DATELINE: San Francisco, September 21, 2013 — On the end of a pier at Fort Mason, a scraggly group of spectators stood in the drizzle and fog, waiting for the America’s Cup races to begin. High-tech execs from the Silicon Valley, a few homeless men with backpacks of possessions, residents of the nearby Marina neighborhood.
The Kiwis only needed one more win; the US team needed six. The 72-foot catamarans, whose masts topped 131 feet, hovered in the mist beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.
Tracking the news on his smartphone, someone in the crowd yelled, “Delayed until 2:15 because the winds are coming from the wrong direction.” The race had been called for 1:30, then delayed many times. “If they don’t start by 2:40, they have to postpone,” he announced.
I left the cold pier and moved on to another part of Fort Mason, where I found a lone photographer. “Has the race started?” I asked. “I think so,” he replied. Wrong. We raised our cameras and shot the ghostly contenders in the mist.
It’s not that I’ve been following the America’s Cup, even though I live near beautiful San Francisco Bay. The turnout has been disappointing, and sailing is not my thing. In high school I crewed for friends who had boats, but I served mainly as ballast.
On September 21, I happened to be in the City for another event that ended at 1 p.m. and felt drawn to the bay to see the race.
I knew that scientists had found that being a sports fan could be good for your emotional, psychological and social health.
According to Daniel L. Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State University in Kentucky and the author of Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators, "Fans who identify with a local team have higher self-esteem, are less lonely and are no more aggressive as a group than nonsports fans.
"Pretty much any way you look at it, the more you identify with a local team, the more psychologically healthy you tend to be," said Wann, who has studied sports fans for 25 years. "You have a built-in connection to others in your environment. If you live in San Francisco and you are a Giants fan, it's pretty easy to be connected to others."
Connecting with the losing Oracle team wasn’t likely to boost my morale, but the cheering, excitement, and tension unrelated to my own life would be fun, I thought.
Finally, weary of the drizzly discomfort and delays, I drove away from the crowds and headed toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Within minutes I was in the calm and lovely open space of Marin County, its rolling hills dotted with live oak. Mount Tamalpais rose stately in the background. The local news confirmed that the race had been postposed. It was okay with me. I’d had enough excitement for one day.
September 22 update: Oracle Team USA won two races today by a hair. Now it’s USA-5 and New Zealand-8. Nine wins needed for victory.
Copyright © 2013 by Laura Deutsch