Sports fandom is almost by its very nature irrational. Sure, to a certain degree factors like national pride can factor into it - although that doesn’t stop hundreds of thousands of Irish sports fans taking sides in Champions League or Wimbledon. But for the most part sports fandom is like some sort of crazy, stupid love - and we doubt most fans would have it any other way.
What is it about sports that causes such a frenzy, that inspires such absolute passion? In many ways, sport is like the perfect drug - an intoxicating trip that has the power to overwhelm both the body and the mind. Even the most potent of stimulants couldn’t possibly provoke the kind of scenes seen in stadiums, courses, tracks and pitches around the world.
Pyschology of fandom
Sports Networker offers a handy breakdown of the psychology, social theory and other sciences that have been cited in an attempt to rationalise seemingly irrational sports fandom. Some are obvious. The excitement gets the blood flowing and the testosterone pumping (especially in the chilly Irish weather).
Being part of a fanbase can make a person feel part of a community and lend them a sense of ownership - it’s why fans always respond with ‘we won’ rather than ‘they won’. Sporting occasions - televised or live - become a social event for gathered fans, helping fulfill innate needs for interpersonal communication. Everyone loves drama, and sport offers the potential for particularly unexpected, tense and live dramatics.
Some reasons are a little more complex. Can sports fandom act as a way for people to unconsciously abandon their inhibitions - to scream and shout like they wouldn’t possibly do in any other circumstances (might I suggest the alcohol probably helps)? Is it a way for fans to indulge in socially accepted superstitions and rituals, quirks that would likely be mocked in any other circumstances? A cocktail of all these factors and more certainly contributes to the emotions experienced by most supporters.
Maybe sports fandom is something we can’t fully understand with traditional logic, though - especially when fans will stand by teams and players through the (sometimes unending) rough patches. As Samuel McNerney writes “coaches, managers, fans and commentators alike continue to go with their guts, especially when it comes to a team or player that is close to their hearts. If they want to decide optimally or speak about their beloved team or player with slightly more intelligence they should turn off their cognitive biases and look at the data.”
But we all know fans will continue to be wrapped up in the rush and the craziness, even as some observers continue to insist it’s not really logical to do so. We can somewhat explain the reasons behind the madness, but odds are fans won’t listen, let alone care. That’s the thing about fandom - it’s unshakeable, it’s overwhelming, it’s indescribable, it's illogical.
Irish fans
Irish fans perhaps understand that better than anyone, and boy do they embrace it. Even in sports that typically don’t attract mainstream support, the fanbases that do exist are passionate and fiercely loyal. It's no surprise the GAA, for example, is still going strong. So many people love sports so passionately here that they simply cannot stop at a local level, and end up committing just as much time to supporting English Premier League teams as they do the Boys in Green. But it is the national teams and individuals that brings out our craziest side.
Just this week, an ‘Irish Corner’ has been set up in the French mountains to cheer on Irish competitors Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche in the Tour de France.
Last year, the crowds gathered in their thousands to cheer on Katie Taylor and the other successful boxing Olympians. A majority of viewers had probably never watched boxing before, but they embraced the chaos wholeheartedly.
Nothing, of course, compares to Poznan 2012. The Irish team may have turned in a fairly poor performance, but the fans didn’t care. Even in the face of imminent defeat, they out-partied, out-shouted and out-celebrated the crowds from the actually successful teams. Those from other countries expressed surprise and even admiration at the Irish invasion. And it all made for timeless YouTube videos:
Perhaps it’s because international success is such a rarity for our sporting reprentatives. Maybe we just feel a particularly pronounced loyalty to our homeland. Whatever the case, the Irish cannot resist the allure of sports fandom, and few nationalities thrive on the irrationality quite so passionately.
