I have been a sports fan my entire life. Being the son of a long-time high school football and baseball coach, I have really never been away from sports. Whether it is supporting the Wyoming Cowboys, my alma mater, or the Seattle Mariners, there are few things I enjoy more than sitting down and watching a well-played event.
Yet, as I was listening to the Seattle Mariners lose to the Oakland Athletics Sunday (which ended in a 6-3 loss), I came to realize something very important about myself:
I only support losing teams.
In all fairness, I didn’t pick these teams as much as they picked me. I went to school at the University of Wyoming. Laramie was my home for four-and-a-half years. I went to every home football game (regardless of frigid weather) and listened to games on the radio when they were away. I am a “Poke” through and through, and I bleed Brown and Gold.
As for the Mariners, that goes further back. I have been a Seattle Mariners fan since I was born. Growing up, I would listen to Rick Rizzs and Dave Niehaus call the games over the radio. I learned how to hit left-handed at age five because I wanted to bat like Ken Griffey Jr.
Unfortunately, both of my teams kind of … well … let’s just say they are traditionally less than stellar.
This tends to result in me saying a few several choice words and throwing objects in the midst of games.
The funny thing is that it’s not like I am legally obligated to support these teams. If I wanted to root for other teams, I would be able to. I could go and be Nebraska football fan or a Yankee fan and always see my team win …
… but then again, if I was simultaneously a Cornhusker and a Yankee fan, I would have to be an arrogant, unliked person who constantly lives in successes of their past teams.
In a way, I have to cheer for my teams. And, no, it is not because “no one else would root for them” if I didn’t. It’s because those teams have become a part of who I am and who I have become.
When I cheer for the Mariners, I don’t support them because I think they will win the World Series this year. I support them because some of my earliest memories are through their games. I support them because I remember the excited look on my dad’s face after Edgar Martinez’s walk-off double to advance the Mariners into the first American-League Championship in franchise history. I cheer for them because I remember their 116 win season in 2001, and how devastated I was after Aaron Sele blew game six of the American-League Championship series (still bitter about that one). I root for the Mariners because there is nothing more relaxing than listening to Rick Rizzs call a Mariner’s game on the radio.
When I support the Pokes, I don’t support them because they put up a lowly 4-6 record football and go to a bowl game every three-to-five years. I support them because UW is my school. I support them because some of the most fun times in my life were in the stands at War Memorial Stadium singing the “Beer Song” with thousands of my peers. I root for them because University of Wyoming gave me an opportunity to succeed professionally and live a great life.
Yes, the Pokes will likely never be in the National Championship game nor are the Mariners likely to pull off a World Series win this year, but those are my teams. I will continue to support them until they day I die.
That reminds me, it’s almost time for me to listen to the Mariner’s lose …
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