How to take sports less seriously???

[darthma]

I'm glad you asked this. I have had a similar crisis lately now that the Flames are 'officially good'.

• 1989 I was so young so it was a good time no matter what
• 2003-2004 - crazy, heartbreaking, was hanging out with friends watching the game, so it was so fun. It also felt that since we 'slid into the playoffs', everything was gravy. The underdog vibes were awesome.
• 2021-2022 - I stopped watching the EDM/CGY series, as I realized I was wayyyyy too invested and it was actually causing me anxiety. My love for the Flames was too strong, and my hatred of the Oilers was possibly even stronger.

My coping strategies are endless:

• I watch only if the Flames were ahead, and I turn it off if they aren't
• I never visit CP right after a loss.
• I read Gaskal's posts after a win.
• I thank the lucky stars I am not an Oilers fan
• I read Canucks sports coverage after a few losses
• I cry myself to sleep

[Derek Sutton]

Get a dog. Dogs lead to women and women lead to ____ Once you get the right ____ you will do nearly anything to get more and more of it. If watching Beat Booby Flay for 4 straight hours on Friday night leads to _____, Battle of Alberta be dammed, you are watching the stupid cooking show!!! If spending the weekend painting her kitchen and bedroom leads to ____, you’re going to Lowe’s and buying that paint and missing Jakob Pelletier’s debut.

[timun]

Obligatory:

[Incogneto]

+1 for having kids.

Sports is so small in the grand scheme of things. I am a die hard Seahawks fan, and the interception on the goal line in the 2014 Superbowl spiraled me into way too much depression. Between this, and having 2 kids, I have realized in the past 6 or 7 years that sports is so meaningless.

Win or lose, The sun still rises. I sill have to take my son to dayhome in the morning, and I still have to pick up my daughter from elementary school in the afternoon. Who really cares about whether the Flames won or lost?

The grass is still green, the Sky is still blue.
Care about your sports team, that is fine. But don't let it own you.

I have a friend that calls himself a Sports Nihilist. I kinda dig that approach.

[Dion]

Avoid the PGT when they lose. It can get very depressing reading all the responses.

[UKflames]

Live 8 time zones away from your favourite team, meaning you can rarely watch live and can pick and choose when to watch. Plus you don't get wall to wall coverege, you get bombarded with soccer all the time

[sa226]

Perspective and manage expectations.

When I think back to the most fun I had as a Flames fan, I immediately come up with 2004,2015 and regular season 2022. Interestingly to me I don't think of 2019 or 2009. I'm not too sure why.

2004 needs no explanation.

2015 was all kinds of fun. Zero expectations. Shouldn't have been anywhere near the playoffs. Young players taking the reins. storylines, characters, it had it all.

2022 I think we all thought that they should be pretty good, but not nearly as good as they turned out to be. They were one of the top teams in the league. I thought a conference final meeting with Colorado was all but assured. We all know how that turned out. The regular season was so much fun, riding the highs of a really good team with exciting players, a top coach and Vezina caliber goalie. The thoughts of what the future could hold.

And here we are.

So I agree that the perspective of more important things in life and managing expectations of a league that is really hard to win in is the best way to take in more in stride.

[OutOfTheCube]

Have your team be almost total dog crap for a full decade. I stopped caring years ago, it's grand.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

Also, none of the players, teams, owners or coaches care one lick about you. I've often thought that if I played pro sports there would be a sort of cringe factor of super fans. Grown adults watching a game meant to be played for enjoyment and having it affect the fan's mental health.

Helps with putting it in perspective.

Sometimes I think how weird it must feel to be an 18-28 year old and strangers twice your age have a jersey with your name on it.

[calumniate]

A canadian team hasn't won in like 30 years, let alone the flames. Just keep in mind the odds of the flames winning the cup are probably like 1 every 50 years. Just try to enjoy the sport itself and the wins.. and avoid any game time thread.

[Yeah_Baby]

I think too reducing your consumption of Sports Talk Radio, Podcasts, etc can be helpful. They exist largely to hype up the storylines etc. Which can impact your willingness to miss a game or two.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Jordan!

