Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

No Tribe To Defend

10/08/2012 at 6:50pm EDT

from Joseph Hall of the Toronto Star,

Members of sports team tribes are usually easy to spot, often being festooned with the insignia and paraphernalia of their loadstar squads, Hirt says.

And Dan Wann, a psychologist at Kentucky’s Murray State University, says the group identifications diehard sports fans feel are often stronger than those forged by religious or ethnic affiliations.

“There’s a lot of research out there that shows that our loyalty to our sport team is about as loyal as you’ll get to anything,” says Wann, who has published a book on sports fan psychology.

Ask a man on the street to name his favourite jeans brand, pizza, beer, rock star or politician and the answers will almost certainly be different 20 years hence, Wann says.

“Ask them today their favourite hockey team and ask them again in 20 years, it’s the same team,” he says.

Loosing that team for protracted periods of time, Wann says, can cause intense emotional and psychological distress for hard-core fans.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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