The Psychology of Sports Fans

This week, we’ll be taking a different route with sport and psychology. We’ll be taking a look at the psychology of sports fans, specifically, me, a major sport fanatic.

The relationship sports fans have with their favorite teams and athletes can be described as somewhat unhealthy. A team’s win or loss has the ability to change a fan’s mood, for an entire day or even a week. This can be drastic, especially if a team or athlete performs differently from their norm. For example, the Golden State Warriors, a team who has won three championships within the past five seasons are currently at the bottom seed in the Western Conference. I can say, from what I’ve seen on social media, Warriors fans are having a rough time.

This example can also be used for athletes. I think of Russell Westbrook tearing his Meniscus during the 2013 NBA Playoffs. As an Oklahoma City Thunder fan, it was a really unfortunate situation, which was very saddening. Simply thinking about it hurts, especially, reflecting on Russ’s career with the Thunder, knowing that said era has come to an end. 

I also think of Kobe Bryant’s retirement, his final game on Wednesday, April 13^th, 2016. Memories of that day remain fresh in my mind. It was quite emotional for me. Kobe dropping 60 points that game made it even more so, that I even shed a tear. Why? Because it also made me reflect on Kobe’s career, or the parts of his career I was actually alive to witness, at least, and realize that it was done.

Since these examples are personal, I can certainly say that sports fans' emotional investments in their favorite teams and the careers of their favorite athletes, has an effect on their psyche, be it negative or positive.

Jerry Maguire

This week we’ll be focusing on the people behind professional athletes, the agents, especially America’s favorite fictional sport agent, Jerry Maguire. We’ll also be looking at how representing professional athletes affects the mental health of their representatives, their agents, and how that ultimately affects the business side of sport.

Very early on in the film Jerry Maguire, one of Jerry’s many clients, Steve Remo, suffers his fourth concussion, which renders him unable to remember his name or his family. This event has a major effect on Jerry’s view of his self and this ultimately changes the trajectory of his career as a sports agent. This leads to him waking up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely, seeming like he’s having an anxiety attack, due to the overwhelming pressure of basically, holding his clients’ lives in the palms of his hands.

Jerry realizes that he hates his self and his place in the world. This propels him to write a memo to his firm, Sport Management International, titled “The Things We Think and Do Not Say.” He states that they should have fewer clients leading to less money, allowing them to care for themselves and the games, too.

"We are meant to protect them (the athletes) in health and injury."– Jerry Maguire (1996)

This causes Jerry to get fired from his firm, leaving him with only one client, Rod Tidwell, a struggling football player who wants Jerry to “show him the money.” If you’ve seen the film, you know that in the end, everything works out for Rod, leading to him signing an $11.2 million contract, with his home team, the Arizona Cardinals. We also see that everything works out for Jerry’s benefit, as well. With Jerry's success of being such a great agent to Rod Tidwell, it's recognized by other athletes and he is able to reclaim his title as "one of the most sought after sports agents."

So, how does being a sports agent affect one's mental health? 

In the film, we see two versions of Jerry, the money-hungry, attention-seeking agent, then, the desperate and struggling, one-client-having agent. So, it really depends on the agent’s intentions. If a sports agent is solely focused on making money off of athletes or simply, being known for representing the more popular athletes, this will lead to them dealing with the stress of never having enough, whether it be clients, money, or time. This will also lead to them never having time for their self, which we see is the case with Jerry before he has his epiphany. This was the case with Jerry and it had a negative effect on him - his anxiety attack, due to his constant bombardment with all the issues concerning his 72 clients. 

When Jerry starts representing Rod, we see a more relaxed Jerry, even though Rod isn’t an easy client, at all. With Rod attending Jerry’s wedding, Jerry being there for Rod’s wife giving birth to their child, and their spending plenty of time together, it allows Rod and Jerry to develop a sort of familial relationship, making it easier for him to represent Rod. Their close-knit relationship allows Jerry to see Rod correctly, and not as a check or a dollar sign. Overall, this had a great effect on both Jerry and Rod's mental health because firstly, Jerry isn't constantly distracted anymore, so he's able to have peace of mind, and secondly, Rod can be at ease knowing that he has an agent who genuinely cares and wants the best for him.