Fervent Eagles fans bide their time
The question: Ecstasy or dejection?

By DOUG LESMERISES
Staff reporter
01/05/2003

This is your break, Eagles fans. Enjoy it.

Once the Eagles take the field in their first playoff game next weekend, lives will be changed, at least temporarily, by whether the Eagles advance to the Super Bowl.

Studies have shown that fans' blood pressure will fluctuate with the momentum of the game, male fans will see increases and decreases in their testosterone tied to wins and losses, and individual self-esteem will be directly affected by what the Eagles do.

This weekend might be a chance to gain a little perspective.

"Having some interest in life is better than having no interests at all," said Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University. "But you don't want to get a divorce over the Eagles."

Several professors and sports psychologists from around the country confirmed the impact that the Eagles' playoff fortunes will have on the psyche of the Delaware Valley. Studies have confirmed what understanding spouses have been dealing with on Sundays for years.

"The wife knows not to talk to me after the Eagles lose," said Jason Boone, a 23-year-old fan from Smyrna.

"She usually leaves me alone for the rest of the night. If they win, then the rest of the night is for partying."

But this weekend, no parties. Boone said he would spend his time rooting for the New York Giants today, hoping the Eagles will get a chance to avenge their defeat last weekend at Giants Stadium. But Eagles linebacker Ike Reese figured Eagles fans would root for the San Francisco 49ers to dispose of the hated Giants today.

Like many fans, 29-year-old Amy Draper of Wilmington and her 78-year-old grandfather, Richard Adams of Felton, will spend the weekend watching the playoffs to tide themselves over.

"I'm having Eagles withdrawal," Adams said. "It started Monday morning."

"Fans love these games because they have implications for their team, but it can't really go wrong because their team is not at risk," said Daniel Wann, a professor of psychology at Murray State University in Murray, Ky., who has spent his professional career researching sports fans. "You can laugh and cheer and have a good time and not have an upset stomach."

If the other NFL games aren't quite enough for some fans, don't panic. That's to be expected after 11 straight weeks with an Eagles game. Routines develop.

"People need their immediate needs met," said Richard Lustberg, a psychologist from Long Island who operates the Web site http://www.psychologyofsports.com/. "If that doesn't happen, they become anxious, they become antsy, they become somewhat destabilized."

If that happens, Eagles offensive lineman John Welbourn suggests fans, "sink their efforts into other places. Their families, their jobs. Oh God, they might have to get a life."

As it turns out, living and breathing with the Eagles is a life. Sports psychologists have investigated every aspect of the sports fanatic and have found that passion, particularly when coupled with perspective, is a healthy thing.

"Being hugely identified with a team does have its dark side," Wann said, "which is where you get your violence and where you get your postgame depression. But research shows that a high level of identification with a local sports team is generally related to lower levels of depression, higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of loneliness and stress. It's clearly associated with physical health."

Bob Andelman, the author of the book "Why Men Watch Football," acknowledged the sport can be an addiction nearly as difficult to deal with as drugs, alcohol or overeating. But in general, he found an infatuation with sport to be a valuable outlet for otherwise abhorrent behavior.

"It's a good way for men to let out their aggressiveness," Andelman said. "We get to jump up and down and scream and yell and throw things at the TV. It's behavior not acceptable in the normal family context or in the office. If you get mad at your boss, you can't knock him to the ground."

What will in the end help fans is a natural resilience, the ability to blame the refs or the weather if the Eagles lose. And then there's the wait-until-next-year argument. Research has shown that fans follow a loss with immediately inflated expectations for the next season.

Not only that, but the "we" speak that fans use in victory quickly turns to "they" speak in defeat. It's what Christian End, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Missouri-Rolla, refers to as BIRGing and CORFing

That stands for "Basking In Reflected Glory" and "Cutting Off Reflected Failure."

"If it weren't for that resilience, the whole world would be Harlem Globetrotter fans," said End about the team that has won almost 21,000 games and lost just 331 through its 2001-2002 season.

The resilience of Philadelphia fans has been particularly tested in the last two decades, with the last major city championship coming in basketball with the 76ers in 1983. With the Eagles listed by oddsmakers at about 3-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, just behind the favorite Oakland Raiders, this is the best opportunity fans have had in a long time.

But they aren't jumping the gun. A sampling of Delaware travel agencies found only one customer inquiring about Super Bowl trips to San Diego already. Agents expect the flow of Eagles fans to start after the first playoff win and to turn into a flood with a victory in the NFC Championship game. Hartley's Jeff Hunsucker, 46, has a friend just beginning to work a ticket angle.

"If she can get them, we're going," he said.

But this weekend is a chance for Eagles fans to relax, remember that win or lose, they should still be nice to the dog, and listen to Eagles defensive lineman Darwin Walker.

"Just keep that adrenaline building and building and building for next week, baby," Walker advised, "for when it's all on the line."

Reach Doug Lesmerises at mailto:dlesmerises@delawareonline.com