Homefield Advantage

Laurence Daniel Jan. 17, 2010 EN 102 D Creative 1 Home Field Advantage It is time to separate fact from myth. The weather is perfect. The stadium is at capacity. The fans are screaming at the top of their lungs, but is this all for nothing? Every sport has fans that love and support their teams. Some people even adjust their schedules to make sure that they can attend every single game. When they arrive the atmosphere is intense. So intense, in fact, that it becomes hard for people to hear others sitting nearby.
Some people strongly believe that this “intensity” affects the way that the players play their game. Most believe that the home-team has some sort of advantage over the opposition. People love a competitive football game, but more than anything, they love to see their teams win. However, given the so-called home field advantage, is it becoming unfair for fans to attend their favorite teams’ games? Research shows that home field advantage gives the home-team an edge, but not much of one.
Football players report that some stadiums are tougher to play in than others because of the acoustics. Some stadiums can reach noise levels up to 127 decibels. With all that noise and distraction, teams have now started to train for these extremely nosy crowds. To go into a stadium and defeat a team who has the crowd on their side is always a great feeling, which disproves the idea that it might somewhat unfair to have home field advantage.

It turns out home field advantage is one of those unknown factors that can help or not help any team at any time. There is a certain advantage to playing on home field, but whether it is enough depends on the team. It would be impossible to eliminate this “advantage” without taking away the fans in the seats. Sports are supposed to be fun, and without the fans, what is left? It is time we stop stressing over something that is simply part of the game.