CULTURAL
OFFSIDE
THE ARMCHAIR SPORTSMEN
Football as a viewing culture has kicked-off in
India, that too with a loud and long bang. The byproduct of this gradual yet intense rise - armchair
sportsmen. A species that existed in the form of
a fan in India till past few years. It has now
evolved. It was dormant and focused on one sport
(read cricket), but the advent of football viewing
especially club football has brought about a
mutation in it. A tendency to consume every sport.
In football, this species has a sport that is a team
game yet soloist. That has more drama on and off
the field than a soap opera. Football has big
personalities, huge egos, big marketing machinery
and the thing that any armchair sportsmen loves –
data. So an armchair sportsman thrives on
strategies, stats, tricks, and history anything about
a game that is written down. Now football has
brought with it a different viewing culture – beer
and brotherhood. The armchair sportsman has
quickly taken up these concepts and made them
his own.
The birth of the species armchair sportsmen and
its evolution has greatly impacted the view about
sports in India too. For its consumption new sports
and new professionals must exist. And the Indian
sports bigwigs have recognised this phenomenon.
They have even started an Indian version of the
commercial football league. And this has made the
species of armchair sportsman is smack its lips
with sheer excitement.
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