Anyway, I've been learning about conditioned and unconditioned responses and stimuli.
Mr. Pavlov was studying saliva. He'd give a dog food to get it to salivate, and then for some reason a bell started ringing every time he fed the dog, and then pretty soon the dog would salivate when the bell rang, even when it didn't get food.
Conditioned Stimuli: Food
Conditioned Response: Saliva
Unconditioned Stimuli: Bell
Unconditioned Response: Saliva.
This works for all sorts of things. On The Office, for example, Jim offers Dwight an altoid every time the phone rings (or something like that) and then one time the phone rings and dwight automatically puts his hand out. Jim says "what?" and Dwight just looks at his hand in confusion. Even though the general condition wasn't being met (getting an altoid) Dwight was putting his hand out because he associated the phone ringing with the altoid.
This is where Baseball comes in.
I think it's important for you to know that I love baseball. I love it like an overworked Dad loves his kids. I may not have a lot of time for it, but I'd fight and die for it.
I told my wife today that I don't have a problem with people not liking baseball, I just have a problem when they feel the need to tell me that they don't like baseball. It's probably better if they just keep that to themselves.
Baseball fans love to manipulate people. Baseball fans are snobby... we all like to pretend that the reason people don't like baseball is because they aren't as smart and patient as us. Baseball is a thinking man's game. Yeah, and Manny Ramirez is teaching physics at MIT. We realize that learning baseball takes time and practice rather than intelligence, but we like to make it seem like the only way for a non-fan to be a non-fan is if they are stupid. So if you disagree with us, you are automatically stupid. Awesome.
Anyway, I can't really explain my love for baseball, or sports in general for that matter. I love competition and greatness. I love the green grass and the cracking sound a bat makes when it comes in contact with the ball. I love hot dogs and "take me out to the ballgame." I love the time I spent playing catch with my father and trying to make him proud. I loved hitting the game winning double to beat my team's arch rival. I loved sitting in the basement with Dad, no girls allowed, watching the Braves finally win the world series and listening to my Dad say how stupid Tim McCarver is.
Wait... so what do I love about baseball? Look at that last paragraph. How many of those things are actually baseball, and how many are just things I associate with baseball?
Victory, greatness, sounds, smells, tastes, relationships, family, pride, laughter... I can have all of those things without baseball.
Would anyone watch baseball, if their whole life they had to watch it completely alone, and nobody kept score? Would people watch football if it was just two groups of people chasing each other around all day?
You've heard people say things like "Dude, it ain't baseball if you don't have a hot dog" "March Madness is why College Basketball is better than the NBA"
Any one disagree? What about you BYU football fans out there? Would you rather watch Kansas State beat Iowa State 31-28 in overtime, or watch BYU beat Utah 31-28 in overtime? If you truly only loved football the game, then you wouldn't have a preference. But it's more than a game... it's thousands and thousands of pavlovs bells ringing sweet music to your ears
Some people, many of them wives, mothers, or sisters, may not understand. But it's the same reason why some women don't get why manly men love action movies (because deep down we want to be a hero) and why some Women love romantic comedies (because they want to be swept of their feet)
So why do I love baseball? Because even if I'm alone on my couch, with no food, or grass, or "take me out to the ballgame". . . over a hundred years of tradition and sportsmanship surround me every time I watch a game. I can still feel it. I still have the unconditioned response of happiness. My Dad is there with me playing catch, my friends and teammates are screaming with joy because I hit the game winner.
"but it's just a guy with a stick trying to hit a ball." No, my friend it's much much more... I'm afraid you just don't get it.
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