British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar came up with a theory that the average person has 150 people who they recognize, name and face. This is referred to as “the social brain theory” or “Dunbar’s numbers”. Dunbar says that we all have a close circle of five people, smaller groups of 15 and 50 that we know and trust on certain levels, and when we go beyond that 150 average social brain, we can remember thousands of people.
This is just a theory, but it applies to every human being. It doesn’t matter if they’re a performer with millions of followers, or some guy sitting on a laptop reading a blog. We all have our people who we closely care about, and we all have the larger group that we know about and follow.
My belief is that performers are negatively impacted by the upper-end of this scale, while fans of those performers can tend to struggle on the low end. Ultimately, we’re all finding a way to authentically and confidently express ourselves in every situation. Performers make a living by expression, aiding the process for fans.
The Black Hole of Expression
Let’s say that, deep inside us all, there exists a singularity that is our self. From the outside of our black hole selves, we have an ergosphere which draws in people with our gravity. Everyone has a different sized ergosphere, and those in the quiet region who can’t hear us aren’t drawn in. No one on the outside can see beyond our own Event Horizon, which I believe to be our words and expressions and actions. I personally spend too much time worrying what my Event Horizon looks like from the outside, rather than just letting it be my own Event Horizon and focusing on my singularity.
Beneath our words and expressions, we deal with the gravitational spacetime distortion of our minds. Our black hole selves are made up from our singularity of self, which gets distorted in our mind through gravity (the weight of executive decisions), space (our place in the universe), and time (how much time does it take to go from a singularity to an expression?). There are many other factors which impact our mind, including the views of the outside universe.
This is merely my view of life, as someone who had an extreme inability to express himself verbally in the past. As a writer, I could express myself, though not always well. As a speaker, I mostly stayed quiet, especially the bigger the room got. This was obviously personally frustrating.
The last few years, I’ve been working on increasing verbal expression, and making my writing more concise. From every singularity of thought, I’m trying to find the same gravitational spacetime distortion in my brain, allowing me to express myself in a consistent manner. Thus far, I’ve only really been able to do this with sports, which is only part of the singularity that is my self.
Moneyball
The last time I paid to attend an MLB baseball game was August 5, 2010. The Pittsburgh Pirates had acquired James McDonald, who was one of my fantasy sleeper prospects a few years prior. The addition of McDonald at the deadline gave them a starting pitcher who might have some potential for a small market team. He was making his debut in Pittsburgh, as I was heading up for a game on August 6th. I was given two club tickets by the Pirates for the game on the 6th, as a young blogger. They reached out to a lot of their social media followers at the time, showing appreciation for the following, as most companies do to gain promotion. I wasn’t a fan of the team as much as I was a fan of the idea of the Pittsburgh Pirates surprising everyone and winning a World Series in Moneyball style. I also wanted to be a reporter.
Because I wasn’t a fan, but more of an aspiring reporter, I eventually received credentials through my continued work — first for me in 2011, then for my site and other contributors from 2012-Present Day. Most of my baseball coverage followed the Moneyball style. The book Moneyball made so many nerds like myself envision that they might one day be able to work inside the game of baseball.
The movie Moneyball gets bashed a lot for not being accurate to the book. This is true. The movie makes it seem like there were three cheap additions on the free agent market who made a winner, with barely a mention of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, or Barry Zito. There was no Miguel Tejada. There was no Eric Chavez. The movie ultimately focused on the emotional balance of performance — not just on the field, and all the way up to the front office. It’s still dramatized, but tells a second angle of the story, in a way that is relatable for its emotional side of the game.
Most people following this game of baseball dream about their old playing days when they were younger. My dream for this game, if any, had always been to work inside the game. As a reporter, I reached a point the last few years where I knew I could work inside the game, but I’ve also never really worked for anyone, so I wouldn’t know where to begin with that. I’ve expressed interest with the Pirates, but “hire me and we’ll figure it out as I figure it out” isn’t a plan that MLB teams follow. Nor should they.
