What Do We Do Without Sports?

Apr 19, 2020

Fans, health professionals and professors weigh in. The consensus? We’ve got a lot of time on our hands

Betsy Ross has been a sports fan since she was a little girl.

Ross, the former ESPN anchor and now president of Game Day Communications, is an adjunct professor at Xavier who teaches a sports and public relations class. She is uniquely qualified to talk about how her life has changed now that the world is without sports. Her business, which promotes events including The Flying Pig, has changed.

Her class, which now takes place online, has changed. And of course, everyday life has changed for everyone. Admittedly of far lesser importance, Ross says that in a world without sports, she has nothing to watch anymore, nothing to root for.

“Last week, I found myself watching an old rerun of Monday Night Football,” she said, “where Brett Favre came back to Green Bay to face his old team. I was into it. It was a great game.”

 

Find old games online

But it wasn’t the real thing. In a time where life has become far too serious for many, sports may seem very unimportant. Still, there are many who miss following their favorite teams, if for nothing more than having a sweet distraction from all that seriousness.

“But there’s more to it than just missing the games,” Ross said. “We miss the camaraderie of getting together with friends and cheering on a common opponent.”

So the question remains: What do we do without sports?

Ryan Schenkel, a junior business management major, is the past president of Xavier’s X-treme Fans. With no March Madness, no Opening Day, no spring sports, and no professional soccer or hockey, he’s been looking for ways to fill the void for a month.  

“It’s upsetting that I can’t be on campus enjoying the spring sports with the rest of the Xavier students,” he said. “To cope with this I’ve been following along on social media — a lot of accounts are posting past pictures and videos of great Xavier sports moments. Some old Xavier basketball games are on YouTube along with other past games on ESPN. Some accounts on Twitter are making up their own games and challenges, which I follow closely.”

And when he gets bored, he goes outside. “I’ve tried to be more active. Whether that’s going for a run or just shooting some hoops, I try to do something every day.”

 

Be social, but keep your distance

But social distancing has added another wrinkle to everyone’s plans — it’s eliminated the camaraderie that Ross talked about. People will go and jog or shoot hoops by themselves. In fact, Christian End, PhD, associate professor in the School of Psychology, says there are basically three things sports gives its fans: A sensation of achievement, a bit of joy and that social camaraderie.

“I’ve got a Fantasy Football group — more than 20 Xavier grads — and we meet every Wednesday on Zoom,” End said. “We talk about everything — sports, kids — and we’re meeting more than we have in past years. It keeps us together.” 

End, who specializes in the study of sports fans and sporting events, says most people won’t be able to replace their fandom with a simple hobby — because the hobby won’t replace everything sports is providing.

“Will you be able to get those same feelings from scrapbooking?” he asked. “Those feelings of achievement and social acceptance? Maybe not.”

 

Maybe play some eGames?

Ross said she’s been watching some professional athletes playing eGames, or competitive video games, on television.

“I really think the playing of eGames can fill that gap,” she said.

At Xavier, eGames were already gaining popularity before the pandemic began — and now it’s growing by leaps and bounds. Glenn Arnold, assistant director for Competitive Sports, is in charge of Xavier’s E-Sports teams, which have been competing against other schools in the Big East for two years.

Now, Arnold says they are remote, but competing more than ever, with 36 students participating and six different tournaments on the horizon. “It’s interesting that in this time of isolation, people would look toward video games and gaming as a form of recreation and a way to cope with this social distancing,” Arnold said. “But current modern gaming is very hyper-social, with gamers interacting on platforms like Twitch and other streaming outlets.”

 

Get moving, but be safe

But what about those who don’t want to play, or watch, video games? What are other activities that can incorporate those sensations of achievement, joy and camaraderie — especially during a time of social distancing?

Marybeth Sullivan, assistant director of Health and Wellness, says to remember to engage in some activities that get you up and moving.  

“Last week, my kids developed a kind-of Olympic style set of games that we all played,” she said. “They created brackets, and we all participated.”

Indoor events included darts, foosball and ping pong, while outside, they played corn hole, had a whiffle ball home run derby, a free throw shooting contest and juggled the soccer ball.

“The kids beefed it up with the playing of the Olympic theme song and The National Anthem,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said her other ideas include: a ZOOM Scavenger Hunt with friends, where you try to find household items (prizes are their favorite candy, ordered and sent via Amazon), as well as online games with friends via Jackbox.tv. 

 

Nothing beats the real thing

If there were ever a super sports fan at Xavier, it would be 1994 graduate Mike Zilliox and his family.

Normally, he and his wife, along with their three girls and his father, would all be traveling to follow Xavier in the NCAAs, or going to Opening Day. So how are they passing the time?

He and his family have been watching DVDs of Xavier’s Elite Eight runs, or coverage of the Reds’ World Championships in 1975 and 1976. During the games, he and his father will text back and forth as if they didn’t already know the outcome.

“I’m starving, man,” Zilliox said. “I’ve got three TVs all set up next to each other that I’m not using. I’ve got to watch something.”

Just before the pandemic set in, Zilliox and his neighbor published their first book, Titanic Struggle: The Best of Marty Brennaman, which chronicles the most memorable lines from the longtime Reds broadcaster’s career. At least Zilliox has been able to use his new free time to promote the book online, on social media and on podcasts.

“In a way, the book really has no timetable, but it’s perfect for now,” he explained. “It’s about missing Marty, and we’re all missing everything right now. So it’ll be relevant until we all get back together again.

“But man,” he said, “I can’t wait.”

By Ryan Clark, Office of Marketing and Communications