Exhibition of modern sports has links to tribal roots.
The reason that the human race enjoys modern sports is more historical and biological than anything else.
Most people would claim that we enjoy sports for the entertainment value, to watch something amazing happen, or even pass the time with the most boring of sports (and no it’s not soccer. Get educated you un-worldly freaks. And if anyone out there says baseball, you too will be ordered to the chopping block).
Sports are enjoyed because it brings us back to our tribal roots.
The celebrations, the chants, the pomp-and-circumstance, the colors, and everything that goes on with the entertainment and crowds at sporting events stems from tribal traditions.
The actual events lead to b
east-like chest thumping and yelling in preparation for a gladiatorial clash of titans. We gather in arenas that encircle the event as the spectators look on at the participants that give up their bodies for the enjoyment of the peasants (fans), nobles (management), and even the emperor himself (owner or commissioner).
Each team and fan base can be looked on as its own tribe.
Each tribe has their specific markings, colors, and style of dress. They own have their own chants, whether it is a team song or the simple “Let’s Go Team.”
From the broader tribal spectrum to zooming into the individual nature of a team community, the ties still exist.
While each member may come from different backgrounds, they stick up for each other. Almost every team grows a bond of brotherhood or a sisterhood within the fabric of the team.
These brothers and sisters then go to war and fight in the trenches with each other against an enemy tribe. The tribes try to better each other through a combat of sorts and through competition.
Heck, some competitions have links to animal-like courtship rituals.
The chest banging and the attitude of trying to be better than the guy across from you is a demonstration of a competition to be the alpha male. In any tribe or animal community, the alpha male has the first shot at attracting a mate, or at least thinking he does.
This happens in everyday society on college campuses, school playgrounds, and even in corporate boardrooms.
Every way that modern sports are exhibited in today’s forum can be linked back to the human race’s simple, animalistic, and tribal roots.
It was this way before. It is this way now. It will be this way forever on.