That would be interesting, nobody seems to really be talking about sports like this even though they're still kind of important.

This stuff also applies to books, music and video games too, of course.

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that book from maybe 2009 or 10 that was talking about how the rise of professional sports in the 20th century filled the social role that was left vacant as organized religion declined. I never read it but it had a pretty interesting premise at least.


Anyhow, if you like this kind of stuff I finally started "Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures" by Mark Fisher the other day and so far it's really good. Perfectly captures a lot of stuff I've been increasingly aware of since the tail end of the 90s but had trouble communicating (I'm pretty sure the instrumental concept album about vans in space wasn't the most accessible medium for commenting on alienation and temporal flattening in a socially atomized, late capitalist society, for example... we're all alone in our own space vans MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN), so it's great to just be able to recommend a book. Highly recommended so far.

I think woo-science has filled the gap of organized religion.

Think aliens, ancient aliens, homeopathy, anti-vax, conspiracy theories, new age bullshit, dietary bullshit etc etc.

All of these develop cult followings way stronger than sports fandoms

Also the church of the gun.

Well, I am admittedly not good with words. I will try and explain it the best I can.

You have in professional baseball five or six competent, funded teams. The other clubs have been reduced to 'jobbers'. The owners of these franchises have zero interest in investing in a winning team. Quite the opposite. Rosters are stuffed with mediocre players on purpose. After all in many cases it's more profitable to -lose-. Bigger players demand bigger salaries and owners will go out of their way to undercut the shit out of everything to avoid paying the luxury tax. So if one of these players suddenly starts getting good they are immediately traded off. The end result is the season ending with Yankees and the Dodgers playing each other in the championship. And all the other small market teams in the way are merely irrelevant speed bumps. The corporate owners of these sad sack clubs are making a tidy profit doing this. There is no incentive to stop doing it this way. The fans of these forsaken organizations however are served up steaming bowls of festering shit every year. This is what baseball looks like in late stage capitalism. Of course there are of course much, much bigger problems in this country and the world. This was just me musing at how you can look out the window and see all of this hilariously broken shit in every direction.

"SolRo - 2019-03-04
I think woo-science has filled the gap of organized religion."

ThebookI'm thinking of was specifically talking about the role of shared ritual activity in close physical proximity. That going to sports events was the closest thing our society had left to mass worship.

Not sure if I'd be convinced, but it's an interesting premise.