Your Emotional Spectrum as a Fan

[BeastMan]

There has been a lot of discussion about this today as a result of MS Gridiron's show on 105.9 in Jackson. I'm curious to see the responses to this. I see people on social media constantly say a loss made them sick to their stomach or nauseated. The flip side is folks who say they get chills from wins. You also see chills a lot when those preseason highlight vids come out.

I just cannot fathom having that emotional spectrum for a sporting event. Sure I get excited for big wins and celebrate accordingly. I get pissed for bad losses and curse accordingly. These extreme emotional reactions for me are reserved for family. I did feal sick to my stomach when my grandfather passed. I'm sure I'll get chills when my first child is born. But for a sporting event? Give me a break.

I'm as hardcore MSU fan as you'll find but losses don't make me physically sick and a damn highlight video doesn't give me chills. Where is everyone else on this? Am I the different one? Or are these phrases just folks being dramatic?

[Big4Dawg]

I think you're different....

[starkvegasdawg]

Yeah, I will not be a pleasant person to be around when we lose. Not sure I get physically ill, but I come pretty close. Let's just say I'm given a wide berth for an indeterminate amount of time. Conversley, when we win people would swear I just freebased a whole tank of laughing gas.

[MadDawg]

So you are saying you will get "chills" once in your life - when your first child is born. That's it. Wow. Check your pulse, man!

[BeastMan]

I think you're different....

Fair enough but here is my follow up: If you get physically ill for a MSU loss, how do you respond emotionally to real life adversity? I used my grandfather passing as an example of when I was sick to my stomach.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

when we were making our climb to number 1 during the Auburn game at home and it was pouring down raining and Don't Stop Believing was playing...I got chills

[Dawgology]

There has been a lot of discussion about this today as a result of MS Gridiron's show on 105.9 in Jackson. I'm curious to see the responses to this. I see people on social media constantly say a loss made them sick to their stomach or nauseated. The flip side is folks who say they get chills from wins. You also see chills a lot when those preseason highlight vids come out.

I just cannot fathom having that emotional spectrum for a sporting event. Sure I get excited for big wins and celebrate accordingly. I get pissed for bad losses and curse accordingly. These extreme emotional reactions for me are reserved for family. I did feal sick to my stomach when my grandfather passed. I'm sure I'll get chills when my first child is born. But for a sporting event? Give me a break.

I'm as hardcore MSU fan as you'll find but losses don't make me physically sick and a damn highlight video doesn't give me chills. Where is everyone else on this? Am I the different one? Or are these phrases just folks being dramatic?

I think you are a robot...or some kind of android. Or perhaps a serial killer. One of those three certainly.

[BeastMan]

So you are saying you will get "chills" once in your life - when your first child is born. That's it. Wow. Check your pulse, man!

I was making an example. I've had emotional physical reactions for other personal events too.

[Big4Dawg]

Fair enough but here is my follow up: If you get physically ill for a MSU loss, how do you respond emotionally to real life adversity? I used my grandfather passing as an example of when I was sick to my stomach.

I get physically ill when i get pulled over by a cop.

I get chills watching youtube.

Maybe i'm just more emotional.

[BeastMan]

I think you are a robot...or some kind of android. Or perhaps a serial killer. One of those three certainly.

Ha. If you are one of the really emotional for sporting events types, I don't see how you don't burst in to tears every time you're happy or fling yourself off a bridge when you get hit w/real life adversity... What I'm getting at is if people's emotional reactions are the same for sports as they are for major life events. For example, if "Fan X" got sick to his stomach for a tough loss and got sick to their stomach upon learning of a death in the family, is that healthy and/or normal?

[BeastMan]

I get physically ill when i get pulled over by a cop.

I get chills watching youtube.

Maybe i'm just more emotional.

I'll give you physically ill being pulled over lol. Dem blue lights are scary

[Dawgology]

In all seriousness though, when I was younger I would get completely bent out of shape for days after a loss and was a nervous wreck the day or so before a game. Now that I'm a bit older (still not old just older) I don't let it affect me like that. I get emotionally involved in the games but after its over its over. Some of those vids have given me chills.

[MadDawg]

I don't think I've ever actually gotten ill from something happening at a sporting event. Well maybe when my kid got a concussion and had to take them to the ER - but that's obviously more about family than a sport. When my father passed, I was pretty much useless for 24-48 hours.

[Dawgology]

Ha. If you are one of the really emotional for sporting events I don't see how you don't burst in to tears every time you're happy or fling yourself off a bridge when you get hit w/real life adversity... What I'm getting at is if people's emotional reactions are the same for sports as they are for major life events. For example, if "Fan X" got sick to his stomach for a tough loss and got sick to their stomach upon learning of a death in the family, is that healthy and/or normal?

Probably not healthy but actually pretty normal. I've never been sick or cried over a sporting event but I know people that have and they are not particularly emotional folks in day-to-day life. Watch some of these European soccer nuts. You haven't seen emotional until you've seen 30 guys beating the hell out of each other in the street over a soccer match.

