Last Place Wisdom: Week Six - The question that's been bothering me

So late last week I was doing some thinking, and I ended up asking myself the question "Why are we sports fans?" It might seem like such a weird question that the better question might be "why aren't we sports fans?" (touche), but hear me out. I've been a fan of various teams basically for as long as I can remember, with my Dad watching Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights and explaining that we cheer for the Maple Leafs. There was really never any going back after that point. Despite my love for sports, "my team" hasn't won a championship since the Blue Jays in 1993 (I'm not counting Team Canada in various hockey tournaments. Yes, it's my team, but a short best on best tournament is not the same as a year long league). The fact of the matter is, when we cheer for a sports team, we end up being disappointed 90+% of the time. Teams can have good years that are fun to watch, but if they don't end up winning it all the ultimate takeaway you get from being a fan is one of heartbreak and disappointment. To voluntarily put ourselves through that each year seems a little bit crazy.

So as I said, these thoughts were coming to me late last week. The Blue Jays had just went down 0-2, and all the excitement and good feelings that this season had brought was so close to being turned into heartbreak. That's not to say that I had lost all hope, but if 22 years of waiting was leading to nothing but disappointment, and if we would be waiting for 22 more years in order to get another shot...what's the point? But then 2 games and 6.5 innings later Jose Bautista goes and does this, and the question "Why are we sports fans" seems like the stupidest question in the world.

Now the Blue Jays season might ultimately end up in disappointment, but you know what, I don't care. Nothing is going to take away from that Game, or this season as a whole. I'm still not sure I can answer the question why are we sports fans using words, but everyone who has ever experienced the thrill and the emotions that come along with being a fan know that it's tough to imagine things any other way.

Fantasy Football is really not all that different. Most of the time our season's ultimately end up in disappointment, but ultimately that doesn't matter. My Monday night nightmare is the perfect example of how this game can let you down, but at this point no amount of disappointment will be able to stop me from being a fan of this game.

Well That Surprised Me

• Going into mine and John's game on Monday I was not expecting to lose. Then Antonio Gates had a crazy first drive and it dawned on me that I might very well end up throwing the game away. Antonio Gates is a fantasy player that I hate, ever since I drafted him way too early in what ended up being one of the worst seasons he's had. It's the same year that I thought about drafting Jimmy Graham, only to say "I have Gates, I don't need another TE". He was drafted by John, who kept him till next year, and rode him to his Championship. Ever since then I've never liked Gates, and I probably never will.
• Speaking of players I hate; Jamaal Charles, ever since he tore up his knee in the first game of the year and put me into last place. For that reason, I was extremely happy to see him get injured again this year (just kidding, I'm not a monster)

 

 

This is a monster

• I feel sorry for Steve's team. Things were looking so good for him, and then he's lost his 2 best players to season long injuries. He's not out of the league by any means, but it's going to be tough. It just goes to show how real the disappointment ends up being.
• I really don't know what's going on with Jeremy Hill, and it's hurting Shayne big time. I was expecting him to have a monster year, and when Curtis drafted Gio Bernard so early I didn't like the move for him. Well, Gio has been the better RB so far and there's no sign that will change. 

That Wouldn't Surprise Me 

• If you would've asked me at the beginning of the year, I would've said that my team, Andrew's team and Stan's team would all be comfortably in the playoffs. I'm going to call it now, but it wouldn't surprise me if one of the 3 of us end up missing the playoffs. Our league has a heck of a lot of parity right now, and a bad stretch by any of us could leave us behind Mike, Aaron or Curtis.
• If Mike found the starting RB he was looking for in Charcandrick West, the potential fill-in for Charles. RB might be the one position where players might be able to go from nobodies to all stars, so we'll have to see. 
• If trading Brady might have cost John a championship this year. John might be all in on Mariota, but with Gates back John's roster is looking good everywhere but QB. 

Mr. Manager of the Week Award

Curtis has made some smart moves the last couple of weeks. Picking up Rawls, picking up Wheaton, drafting Gio Bernard. All in all, it's good to see both Curtis and Mike on 2 game winning streaks after having a couple of challenging years in a row. As the champions from years 1 and 2, there's some good history with both teams and I hope to see them competing strongly for a playoff spot come the end of the regular season.