Happiness and your team

I think I watched every Green Bay Packers game between 1994 and 2005...even if it meant not finding out the score and having the tape mailed to me. Then I finally realized, it wasn't making me happy anymore.

Professional sports is an interesting thing. It creates happiness, but just as much, if not more sadness. Since only 1 team wins ultimately, the vast majority of fans end up unhappy, even heartbroken at the end.

That's how I started to feel. Heartbroken. After yet another emotional rollercoaster of a season, I'd decided I'd had enough. It didn't make me happy walking home from the bar, saddened that they had let it slip away once again. Not only was I in a bad mood, but I often spent most of a beautiful sunday afternoon inside a dark room with greasy food.

Then I cut myself off completely. And it all seems a little crazy, that the hopes and moods of hundreds of thousands of people can be decided by a missed extra point. So much of it is hinged on randomness and circumstance. Is the team really any less good because an errant pass bounced off someone's helmet and was returned for a freak touchdown?

I have to say, I do miss the occasional, fleeting highs. But I'm so much happier without the lows. Although, I do have less to talk about with sports fans.