Editorial #7: A Very Brief and Confused Bit on Sports Fans. I played baseball as a kid, I enjoy playing volleyball and I’m addicted to playing racquetball. But I don’t understand the fanaticism that some people get about sports. I don’t understand the viciousness that Yankee fans and Mets fans have for each other, or the animosity between Cubs fans and White Sox fans or why South American nations have armed conflicts over soccer games.

Sports are entertaining. A good game is just as enjoyable as a movie, play, or novel. But as enjoyable as these sports are to play, and to watch, I don’t understand the level of complete addiction and fanaticism that people get about watching their home team or their adopted team play on the field. I understand that people get passionate about a myriad of different things. But to get violent over the actions of overpaid athletes baffles me. Some people seem as defensive about their sports as they are of their race and religions.

Unlike my previous columns, I’m not going to lecture or give answers, simply because I don’t know the answers. I end with the question I started with: Why sport?

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