The Losses That Bind

Anyone who even kind of knows me knows I am an absolute sports fanatic. Hell, I'm watching a repeat of the British Open 2nd Round and am about to go to a Huskies game as I type. Anyway, I've noticed that the losses my teams suffer hurt way more than the wins they collect.

The best way to appreciate this is to compare to rooting occasions from the last couple years. The first was the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game 2 seasons ago. The other is the UMD hockey team playing for the National Championship this spring.

Both occasions were similar in many ways. Buddies and drinking were involved. Leading up to both games, our balls all tingled in anticipation (don't ask me how I know their balls tingled). It feels like the first time you're about to make love into a new woman, but have to take a dump at the same time. Like going for a job interview, but then the woman interviewing you is incredibly hot and wearing a revealing blouse. Like rain on your wedding day. Like you feel sick to your stomach, but never more alive.

Both games were extremely intense. Both wound up in OT. The Vikings could have won easily but couldn't get out of their own way. The Bulldogs played well but scoring was hard to come by. Where the games diverged was when Brett Favre threw that awful, horrible, inexcusable INT right at the end of regulation. I went from thinking the Vikings were going to the Super Bowl to knowing they were going to lose. Someone could have punched my in my fat face right then and I wouldn't have even felt it I was so numb. The hockey game never had a crushing blow like that.

We all know how things ended. The Vikings lost, the Bulldogs won. Make no mistake, we were all ecstatic when the Dogs won it. Homoerotic ass slaps and bear hugs were shared all night long. The thing is, that level of elation just was not on the same level as the crushing pain after the Vikes game. After the Vikings game, we tried in vain to find an open bar, drove through a snowstorm to gamble, I spun off of the freeway, and we finally gave up on life being fair that day.

Granted, we do care more about the Vikings. Personally,it's fairly close for me but the Vikes are my first love. Still,I think for whatever reason most people take something bad happening harder than they get excited about something good happening. I know I do...maybe because I hate myself, but I know I'm not alone in this.