Page 28 of Atlas
“What happened to your beer?” I asked as I noticed her with a bottle of water in her hand.
She kept her eyes on the game. “I already drank it.”
“Do you want another one?”
“No, it’s fine. Michael brought me water.” She said it loud enough for Michael, who sat right behind us, to hear it. I looked back at him and widened my eyes when I saw him with orange, white, and blue face coloring and a Broncos shirt and cap.
“Where did you get the fan gear?”
“They sell a selection by the bar. I thought about going down to the fan store, but the lines are probably long.”
“Look. Michael is the greatest. He bought hats for all of us.” Jolene pointed to Miranda and the other VIP’s who had chosen team Broncos. They were now wearing face color and orange hats.
“I bought one for you too.” Michael handed me a Broncos cap.
“Thank you.” I put it on and lifted the scarf that Jolene had given me when I first picked her up. “It matches.”
“It’s more fun when you cheer for a team,” Michael said with a smile.
“That’s the spirit.” Jolene beamed at us, but when something happened on the field that made Jeff and Karen cheer, Jolene swung her head back to follow the game.
“Jolene.”
“Hmm?”
“How many teams are there in the NFL?”
“Thirty-two.”
“Why not fifty? Shouldn’t each state have a team?”
“That’s not how it works. Some states have none, and some have several. California has the most teams because they have four in total. LA Rams, LA Chargers, Oakland Raiders, and San Francisco 49ers.”
“Hang on. I thought the Broncos were from California.”
She gave me a quick head shake. “No. They’re from Denver.”
“But how come you’re a Broncos fan then? I mean, you’re from California…”
“My dad was from Denver, and we would watch football together. It was our thing, you know? We always cheered for the Broncos, so I guess you could say he indoctrinated me at an early age.”
For the next hour, I sat and watched the game. Around me, Jolene and the others cheered and booed as the game progressed. Sometimes she would explain to me when I didn’t understand the calls from the referees.
The fans were using large drums and songs to cheer their team on. The large screens showed fans decorated from head to toe jumping and singing. Some were topless with painted torsos, which made little sense to me since we were in February, and it wasn’t that warm. At one point, a group of Broncos fans got in a fight with Cowboys fans, and security had to calm them down.
“Some of these people are fanatics,” I said.
Jolene looked at me. “Sport is like religion in that sense. If you want to learn about cult behavior, this is a good place to observe.”
I sat up straighter. “What do you mean? It’s just football.”
“Yes and no. Sport is a vessel that allows fellowship and connectedness. The athletes are like gods that we worship, and the pieces of fan gear are like totems that we hold sacred because they signal that we’re part of the tribe. Stadiums have become church to many. It’s where they go on Sundays to get a high with their buddies. It gives them something to talk about and bond over. Sports serve as a conversation starter, and for a little while, it can unite people despite political beliefs. At events like these, you’ll see strangers giving each other high fives and hugs in a state of intoxication from the happiness when the team wins. In fact, at championship games like these where thousands of fans gather, all the singing and cheering brings them into a hyped state where the levels of dopamine and adrenaline make them feel high. Sports is more than just the game, Atlas. For many of us, we’re born into fandom, and changing alliances to a different team would be a threat to our very identity.” She looked me in the eye. “Do you see the similarities to cults?”
“Yeah, but…” I sat back and looked around again. “This isn’t a religion.”
“For some, it’s their only religion.”
I crossed my arms. Sports had never been my thing, but I could see her point. For most people, this was innocent fun, but for a few, it would lead them into fanaticism. In Europe, many soccer clubs dealt with hooligans, who took fandom to a dark place. Maybe the fellowship they shared could be compared to cults.
