Sports Optimist / Life Pessimist (1 Viewer)

[lucky]

I'm curious to see if any of the rest of you are this way. It's an interesting dichotomy, I think.

As it relates to sports and the teams I generally pull for, I'm eternally optimistic. To the point that I will defend clearly silly roster moves with half-truths and half-hearted gusto.

Personally and ideologically, I'm relentless in my cynicism. I have spoken on here about my anxiety issues before, but it was the equivalent of shining a flashlight in a blacked out warehouse of pessimistic views and beliefs.

I think the differential dictates that I would be largely unfulfilled in my personal life, and complacent in my fandom. However, I'm largely happy with my career and relationships, so it begs the question further. 2009 went a long way in quelling my sports anxiety, but complacent is not suitable, 7 years removed.

Anyhow, I thought it would be an interesting topic on the cusp of a new season. Hope you all are doing well, and if no one responds to this thread, I'll probably just realize that I'm the freak show. Kidding. Sort of.

 

[CountWhoDat]

Interesting idea. I find myself mostly in your camp.

I wouldn't categorize myself as a "life pessimist", but I do often feel that a lot of the problems the world faces are intractable, and that we won't come together to find a solution until its too late. Sometimes, there is not great solution, and "good" and "bad" are very nebulous concepts.

On the other hand, sports are a much more binary endeavor. "Good" and "bad" are a lot easier to measure, and even a short amount of time can be enough to take something utterly disastrous and turn it into to something great. (See: 2005 Saints vs. 2006 Saints) In that way, it pays to be a sports optimist because even though you'll often be dissapointed, its not unreasonable to think that success is right around the corner - unless you're a Browns fan.

 

[lucky]

Interesting idea. I find myself mostly in your camp.

I wouldn't categorize myself as a "life pessimist", but I do often feel that a lot of the problems the world faces are intractable, and that we won't come together to find a solution until its too late. Sometimes, there is not great solution, and "good" and "bad" are very nebulous concepts.

On the other hand, sports are a much more binary endeavor. "Good" and "bad" are a lot easier to measure, and even a short amount of time can be enough to take something utterly disastrous and turn it into to something great. (See: 2005 Saints vs. 2006 Saints) In that way, it pays to be a sports optimist because even though you'll often be dissapointed, its not unreasonable to think that success is right around the corner - unless you're a Browns fan.

Excellent point. However, id counter that while more binary, the sports psyche is also that much more fragile, in that, what appears to be a singular loss is catastrophic to future playoff (or even more immediate) hopes. Those dramatic slopes don't seem to jive with the overall nomenclature of optimism or pessimism. But that's likely overly binary as well.

 

[saintmdterps]

I try to let sports victories by my teams lift me up more than losses tear me down, otherwise it's a zero-sum game and waste of energy. At any rate, every week half of all sports fans are sad.

As regards life, I fear I've become misanthropic. There are wonderful individual humans but humanity is a pox on the earth. I am not entirely cynical, but my wife points out I have become a skeptic slipping toward cynicism.

The only answer for me is to try to stay in the moment and appreciate each instant for what it has to offer. All states are illusory and will pass. Damn, it's difficult, especially in this particular political season.

"We are the result of all we have thought. As we think, so we become"--The Buddha

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Interesting topic
I've wondered about pessimistic sports fans - those bad feelings seem like an active choice - they are choosing to be mad at something they have no control over

I'm inclined to agree with mdterps about herds of folks (esp homogenous ) ones
But I get most disappointed in the institutions we set up that are nearly autonomous and do not respond/adapt to real human concerns - that's where the bulk of my disappointment lies