As I’ve been running this site the last few years, I’ve been thinking a lot about who uses it. The easiest answer would be a lot of people like me, who love diving into the business side of the game. The spectrum of fans in baseball encompasses a number of focuses. Some focus on the players and have a fantasy team. Over the last few years, sports gambling has been on the rise, driving the interests of some players to a specific outcome. Some are hardcore, lifelong fans of a team or player, and some are only there in their childhood and youth. Pirates Prospects has had some of the highest traffic numbers of Pirates sites on the internet over the last decade, and I’ve been fortunate enough to meet and talk with a lot of readers during that time.
The biggest thing this site gave me was my ability to properly express myself. That was made possible by the support of the fans of this site, who expanded my upper-end Dunbar numbers, with a lot of people from this job experience filling my 150.
This site has also given me a deep perspective into the struggles of athletic performers.
I’m technically media, as I have credentials for years, though I don’t really label myself as anything. Media is placed between the fans and the players/team, with both sides wanting the media to take up their argument. The difficult thing for me is meeting/talking with good people inside the game, and then having to write an honest, fair story about them to a Pittsburgh Pirates fan base that has a loud section that will tear you apart if you get too positive.
I’ve been called an apologist by fans for their perception of too much optimism, and I’ve been hated by some players for being too critical. It’s a middle ground that isn’t personally comfortable, but as someone who is used to being alone, it does feel familiar.
This offseason, I’ve switched my focus to the National Basketball Association, trying to get a different view of the fan experience in sports.
The NBA
Several years ago, I was falling out of touch with the casual sports fan. This site had me in a bubble, surrounded by hardcore fans. We all turn to sports for an escape, but some of us need to escape beyond the 2-3 hour game time. Those people turn to online communities to read about and discuss the game.
I’ve been following the NBA this year, trying to get an appreciation for the casual fan. I haven’t followed the NBA closely since starting this job. I followed the star players back in the 90s, with my focuses being the 1992 Dream Team, the 90s Chicago Bulls, and eventually Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers were the team I picked to follow this year, although I’ve been trying to follow the entire league to get an appreciation for the sport. Every day I watch a new player or team, and it allows me further understanding into the overall game of basketball.
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On December 27th, I went to see the Sixers take on the Orlando Magic. At the start of the season, I bought a single ticket in the upper deck for about $32 after fees and taxes. I knew I would be looking to get out of the house during the week after Christmas, and this seemed like the perfect fit.
My hope was to see Joel Embiid, the only Sixers player I knew going into the season, although he was out with an injury for a few games during this time. This might put his MVP chances at risk if the NBA doesn’t adjust their minimum games requirement. Embiid is currently on a legendary streak of 30+ point, 10+ rebound performances, and right now is the clear MVP choice in my casual fan view.
What I got to see was a Sixers win, which was fun. If I’m honest, I didn’t want to go to the game that day, as I was depressed. This was exactly why I bought the ticket months earlier. The game itself was an experience as someone who hasn’t been to many pro sporting events as a fan over the last 15+ years. Paul Reed, the young backup to Embiid, stepped up in a big way with a double-double.
I’ve learned more about the Sixers team with each game played, and enjoyed the game even without Embiid. Tyrese Maxey has been one of my favorite players to watch this year. He’s a dynamic, high-energy player who can score a lot of points with his combination of a step-back three, and a magical floating layup. I was able to see him drive through the crowded lane with that floater in person on the 27th. He moves so quickly through the lane that it almost looks like he’s phasing between dimensions.
There is a “Three Star” concept in the NBA, according to articles I’ve read. If you want to win, you need three stars. Embiid is a star, as the reigning MVP and possible back-to-back guy. Maxey is emerging as a young star, and you could argue he’s already there. From there, you could say the Sixers need a third star, because those are the rules.
From my view, I wouldn’t know the difference between a third star and Tobias Harris. He’s a big forward who can hit shots from the three point line, or go downhill and use his size to take it to the basket. He’s reliable on both sides of the ball, and a regular high point scorer.
