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I’m an adult – at least I think I am. I work 9-5, I have a stable job, a good friend group, and a great family. I try to workout a bit and not drink too much alcohol on weekdays. I look forward to the weekends – who doesn’t? You get to relax, drink booze, and party with company you enjoy. If you’re a sports fan, this also means watching your team play on either Saturday or Sunday. As I’ve grown up, I have liked to think that I’ve become a bit more mature about every aspect of my life. Except sports – I just can’t pull away. I just can’t put myself together into a rational human being when I see my teams take the field – as much as I try.
This past weekend, I saw the Badger Football team lose to a 23 point underdog and the Packers tie in one of the wildest, most heart-wrenching games I’ve ever witnessed. While both we’re exhilarating in some fashion, both left me in a puddle of mush afterwards. I screamed at the TV, cursed at the refs, implored my team to victory – helplessly watching on a screen far away. As much as I try to become numb to the expectations, to the things I can’t control, I just can’t. I try to develop a callus – filled with the visceral memories of the teams that have viciously wrecked my insides before. But, hope springs eternal – and then unfortunately plummets off a cliff every season.
Cheering for your favorite team is the ultimate paradox. You get the highest of the highest and the lowest of the lows. Although I know, I know in my heart of hearts, that I have zero, zilch, nada, impact over whether a shot goes in or a receiver catches a ball, I still yell at my TV screen – as if my desire for a positive result can will it into existence. I know I’m being obnoxious, probably even unreasonable. My brain tells me this in the moment but for some reason I just can’t cut it out. In a weekend typically filled with relaxation and fun times, my heart goes into palpitations on NFL Sunday and during 11 a.m. Badger kickoffs. But then every week, I’m reading Twitter, articles, podcasts – everything – to gear myself up for next weekend’s plunge. Regardless of if my team is over-matched or under-performing, I believe the Packers will always pull out a victory, that the Badgers will always cover the spread – until they don’t. Then, my house of cards comes crashing down. Often ruining my Saturday night or Monday morning.
Will I stop cheering for my teams? Can I stop? The answer, for good or for worse, is no. I can’t. I’m too invested in everything at this point. While the rest of my life is somewhat in my control, that feeling of no control – of staring into the unbridled brink that being a sports fan offers – is both exhilarating and excruciating. It’s why people shimmy up greased light poles when their team wins and burn jerseys when their team loses. There’s really no in-between. As I’ve gained more clarity about who I am, I’ve realized that this is just part of who I am. So, even though both the Badgers and the Packers are slim shots to win it all this year, I’ll still be living play by play with them every weekend from now until January, until they rip my heart out once again. I’ve come to realize that’s just part of the journey. Unless you’re a Patriots or Alabama fan..
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@TaylorLaabs
@taylor1laabs
As long as you don’t put your fist through the wall when your team misses a field goal, you’re OK.
Reminded of one of my favorite all time tweets.
“FRIEND: Can you explain sports to me?
ME: Sure. Imagine you loved someone. Like you REALLY loved them. And every year they cheated on you. Every single year. But then you kept going back. That’s sports.
FRIEND: …I meant like tell me the rules.
ME: Those are the rules.”
I grew up near Athens and have been a lifelong Falcons and UGA fan. The last couple of years are probably as bad as it gets.
For those who don’t remember:
Falcons leading 28-3 at halftime in the Superbowl and then lost.
UGA leading 13-0 at halftime in the NCAA championship and then lost.
At least we got the Braves World Series win in ’95…
The UGA loss wasn’t that bad. Bama’s QB was only a Freshman after all who hadn’t played all season.
I dunno. ’96 World Series when we gave up a 3-0 series lead to the Yankees…
You mean when Atlanta took a 2-0 series lead and then dropped 4 straight games? As a Yankees fan, I am well aware of the first team to come back from down 3-0 in a playoff series and let me tell you it was not us.
Yes, I’m talking about that series. The series that launched the Yankees to be the dynasty of the millennium and left the Braves as the southern novelty it remains today. We still have the “Chicks dig the longball” commercial, so I guess that’s a consolation.
Fuck those Braves teams – signed a childhood Astros fan
I’m sure it’s different for everyone, but there’s a specific level of pain I get with a college football loss that I just don’t feel with the pro’s. The level of anxiety and emotional swings are almost too much at times. You have 1 mulligan in CFB, otherwise you’re out of the playoff. It’s brutal.
I’ll never forget the pain that coursed through my body as I watched Baylor get passed over for the Playoff in the Dixie Cafe on my drive back to Houston from the Big 12 championship.
That’s me, except I was flying back from Indy and we owned the head to head against Ohio State. Expand the playoff to 8 teams already.
Didn’t ya’ll lose to Michigan by like 40 and to Pitt that year? It’s the same argument of Bama vs Ohio St. this past year. At least they were consistent both times.
Agreed. I love college football so much more than NFL because every single play matters. NFL teams can play terribly for half of their regular season games & still (theoretically) win the Super Bowl. One missed FG during week 4 can cost a college team a spot in the playoffs.
It’s only because you’re a fan of good teams. As a Purdue fan, I just go into every game assuming we’re gonna lose. It still sucks, but it’s much less surprising and gives me less of a heartbreak
That’s my logic with the Giants right now. I assume Eli will get sacked 5+ times a game and we’ll probably score around 10 points. My hopes can’t be crushed if they don’t exist
The problem is you follow teams that regularly win, if the packers go on a decade long losing streak youll just be numb when they lose and only feel relief similar to not getting fired after screwing up at work when they win. Source: A bears fan
Cheers bro I’ll drink to that
I ran a pretty depressing calculation recently. Of all the possibly championships my teams across all sports could have won in my lifetime, they’ve won something like 8% or available championships. 90%+ of the time, sports seasons end in absolute heartbreak. But damn if those championships aren’t worth it.
As a San Diego fan we’re at a grand total of 0%. As a lifelong padres (and chargers fan still) never being able to taste that victory haunts me every day.
You’ll never grow out of it. There’s just something about being so invested into a sports team that will never make sense to those who simply don’t get it. Hell last year I stopped watching the Astros after they went 0-3 in New York in the ALCS because up to that point they had lost every game I watched and won every time I would just keep track on the radio. It’s only stupid if it doesn’t work, one replica ring and a bunch of championship merch later it’s all worth it.
tl;dr being a sportz fan is a rollercoaster of emotions
The Giants won 3 World Series in 5 years and the Warriors won 3 NBA titles in 4 years. I genuinely feel #blessed as a sports fan to have witnessed all this and as a result, I’m not even mad when my teams fuck up. Although if by some miraculous stroke of God my Bruins ever make it to and win the Rose Bowl Game (not even talking CFP here…), I will cry tears of joy.
As a transplant whose allegiances are split between Detroit and Baltimore sports, I feel the same way. I’ve seen my favorite pro teams win 7 titles in 3 sports, and then my Spartans did go and win that Rose Bowl which was the cherry on top. Now, the future looks as desolate as any, but I can’t really complain.