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Grant Bent
AP Language and Composition
Wanders W/F B
5/29/14
Trading Gods for Gods among Men

"The Packers are like your children. You dont love them because theyre good. You
love them because theyre YOURS. " Packers fan, Steve Gay

Any given Sunday during the fall, millions of Americans participate in a
sacrament of sorts. They consume ceremonial goods, make a pilgrimage to the
holiest of holies, and stare endlessly at an artifact. Yet, they consume booze and
bratwurst rather than bread and wine, travel to a stadium rather than Mecca, and
observe a television or Jumbotron rather than a crucifix. This Sabbath is reserved
for the viewing of gods among men, not gods. Why do we demonstrate such a
devotion to athletic teams, and how does it affect society? Discovering the root
causes of sports fandom (and fanaticism) lies in an area far divorced from the games
being played (Serazio).
Our obsession with sports franchises actually shares many traits with
religious devotion. Professional sports teams and religions are both what
sociologists refer to as totems, which are symbols of greater entities that
communities gather around for a sense of identity and unity. Upon analysis of the
identity formations of primitive cultures, anthropologists find the presence of


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totems to be essential. Emily Durkheim, a pioneering sociologist, found that [the
totem] is the external and tangible form of what we have called the . . . god. But on
the other, it is the symbol of that particular society we call the clan. It is its flag; it is
the sign by which each clan distinguishes itself from others, the visible mark of its
personality (qtd. in Serazio). It is thus through the worship of the totem that a
community worships itself.
A sport can never become a totem out of the activity in and of itself, as the
very goal of a sport is to overcome arbitrary obstacles. One writer recalls thinking
about why Indians love the silly game of cricket, only to conclude that it is no less
strange than any other sport. He examines football, questioning the fact that the
entire game consists of colossal men wearing shiny outfits hurling themselves at
one another, all the while attempting to play within some manufactured rules
overseen by god-like figures dressed as zebras, who cause thousands to yell at
their televisions. He holds that it is truly dizzying when one considers just how
much time, effort, money, and human emotion goes into simple games
(Rossman). Thus, Athletics have begun to serve as communal totems not for their
corporal purpose but rather to replace former societal totems that have fallen
from relevancy during recent eras.
For every three Americans under thirty years of age, one defines
themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Additionally, faith in other common totems
such as faith, employers, and political entities is equally dwindling. With this lack
of faith in common totems, what totems, therefore, still survive in this culture of
ours? The Red Sox. The Packers. The Lakers (Serazio). Given that we are on a


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constant and perpetual search for community and identity, sports became our
civic religion as theology and ideology became more divisive.
Our worship of athletic totems has both positive and negative social
consequences. Unlike boundaries determined by religious belief or race,
membership in a franchises community is a right afforded to all who want to be in
it, regardless of present circumstances. Thus, on one hand, sports associations allow
even the loneliest individual to feel a sense of community and inclusion by being
part of a group, therefore boosting self-esteem and satisfying our desires as social
animals (Posten). On the other hand, this is a double-edged sword when one
considers that when a person identifies themselves with a group, they perceive
themselves and the group members as different from other groups (Schlabach).
The sense of simultaneous inclusion and resentment for others that is
created by a sports culture can extend beyond fandom and into a realm of genuine
violence. Unfortunately, it isnt such a rare occurrence, as All it takes is some
heckling and a few beers for violence to start. Just a few years ago a Giants fan was
murdered outside Dodger Stadium following a game. Thats right, murdered
(Steinbach).
There is absolutely no doubt that all totems, such as religions or political
parties, have the capacity to dehumanize the other and create a sense of us and
them with regards to social interactions, but sports are unique in that they have the
ability to divide people that are extremely similar based off of one arbitrary fact.
Steinbach explains through an example:


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A Packers fan may work with a Broncos fan, where both of them hold the
same position, both love pizza, and both live in the same community. But the
Packers fan will view the Bronco fan as being significantly different from
himself. If another coworker is also a Packers fan, but lived on the other side
of town and hated pizza, he would still be viewed as more similar to the
Packers fan then the Broncos fan. (Steinbach).
The Giants fan that was killed by the Dodgers fanatic was a perfect exemplification
of this, for both were middle class Americans who probably didnt have any political
assassinations on their agendas.
However, one must additionally understand why crowds act the way they do
before one can determine if sports fanaticism was the cause of an action. One
psychologist attributes sports fanaticism to be the result of deindividuation, which
is immersion into a group to the point at which an individual loses a sense of self-
awareness. Deindividuation occurs at sporting events for two main reasons. Firstly,
the result of a large number of people wearing similar clothing (such as the same
teams jersey) results in a sense of anonymity. Secondly, there is a reduction in
inhibition because of the sense of communal safety that results in a large group.
These two factors are empirically proven to increase violence, as crowds are
statistically more likely to be violent if there are large numbers of persons wearing
similar dress. Fans inevitably demonstrate increased responsivity to situational
forces at sporting events (Perry).
In conclusion, we as a society must cling to communal goods and beliefs in
order to develop a sense of identity and belonging. However, there is no reason that


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such a communal totem must be useful in and of itself, for when a culture worships
a totem it is in actually worshipping itself rather than the object of affection. Sports
have become the totem of choice in the modern world because of their secularity,
political neutrality, and openness to any who wish to join. Although this openness of
sports communities to accepting new members may allow some persons in need to
develop their sense of belonging, countless others are excluded. This exclusion shall
likely remain, for so long as we fail to pay conscious efforts acknowledge the
absurdity of our totems we will be unable to resist their influences in communal
activities and practices, which leads to the production of hazardous conditions for
those wearing the other teams jersey. For better or worse, there is no sign that we
will fail to observe our new civic religion and actually make the changes that are
necessary to prevent violence.



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Works Cited
Perry, Mike. "Sports Fans: Deindividuation." Living in a Social World. Miami University
Psychology Department, Spring 1998. Web. 30 May 2014.
Posten, Merritt. "Sports Fans: Social Identity Theory." Living in a Social World. Miami
University Psychology Department, Spring 1998. Web. 29 May 2014.
Rossmann, Michael. "The Spirituality of Sports Fanaticism." The Jesuit Post, 29 Aug. 2013.
Web. 29 May 2014.
Schlabach, Jamie. "Sports Fans: Ingroup/Outgroup Bias." Living in a Social World. Miami
University Psychology Department, Spring 1998. Web. 29 May 2014.
Serazio, Michael. "Just How Much Is Sports Fandom Like Religion?" The Atlantic. Atlantic
Media Company, 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 May 2014.
Steinbach, Matt. "Violence Has Taken Rivalries Too Far." San Francisco Foghorn. University
of San Francisco, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 29 May 2014.