Tell me why I should continue to follow sports

I like this. I just want to see good games when I watch. It's also interesting to see how the losing players and teams deal with defeat -- especially after upsets. It's just games, anyway; the real world has bigger issues. So, by taking that approach, I do like the games I watch that much more.

 

Give it up, novvie. Join me. It's really freeing.

 

Yep.

 

Before I opened the thread, I was going to post that you should walk away if you don't derive joy from it. And in reality that's still the answer.

But giving up just because you're mad your teams aren't winning? That's just unseemly to me. In your case, I'm assuming you are reeling from the Braves-UGA sucker punch. It's frustrating to see the mountaintop only to get shoved to the bottom yet again. But the pain is part of it, and what ultimately makes the eventual glory feel more deserved and not just a fleeting smile. The days when I felt like my soul was ripped out still haunt me. But I could no more give up on "my boys" than I could my children.

 

The "eventual glory," dixiehack? That's easy to say as a 'Bama fan.

Not all teams get eventual glory.

 

There's a separate thread in there regarding never getting the glory: Which college fans root for the pits of the pits across the board?

 

Hey, Versatile! I found someone of little faith!

 

What are the odds I'll ever see the Preds lift the Stanley Cup or Bama win a Final Four?

Besides, I started watching the Tide in the mid 80s, when they seemed stuck on eight wins forever and Curry never beat Auburn. Later came the probation years and Dubose and Shula. You can dig up the threads here saying Bama was stupid for thinking it could get an elite coach and shouldn't expect to compete for championships anymore.

That said, you root for the Browns and Indians. Giving up in your case is a completely rational act. ;D

 

Because if you quit following sports, not only do you give up rooting with every fiber of your being against this guy:



the terrorists will have won.

 

Because if you don't follow sports, Jesus will call you home.

 

That's my point. I used to root for Duke basketball, but honestly couldn't name you three people on that team. So I literally have ZERO teams in my rooting interest (as lax as it may be) that have any shot at success in the relative future.

It's like Boston fans who bemoaned how put upon they were that the Red Sox hadn't won a title in 800 years or whatever. They weren't saying shit during the Bruins and Celtics titles, or the Patriots.

So saying "eventual glory" just isn't true. And not everyone has even one team that has found success.

 

I firmly believe that rooting for one, and only one, team in a sport is a sure-fired way to be disappointed more often than not. So, I have multiple favorites in lots of sports, to double, triple or even quadruple my fun. Generally, I choose multiple teams based on separate leagues or divisions, such as NFC, AFC, and NL, AL.

NFL: AFC Ravens, NFC Redskins
MLB: NL Nationals, AL Orioles, also like St. Louis but not so much at the moment.
NBA: Celtics, and, more for comedy than anything else, the Wizards.
NHL: Crapitals, and I feel like I have to root for one Canadian team, so, Montreal, but mainly for the Rocket and the cartoon feature called "The Sweater" (I can find an online link for the movie if anyone is interested).

College Football and Basketball: VA Tech, UVa, Maryland (there are family reasons for being interested in all three).
College Lacrosse: Johns Hopkins, followed a distant second by UVa.

Then there are the fun things to root for:
NFL: Anyone playing Dallas, ditto for Pittsburgh, New England
MLB: Anyone playing against the Yankees
NBA: Against the Heat and Lakers
NHL: Right at the moment, against the lockout.

Anyway, there are lots of things to root for in sports beyond a specific team. You can root for a special achievement, like a no hitter, or some record being broken, or by international events like the Olympics and World Cup.

I got my personal interest in sports from four key things:
1) 1980, USA defeating Russia and then on to the gold medal
2) 1980-1983, Ralph Sampson era at UVa
3) Johns Hopkins University lacrosse titles - 84, 85 and 87, and later again after an agonizing drought, in 2005 and 2007.
4) Having a friend work for George Michael, WRC TV4 in Washington for over 20 years. It is amazing how many people are making it today in the world of sports coverage who can trace themselves back to George Michael. RIP George.

Anyway, just a few thoughts. I take sports as entertainment, and never as an "all or nothing" investment in my emotions where a loss is totally heartbreaking. There is always next year, and the bigger picture for me is the stories of the people involved, athletes to a certain extent, but for me, what is more important are the friends I make along the way, friends in the profession, or just plain and simple, fellow friends and fans with similar passions.

Regards,
VB