Is fanaticism wrong?

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 09: Roger Federer of Switzerland talks to the media during a press interview session at Wimbledon on July 9, 2012 in London, England.

Is obsession about a sportsman/sports team fanaticism? If yes, is fanaticism wrong? If not, of what good does it do in building character? I was pondering over this for about fifteen minutes when I switched off the TV when Federer was 15-40 down at 2-2 in the second set at the Wimbledon final this Sunday. That would be too less to think about in a fifteen minute period, wouldn’t you feel? Yes. There was more and all that was about fanaticism.

Disclaimer: The fanaticism I refer to is neither the madness in belittling the achievement of one’s champion’s rival, nor the expectation or hope of something improbable from your hero. The level of obsession and indulgence you get yourself into when you watch him/ the team perform is what I am writing about. A ‘Hero’ might refer to a person in an individual sport or a team

(What happened in the 15 minute period follows)

I’ve rewound my years to see if I have evolved to fan from fanatic. The sport in question is Tennis.

1990: I knew what Tennis was and that was that. Still, I was supporting the blonde Becker irrespective of who he played against. Edberg, Courier were the likes whom I was against without reason. The seeds of fanaticism were sown!

1992: I’d known of a funky guy named Agassi. It so happened that I watched the ’92 Wimbledon final live on TV. An instant fan of his I became. I was a fan, just like any other. Or so I thought. Later, when Sampras started defeating him in the bigger events, I learnt that I was no more a fan who enjoyed the contrasting styles the duo put together on court. I was an enraged fanatic who wouldn’t think twice before hurting his legs or knuckles by banging them on the wall or popping off a t-shirt button when Agassi lost those crucial points in such encounters.

The Sampras domination, to some extent, reduced my levels of fanaticism. How long could I keep hurting myself!

2001: For a brief period, I was even becoming as good a fan as a retired Brit, clapping for Rafter and Goran when they faced off in 2001. But the same year, I was happy that someone had dethroned my hero-killer on his home turf. I was happy to see Feroder (Well, that’s how poorly I recollected his name and told friends at school about the upset the day after Pete was slain) offer some consolation.

2004: Roddick & Federer were my heroes, and I never got emotional during the bigger ties, bringing me to the ‘Oh!Wow, No more fanaticism’ phase.

2005: In came Rafael Nadal and the fanatic in me slowly but surely started to return. I couldn’t tolerate Federer losing to him every single year at the French Open. I don’t remember the number of times I switched off and switched on the TV during matches like the French ’08 final, the Wimbledon ’08 final and the Australian Open ’12 Semi. It was during the brief TV Off-to-On periods that I usually ponder over how bad I have been behaving.

Back to the 8th of July 2012 (The fifteen minute period is still on). One brief period of that kind was when I thought about how wrong it was to be such a sore fanatic.

Reasons:

1. I didn’t expect Federer to come back and save the two break points. He did, and I didn’t deserve to celebrate his victory if I didn’t expect him to win those points on his serve.

2. I switched off the TV enraged, It wasn’t my TV and I had no right to go hard on a television set! I was out of my senses for a moment and the reason for that was the madness.

3. This one is a significant reason. For a fanatic, the victory of his hero matters. But a microscopic introspection would reveal this: what is more special for him is the fact that he can celebrate it online, and bash back the bashers of the past and it is, I presume, the fear of not getting that opportunity, or much worse, the expectation of getting ridiculed or being mocked at if your hero happens to lose that gets him/her emotional.

So, it finally zeroes down to ‘you’ and ‘your pride & stake’ and ‘your hero’ no longer remains in the bigger picture. That is as bad as it can get, I felt.

The fifteen minutes had now passed. I decided that I would, no matter what, stop being the obsessed fanatic. With serious doubts over whether the TV would function, I switched it on to see Murray serving at 5-6 in the second. The fanatic didn’t show up. But, from that point on in the match, it was the Federer show all the way. So, I am still not sure if I have beaten the fanatic in me to death or if he will surface back when US Open. One thing’s for sure – if he resurfaces, I will remind myself of the three points I have listed above to send him back to hibernation! Peace!