[Albion] Football - does it make you happy?

[Skaville]

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Some of the defeats have really had a negative affect on my moods, especially the Palace and West Brom ones. It’s just been one of the seasons, or has it? Football hasn’t felt that positive an experience for the last four seasons, watching us get beaten fairly regularly.

Then I thought back to the Championship. It was all much better then. Or was it? I was gutted after that Middlesbrough game and Sheffield Wednesday away. Even the promotion campaign was bittersweet. I managed to miss the Wigan game so I was livid when we cocked up that Bristol City home game. I was so angry I couldn’t even face the celebrations on Hove Lawns.

How many clubs fans are happy right now? City and Leicester maybe in the top flight. Chelsea fans to some degree? Even the West Ham fans I know seem to have mixed opinions on their season.

Today was great, but interesting to see that NSC is relatively quiet. Only 9 player ratings postings in five hours. Compare that to the flurry of anger after recent defeats. Let’s face it, NSC is rarely a happy place. Maybe we revel in the misery of it all?

I had a little look online and found this interesting piece of research. Apparently it’s been proven football doesn’t make you happy. Makes you wonder why we put ourselves through it

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/44576

So, my question to you... does football (and the Albion in particular) make you happy?

 

[Mackenzie]

Yes. When we win.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Yes. When we win.

Is the correct answer.

 

[Skaville]

Yes. When we win.

Which is greatest, your happiness when we win or your depression when we lose?

 

[Silverhatch]

****ing hate it when we lose and ****ing ecstatic when we win. BUT this season is so different because we are such a good footballing side but cannot convert performance into results. As my lad said to me at 1-1 today “I’d prefer it if we were Shit!”. If Potter/Ashworth/Recruitment get this 50% right we’ll be a hell of a side... But currently still in a dogfight

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

It always surprises how happy football makes me when we win. Not as happy as Lewis Dunk mind you. He is really happy.

 

[Reddleman]

Really good and interesting OP. One of the reasons I so love being in the Premier League is that because wins are so few and far between they feel so hard earned and so sweet. It makes it mean more. Also, beating the top teams makes me very happy as for so many years i literally thought I would never see that. I was too young to remember the early 80’s.

Overall I have never been one for letting football get me down too much. However this season it has really got to me and like you the last three weeks have really had me feeling down. It’s probably the combination of the lockdown frustration and the results but for me the sense of injustice that we managed to lose those last three games had me really dwelling on it going over and over them in my mind. Today’s result feels like it has eased some of that angst and if and it’s a big IF we can beat Newcastle my mood will be positively sunny.

 

[Weststander]

Huge highs when we win, followed by smug satisfaction in the days following.

A short downer when we lose and play poorly, but I’ve improved in not letting it carry on to a second day. Whinging on NSC straight afterwards, is therapeutic. The following day, all is good.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Interesting question. I find these days I am able to put Albion results behind me (positive or negative) very quickly. They will always be my team but I don’t feel as emotionally invested as I was years ago on the terraces at the Goldstone or traipsing to northern outposts on a Tuesday night for a game under the lights in front of 3’500 fans and a wobbly camera from the local news channel.

I wanted us to win passionately today but had we lost or drawn I’d be over it by now.

But my son’s under 10 team REALLY makes me happy and I miss it. I love watching the boys train and play and the joy it brings them when they score or win and how they shrug off defeats. So different football affects me differently. Roll on the return of grass roots sport.

 

[Shooting Star]

This is a great thread.

the only thing in life that gives me that adrenaline fuelled buzz, and it’s always been that way. I find your point about NSC very interesting and insightful because you’re right - when we lose, there’s something self-indulgently cathartic about venting my frustration out on here for a good 1-2 hours after the game. I come away feeling sadistically buzzed, which as a Christian is mildly concerning. In contrast today, though I feel great that we won, I spent 5 minutes posting after the game and then was very happy to log off and do something else

Isn’t that human nature though? We are far quicker to criticise and far slower to praise?

 

[FIVESTEPS]

Having lost my wife at the same time of covid lockdown and then the death of Sarah Everard which still feeling quite emotional brought me to tears,yes having a drink and looking forward to MOTD helps to put me in a better place.

 

[Swansman]

Sometimes.

