The Sadness of Sports

For the uninitiated sports is a nonsensical affair. Over-buff men running around trying to get some presumably meaningless object into some sort of weaved roped target. Why do so many devote so much time to following such a pointless activity? If you happen to think along these lines, let me let you in on a little secret. Sport can be a emotional. Perhaps too emotional?

The Connection

When some young adventurous child is exposed to the local hockey/basketball/baseball team for the first time, a connection is made. They don't know it yet, but what they are going to experience is as strong and powerful as any relationship they will experience. They go to see a few games live, learn the names of all the players, never miss a game on television and stand by the coaches word no matter how absurd it may be. The child sees the triumphs, the victories as well as the disappointment that come with defeat. A connection is forged. The team now feels as though it is one extended family.

The Love Affair

In a sport fan's life time, they are bound to be surrounded by people who just don't understand them. It may be family, a boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse. These non-understanders have never 'got' sports. A sports fan may now feel a bit isolated, but this does not affect his or her relationship to the local team.
Watching the sports report that evening reveals news that a favorite player has to be sidelined due to an injury. The pain is felt mutually. The next day, the paper reports that the star player has been traded! Betrayal! How could the team that you've loved so very much treat you this way? After all the time and effort you just put into the team. All for what? Nevertheless, a true sport fan takes this emotional scar in stride. I'm into this relationship until the end.

Heart Brake

It's the end of the season, the team just needs to win one more game to make it into the playoffs. The sport fans all gather in the bar down the street. After months of loyal, devoted, unquestioned love; this is what it's all about. When the last seconds tick off the clock the truth starts to sink in. The playoff hopes have been dashed. A sport fan doesn't traditionally shed tears, but the feeling inside creates the urge to break down and cry. Why? Why? The hours and hours of watching, reading, and listening to every step that this team has been through. Why didn't they win? It's like the end of sad romantic movie. Although that one guy clearly deserved the girl, and he worked so hard to do everything in his power, she ends up with that rich jerk with the nice car. It's tragic! Unfair! Why? Hearts are broken, although it wouldn't be manly to admit it.

It's really hard to try and express the feelings that a sport fan goes through to somebody who doesn't understand, but it's very intense. Imagine the average fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. A team they have followed for around 40 years without winning a championship. They put as much effort into following that team that a good man or woman put into a nurtured relationship. It's like getting dumped by the girl/boy of your dreams, every year! So if you know a sport fan, show them some love. It's a hard time of the year for them

The "New" Blog

Welcome to the brand new look blog. If this is your first time checking this out, welcome! If you are reading this through an RSS reader then I recommend heading over to the actual site and checking out the new look. I stopped posting on here a while ago and I feel like it's time to start it up again. You see, I started this blog over a year ago with the best intentions. Everything was going fine until a few of my friends persuaded me to join the quite scary LiveJournal community. Within weeks of joining I was hooked. I began to neglect this blogger site in exchange for the seeming online popularity that LiveJournal (LJ) appeared to garner me with. It became an addiction. Day after day I would post the deepest of my emotional thoughts so that other LJ users would comment on them.

Let me warn you now: posting every detail about your personal life on the internet is NOT A GOOD IDEA! It begins honestly enough, but the more often you post the more often you do so without really thinking about it. You forget that what you write is being posted on the internet. You forget that the internet is a world wide network that can be accessed by anyone. You forget that even though you really may not have thought too much about what your wrote, it could be read by people who should not have. I've experienced much personal sadness recently because of some dumb post I wrote a year ago and has haunted ever since. Don't make the same mistake as me. Community sites such My Space may seem like a good idea, but be careful with what you post there. It could ruin you forever.

This is why I vow the new version of my blog (starting with this post onwards) will contain content that, although informative and entertaining, will be much less personal then what came before. I plan on updating around 3 times each week. Topics will vary widely, but will be focused on things that I observe around me here in Toronto. Since I'm also such a technology freak, I will write about things of that nature here as well. Those of you who have read this blog because of my love for Progressive Rock may be pleased to know that I'm starting an entirely different blog that will focus entirely on that unjustly forgotten genre of music. You can check it out at progrockreviews.blogspot.com.