What can I say? I'm 23 and none of my pro sports teams (Bills, Sabres, Indians, Jazz) have ever won a world championship ... you could say that I like to suffer. Yet I guess that's what drives me: all the losing years, missteps by management or the oh-so-close encounters with destiny that ended in heartache have emboldened my resolve to support my boys through it all.

What have I *endured?
- Super Bowl losses XXV-XXVIII
- World Series 1997
- NBA Finals 1997-1998
- 'No goal' 1999
- 'Music City Miracle' 2000
- 'Phantom goal' 2000
- Adelphia scandal that bankrupt the Sabres, nearly losing them to Paul Allen
- ALCS meltdown 2007
- Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson deciding to strip 25% of future home games from Buffalo, handing them to Toronto 2008

Till death do us part, I am stuck with my sports teams -- no matter where I live, what I say or do. My heritage has essentially dictated this fate, yet my affinity for the guys I root for day in and day out, yearlong and lifelong grows each and every time we encounter hardship.

Some people might say that Buffalo teams are cursed, and to some extent the same could be argued for my Indians and Jazz. I prefer to believe that God is just setting us up for glory. How much more rewarding will it feel when we finally win the big one? Fans of teams like the Yankees, Patriots, Lakers, and Canadian hockey teams can say what they want, but they will never know what it will feel like to be a diehard that has endured without the benefits of national glory, rather the bond that ties one to his/her team. That's what I hang onto and what keeps me ticking ... for that glorious day where history will be rewritten and the burden of defeat will be lifted.

-->I have no doubt that each one of my teams will at some point become champions before the sun sets on me.

Oh, and even if my team is out of the division/playoff/championship race, I always root for the underdog ... I relish David versus Goliath matchups.

* A primer, short version of my sports teams history of drama and pain