Since When Watching Sports Become A Game?

At the insistence of Abby, I will be taking a quick break from my Perla Vardo series. I'll go on to continue it in a few days though, once we all get a sufficient rest.

You might be a tad mystified by the title. By definition, aren't sports games? Yes, but when did watching them become one? I'm referring to all of the extra "entertainment" that stadium, rink, and field owners believe necessary.

A few months ago, my family went to see the Cedar Rapids hockey team, the Rough Riders, play (yeah, so we're Canadian; sue us). It seemed to all be a big game (and I'm not talking about the hockey). They had giant screens that one would assume were only used for seeing the action up close, and maybe replays. That did happen, but that wasn't all. During intermissions and pauses of action, the camera guys would start targeting people in the crowd, and show it on the big tvs. They'd look up, and scream with excitement, only to have their five seconds of fame end soon after.

They would have all sorts of crazy things, such as asking people to dance the chicken dance, play an air guitar, or sing and dance the YMCA. There was cheerleaders, mascots, and guys dressed up in all green (don't ask).

Then they would have other interactive games, such as throwing an orange puck onto the rink in an attempt to hit a bullseye, or throwing tee shirts into the stands.

But the worse thing was when the home team got a goal. Don't get me wrong, I love it when that happens, and I'm not against jumping up and screaming hooray. But the problem was that the rink owners would sell "cowbells" that, if thousands are rung in tandem, produce an annoying sound that threatens to burst one's eardrums. But that isn't all of it. Whenever a goal was scored, they would show an idiotic video of guys with what I think is ancient Roman or Greek attire, just being crazy. Yeah, it got old very, very fast.

When did they start believing that all of this was necessary? We're at a a game to watch a game, not for the nonstop idiotic entertainment, thank you. Please excuse me if next time I want to stay at home and watch on the television.