Observing Fandom: Learning from the Ordinary
Every year, there’s always a new sports season. These seasonal sports shape the experience of our town, city, or place. One way these events change our experience of a place is through the arrival of that particular sport's fandom. What are the sports events that affect life where you live?
Instructions
With a group of two to three people, go to one of these sports events during its season.
For 30-45 minutes, observe the crowd of fans going to attend one of those sports events. Pay attention to how these crowds affect the feel and look of that place.
As much as possible, describe the fans: who they are, what they have on, how far they are walking or driving, what’s happening around them, what do they have around them?
Avoid the pull to judge, interpret or in other ways make sense of what you are seeing, smelling, noticing. Just practice paying close attention. Think of this as a meditation. When you find yourself going off into creating stories or judgments that you come back to simply noticing and describing.
What do you see? What do you smell? What do you feel?
Then explore these debrief questions with your group.
Debrief questions
Here are a few suggested questions to debrief the experience of observing the fans.
What was it like to pay attention to the crowd of fans for that length of time?
What did you notice that was odd or novel to you?
What was it like to avoid creating stories based on your observations?
Did it become easier or more difficult to pay attention over time?
See other everyday life activities
