It’s week 2 of college football season and as I write this, kickoff for Georgia’s game with Central Michigan is less than two hours away and I am greatly looking forward to watching it. The Bulldogs are favored to win, but it’s not expected to be a cakewalk. And if they should lose? Well, a lot of people are going to be very disappointed. In fact, it would ruin the day, even the entire coming week, for some people. The same is true for rabid fans of any team from coast to coast.
I’m finding that as the years have passed, I’ve become much more attuned to the fact that “it’s only a game.” Not so 13 years ago when I walked out of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium on a frigid November night following a narrow loss to Auburn. The Dawgs had not enjoyed a significant home win against a ranked opponent in several years, so after missing out on a goal-line chance to score the go-ahead touchdown late in the game, this loss hurt. For me, it really hurt after I kicked a concrete wall while slinking away down the exit ramp in an extremely foul mood. I’m fortunate not to have broken a toe, although I would have completely deserved it.
I look back on myself then and think, "What a knucklehead!" But I don’t mean to demean anyone whose fanaticism over college football exceeds mine. It’s just a fact that some people base much of their identity on their favorite team, and if that team loses, their mood, and even their self-esteem, drops. Of course, this is true not only for football, but in other sports as well. The spirit of competition, the loyalty to their teams, the energized atmosphere of a live contest – all inspire people to heightened levels of emotion, and it’s fun to be part of that. But in the big scheme of things, there are much more important issues in life, while football remains, truly, only a game.
1 comment:
Well...I can at least tell my daughter that my team fared better against UGA than hers did!
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