Would You Enjoy the Season More If ...

Would you enjoy the season more if you knew the results?

  • Yes. I need to know if 160+ games of time is worth it in the end.

    Votes: 2 1.3%
  • No. Getting there is the fun.

    Votes: 154 98.7%

  • Total voters
    156

John Marzano Olympic Hero

has fancy plans, and pants to match
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Apr 12, 2001
24,548
I was thinking about the 2018 season a few days ago and how fun it was to watch this particular team gel and turn into a beast rolling over every team in its path. It truly was awesome watching the Sox pull out games day-in and day-out.

But there are some people who cannot take that plunge and can't get excited about a team unless they know that the team is going to win it all. I don't listen to a lot of sports radio, but on a few occasions, I heard professional arresting bitch-face haver Tony Massarotti say, "I'm not ready to trust this team, Mike. I'm just not ready." He wasn't ready until Game 5 of the World Series, at least on the radio he wasn't. (BTW, he said this about the 2013 team too). And he's not the only one who I heard say this.

We had the discussion on here that even if the Sox didn't win the World Series, last year would still have been entertaining. Maybe not quite as fulfilling, but does that matter? When Mookie jacked that grand slam off Happ, it was one of the best regular season Red Sox moments I've ever witnessed. And 2018 was packed full of them.

So the question is: Would you enjoy the season more if you knew the results? IE, you knew that the Sox would win the World Series, not necessarily how, but you knew that they'd win. Or do you think that your enjoyment comes from the day-to-day not knowing what's going to happen of a baseball season and that a championship is a validation of the faith (not the right word) that you put in the team each season?

TL;DR: do you wish that there was a Spoiler for ever season?
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

has fancy plans, and pants to match
Dope
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Apr 12, 2001
24,548
Why else do we like sports? It's the thrill of watching the games and not knowing what's going to happen.
I agree. Totally.

But counter argument, how do you feel about the Pats "Perfect" season (assuming you're a Patriots fan) and if not, how about the 2003 season?
 

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
55,299
deep inside Guido territory
I agree. Totally.

But counter argument, how do you feel about the Pats "Perfect" season (assuming you're a Patriots fan) and if not, how about the 2003 season?
I thoroughly enjoyed the perfect season and was gut punched at the end. The first 18 games were a joy filled with some of the best memories I have being a Patriots fan despite the ending.

I loved 2003. From "They Hate Their Coach" to 14-2 and SB Champs.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
42,283
AZ
There have been a few times when my team has played in a game where I felt like I just couldn't take the stress any longer and it wasn't much fun. I can think of a few times when I've sort of thought that if I could be drugged for a few days and just told the result when I woke up, that would be ok and then I'd just watch the replay if they ended up winning to see how it happened.

But that's not about what's more enjoyable or about wasting time. Nothing is better than watching the games unfold. That's strictly an anxiety avoidance thought that I've had from time to time when the pressure seems so significant. Like in the lead up to Super Bowl 49 I might have taken that deal just to get the anxiety over with.

But a whole baseball season? No way, man. I love every bit of baseball season. I loved the Red Sox and followed them in many years when I knew going into the season that they had no chance of winning. Why would that be different now that they actually do have a chance to win year in and year out?
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Mar 11, 2007
6,348
I just enjoy the games and following the players that I like and this version has plenty
Winning playoff games is icing. Winning the ALCS is more icing and the WS is the cats ass
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
22,673
If I found out during spring training that the Sox were going to win 91 games and lose to Houston in the ALDS, it would certainly hurt my interest in the season, because what keeps the season interesting is that you hope that your team can achieve greatness. If that hope was taken away it would definitely make the game less exciting.

That being said, I also reject the idea that championships mean everything. There is a saying in soccer that "The game is about glory," and that doesn't just mean glory at the end of the season, glory can take place each and every game. I never made fun of the "108 wins" shirt because even though in the grand scheme of things people wouldn't remember a team that well if they didn't win a championship (with a few notable exceptions like the 1967 team), 108 wins meant that 108 times Red Sox fans sat down to watch a game that year and tasted glory.
 

reggiecleveland

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Mar 5, 2004
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How times have changed for Red Sox fans.

Some people have trouble with uncertainty or certainty of losing. I coach high school hoops and teachers and coaches get transferred. Some schools have great talent, others no talent. Neighbourhoods are pretty consistent. Many coaches only coach when in an advantageous situation, and "retire" when transferred to weaker team then "unretire" when transferred into a better spot. Seems to me coaches who began with an advantage bail out on uncertainty more quickly than those that have taken their lumps. I expect whenever the tide turns in Boston some maybe many mans that are here now will disappear, but those of us around for Bucky Dent, Tony Eason or even Grady Little and Drew Bledsoe will remain.
 