The goal isn’t for a team of stars. The goal is for a balanced team.
The Sixers have a good balanced team. They are inevitably going to be faced with trade rumors over the next month, wondering if they’ll add that third star. This talk has the inevitable potential impact on several human beings. It might impact Harris, who could otherwise be talked about as the third star of the team. It might impact Kelly Oubre Jr. or De’Anthony Melton, who have both had good years, but would see their playing time reduced. It might impact someone on the bench who might be uncertain about his future with the team.
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Sitting in the stands on December 27th, I took note of the crowd, which I normally see from the press box. To my right, a group of college aged kids. There were two seats open to my left at the start of the game. A middle aged couple walked down from the other end of the aisle midway through the first quarter, enjoying a date night with several stadium priced beers, after getting the wrong seats for the first several minutes. That couple left at half-time and a family brought their children down at the half to get a closer look at the game. For a bit, I was nervously waiting for the drunk couple to return. There were people hanging out after work, people networking, and all walks of society throughout the arena. We all go to stadiums to experience the crowd energy, which is generated by the performers on the stage.
When you go online and read trade rumors, or articles about Embiid’s MVP chances, those aren’t necessarily for that group in the stadium.
Those articles are more for the hardcore fans who need the sport to consume a large portion of their lives, for personal reasons. We in the media write for all of the fans, but I feel we really make our money on the hardcore fans. Meanwhile, the teams make money on everyone, and compared to online focus, it’s probably more disproportionate to the family of four trying to distract their children for a night.
The players are trying to win a game, which is the center of focus for the stadium and televised broadcast. Still, they’re faced with the needs of the masses, which no performer can fully satisfy.
Style
I’ve spent a lot of the last few years with a divided focus away from baseball. I’ve run this site for 15 years, but I’ve been looking at alternatives for my future. Part of that was testing whether the site would work without me, and that’s nearly impossible. Right now, I could make it work for myself, but it would require a lot of work to update the database and get the site on a new setup and build from there. We’re in an age where Artificial Intelligence will eventually shut down truly independent outlets like my own, forcing all creators onto social media platforms with their own individual digital currencies.
I’ve personally been looking to music the last few years for both mental health, and a possible job running a record store. Music provides us with an escape that is similar to following sports. It’s a more intimate connection, as we typically like the music which reflects our selves.
This is most often seen today with Taylor Swift and her fans, called “Swifties”. I’m not a Swiftie, and could probably be grouped into the “Dads, Brads, and Chads” department, despite being none of those three things. Swift, like all artists, shares a piece of herself, wrapped up in artistic expression to allow her words to be accessible to the masses. She does that so well that she can’t even eat a meal without a crowd surrounding her, wanting to see that she eats like a normal person. She also does it so well that people like me who have previously been hurt by a Swiftie can get triggered by the memories.
We all need guidance in life. Musicians provide that guidance for their fans, on an emotional level. Athletes provide the guidance on a performance level. We can search through society for other forms of escapes. We’re all just trying to get through this thing called life.
That includes the people on the courts, fields, and stages.
Every Sunday, you are bound to hear about Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce. Her fans celebrate for her happiness, as they gain happiness. Perhaps a lonely fan feels hope by proxy if they’re single. Yet, there’s another fan aspect which focuses on the performance of the football team, and the impact of the relationship to that performance. This is where the hardcore NFL fans, who need a win, start to impact the humans who are performers. Kelce goes to Argentina to watch his girlfriend in concert, and Chiefs fans get upset about the team performance that week. Swifties just want to see their “mother” figure on TV. Kelce and Swift are humans, wanting to experience a lower-end Dunbar relationship in a normal way, outside of their performance.
Performers are paid a lot of money, as their performance periods in their life are short, yet grueling on a personal level. The Swift/Kelce situation raises the question as to how much in this era are we going to allow performers to have a normal life? The Embiid/MVP minimum-games conversation underscores that perfectly. It’s not just about being good. It’s about being good on demand, as often as possible.