[lefty96]

I consider myself pretty unemotional and over the years I have to watch less sports because I get so wound up about it.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

I can't ever recall getting sick, but I've thrown and broken shit after a big loss haha It usually doesn't last long though as I have other things in my life that bring me enjoyment.

I definitely enjoy a win longer than I suffer from a loss.

[Jarius]

I got chills multiple times during the 2014 season and during the 98 Arkansas game/ sec championship game. Probably other times as well. I think most fans have at most schools. I've never had a loss that made me physically ill, but I've been very upset. When extremely bad things have happened to me in my life I have gone months without eating much at all, but not for a sporting event loss.

[msstate7]

I reserve the most of my emotion for braves' games. Losses that I don't think we should get will upset me for a few hours, but then I'm over them usually.

When state loses, I can't enjoy other games in that sport that day. For example, if we lose an 11am game, I probably won't even watch cfb games the rest of the day... Same with basketball and baseball. I guess you could say this ruins my day, but I'm not unpleasant to be around in real life.

I take sports way too serious and invest way too much time following them, but I don't let losses wreck my mood very much

[BrunswickDawg]

I have gotten "chills" a number of times - last time was after the '14 AU win. The fact that I made a crazy road trip happen for me, my son, and one of my favorite Dawgs and we actually won was pretty emotional. It was literally something I never thought I would see - MSU winning a huge game to become number 1.

The only time I have been physically ill was when my coach told me 5 minutes before game time I was going to make my first start my sophomore year in high school. I puked by the right field foul pole at Parkview High School.

[Johnson85]

There has been a lot of discussion about this today as a result of MS Gridiron's show on 105.9 in Jackson. I'm curious to see the responses to this. I see people on social media constantly say a loss made them sick to their stomach or nauseated. The flip side is folks who say they get chills from wins. You also see chills a lot when those preseason highlight vids come out.

I just cannot fathom having that emotional spectrum for a sporting event. Sure I get excited for big wins and celebrate accordingly. I get pissed for bad losses and curse accordingly. These extreme emotional reactions for me are reserved for family. I did feal sick to my stomach when my grandfather passed. I'm sure I'll get chills when my first child is born. But for a sporting event? Give me a break.

I'm as hardcore MSU fan as you'll find but losses don't make me physically sick and a damn highlight video doesn't give me chills. Where is everyone else on this? Am I the different one? Or are these phrases just folks being dramatic?

I have gotten "chills" from watching a hype video, but that's what a hype video is for. I would not consider getting chills that big of an emotional reaction.

As far as getting physically ill, no. I have gotten pissed before and when I was younger I would let it ruin my day. Even now, if I'm at a game that pisses me off and I have a drive home, I will stay pissed for the drive, but mostly, if sports are frustrating to me, I just check out. I wasn't watching games by the end of the Crooms era and I mostly missed the Rick Ray era. I'll even check out during a game. 2013 was frustrating for me because Mullen didn't do anything in the off season to fix obvious problems, so there were several games where I just did something else after getting tired of watching Perk up the middle on third down.

[MSUMatt]

https://gfycat.com/UnripePoisedArctichare

My emotional spectrum as a state fan.

[BeastMan]

I have gotten "chills" a number of times - last time was after the '14 AU win. The fact that I made a crazy road trip happen for me, my son, and one of my favorite Dawgs and we actually won was pretty emotional. It was literally something I never thought I would see - MSU winning a huge game to become number 1.

The only time I have been physically ill was when my coach told me 5 minutes before game time I was going to make my first start my sophomore year in high school. I puked by the right field foul pole at Parkview High School.

Great stuff and id like to comment and you tell me if I'm off base or not. The feeling after the Auburn game. I'd contend that experiencing that moment with your family makes it a little different. After a lifetime of seeing MSU struggle you got to see your son see them as #1. That had to count for a little extra.

Second, I completely understand the extreme emotional reactions from a participant. I fully expect a player to experience those things. I got chills from booing opposing fans once as a player. I'm talking merely from a spectator POV.

[Reason2succeed]

Schedule some time with a therapist. Haha! Just kidding...but only a little bit.

Different people experience things differently however it is pretty normal for sports, movies, religious events, and other experiences to evoke the same type of emotion as if it were happening to you. It is called empathy. A person is able to vicariously experience emotions that should only happen for others.

[BrunswickDawg]

Great stuff and id like to comment and you tell me if I'm off base or not. The feeling after the Auburn game. I'd contend that experiencing that moment with your family makes it a little different. After a lifetime of seeing MSU struggle you got to see your son see them as #1. That had to count for a little extra.

Second, I completely understand the extreme emotional reactions from a participant. I fully expect a player to experience those things. I got chills from booing opposing fans once as a player. I'm talking merely from a spectator POV.
I'd say the sum of the parts had an impact. The whole "chills" thing is I think a substitute for a "rush". The videos or the game get you in the mindset of what you enjoy about sports, and your mind reacts in the appropriate fashion. It's not any different then seeing an emotional tribute video and saying "someone's cutting onions in here".

