapy provider Darien Wellness, said humans have specialized neurons in their brains called mirror neurons. These neurons allow us to understand points of view aside from our own. Mirror neurons enable human imagination to stretch beyond ourselves and imagine what another person is going through in that particular moment. He said when people watch football players on the field, their mirror neurons are at work.
Nichols said when he goes to an LSU game, he feels like he contributes to the overall outcome of the game.
“I was helping contribute to the game as a fan,” Nichols said.
Nichols, along with others, believes that their cheering and yelling will directly interfere with the game. When fans roar during the visiting team’s huddle, they can make it hard for the players to hear play calls, which make it hard for the offense to function.
LSU student and Baton Rouge native, Elliott Dunham, said he feels that he contributes to the overall outcome of the game as well.
“I need to be there for them to win, that’s how I feel, to be honest with you,” Dunham said.
In 1989, the NFL adopted rules to control crowd noise. The rules stated that in-game there could be penalties if crowd noise interfered with an opponent’s offense. Video board messages inciting the crowd to get loud, like “Pump It Up,” were forbidden. With the implementation of in-helmet wireless headsets in 1994, crowds were finally free to pump it up and teams free to encourage them.
Although fans may have a slight impact on the game, the more interesting question is: how does the game affect fans?
Sports challenge people in many ways. It challenges people’s emotions, disposition, time, attitude, and mental peace of mind. Although people may feel they play a significant role in how accurate the players will play on the field, they have little control over the outcome of the game. Yet, they would let the outcome affect their feelings, overall attitude and character.
“Sports build character, but they can also reveal it,” Psychologist Marc Zimmerman, said.
Understandably, an athlete may feel an attachment to his or her teammates and being a part of a team. However, fans sitting in the stands can also develop that same sense of attachment to the team.
Sports fans become so passionate about their team that it becomes a part of their identity and affects their well being, Zimmerman said. Fans’ identification with their team can closely compare to how they identify with their nationality, ethnicity and gender, he said.
Dunham said he holds LSU football to a very high value in his life. He listed his top three priority’s in life as family, God and LSU football.
“I would not be me without LSU football,” Dunham said.
Why does watching sports make otherwise composed individuals do things like paint their body, scream obsessively, stress over statistics, and even become hostile, especially when they know that their team might not win?
Some fans are loyal to a losing team; therefore, being a fan is not all about the team’s winning performance.
“It’s all about the experience,” Zimmerman said.
Dunham said he doesn’t love LSU just because they are 12 and zero this year, it is because he loves Death Valley.
“I can’t get enough of a Saturday night in Death Valley,” he said. “It’s the happiest place on earth, I guess it’s my version of Disney World.”
Dunham said he loves the LSU community like they are family. Although there are many reasons people follow a favorite sports team, a need to belong is a prominent reason. Seeing another person wearing the same colors and logo on a T-shirt sparks an immediate connection; it turns a stranger into a friend. This common ground facilitates communication among induvial and makes people feel like they are connected. Dunham said he wouldn’t consider any LSU fan a stranger.
Also, highly identified fans tend to view sports not just as a game but also as a nostalgic or emotional experience. Although the nostalgia people feel from football games may be enjoyable and healthy, there is a flip side.
Some people become so emotionally wrapped up in the game that they show sides of hatred, jealousy, boastfulness and sadistic pleasure in violence. Leonard Glass calls it a war without shooting.
In his article, The Psychology Of Violence In Sports — On The Field And In The Stands, Glass described the first instance that made him ponder the dichotomy among sports fans.
Glass thought his mother was the typical maternal woman who never showed signs of aggression. However, at one of his college football games, she yelled out her wish for the rival fullback: “Kill him! Kill him!” Glass said.
His father leaned toward her quietly and said, “Pauline, that’s somebody’s son,” Glass said.
Studies have shown that violence in the game increases the likelihood of violence by spectators. Furthermore, fan violence is also magnified by underlying racial tensions and how strongly the fan identifies with the team, George Orwell said in his article, The Sporting Spirit.
Glass said most people seek the spectacle of the game to escape the struggles and banality of everyday life. Could watching football relieve stress?
Dunham said he is excited during any football game until the clock hits zero. He said if anything, football causes him more stress than anything else in his life.
“I will die earlier because of LSU football,” Dunham said. “I will leave it at that.”
Another integral part of sports is superstition. When fans care enormously about the outcome of an event that they have little control over, they develop superstitions, Zimmerman said.
Dunham said he could recall a time where he developed a superstition during an LSU game. During Hurricane Katrina, he was staying at the home of his Aunt Nancy, who is also a LSU fan.
“It was the Tennessee game, and was moved to Monday night, which was a school night,” He said.
LSU was winning 20 to zero at the end of the third quarter, and because it was a school night, Dunham and his parents left to go home. They got home with ten minutes left in the fourth quarter, and Tennessee had come back and beat LSU.
“I was devastated. I was crying,” Dunham said. “I felt like we lost because we had left my Aunt Nancy’s house.”
Some people are genuinely convinced that their participation in ritual superstition impacts the outcome. The more highly identified with a team the fans are, the more likely they are to believe that superstitions matter. Often, fans use these superstitions as a way to cope with an undesired outcome of a game, Zimmerman said.
LSU senior Daniel Guilbeau said he feels that he has nothing to do with the outcome of an LSU football game. In regards to how vital LSU football is to him, he described himself as indifferent.
“I hope LSU does well because I go to school here,” He said. “But whether they win or lose doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Does a perfect sports fan exist? At what point are they deficient, or excessive? If a sports fan sits at the game, like a bump on a log, silent and unwilling to cheer, they might be called a coward. However, if they stand the whole game, waving their arms around while screaming profanity, they may be called reckless.
There lies a sweet spot between the two that Aristotle refers to as courage. It’s the midpoint between deficiency and excess, cowardice and recklessness. One mustn’t do too little but must not do too much.
Perhaps when courage is discovered, the outcome will be magnificent and inspiring. Until then, LSU fans’ vocal expressions to opposing teams will prevail in Death Valley.
They’ll continue to sing, “Oh you suck, oh we oh you suck.”