Bad News Browns, Cavs, Indians, Buckeyes, and Patriots

Why do we care so much when we lose? Scratch that...why do we care so much when our favorite team loses?

Is it really that horrible that our team just lost a sporting event, or is it the magnitude of the situation? I think it is a little of both.

As a lifelong fan of Cleveland teams, I should be used to the constant losing, but somehow I am not.

I have dealt with a Browns team that never seems to win. I have dealt with the blow of having three shots at making the World Series with the Indians, only to be disappointed each time. As a Cavs fan, I watched with joy as the team made it to the NBA finals last year, only to see that team not win another game. As a Buckeyes fan, I have watched my football team lose two straight BCS title games, not to mention the basketball team losing, as well. And as a GMU fan, I watched a campus go crazy when its basketball team made it to the Final Four, only to go home disappointed with a crushing defeat.

I have seen so much defeat that I am beginning to wonder why I care so much.

Because of all the losing, I have forgotten why I am a sports fan in the first place.

Why should I focus on all the horrible losses when I should be remembering the hard work put in by these men in order to be in their lofty positions?

The plain and simple fact is that Ohio State HAS gone to two straight BCS title games...that is an incredible feat in itself. The Indians were ONE GAME AWAY from the World Series. The Cavs made it to the NBA finals...only two teams a year can say that. The Browns came back from eight miserable years in Cleveland to being one game away from the playoffs. And my George Mason Patriots beat four amazing teams to make it to the Final Four...only losing to the eventual back-to-back champions. When I look back on these incredible seasons, it makes me feel better.

But, again, this is still not the reason we are sports fans. The reason we are sports fans is when we go to a baseball game for the first time...that feeling we have when we first see how big the stadium and field are, sprawling out before our eyes.

The noise the fans make during the game. The hum of the crowd when something big is going to happen. The crack of the bats, the sound of helmets clashing, the swish of a net: These are the things that keep us coming back for more. This is what makes being a sports fan so great.

This is why I feel bad for the fans in Boston. You may ask, "How can you feel bad, considering they have won two World Series, three Super Bowls, and are about to win the NBA Finals? (Sorry, Lakers fans.) The reason I feel bad is because they have forgotten that winning isn't everything.

The fans in Boston assume that their teams are going to win, and if they don't, they are devastated. Unless they win the championship, their season is a disappointment.

This is why being a Cleveland fan is so awesome. We haven't won anything since the '60s; we have no expectations. We get to watch the game knowing that, at the end of the day, we might not be the best team, but at least we got to go along for the ride.