I should have added that I have never felt physically sick due to watching a game. Pissed off? Yeah. But not sick.

[CadaverDawg]

I think I got chills watching Alex Collins pick up that 20 yard lateral and sprint 30 yards with it for a first down last year.**

This is a funny thread. I don't think I can say I've physically gotten chills or a stomach ache, but I'm a damn emotional mess about my Bulldogs. As I get older, I'm dialing back though. Losses used to ruin my week. My Dad can't stomach watching big games bc he gets so nervous, ha...guess I'll be there one day.

[HereComesTheSpiral]

I said the F word for about 10 minutes straight Saturday night, after that life went back to normal. I think the OSU game in 2013 was the last time I was just pissed about a game, then I realized the only constant with Miss State sports is disappointment.

[DawgPoundtheRock]

I once read a quote to the effect that you can argue with a person about politics and religion, but not about his games (sports). Sports are great. They provide immense entertainment value, give us the opportunity to tailgate with friends, possibly see old friends, make new friends and generally party. Wins give us the chance to feel good about our team, our school and maybe ourselves. They also give us the chance to gloat. Losses are downers. They provide us opportunity to second guess every coaching decision even though nobody is willing to pay us $4 million a year to coach their football team (or any other team).

However, to me, becoming so emotionally involved as a fan as to become physically ill over a loss or have chills over a highlight video, is beyond comprehension. It's fun. It's entertainment. That's all it is. It has little bearing on our lives in the real world.

[Bass Chaser]

I would relate chills to the hair standing up on the back of my neck. I can experience this with big plays, hype videos, etc. Physically sick no not as a fan.

[Maroonthirteen]

When I was in my 20s, I was very emotional regarding MSU sports. I got chills when KP ran the punt back in the SECCG. also, when Jackie accepted that trophy from LT after the Bama game in...2000? I didn't sleep a wink the night after the SCarolina loss in...2000? I remember being down right irritable if I could not make games (be there in person). Butterflies like crazy to start games. I either watched or listened to every basketball and baseball game.

Then came the Croom era.... Also I had kids.... I'm still the biggest MSU fan that I personally know but I don't get as high or low as I did. No butterflies, no chills, no sleep loss... also, If life gets in the way and I have to miss a game....no biggee.

[Engine]

I don't see how you could walk out of Vaught Hemingway in 2014 without being physically sick and blood boiling angry.

At the other end of the spectrum is Anthony Johnson's pick 6 vs Bama and Bro Wallace fumbling into the endzone where you just lose it with positive emotions yelling and celebrating like a mad man.

[bulldogcountry1]

I've trained myself (or has MSU trained me?) to not get too high or too low. I used to feel sick after a bad loss and stew about it for days. The 2012 Bama game was the last time I came close to feeling sick, and I had to reassess my expectations and emotional investment.

As far as MSU goes, most of my time and money goes into baseball. I've been able to enjoy the good moments and not dwell on the bad. I suffered through ever pitch on Saturday. The ending sucked, but by the time we got to the car, it was just a mild case of disappointment. I'll probably avoid the CWS and think about the good moments.

[Daddy Rabbit Dawg]

There has been a lot of discussion about this today as a result of MS Gridiron's show on 105.9 in Jackson. I'm curious to see the responses to this. I see people on social media constantly say a loss made them sick to their stomach or nauseated. The flip side is folks who say they get chills from wins. You also see chills a lot when those preseason highlight vids come out.

I just cannot fathom having that emotional spectrum for a sporting event. Sure I get excited for big wins and celebrate accordingly. I get pissed for bad losses and curse accordingly. These extreme emotional reactions for me are reserved for family. I did feal sick to my stomach when my grandfather passed. I'm sure I'll get chills when my first child is born. But for a sporting event? Give me a break.

I'm as hardcore MSU fan as you'll find but losses don't make me physically sick and a damn highlight video doesn't give me chills. Where is everyone else on this? Am I the different one? Or are these phrases just folks being dramatic?

I'm very similar. I've never gotten mad about losing a game that I didn't play in or felt some incredible high because MSU won a game...and I'm pretty damn diehard. Been going to games since I was 5 and been a season ticket football holder for 30 years.

[shannondawg]

I'll have to be honest, a NMW win is tough on me as a MSU loss.

I hate those bastards for making me feel that way.

[sleepy dawg]

I would say I am highly affected by wins and loses, until I read EliteDawgs after a loss, at which time I realize my spectrum is quite small. You mofos are crazy as hell.

[Political Hack]

I get sick to my stomach when I see my kid crying because they struck out to end a game and get excited as hell when he jacks a walk off HR to win a playoff game. I feel for the players. Have empathy for the coaches. Damn near broke my ankle when Will picked that ball off to seal the Arky win, but I don't fret over losses anymore. I hate missing Omaha this year because I thought the team deserved it, but I'm upset for them... Not for myself.

One thing that separates us from them is that we care about the kids that don the maroon and white. They're not rented labor. They're a part of our family. When I hurt, I hurt for them. When I celebrate, I'm happy for them.