When I started working at my job, I worked in the office (before I moved and got a home office). This lady I worked with who trained me was a HUGE Duke fan (I live in NC). There's a gigantic Duke vs UNC college sports rivalry in this state. I didn't know about any of this and mentioned to her that I applied to Duke for grad school ( I never ended up going to grad school, thankfully), and she flipped out and actually got legitimately angry at me and made me apologize, which I eventually did since I had to work with her. It was weird, it made me lose respect for her. I don't get when people take a stupid game that seriously. It was nonsensical of her to put that rivalry I had nothing to do with on me, personally.
Society has a weird focus on sports, or some people anyway. It's just a game. Professional athletes are massively overpaid.