Winning Engages Everyone

The Pirates and Steelers represent opposite sides of the spectator sport spectrum. Consider 2 different types of experiences. First...

"Yay PNC Park!
Bobbleheads and dippin dots!"

Pierogi races; stale nachos; fireworks; 8$ beer; 3 errors; a dozen men left on base; and some freakin' dippin' dots. No competition, no meaningful gamesmanship, no excitement, drama, or tailgating.

And you paid money to go to this event! Your night climaxed when you correctly guessed the attendance. 12, 364 Yes I got it! You cheered the loudest when the person spinning the prize wheel on the JumboTron decided to take the mystery box instead of the Pirates windbreaker. The box, you yelled with unbridled fervor, TAKE THE BOX!  Had they kept the windbreaker, you'd have gone home unfulfilled... This is something thousands of people paid to go do every night for years. Imagine if I showed up at your house dressed like The Highly Intelligent Oliver Onion, with a fifty dollar six-pack, and made you watch Jeremy Burnitz play the outfield. Does that sound like a good time? No, you'd be Fucking Pissed.

My twin

Now consider this.... A full stadium focused on the game, the team, the competition, the end goal of winning. Think Steelers-Ravens. The venue as a whole engages emotionally with the game. Everyone groans, oohs, and ahhs in unison. Think NHL playoffs. Even watching at home it's actual reality TV.

Great spectator sports = absorption

Remember when you read books? Like, a really good novel? You become the character, completely absorbed in their world. Your eyes race over the words, finger poised to flip the page (or scroll the screen). The author engages you, and you engage back. Good spectator sports take you to this level of absorption.

But sports don't end. There's always another chapter. A baseball season has 162 games. One hundred and sixty-two! Shakespeare himself only wrote 38 plays.  Well, Lady MacBeth meet Andrew McCutchen, because I just bought tickets to 38 Pirates games. To win, or not to win, that is the question.  The spectator needs a reward for engaging, and winning engages everyone.  Winning will change the experience at PNC Park.  It is changing the experience at PNC Park. Winning is what I paid to see. Without winning the tragedy unfolds.

The Pirates are 33 wins away from ending the losing streak, and 39 wins away from the playoffs. Tonight they head out west to face the last place Colorado Rockies. They need to win, and win again, before coming back home this weekend to face Miami. They lost first round draft pick Mark Appel over the weekend. They lost two out of three games to the Milwaukee Brewers. They lost both games that McDonald and Burnett started. Now it's time to start winning again.