Although most people would not associate creativity with sports, it is very much ingrained into every part. Athletes who can see the passing lanes before anyone else or visualize a play before it even develops are examples of how creativity can directly influence the outcome of each game. In my opinion, following as a fan is a very interesting experience in observing the creative side of sports because you can follow how creative destruction can impact the game.
Take for example the revolution of baseball due to sabermetrics. By introducing advanced statistics, teams began to prefer a certain style of play, which led to a major shift in the demographics of the league. Basketball and focus on efficiency, along with football and physical testing are other great examples of how non-athletes have affected the athletes. By brainstorming and debating the different trends and schools of thought, I find myself also finding more creative solutions that become opinion as a fan.
This is something I haven’t thought about much but reading this, it makes a lot of sense. Iv been playing sports my whole life and it never really got to me how creativity can be so important. In any sport, a player needs to be creative to do well, doing the same thing over again won’t get you anywhere. The saber metrics part is even more true, general managers and coaches are finding new ways to analyze a players impact and finding creative ways to do that is what gives that team an advantage over their important. Sports are not just about the stats on the back of a trading card, it goes so much deeper and the creativity factor of that is what makes it so interesting.
-Jake Gilman