As the last piece of confetti hit the field at the feet of the New Orleans Saints, I thought about the joy of winning. As I watched Colts quarterback Peyton Manning walk off the field without shaking anyone’s hand I thought about the agony of losing, and more specifically the agony of watching a losing team week in and week out. This past football season made me think of an interesting sports question: Which is worse…being a Buccaneers fan and knowing that your team is going to be terrible, or being a Steelers fan thinking your team will be great and then they miss the playoffs entirely? I do not know the answer and I think I never will.
Winning heals all wounds, supposedly. The Rays proved to their legion of fans that winning tastes so much sweeter after circling the toilet bowl for ten years. However, the Rays did not go on to win the World Series, so unlike the Buccaneers and TB Lightning there was no downtown championship parade.
The term “bandwagon” is thrown around quite a bit lately and I don’t blame those who bandwagon. I remember going to Lightning games in the 1990’s and you couldn’t pay a Tampa resident to go to a Bolts game. But as soon as Lord Stanley’s Cup came to town Tampa had hockey fever.
Winning is a funny aspect of sports because the joy of winning never seems to outweigh the pain of losing. Unless of course you are a Yankees fan; I feel it is easy to like a team that always seems to win. Teams should savor the championships when they happen because losing is always creeping in the shadows.
The joy of winning
Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Updated: Thursday, February 18, 2010 22:02
Be the first to comment on this article!