Musical Theory
There are a lot of people in this world who need a daily inspiration. I personally get this through music. A few years ago, in my age 35-40 midlife mental health crisis, I found comfort in the lyrics of John Mayer. As I relate closer to someone like Mayer, it’s obvious to see why I haven’t historically been a Taylor Swift fan.
The albums “Born & Raised” and “Paradise Valley” by Mayer are two of the most influential albums of my life. I didn’t listen to them until the end of 2020, despite them being released 7-8 years prior. The two albums represent Mayer growing up from his childish past, and I related to that as I was going through therapy for the first time in 2018. Since Mayer was a personal “comp” for me, his growth was also a “comp”.
After Mayer’s music assisted my growth process, I fully bought into the healing power of music. As someone who couldn’t speak much, and kind of of a loser without a lot of people in my “150”, I started a musical exploration following artists who weren’t lonely white males like myself.
The beautiful thing about music is that you’ll find the same stories across all of humanity. I’ve listen to a lot of hip hop music since the MTV days of the 90s. I don’t have experience living in the city streets where hip hop was founded, but I appreciate aspects of the journey of struggle, the confidence building, and the chance to learn about a different lifestyle. Some of hip hop is entertainment, like a non-visual movie.
I post a lot of Run the Jewels songs for my Song of the Day, which is a group by Michael “Killer Mike” Render and Jaime “El-P” Meline. This is the entertainment side, providing an almost action movie in your mind. The flip side is when an artist like Render or Meline release solo albums, discussing their life journeys. Parts of the album “Michael” last year helped me to verbalize some of my struggles in a way I didn’t previously have the words for, which helped me further my therapy process to a good place internally. That is the value of artistic expression. Even though I come from a massively different place from Render, I can find personal value and guidance in his own life journey exploration.
I’ve listened to a lot of LGBTQ+ artists, enough to realize that we’re all part of the same spectrum looking for love, respect, and a separate spectrum of sexual preferences to shortcut to the feeling of personal connection. I’ve listened to male artists who are more confident, trying to find the difference between them and the more traditionally quiet males like myself. I’ve listened to female artists who are less confident, trying to find where I’ve been the asshole to my ex-wives. I’ve listened to female artists who express more confidence, maybe seeing an alternative that might not end in divorce. I’ve listened to groups, who merge the talents of individuals for a combined message.
I’ve also gone to a lot of concerts and shows, to appreciate the performance aspect of the music art, especially in relation to the performance of an athlete, which allows for much more error.
Each of these personal learning opportunities came from artists who gave a piece of themselves to the public. The cost is that the public sees that person as accessible in a way that we relate to successful. Anyone who is on the big stage, making money for selling their art, is seen as in a higher class, when really, that class only exists in the stadium structure where there’s a stage.
Outside of that stadium hierarchy, we are all in the same society, looking for the same guidance.
We all want validation. We all want to be seen for who we are. When we see someone expressing themselves and gaining validation, we want that in a way, and some might not be receiving that at all in their lives. I think we all have a scale in our body, which allows us to quickly get centered from the highs and lows, and move forward in life as our authentic selves. The easiest way to impact this is with music, but I believe the environment of a sports game or arena can achieve the same sensory input. Turn on the TV, and you’ve got a crowd in your living room, with your own custom seat and view in the grander stadium of life.
We’re All the Same and We’re All Lost
“So, I’m duty-bound to be here to simply say that it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy. It is your duty to fortify your own house so that you may be a house of refuge in times of organization, and now is the time to plot, plan, strategize, organize and mobilize. It is time to beat up prosecutors you don’t like at the voting booth. It is time to hold mayoral offices accountable, chiefs and deputy chiefs.”
-Michael Render, May 29, 2020
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This world has had no shortage of crazy events over the last several years. A global pandemic, several active wars and territory takeover attempts, Americans illegally entering the US Capitol building, and a lot of economic uncertainty. We all need escapes to performers during these times. That leads to us constantly turning to those performers in times of need, who live in the same world.
