Heartbreakers

First my Brewers gave a pitiful performance in game 6 of the NLDS. They were the small guy in the playoffs, with one of the smallest (if not the smallest) markets in the Major Leagues. I wasn’t even born the last time they went so far in the playoffs, ca. 1982, when handlebar mustaches weren’t just for No Shave November.

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I know when you’re at the top of the game you’re the biggest target. But I’m going to miss Beast Mode.

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Now, the Badgers lost to Michigan State. Stupid Sparty, that jerk beat us last year, too. Just look at the guy, he gives me the creeps. He looks about one steroid injection away from a serious incident where his chemically-enhanced anger issues finally push him over the edge.

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Alas.

The (apparently lofty) dream that the Badgers could make it to a BCS Championship is now crushed. The Big Ten is due- no one has won since Ohio State beat Miami in 2002!

It really is silly to be so emotionally attached to something so trivial. Yet, I think the beauty of being a sports fan is choosing to make the game more than just a game. When the Badgers (or insert any other WI team here) win, I am filled with a sense of pride. I’m a part of a huge community of sports fans that choose to make sports more than just a commercial enterprise that rakes in billions.

Take the Badgers for example- I spent four years of my life immersed in UW-ness and loved every minute of it. I remember beating Michigan in the Fall of 2005; a nail biter of a game that I watched dutifully from my dorm room with the other freshman who didn’t get tickets in the student lottery. I remember losing to Penn State my senior year and staying to watch the whole pitiful game unfold. From thereon out, you remember what it feels like to win big and lose big as a fan.

Naturally, winning rekindles the fond memories you have of celebrating with friends or high-fiving a complete stranger that was standing next to you. Losing brings those memories of disappointment and shock rushing back. It’s this connection to memories that make sports so powerful for me.

So while the Brewers season ended in disappointment, it’s still the greatest year that I have been alive for in Brewers history. They can have awful seasons for the next 29 years and I’ll still be cheering them on. (But’s let’s hope it doesn’t take another 29 years, ok guys)? Until next season, I’m going to hang on to this:

As for the Badgers, I can never stay mad at them. Bucky has too big a piece of my heart for me to stay upset. Here’s to beating the Buckeyes next weekend!

...Thank God the Packers beat the Vikings today.