Vancouver Canucks players look on from the bench after Vancouver was eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers, in Vancouver, on May 20.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
There was a festive vibe in Vancouver on holiday Monday: strangers actually smiled – even spoke – to each other, which can be a bit of a rarity here. It was like the whole city had a spring in its step. With all due respect to the woman we have to thank for this extra day off work, it wasn’t Queen Victoria who brought us together. It was hockey.
I imagine that a similar sort of nervous anticipation invigorated Edmontonians on Victoria Day, with the do-or-die Game 7 in the Oilers-Canucks series looming. The night would bring joy or agony; the morning after, sweet elation or a reluctant return to normal life.
In Vancouver, we could sense the possibilities in the blooming lilacs, the ubiquitous blue jerseys and the destination displays on the public buses: Go Canucks Go!
And then they went.
Why did the Canucks’ 3-2 loss feel so awful? How is it that the outcome of a game – a game! – can have an actual effect on the way even a casual fan feels about life? Because writing this in Vancouver Tuesday morning, the hangover of defeat clouded what 24 hours earlier had been a sunny outlook. (The rain didn’t help.)
How different would things have looked had the Canucks won Monday? What did it feel like to wake up in Edmonton Tuesday?
It can’t just be a matter of civic pride. What do the Canucks even have to do with Vancouver? The vast majority of the players aren’t even from Canada; they were born elsewhere – Sweden, the U.S., Russia. Their miracle-making third-string goalie is Latvian. Even the goosebump-raising music played at Rogers Arena as the team skates out is by an Irish band.
Why is it that the performance of this professional sports team, representing my city in name only, can affect how I feel about life?
A big part of it is connection, according to studies into this phenomenon. We become members of a group. Cheering for our team provides an instant sense of identity, the sport psychology site Sporting Bounce reported. This shared allegiance creates a community.
And that can be hugely beneficial for our well-being, says Daniel Wann, a professor at Murray State University and the author of Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Fandom. He told the American Psychological Association’s podcast Speaking of Psychology that sports fandom isn’t just about escaping from the stress or boredom of life – or even about appreciating the sport itself. It’s also about meeting basic psychological needs.
Dr. Wann says studies have found that the more a fan identifies with a local team, the greater the likelihood of that person having a well-rounded sense of psychological health, including a higher sense of self-esteem and lower levels of loneliness, alienation and social isolation.
“That identification brings with it a group that you can then belong to,” he says. “And by then getting the sense of belonging, you’re then going to get this sense that, well, you know what, I’m not alone in the world.”
Sports are a rich vein for studying human behaviour. Watching sports is associated with the release of neurochemicals responsible for mood, pain tolerance and immune system functions, as neuropsychologist Carrie H. Kennedy wrote on Psychology Today’s blog.
A much-cited 1976 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology demonstrated that people are more likely to wear team-related apparel after a victory than after a loss. And they are more likely to use first-person pronouns to describe victories, but third-person pronouns to describe losses.
Edmonton fan: we deserved that win on Monday night.
Vancouver fan: the Canucks just didn’t have what it takes to win game 7.
I have my own theory: cheering for a sports team – feeling its wins and losses – allows us to experience big emotions without any real impact. We get to care about something that truly doesn’t matter, at least not to our own lives. We have no actual skin in the game. At the end of the day, the Canucks’ Monday night loss has no meaningful effect on my well-being – other than having one less thing to look forward to for the next few weeks.
There are a lot of truly terrible things happening in the world that are drastically affecting many lives. The Stanley Cup playoffs do not qualify. What a relief to be upset about something that has no bearing on the state of things. It’s also nice to cheer about something, for once.
Like the good bandwagon-jumper I am, I felt bereft as the Canuck train ground to a halt. But not quite ready to disembark, I’m going to take a transfer instead. Next stop, Edmonton.