People around the world love watching sports, rooting for their favorite teams, and becoming involved in the atmosphere of the sport. However, some fans who take their support for a team further than others.

     A sports fanatic is a person who shows extreme devotion to a specific sports team. These fans “go all out” in showing love for their favorite teams.

     “I show my love and support for Michigan by going to games, rooting for them, and wearing team apparel,” senior Grace Heintel said.

     Studies have shown that some fans identify with their favorite teams similarly to how they identify with their nationality, gender, or ethnicity.

     “It’s just part of an identity. Just like your gender or race, it’s part of what makes some people who they are. I can see how they identify with it and how that just becomes a characteristic of them,” senior Sean Carey said.

     People who follow sports tend to be passionate about their favorite teams. They may show their support by wearing team apparel, buying season tickets, or diligently watching every game from home. 

     “I think people passionately love a sports team because they have grown up with the love for it their whole lives and that is what they know. They may also go to the school or have gone to the school, so they have a love for that team,” Heintel said.

     Sports rivalries play an important role in how sports fans show their affection. These games are more heated than the other games of the season and tend to bolster the zeal of sports fanatics.

     “You definitely don’t like [the rival team] at all,” chemistry teacher William Gay said. “That’s the whole point of the rivalry. When I was at school at Florida State, we hated Miami. Even if you had friends that liked University of Miami, during that time you wouldn’t talk to them or you may talk trash to them. The rivalries definitely add hype to the friendship and make it fun.”

     Being a sports fanatic can put a significant amount of stress on the fans because the result of each game means so much to them. The American Heart Association reported that watching a rivalry game can trigger emotional stress, which can lead to a cardiovascular event.

     “It can affect your health very negatively because if you always have this hatred in your heart for the other team it gets draining,” Carey said. “But also, you pretty much wear your heart on your sleeve, so if it goes badly you might take it directly as if you did something wrong. Or when people are bashing your team, you might feel like they’re bashing you personally.”

     Though the obvious is that sports bring revenue through ticket and merchandise purchasing, being a sports fanatic has other, far more significant benefits.

     “It definitely gives you the opportunity to meet a lot of people that you probably wouldn’t meet normally,” Gay said. “Being a fan and seeing them at the stadium and people stop by when you’re tailgating and walking around. If you have season tickets you know the people sitting next to you, and they could become lifelong friends. That’s happened to me.”