Picture this: a couple, barely out of college, and their newborn, heading out to the Kingdome on Saturday nights during the 1995 season of Mariner baseball. It was a legendary season, with greats like Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. leading the Mariners to the postseason for the first time in the franchise’s history. I was at those home games, even if I wouldn’t remember it.
I was born in Seattle and my parents are from Washington, so even though I grew up in Colorado I still grew up surrounded by Washington sports. My brother’s little league team (that my dad coached) was always the Mariners. The only poster on my wall for years was of Ichiro. In 5th grade, I got my whole class rooting for Gonzaga during March Madness. It still hurts me to this day to say anything good about the Cougs (my parents are University of Washington alumni).
Anyone familiar with basically every Washington sports team knows they are hard to root for. The Mariners have only made it to the postseason four times in franchise history. The Seahawks were lousy until their Super Bowl appearance in 2005 and again about four years ago with the addition of the Legion of Boom and Russell Wilson to the team. Gonzaga basketball consistently does worse than teams of the same seed in March Madness, notably following their conference record of 16-0 in the 2013 season with a loss in the round of 32 to Wichita State.
Really, what these teams all have in common is losing. Which sucks as a fan.
I can live with the losses of my teams because I’m used to them. Teams that do better get to have the fans that punch the TV when they lose. But since I grew up rooting for these teams, I also grew up accepting losses as norms.
I have never been outstanding at sports. I started on my middle school basketball and volleyball teams because I was tall, not because I was good. In soccer, (which was just kindergarten and first grade, but still relevant) I wanted to be a goalie because they didn’t have to sprint up and down the field. My entire softball career I probably had five hits – but don’t worry, I walked a lot. My tennis skills are laughable. I can’t remember ever being on a team with a stellar winning record – we were always either average or bad.
Being used to these losses sucks. No one likes losing. But if they’ve taught me anything, it’s that a loss doesn’t mean the end of the world. You can always pick yourself up, brush off, and try your best the next time. In life, you get hit with a lot of losses. But that doesn’t mean you’re losing.
I love going to baseball games and hanging out, watching my favorite sport being played. The experience beats the score of the game, every time. Tennis matches in high school, even though I consistently lost, were still fun to be at and root for my teammates. And I will always watch the Seahawks play, even when they inevitably get bad again – it’s Seattle sports, what more can we expect?
My teams are going to lose. I’m going to lose. It happens (a lot). But I’m prepared for it.
And in the end, it makes the wins that much more special.
