I never watch sports by myself, only when with non-nerd friends. I play board games and nerd out with people who have no interest in sports and watch sports wit

I never watch sports by myself, only when with non-nerd friends. I play board games and nerd out with people who have no interest in sports and watch sports with people who have no or low interest in nerdy things - I'm sort of in the middle - it's a healthy balance. IMO, picking and caring for a professional sports team plays the same role as religion - satisfies some kind of deep primal urge to "belong". I grew up in Europe, so soccer (it's football, dammit!) was that religion - the history of the club, the songs, the chants, the way you dress for the game, the people you meet and hang out with - you feel like you belong, like you're part of a family. The actual event is basically modern gladiatorial combat - we get to blow off some steam without killing each other. I'm positive murder rates would be way up if it weren't for competitive sports.