I had a heart attack in Sept at 39 years old.. Let me tell you, Sports DO NOT matter..

Just another hobby to hopefully fill your days with a lot of joy or pain depending on the Team/s you follow.

More hobbies you can have to fill each day with joy the better, so consider sports as just being ONE of them.

This is fairly concise advise that I say would help best.

Fill your life with more entertainment options so then sports (or rather than teams you follow) aren't such a priority anymore. You can still do sports by joining a rec league or intramurals for any sport that interests you. With that it cold also expand your social circle and you spend more time with friends. Join a club, pick up hobbies that bring you joy. Be active and go the gym/run/yoga/hike/whatever gets you moving. In general, keep yourself occupied that gets you to think about the Flames less.

Anything that can stimulate positive responses in your mind for your mental (and physical) health can help you realign the emotional response to Flames results, and find more balance in your life in general.

[Coach]

Cut cable.

[MoneyGuy]

I used to be a massive fan of my NHL and CFL teams but as I get older it’s obvious that there are far more important things - such as family, friends, experiences like travel, my business, personal development. Sports is unimportant compared to those. My interest in WHL and university sports has increased. I like sports where there aren’t greedy owners and stupidly overpaid players.

If you come to the same realization in order to successfully re-examine your priorities.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Dion

Avoid the PGT when they lose. It can get very depressing reading all the responses.

Honestly, the last one wasn't bad.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Enjoy the highs, don't worry about the lows. Try to have fun either way.
Similar to others, I have had some hard things happen in the last couple of years that gave me a lot of perspective about things that really matter and to be grateful for the good things about my life.

[Cowboy89]

My thoughts:

There are ~30-32 teams in each of the 4 major sports leagues in North America. Each has a salary cap, luxury tax, or some sort of revenue equalization mechanism that ensures that teams don't have too much disparity between themselves. They are the top level in each of their respective sports, meaning that management of each of these teams is all pretty top notch and they all have the same goal of winning a championship as soon as practical for their team. This is ultra competitive and it's exceptionally hard to win a championship and it also requires a good amount of random luck.

That means statistically that right off the bat your team(s) will likely only win 1-3 championships in your entire lifetime and if you're a Leafs fan, never. Pretty much every season of your expected ~75-80 year life will end with your team either a) quietly dying out of playoff contention in the dog days of a poor regular season, b) being eliminated in the last few games of the regular season with some disappointing losses down the stretch or C) losing the last game they play in the playoffs (and sometimes in d!ckpunch fashion with it ending in OT/extra innings). Disappointment is the norm.

Expect no payoff for your fandom in the form of winning and treat the moments where your team doesn't disappoint you as a delightful surprise rather than 'relief/conforming to expectations' and it will be easier enjoy the big moments and numb out the expected bad moments. To have a healthy relationship with sports requires that you accept this and not let what's going to predictably happen every year ruin / negatively effect your life.

[sketchyt]

Whether the team I cheer for wins or loses... it has zero bearing on my life.

I like to look at people who sign up for accounts on other fan base message boards simply to make others feel bad and I just try not to be that person. So that's pretty easy.

Also, I've shifted my view on sports to be less about cheering for a team and more about cheering for good competition. I'm more invested in a good story.

[madmike]

I wish I could help you, but it was really age that changed things for me. The older I get, the less I care about sports. You gradually come to realize how trivial they are in the grand scheme of things I guess.

When I was a teenager and well into my 20s, I lived and died with my sports teams. Now on some nights I entirely forget they’re playing.

[tvp2003]

Good thread, and good responses.

It's too bad that you can have really fun seasons like last year, only to have it come to a screeching halt followed by a year of mediocrity. It happens, especially if you're a Flames fan it seems.

At the end of the day it should just be entertainment, and something you should enjoy. Getting older, having kids, and other life events definitely helps to put things into perspective; I think if you're looking for a distraction sports can be great but you can't tie your happiness to the outcome because you'll end up on the losing end more often than not.