I come from a country where the only sport people actually paid attention to was cricket.
Seeing all of my American friends post their teams’ wins and attend as many home games as they could was a shock. The people I followed would post pictures from almost every sports game you could imagine: soccer, basketball, baseball, you name it! I truly did not understand why people have so much enthusiasm for sports games, and I found myself asking: Are sports games really worth the hype?
That was until I came to Boston University and my perspective completely changed.
The city does indeed play a big role in why people here are so passionate about their sports. The Celtics winning the most National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in history (18 games), and of course, the famous college Beanpot, makes Boston the city to be in for every sports lover. But again, the emotional turmoil and distress it causes if your team doesn’t win—especially after you shell out hundreds of dollars for front-row seats—doesn’t seem worth it to me.
For someone who barely cared enough to watch cricket, being in Boston has exposed me to sports that I never thought I would find interesting. For example: ice hockey! Simultaneously, it has shown me sports I thought would be fun but really just bored me to sleep… Sorry, Red Sox!
I have also seen people get way too aggressive, which made my desire to watch sports games in person severely dwindle. Personally, I think that the “sports bros” need to understand that these games aren’t life or death events, but rather, something to enjoy—even if your team loses.
However, nothing beats the atmosphere of watching sports games in person. Being in Boston has molded me into being a “sports person,” and has also made the whole college experience and transition into a new place much easier for me.
And now I will officially say, go Red Sox, go Bruins, go Patriots, go Celtics, and above all, Go BU!
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