Great post Gaff.

Gaffer Tape said:

So from there, it's pretty cool to hear families passing down traditions and having fun and being emotionally invested in something.

At the same time, I'd hate to pick apart the wording (for fear of getting into semantics), but Warb described things so interestingly, I have to ask about them. "When they win... you win. When they lose... you lose." Why? Okay, I kinda get this. Like if we were to get an awesome OT release, we'd feel like we won. When Lucasfilm pisses on our side of the fandom, it feels like we lose. I do kinda get that. But how do sports teams represent me like a government entity represents me? Where exactly does that come from?

I blame my father. He passed his love of Chicago sports on to me because that's where we were from. I think some of it stems from accessibility, at least it used to. I'm old enough that when I was growing up we had no internet or satellite TV, so most of the games that we watched, most of what I read in the paper, and most of what I listened to on radio was local team based. Now, you don't have to be so focused on where you live.

The great thing about the changes in accessibility is I can now easily follow my teams even though I moved away.

As far as college goes, I had season tickets to basketball and by going to all the games you start to feel even more connected to the team. When I talk with my old college buddies the conversation is usually dominiated by how the team is doing these days.

Having said all that, I understand that sports are just a diversion and not ultimately important in the grand scheme of things. I don't get too depressed when my teams lose. Although I might cry tears of joy if the Cubs ever win a world series again...