Cheering for sports teams

Note - I posted this on May 11 and I saw it on my blog. Then, something happened at Blogger and this post was removed and placed in the Drafts list. Also, the picture I posted was removed. My guess is that posts made during a certain time period were lost and all that remains are earlier drafts of those posts. I'm re-posting this now and have re-loaded the picture. Here's my post - it may be updated later:

It's fun to cheer for a sports team. I've always liked baseball and rooted for the Pittsburgh Pirates because I grew up near that city. Now I live in New England and I root for the Red Sox (although I still keep my eye on the Pirates). I cheered for my high school team in all sports, of course, and when I went to college, I cheered for all of the teams there, too. I even tried out for the track team but never made it into competition.

But cheering for professional teams has always fascinated me. The only reason most us root for a team is because it's in a city near us or in a city where we used to live. I lived for a few years in Northern Virginia where everyone is a rabid Redskins fan. Locals would get quite mad at me if I didn't watch their games and cheer them on. I guess I would have if I'd lived there longer. I just was never crazy about football. I can't warm up to the New England Patriots either.

Not matter who you root for, though, there are going to be good times and bad times. Right now, the Red Sox are having a tough season and the Celtics basketball team is facing elimination for the playoffs. It can be trying to have your feelings jerked around by circumstances you have no control over. Maybe it's time to start rooting for a team that never loses or disappoints. Maybe it's time I dropped all these other teams and adopt the Harlem Globetrotters as my team. They rarely lose (and those few times are just a mistake). There is no championship to lose. They always seem so happy. Everyone enjoys their games - except for the Washington Generals! They always lose to the 'Trotters. Yeah, that's the way to go. Root, root, root for the Harlem Globetrotters and never be disappointed again.

Then I think back to 1960 when the Pirates beat the heavily favored Yankees in the World Series. Then the 1971 and 1979 Series where the Pirates came from two games down to win the championship. And then, of course, there was the 2004 World Series when the Red Sox won for the first time in 86 years. And even better, the American League Championship Series where they came back from being down three games to none to win four straight games from the Yankees. It doesn't get any better than that.

So, I guess I'll stay with cheering for my usual professional teams. The Red Sox will turn it around and the Celtics will pull off a miracle and win their series to move on. The lows are bad but the highs are so much sweeter.

[Update - Well, the Celtics didn't turn it around and are out of the playoffs. And the Red Sox continue to struggle.  But that's just going to make the wins later that much better. I know the Red Sox can finally reach .500 - by the end of the season]