Isn't it amazing?
How a game, a team has such an impact on our emotional well-being? Sometimes we forget that it's not only the singular moment of that play, or series that has us so amped up. It's the Butterfly Effect that rolls us all into blathering balls of neurosis at any given moment throughout the course of a game.
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The name of the effect, coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from the theoretical example of a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks earlier.
If Russell Wilson loses a game, how many begin to sow the seeds of doubt in their minds about how concrete that golden throne we've collectively built for him really is? Forget fantasy football, if Lynch only runs for 23 yards in 21 carries...That hurts you to the bone. We've created such a soiree of supposition in regards to our expectations it's quite nearly a corner without escape. Perhaps even more important than all of that...
These Seahawks, with THESE expectations, losing a game...ANY game, makes for a very, very bad day for all of us.
I can't speak for you but when it comes to myself, I am not a big sports fan of anything outside of the NFL. So imagine when you don't have the backup of several other professional sports to occupy your mind. All you get, is the 16 regular season games your team plays from September to early January. Every Game Counts. HUGE. So every play is magnified times 10. Every play that our defense or offense looks bad, can be measured by all of the local and national radio and TV analysts that will use those moments as proof as to why your team isn't as good as you thought.
At least, that's what's in my mind, all the time. Mainly, on the road.
In a year that is unprecedented with national media jumping on our jocks, it makes sense why we pitch fits with any play or series or quarter or more of football that doesn't go as planned. It not only sucks because you hate seeing your team go through that, it sucks much harder because you know a loss of the game also means a loss for the rest of your day if not week of enjoying the highlight shows and what Other People Of Perceived Importance Have To Say About Your Team.
When we win a huge game like we did today, I want to post, I want to watch ALL things NFL to catch glimpses of the punctuated moments of the game that force them to say good things. It's like an after party. Nobody wants to leave early when they are just beginning to get their groove on. A win - especially this year with the national media on our side - guarantees extending the party. NFL Network, Sunday Night Football game highlights, ESPN, etc, etc...The party just continues.
A loss is just as dramatic. So we all know that Butterfly Effect more than we consciously realize collectively. So all that yelling and screaming and pouting and shouting and finger pointing and silly proclamations are mere side effects of this.
Luckily for us, the flapping wings of the Butterfly keep pointing towards New Jersey in February.
How a game, a team has such an impact on our emotional well-being? Sometimes we forget that it's not only the singular moment of that play, or series that has us so amped up. It's the Butterfly Effect that rolls us all into blathering balls of neurosis at any given moment throughout the course of a game.
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The name of the effect, coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from the theoretical example of a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks earlier.
If Russell Wilson loses a game, how many begin to sow the seeds of doubt in their minds about how concrete that golden throne we've collectively built for him really is? Forget fantasy football, if Lynch only runs for 23 yards in 21 carries...That hurts you to the bone. We've created such a soiree of supposition in regards to our expectations it's quite nearly a corner without escape. Perhaps even more important than all of that...
These Seahawks, with THESE expectations, losing a game...ANY game, makes for a very, very bad day for all of us.
I can't speak for you but when it comes to myself, I am not a big sports fan of anything outside of the NFL. So imagine when you don't have the backup of several other professional sports to occupy your mind. All you get, is the 16 regular season games your team plays from September to early January. Every Game Counts. HUGE. So every play is magnified times 10. Every play that our defense or offense looks bad, can be measured by all of the local and national radio and TV analysts that will use those moments as proof as to why your team isn't as good as you thought.
At least, that's what's in my mind, all the time. Mainly, on the road.
In a year that is unprecedented with national media jumping on our jocks, it makes sense why we pitch fits with any play or series or quarter or more of football that doesn't go as planned. It not only sucks because you hate seeing your team go through that, it sucks much harder because you know a loss of the game also means a loss for the rest of your day if not week of enjoying the highlight shows and what Other People Of Perceived Importance Have To Say About Your Team.
When we win a huge game like we did today, I want to post, I want to watch ALL things NFL to catch glimpses of the punctuated moments of the game that force them to say good things. It's like an after party. Nobody wants to leave early when they are just beginning to get their groove on. A win - especially this year with the national media on our side - guarantees extending the party. NFL Network, Sunday Night Football game highlights, ESPN, etc, etc...The party just continues.
A loss is just as dramatic. So we all know that Butterfly Effect more than we consciously realize collectively. So all that yelling and screaming and pouting and shouting and finger pointing and silly proclamations are mere side effects of this.
Luckily for us, the flapping wings of the Butterfly keep pointing towards New Jersey in February.