I’ve spent the last few years plotting, planning, and strategizing, and the focus has been on removing my historical trauma and getting to a point where I can exist in public without social anxiety — helping other people in a tangible way that is separate from writing. I realized that I can’t help anyone until I help myself. You need to put on your own oxygen mask first.
The downside to all of this therapy and performer exploration is that I realized how much I carried the “fan” perspective over to the media realm of the game of baseball. Not in the sense that performance dictated my emotions like a fan. It was more adopting my coverage to the needs of the hardcore fan, without acknowledging players aren’t robots meant to fill everyone’s need.
Pittsburgh is a place where people follow sports to a hardcore degree, and fans always want media to ask the “tough questions” to the players, holding them accountable for not delivering the ideal performance. That can be an easy position to take up in the media realm, asking difficult questions and ultimately challenging those in the game with the backing of the loudest fans.
The problem with this is that the people inside the game are no different than the fans. They’re all human. I’m sure that every member of the Pirates’ roster is a fan of someone else. Maybe in their sport, maybe another sport, and maybe an art like music. I guarantee that Taylor Swift finds a review about a place online and genuinely wants to try it on a normal-seeming date, only for her fans to surround the place and close down the reservations on that place for months.
Performers differ from fans in their influential potential. You could view that influence as a gift from the performer to the fan. The gift from the fan to performer is the validation of self. In any sport, you’ve got the reality that bad performance will lead to a certain de-validation, since the bad performance has to be addressed by media and written about for the public.
We’re all the same. In the age of social media, we’re all entertainers in a certain sense, while also looking for entertainment. There’s a crowd for each of us to influence, and there’s a group of people who we’re all influenced by. That group varies by person, and the goal is finding the balance between your influencers and influencees to exist as yourself in the middle ground.
Dunbar’s Numbers For Performers
If the average human mind can recognize 150 people, according to Robin Dunbar, then we see the real split between performers and fans — who, again, are both otherwise just people.
Performers have an extremely high upper-end register, with so many fans who know them, so many fans to interact with and remember, and so much time taken away from their personal group of 5, 15, 50, or 150.
Fans can tend to become fans, because their personal groups of 5-150 are thinner. They replace this with performers who aren’t in their lives, but who still add value with their art.
The balance in the relationship is that fans are looking for a personal, intangible connection that the performers provide. The performers gain validation from the masses, but the sacrifice of their personal network can leave them wanting more connection in the same way fans want. Fans elevate performers for their money and fame, but performers sacrifice the love and close connection that fans can more easily enjoy.
When the performers focus on their inner circles, rather than the masses, there are fans who get upset, as they need the connection.
We’re all the same, but the challenge is finding balance in our lives. Performers balance the lives of fans, who in their mass form, can help balance the lives of performers.
As someone who has existed in the middle realm for years, while also being a fan of some and enough of a performer to get recognized twice a year, I’m writing all of this because I’ve appreciated the balance. I’ve appreciated it beyond the sport of baseball, and especially in the music realm of performers. Perhaps this article might provide some appreciation from both sides about the opposite side.
We’re all just entertainers in some form, and yet no matter how many we individually perform, every one of us reaches a point where we say to other performers “Here we are now, entertain us.”
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On a personal note, thank you for letting me entertain you with my baseball writing over the last decade-plus. I’ve been planning/researching a set of novels the last few years, which has pulled me away from the game, and honestly has further wrecked my Dunbar numbers. I might write those one day, but I need a break from the internet. My goal going forward is to get into the real world and have a job that is mostly offline for the next period of my life. This job has given me the gift of personal expression in all forms, and I can’t thank you enough if you’ve helped to support that journey in any way. You essentially allowed me to find my singularity self. I hope the Pittsburgh Pirates entertain their fans, but I also hope that the fans respect that the performers are people as well, just with slightly different Dunbar ratios and personal needs.
-Tim Williams
