Why Does It Matter Who Wins The Big Game?

Think about it. When you’re driving down the highway what do you normally see? At least three out of every 15-20 cars have their favorite team’s flag flying from their window or sporting their team’s bumper sticker on the back of their car. Heck I even have the Orioles and Ravens logo’s on my back window. If you walk up to any random person and ask them “who is your favorite team.” Doesn’t matter what sport it is, they will give you some sort of answer. Most everybody just wants to like a team or call their selves a fan of the game.

            The Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Championship, and Stanley Cup. The four major championships in all of pro sports, Of course it matters who wins! Otherwise why would they have them? Why would they all be so damn popular? This past World Series which included the Texas Rangers versus the St. Louis Cardinals drew an average of 16 million viewers. While this past Super Bowl, New York Giants versus The New England Patriots drew an average of 111.3 million viewers. Setting the NFL’s all time record, but Viewers aren’t the only thing. When a team is winning, none the less winning championships. You see the money start to poor in. People want to go in the bars, get hammered, and watch their favorite team play while being obnoxious douche bags, Jersey and T-shirt sales start to sky rocket. Ever notice that most people seem to be a Yankee “fan”, Steelers “fan”, or a Patriot “fan?” There’s a reason for that, and that’s because they have all been dominant for the last decade or so, and people are going to want to like a winning team. Granted those aren’t real sports fans, but hey their still coughing up their money.

            When teams really start to break out, like the New York Yankees back in the late 90’s early 2000’s they are eligible for their own Television station. In the Yankees case it’s called YES Network.  TV Stations calling teams wanting to show their games on their channel, because they know all the attention it will bring. According to the YES Network website, it is the most watched regional sports network in America. In 2011 YES Network averaged 30,000 total day TV households in the New York area. Meaning for every Yankee game there was at least 30,000 people watching. The Boston Redsox TV network “NESN” was second in the MLB with an average of 23,000 households, In other words not even close.

            This past year my friends and I took a trip to a Buffalo Wild Wings somewhere in Western Maryland; to see the Ravens play the Patriots in the AFC Championship game, and eat some wings of course. It was a HUGE game; winner takes being called champions of their respective conference, and earns a trip to the Super Bowl. I don’t even want to go into what happened during that game, because we all already know. Most people in the PACKED Buffalo Wild Wings were Ravens fans, granted we are in the Baltimore area. So when the final play was wide left; it was sheer heartbreak for 80% of the people in the building, as for the other 20% they were just as shocked as we were. You could have heard a pen drop in there, and to this day one of the worst days of my life….

Vancouver Riots 2011

            Nobody wants to lose, but at least we didn’t get as upset as Vancouver when their Canucks lost game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011. Vancouver’s citizens started to riot, Tearing down the city, burning buildings, stabbing people, and much more. At the end of the riots, at least 140 people were reported injured, four people were stabbed, nine officers injured, and a grand total of 117 arrests were made over the next few days. So at least in Vancouver we all know it’s important that they win the big game.

            In college sports it’s all about winning the big game, or at least getting to a bowl game. The better your team does, no matter the sport the more revenue the school generates, and the more scholarships they get to hand out each year. College sports really bring out the school pride in everyone. The stands are packed, and everybody is in the same colors. That’s why schools like USC, North Carolina, and Duke have been so successful, mainly because of their sports teams. USC has the second most bowl wins of all time with 32; while Alabama is number one with 34. Duke’s men’s basketball team hasn’t missed the NCAA tourney since March of 1995, and North Carolina has the most final four appearances of all time with 18.

            You could sit here and make the argument well “Who cares?” All I have to say to that is you could go ahead and ask the 111 million that watched the Super Bowl? What about the 16 million that watched the World Series? You could ask that kid who got a football scholarship to USC, while his GPA was too low to get in academically. “Who cares?” You could even ask the companies who made movies from real sporting events “who cares?” Miracle and Invincible both great movies! Based on real life sporting events, that had huge success in the box offices. Its Millions of dollars that if it wasn’t for sports, its money that would have never been made.

            Sports as a whole has an impact on so many people lives, it certainly does matter who wins the game. Just remember “Without Sports There’d Be No Next Year”, and even if there was a next year, it would be a HELL of a lot more boring.