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By talking of sports in terms of a ‘quest for excitement’, Norbert Elias opened a novel perspective on the question of catharsis by putting the accent not so much on the neutralisation of emotions as on their contrary, their activation, considered as a fundamental human need. While incongruous with respect to classic, rather rationalist and puritan approaches to spectacle, this proposition allows that we reconsider a wide variety of ludic practices and give meaning to their importance in our society.