The Never Ending Cycle of Pro Sports

Hey, Cardinal fans, don't feel sad! I'm here to tell you that
there is a way to get over your heartache--an extremely easy way.
It takes only one step. It's simple: just choose an NBA team.

There ya go, defer that disappointment. Defer the pain of losing
in the World Series to another time, another place, any time but
now. Don't you feel better already?

If you haven't noticed--and I'm speaking here to the Yankees
fans on campus because this is your first time--the American
athletic schedule is designed so that we, the fans, never have to
deal with the frustration of losing for too long.

There's about a three-day to three-week waiting period during
which we must cope with our losses alone. And then it's over--our
anger transformed into passion and excitement. Failure becomes
hope; frustration becomes optimism. For me, this transformation is
called Laker season, but it goes by many names.

Two weeks ago, I was a mess. After the Dodgers lost, I nearly
destroyed an innocent bush outside my dorm in a flurry of rage and
confusion. For a while, I slept in Alma Mater's lap. But I'm better
now. Thanks to my skillful use of the deferral method, I'm no
longer looking back. My focus is on the future. Yes, it's the
future of another team playing another sport, but what's the
difference?

It's really a sad cycle, but you know what? It's just too hard
to face losing sometimes. I already got my share of losing over
with when I pitched for the Blue Jays in the Santa Barbara County
Mustang League (let's just say that I hold the county record for
consecutive walks: eight). Nowadays, I just ignore the losses and
check the calendar for NBA opening day as soon as possible. Of
course, sometimes a bush or two has to perish--that's just the way
of the world.

The last couple of years have been a real test of my
fansmanship. After a team that I counted on to win didn't get it
done, I faced two choices. One: accept the loss, congratulate the
Pistons, and move on. Or two: just move on. I soon learned that
option number two was a hell of a lot easier, so naturally, I
remain to this day in denial that the Lakers ever lost to the
Pistons last year. Those frightening flashbacks of Kid Rock
celebrating in Detroit are just part of some crazy nightmare I had
over the summer. All I can remember from the entirety of last
season is :04. And that's as it should be.

Which makes me wonder ... the sports industry is really an
incredible thing.

We, the fans, are constantly craving the new--a new season, a
new start, a new hope. And that's exactly what we get after every
disappointing season. Of course, we are too stupid to realize that
we are buying the same product every year (or maybe we just don't
care). Our teams will continue to lose and we will continue to
defer our frustration to that next season with that new young
player or that new 'superstar' coach. Repetition is the name of the
game. The changing of the sports seasons--as natural as the seasons
themselves--keep us fans constantly suspended in a state of delayed
disappointment.

This sounds pretty sad and all, but I love it. How can you not
love continual hope even in defeat? For us non-athletes (I mean, I
was captain of my high school tennis team and quite a solid doubles
player, damn it), being a fan means never losing or at least never
having to accept defeat. This NBA season, however, things are a
little different.

Indeed, it gets a bit interesting when an entire sports
institution--in this case, the National Basketball Association--is
put to the test, like this year. No fan can really put the
nightmare of this summer's Scream Team totally behind him. That
loss was more than a loss; it meant that America's best players in
America's best sport failed (and I don't care if Shaq or KG didn't
go, we still should have won). So this year, we, the fans, must
demand the redemption of American basketball from the NBA. This
year we need to keep the loss of the gold in our minds at all times
and ask ourselves: 'Is this the game I once knew and loved, or has
it lost something?'

So this Tuesday, let's put the NBA to the test.

Oh, and by the way, the Lakers will rule again.