When Jeremy Lin seemed to come out of nowhere last winter to lead the New York Knicks of the NBA to six straight wins, and in the process scoring 38 points against big, bad Kobe Bryant and defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, our whole nation, indeed even much of the world, rose up in in a mass "hallelujah!"
Underdogs have risen up and smitten various top dogs throughout history, and inevitably they have been an inspiration to people. The question that has interested me as a psychoanalyst is why? Why do sports upsets thrill us so much?
In the beginning there was David and Goliath. Goliath was a huge Philistine who came out twice a day for 40 days and challenged the Israelites to send someone to fight him, so as to decide the battle between the Israelites and Philistines by single combat. David, a teenaged boy who would be the future king, came forward with a sling and five stones, hit Goliath in the forehead, toppled him, and cut off his head. Everyone was awed by this ancient "upset." The Philistines fled, the Israelites gloried in their triumph, and the story has lived to this day.
Three of the most heralded upsets of modern American history include the 1936 Olympics when Jesse Owens won four gold medals in track and field, something nobody else had ever accomplished, and in the process defeated the much-vaunted Nazi stars. Then there was the 1969 Super Bowl, when the underdog New York Jets from the fledgling American Football League, led by brash David-like quarterback Joe Namath, defeated the Baltimore Colts of the heavily favored National Football League. Finally, there was the 1980 "miracle on ice," when the goalie Jim Craig and the U.S.A. hockey team, comprised of college and amateur skaters, knocked off the heavily favored Russian team made up of professional players who had won the gold in 1976 and had dominated international hockey since 1964.
The "miracle on ice" became a moment of national glory hailed as, "The most transcending moment in the history of our sport in this country," by Dave Ogrean, a former executive director of USA Hockey. "For people who were born between 1945 and 1955, they know where they were when John Kennedy was shot, when man walked on the moon, and when the USA beat the Soviet Union in Lake Placid."
Sports upsets can galvanize and unite people as almost no other phenomenon. Looking at it from a sports psychology point of view, I would explain this as a kind of "identification with the aggressor." Down deep each of us knows what it is like to be an underdog. Each of us was an underdog when we were kids, and each of us has been an underdog at times as an adult. We have all known the frustration of being overpowered by some person or some group, and having to swallow our anger.
Anna Freud, Sigmund's daughter, came up with the term "identification with the aggressor," defining it as a child's identification with an abusive parent. However, I believe the identification with the aggressor may take a different form once we become adults. We still identify with the aggressor, but now we identify with the underdog (the child) who aggresses against the top dog (the frustrating parent or parent-figure).
When a Jeremy Lin or a Tim Tebow pops up and is surprisingly aggressive toward the powers that be, whether in the NBA or NFL, we identify with them. If they are victorious, they become the embodiment and expression of our own frustrated aggression. If they also have an innocence about them, this helps us to not only identify with them but also to idealize them. They become symbols of good against evil.
Jeremy Lin had that innocence and helped us to idealize him and to identify with his aggression. When he dunked, we all dunked. When he danced past Kobe Bryant to toss in a layup, we all slithered past Kobe Bryant to post a layup. When he threw up a 3-point shot to win a game, we were all throwing up that shot to win the game. When he chest-bumped Iman Shumpert and other teammates, we were all chest-bumping his teammates and each other in our heads. When he screamed out with the joy of victory, we all felt that joy of victory in our hearts.
When somebody like Lin or Tebow or Namath emerges from the ashes of defeat and takes arms against a sea of competitive forces, all of our own pent up aggression, which has been buried in the routine of day-to-day life, gets activated. For a moment in time we can all feel like winners. For a moment we can transcend the limitations of our own particular realities and sail into the clouds of anything-is-possible. If Lin or Tebow or Namath or Craig can win, we can all win.
By the way, you may have heard that Lin had surgery on a torn meniscus in his knee. And several million people are biding their time and their joy until he can play again.
Gerald Schoenewolf, Ph.D., is a licensed psychoanalyst, professor of psychology and author of 20 books. He is also an avid sports fan.
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