A chance argumentative conversation with Pushkar which wasnt intended to be so, posed the question:What people gain or how do they actually derive enjoyment from watching games being played live? May it be tennis, football, cricket or any other outdoor sport that might have some people think different about ( i.e not like watching or playing).Though I was able to come up with a number of points impromptu, to refute the budding argument; as I sit here watching the mens finals of the Australian Open 2005 in the wee hours of the morning of 30th Jan(may Gandhiji's soul RIP), I taxed my grey cells a bit and got thinking about the psyche of the common sports fan who is passionate about watching sports live.Here are a few points to attest my claim(I choose tennis to drive forth my point):
1. Watching sportsmen battle it out in the middle gives a viewer a sense of the sheer exhilarating delight he gets on winning a point he desperately needs to.
2. It gives us an insight of what a sportsman might be thinking before hitting a ball and also what energy levels physical and mental goes into his shots
3.What is the psyche of a player when he has to fight back from either one set or two sets down.What makes him actually believe that he can overcome all barriers and still win it?How does he hold his nerve when a spectator sitting in the cosy confines of his house cannot?
4.What runs through a players mind when he is serving for a match or facing a match-point against him.
5.How does a player plan for a game which he knows is too difficult to win for eg. a game against Federer. How does he motivate himself to do the seemingly impossible.
6.Does a player decide to conserve his energy when he knows that he is surely going to lose a set or gives his heart out even if he is staring down the barrell at 1-5(0-40)
-- The point is that even though you arent playing, you get to imagine how it would feel like if you were out there in the middle and giving it your best shot.The competitiveness and the adrenalin rush make it a truly worthwhile experience to view a game. And though I wouldnt like to make this a "Autobiography of a wannabe sportsman", this is in a gist why one should be passionate about following sports on TV