With football season only a month away, it is time for most of America to overestimate their team's potential. The NFL is the only league where every team's fanbase (except Cleveland's) can convince themselves that the playoffs would not be a long shot. Maybe your team will not contend, but it could at least have a respectable season, beat their rivals, and maybe make the post-season. Then by week eight, you realize your team has not shot and you are enraged your team lied to you. Forget the fact that you glossed over their weaknesses, they should be better than they are and realize your vision.
And that is the pain of being a sports fan, something you have no control over has so much control over you in multiple ways. I know I am not the only one who plans their studying and leisure time around certain football games during the fall and winter. When other teams play, it is a social event where we can all join together and watch America's favorite sport. When my team plays, I sit alone in my room and watch it with the light off. That sounds unnecessary when I type it, but I do not like company nor myself when my team plays.
Every time your team receives a season-ending loss, the pain it has caused you can have you question why you partake in sports fandom. After the Cowboys lost a division winning game for the third year in a row, I contemplated quitting the NFL altogether. I wanted nothing more than for them to succeed and they conspired to rip my heart out and drop kick it. Yes, winning those games are wonderful feelings but losing them? You end up feeling empty inside at times.
Being a sports fan means people actually find joy in the pain your team has caused you. There are few things sports fans love more than throwing salt in the wounds of rival fans after a win. They especially love how upset you get after they lose so you cannot let them see you hurt. You must put on your best poker face and pretend to be humble for them. You do not even want to be with your friend right now because of sports rivalries and that it will always be.
The worst part of fandom is when your team has no shot at the playoffs so you find yourself cheering for draft positioning. The only thing that comes from your team winning is a lower draft pick so winning might be bad for your future. Still, it feels like betrayal to want your team to lose so you halfheartedly root for victories anyway. Emotion trumps logic in this scenario but this is a common occurrence as a sports fan.
Sports are one of the greatest things in the world but they also have the potential to greatly affect our moods. As someone who has seen their team lose on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, I can attest to having my night ruined by an event thousands of miles away. Regardless, I will still cheer for teams with winning percentages under 40 because I am in too deep now to quit.
