Lusting For a Winner

Every football fan feels anticipation coming into a new season. You have sat, listened and read what the 'so-called' draft experts have to say, then you listen to what every body else thinks your team will do on draft day.

What players your team needs, or trades they need to make in order to get more players. Players you have followed for years get cut to make room for new blood. You think the player can still help, but your team thinks otherwise; then everyone stands at aw to see your favorite player leave the team.

Then draft day comes, you sit waiting on your teams pick while everyone gossips about what a super player you just got. For two days, you get alerts on your cell phone at the end of every seventh round, you now know who the new players are. You are excited you have read every thing, and you can read to find out more about what your draft grade is, and this is before they have even taken a snap in the NFL.

Then the contract season starts, your player holds out wanting a few dollars more than the next guy, each agent brags about how big a contract he got his new player three or four weeks in the preseason. The player enters after the others, out of shape the most, but the team just spent millions on this guy, so now they have to get him caught up on every thing.

Then it's time, the waiting is over you can't hardly wait if you are lucky enough to go to the season opener. You get to feel the rush with thousands of others. The smell of the food cooking in the parking lot, the excitement, the buzz, the National Anthem is sung, the coin is flipped, and the new season has begun. 

A new dream, a new hope, and at the end of 60 minutes of game time you will walk out of the stadium either jubilant or bummed, depending on how well your team did. If your team looses, you think next week they will do better, next week comes, and they lose again, and again. Finally at mid-season they win, but by then fans already know it's over for the team. They are 0-8 or 1-7 maybe even 2-6, the laughing stock of the NFL, a cellar dweller no one talks about unless they are asking if you will go 0-16; but once again you will have a top five pick in the draft. For now, the dream is over and it is now a nightmare. Once again you wait for next year, and start all over again.