Skiponzo

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Baseball is different than any other sport in that it's more of a daily journey than a sporadic entertainment opportunity. The beat of the game and the fact that it plays so well on radio makes it kind of an underlying theme to a very large portion of each year. As Reggie aludes to, I'm not certain I would feel this way had the Sox been going on 101 years without a title but they have won 4 and this has changed my fandom. I believe the game, and the Sox in particular, are a fabric of my being. The Sox and the baseball season are theater that plays out over a 6 month period and I would not...for almost anything...give up the opportunity to watch and find out what happens.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Jan 23, 2009
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I had a room mate who used to tape games, particularly playoff games (and occasionally ones he had no stake/favorite in), and only watched the tapes if either a) the results were favorable or b) there was an exciting finish. He said he didn't like the stress. I said he didn't really like sports.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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NESN is reshowing the 2018 ALCS and I am watching and greatly enjoying the games. Not necessarily as much as I did in October, but on the other hand, I'm not biting my nails and being difficult to be around due to nerves.
 

simplicio

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Apr 11, 2012
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Guess I'd like to know if they're going to 2011 the season a few days in advance, but otherwise bring on all those glorious frayed nerves. How much less fun would the Brandon Phillips game be, for instance?
 

Average Game James

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Apr 28, 2016
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The ride is just as, if not more important than the final result to me. Neither are perfect analogies, but think about ‘99 Pedro or the ‘07 Pats - while I guess the outcome was technically an unknown, in no game did I really conceive of the idea the Sox/Pats would lose. I tuned in because every game felt like the chance to potentially see something special - a no hitter, 7 TD passes, an unprecedented beat down of another team. Last year’s Sox team was insanely fun not just because they won, but because of all the ways they won that left you feeling like they were never out of a game. And at the same time, it was so great to see a team with so many home grown stars I’d grown attached to in past years. Would that whole 162 games have been less enjoyable if they lost in the ALDS? No. It would feel like they underachieved, but that doesn’t take away the previous 6 months.

More generally, the entitlement of some Boston fans is getting out of control (edit: to be clear, not saying anyone on this board). In a world of perfect parity, you get one championship every 3 decades or so. 2 or 3 in a lifetime. Once a decade is 3x more often than random chance says you should win. If you can’t enjoy competitive seasons without a title at the end, you may want to quit sports fandom while you’re ahead.
 
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Savin Hillbilly

loves the secret sauce
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Jul 10, 2007
18,783
The wrong side of the bridge....
Gut punch ending for sure. But that was a great ride as well and set the team up for the year that was about to come.
Also, for me it's the possibility of a 2003 or a 2011 that makes a 2013 or a 2018 as sweet as it is (not going to say 2004 because that was just on another level). It's like how if you knew the girl you're asking out was going to say yes, it wouldn't be as thrilling when she does. It's the possibility of rejection that makes acceptance so soul-lifting.

The 2018 team, for me, at times seemed in danger of being too good to be fun to watch. When a team is so dominating that you don't feel like it has realistic competition, that would burst the bubble a little for me. It has to be hard, and at least a little uncertain. (Fortunately the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers rose to the challenge of making 2018 perfect.)
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
30,243
I enjoy the season too much.

The post season is the final act of a lengthy drama. ("The human drama of athletic competition," as Jim McKay used to say.)

The post season would be sort of meaningless without the character development of the regular season before it.
In addition to the obvious greatness of Betts, etc, the regular season gives us a Marcus Walden save, a Renda run, a Brandon Phillips dead cat bounce and listening in the dark to a West coast game at 1am when it feels like they're just talking to me.

They're two separate animals and I wouldn't want one without the other.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
51,291
I have entertained the same fantasy as DDB of sleeping through the Super Bowl. As the only championship that is one game, it's stressful as hell when literally every play matters. You can't come back from a Kinsler boot late in the Super Bowl. I could never miss it though.

I enjoy the season too much.

The post season is the final act of a lengthy drama. ("The human drama of athletic competition," as Jim McKay used to say.)

The post season would be sort of meaningless without the character development of the regular season before it.
In addition to the obvious greatness of Betts, etc, the regular season gives us a Marcus Walden save, a Renda run, a Brandon Phillips dead cat bounce and listening in the dark to a West coast game at 1am when it feels like they're just talking to me.

They're two separate animals and I wouldn't want one without the other.
100% this. Every team is so different, it's hard to imagine not living and dying with the season itself and getting to know a team year after year. What's more fun than unexpectedly growing to love or hate certain players and dread certain situations and develop new memes every year. You can't beat that stuff.
 
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Reverend

for king and country
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Jan 20, 2007
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I mean, many of my friends consider me the biggest sports fan they know, and compared to some of you, reading what you write about baseball, I feel by comparison that I don't even like baseball. And I say that as someone with tens of thousands of posts on a baseball-centric message board.

I envy that passion.

Do I enjoy the regular season without knowing what happens? Heck, I love it when the likes of @John Marzano Olympic Hero starts getting antsy and starts threads like this because baseball is awesome and no baseball is less awesome but impending baseball that matters is wicked awesome.

True story: Once, while trying to explain the 2003 to 2004 seasons to two women who now have doctorates from the University of Notre Dame, one interrupted my tale with the exclamation, "Are you TEARING UP??"

She wasn't wrong, just surprised. Her next appointment was at Georgetown. I dunno what this means, exactly: Just sayin'...
 

curly2

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Jul 8, 2003
4,887
I’ve watched the Benintendi catch about a million times, and marveled at it a million times.

But only once did I scream, “HOLY SHIT!” and that was when I didn’t know if he would catch it.

I would rather go all-in and get my heartbroken then not care and not live and die on every pitch.
 

Sampo Gida

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Aug 7, 2010
5,044
Seeing as legalized gambling is in MLB’s future knowing the results in advance would be nice, especially if only a few of us knew them. Cha ching.