As for the quiet, its often the case when Brighton win because a lot of the most frequent post-match posters are those who unknowingly take great pleasure in getting angry and upset, perhaps as a way to deflect from their own inadequacies. Dan Burn, Neal Maupay, Graham Potter, Pascal Gross, Trossard - you name it - provde great explanations why life is shit and who's fault (because its never yours) it is that life is indeed shit. When Brighton win, I guess its not as effective.

Not sure it is a bad thing. Just like people sitting at home ******* to Pornhub probably prevents war and violence, watching football probably prevents a lot of wifebeating and other non-mirror looking ways of dealing with feelings of misery.

Also the concept of "happy" is a difficult one. I dont know if its true but I read somewhere that "happiness" is a feeling lots are chasing but that you actually just feel for a minute here and a few seconds there. Its not some kind of sustainable state of mind, body and brain adapts quickly and turns happiness to normality before you even get the chance to think about it and appreciate it.

 

[Mackenzie]

Which is greatest, your happiness when we win or your depression when we lose?

Good question, easy answer.

The wins last until Wednesday or Thursday (when I start looking forward to the next game), the losses are forgotten by Monday.

 

[Skaville]

Also the concept of "happy" is a difficult one. I dont know if its true but I read somewhere that "happiness" is a feeling lots are chasing but that you actually just feel for a minute here and a few seconds there. Its not some kind of sustainable state of mind, body and brain adapts quickly and turns happiness to normality before you even get the chance to think about it and appreciate it.

Interesting. That’s a perfect description of how I feel when we score a goal.

 

[Skaville]

The wins last until Wednesday or Thursday (when I start looking forward to the next game), the losses are forgotten by Monday.

I am so jealous! I got about a hours sleep the night of the Palace game. The feeling of injustice really hurt

 

[Skaville]

Having lost my wife at the same time of covid lockdown and then the death of Sarah Everard which still feeling quite emotional brought me to tears,yes having a drink and looking forward to MOTD helps to put me in a better place.

Well that puts a few things into perspective. Sorry for your loss. I hope you really enjoy MOTD. I will raise a glass to you and your late wife while I watch.

 

[Cotton Socks]

It depends... obviously when we win it's great, no matter what. The context in where I'm seeing or hearing the events unfold make a lot of difference, I've learnt that during lockdown.
Pre lockdown... go to the match or listen on the radio. At match, love it no matter what. Radio, I am led by the bias commentary of JC and Warren & I pretty much reconcile what has happened and therefore I don't get stressed.
Lockdown.... I found listening to JC and Warren weird without crowds so reverted to TV. Watching on TV ultimately leads to cramp 10 mins into each game, if you're watching it week in, week out.
I'm not a STH & I don't go to many games(circumstance, not bad fan) but I'm going to enjoy it a lot more when it's off the TV!

 

[Bry Nylon]

Having lost my wife at the same time of covid lockdown and then the death of Sarah Everard which still feeling quite emotional brought me to tears,yes having a drink and looking forward to MOTD helps to put me in a better place.

Stick around on here. It’s a good distraction and there’s always someone around.
I’ve always found everyone on here to be incredibly supportive when people are dealing with the worst life can throw at us.

 

[Eeyore]

I sometimes feel it is wise that folk look at their relationship with football and other sport. I did some time ago.

I've supported Albion since 1977. There was a time when it meant too much. And when it means too much it needs a break.

If the upset of a defeat causes lost sleep, potentially damaged relationships, or anything that would suggest a reliance of emotions upon a particular outcome, it has to stop.

I managed it. Sure, it meant less excitement at an Albion triumph, but it also meant a shoulder shrug at defeat, with perhaps a half hour allowance for mild frustration.

What did emerge though was an enjoyment of the experience of the game in general. Little rituals. Away days being about the outing itself and a more reasoned view of the sport.

Sure, I don't budge when Albion score, just take a happy sip of my orange juice. But the pay off is a fraction of the mood swings and a quiet enjoyment of having the Albion as my team. For me, this is a better way.

 

[Horses Arse]

What I've always loved about football is that it matters so much, but also not at all. I get so caught up in it, genuinely care so much about it. Waking up after a game and instantly the result/performance comes to mind.

But when it turns to genuine shit you can put it into perspective. There are so many things in my life, everyone's life, that matter so much more.

There's surely nothing much else that can be cared about so much and so little. It provides great happiness but the downsides can be curtailed quite easily.

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