Randomness and sports fandom.

Hey, @verybadwizards. Listening to the sports&happiness episode (as a long-suffering Maple Leafs fan), and you got me thinking: perhaps sports act like a gambling/loot box dynamic, where we buy into randomness in order to hope for some endorphin. The randomness creates the happy.

— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) August 23, 2018

Sorta' like that study I remember from Psych class where they randomly shocked chicks or ducklings and saw that the randomness increased their drive towards their mother. In sports, we buy in to the randomness so that, hopefully, we'll get a loot box rush.

— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) August 23, 2018

As a Leafs fan, I've been disappointed for my entire sports-loving life. Most of the time, they've been terrible. I have no control over their success; my fandom depends on randomness. But I keep anticipating that through some randomness I'll get to cheer with the tribe.

— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) August 23, 2018

And my fandom is arbitrary itself; I chose them because my friends dumped their Leafs cards on me in Grade 5. But for the last 30 years I keep clicking on the Leafs loot box in order to gain some endorphin, hope, and community that help me get through life.

— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) August 23, 2018