Did you enjoy the season?

I've mellowed (some) over the years when it comes to living and dying with all of my favorite teams, and I do think over time I've gotten better with trying to keep a healthier perspective, at least for me. It sucks to lose, and if I'm being honest, it's a damn good thing I was in New York this weekend to see my daughter perform (AND SING THE CLOSING SOLO!) with her musical theatre class so I didn't obsess over the Cubs being swept in Miami.

But the Cubs being swept after a relatively surprising start to the season is supposed to hurt, but in the sense of what was mentioned previously - the drama of each high and low of a particular season. And I think that's where I'm getting better. No, I don't read as much content, analysis or gamers the night and day after my favorite teams lose, but I feel like I can enjoy a season in full if it is an entertaining and mostly satisfying one. Ninety-five percent of the time - probably more like 99 - your teams' season will end in disappointment. I wish UNC had held on in the second half and beaten Kansas in 2022 to complete a wild run. But was that season a failure? Hell and fuck no. Remember those two Duke games? But it is disappointing looking back that, damn, our guys were so, so close...

As I've gotten more into Formula 1 in the last few years, there is definitely a different perspective there. Red Bull is pretty much already the champion. And while this may be a bit of an odd comparison, look at the joy Fernando Alonso has had in the early going this season when really, he's fighting, at best, for third. The mid-pack teams that have a chance to move up in the constructor standings - even if it is just fourth, or fifth - is a big deal to those competing. I really enjoyed the Netflix series on the Sunderland soccer club (Sunderland Til I Die), and while I don't really know any of their players this season or any other, following them from afar this year as they try to advance to the Championship playoffs has been riveting.

Maybe it's more of a European thing. With that in mind, I think Bomani Jones had a pretty good read on Giannis' comments:

 

I'm not defending anything or anybody's position. Just re-stating an answer 1 coach gave.
A buddy once told me his outlook for the entire week depended how his NFL team did on Sunday. To me, that's insane.
On the other hand, don't get me started on Rich Karlis' OT field goal in the 1986 AFC Championship game.

 

Exactly. The Steelers are my team and they failed to make the playoffs last year, but they were starting a rookie QB in Kenny Pickett who really started coming into his own and showed exceptional promise (especially in regards to establishing a rapport with WR George Pickens, another rookie). So how am I supposed to look at the season as a failure. They weren't winning the Super Bowl, but especially after the perceived success of this most recent draft, I think they'll be a legit contender for years to come.

 

A former AD who I immensely respected told me, "If winning is the only reason you watch college sports, then you're going to spend a lot of time being disappointed."

How correct he was. And is.

Imagine watching Ernie Banks his whole career and thinking it was a failure because he never appeared in a postseason game, much less won one of the rings that are supposed to be the beat-all, end-all of athletic existence.

 

10-2 is a damn good college football season. 9-3 is pretty solid, too. It's college sports. It's fun.

But I don't even follow my college team much anymore because today's fanbois expect/demand titles every year.

That was a great response by Giannis. And the media fuel the fanbois' idiocy with shit questions like that.

 

I don't care if "my" teams win or lose now.

I'll be asleep before Lakers Warriors tipoff.

 

Keep in mind that the lack of postseason is most people's second line in Banks' biography. The second line of Jim Kelly's biography would be simliar.

Not fair, but factual.

 

Fucking Cubs.

 

I remember Wade Phillips surviving that loss as much as I remember Romo's quote.

 

Reminds me of reading a Pete Rose Q&A from the mid-80s. He was asked what his favorite subject was in school and Pete responded, “Math. I had to figure out batting averages.”

 

I abandoned those words on 11-2-16. They can't hurt me anymore.