LISTENER AUGUST 24 2019THIS LIFE
GE
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I
t’s one of those morning conversational rituals,
alongside asking what’s in the papers, what
the family have on for the day and what the
weather forecast is – commenting on the morn-
ing rush-hour traffic.
In July, there were two eerily quiet mornings
on the road out of Karori – Monday the 15th and
Monday the 22nd. This second was particularly
odd as it coincided with the start of a new school
term. Had there been not one but two zombie
apocalypses? Had I forgotten about a public holi-
day, or two?
But, no. As I cast about for correlational evidence
to explain this oddness, it became clear – people
were making a late start after the Cricket World
Cup and then the Netball World Cup finals in
England, both of which featured New Zealand’s
national sides.
The cricket, in particular, left an exhausted
nation. Not because it was more important or (that
much) more of a nail-biter, but because cricket is
a longer format. So let’s autopsy what would have
been happening for those of you who heroically
stayed up for these games.
First up, you were up, and that means you cared.
On the one hand, it’s just a game, but on the other,
deep in the dark corners of your evolutionary brain-
past this was a battle for survival, for resources to
keep you and yours warm, fed and safe for a little
longer in uncertain times. Your fandom triggeredThe soft yards
Armchair sports fans
deserve some credit for the
energy they expend in front
of the television.
the same stress-related response that
has been honed over millenniums to
keep you alive – to fight or flee.
This means floods of such hor-
mones as adrenaline and cortisol.
Adrenaline clamps down on body
processes that are surplus to require-
ments when you’re trying to survive
in the moment – digestion, and
blood flow to your, ahem, privates.It speeds up metabolic processes
that are going to help you outlive
and outlast, such as heart rate and
blood pressure, and opens the doors
on your energy stores. Cortisol starts
shipping those supplies about faster,
and gets ready to kick-start healing.
These physiological responses
would have been familiar to the
sports fans among us. A netball game
is a short, intense affair, whereas a
one-day cricket match
keeps viewers operating
close to peak for longer.
That makes it more
likely that your energy
stores will be used up
and you go into debt.
That would leave
anyone pooped, and
if you spent the week
before worrying about
the result, we’re talkingchronic, rather than acute, stress.
If there’s an upside, it might be that
you’ve also burnt off a few calories.
Elevated heart rate and other parts of
the stress response will do that. And
your brain has been participating in
the game, too.W
hen I was younger and fitter,
I used to compete at sprint-
ing and the high jump, and
I would religiously follow interna-
tional athletics competitions. You
may have had this same experience:
you’re watching sport, in my case a
high-jump competition, and finding
that your body is mimicking what’s
happening on screen. I remember
my right leg twitching as I watched a
jumper set out to do a Fosbury Flop.
This is down to mirror neurons:
brain machinery that attends to
what other organisms – people and
people-like things – are doing and
copies their behaviour. Even if you’re
not moving your own limbs, these
doodads are firing away in sympathy.
This is useful for our ability to learn
by observing, and planning.
Mirror neurons are also implicated
in Theory of Mind – the extent to
which we can understand what’s
going on in other people’s heads.
When the Black Caps were edged
in the cricket final, we were not just
watching Kane Williamson’s dejec-
tion, but experiencing a pale version
of it on his behalf.
Thank goodness we have a few
weeks to go before the Rugby World
Cup. My advice is to get fit now. And
catch up on sleep. lby Marc Wilson
PSYCHOLOGY
When the Black
Caps were edged,
we experienced apale version of Kane
Williamson’s dejection.So close: Martin
Guptill is run out by
Jos Buttler in the
final act of a heart-
stopping match.