Mr. Shife's March Madness 2016 - Day 6

Sports.
Why do I watch them?
The highest of highs ....

and the lowest of lows.

And for the most part it's the later.
I have my favorite teams.
Here they are:

Baseball - St. Lous Cardinals
NFL - Arizona Cardinals
NHL - St. Louis Blues
College Basketball - North Carolina Tar Heels
Major League Soccer - Real Salt Lake
NBA - Chicago Bulls
College Football - Idaho Vandals

Not a bad group of teams. A little weird on the surface, but let me break it down for you.
I was born in St. Lous, and that explains the love for St. Louis teams.
The Arizona Cardinals moved from STL and I stuck with them.
I fell in love with the Heels as a teenager as I became a big fan of Michael Jordan, and then when he got drafted by the Bulls that was just too awesome as my Dad grew up in Illinois and I acquired his taste for the Bulls.
I played soccer all my life and a buddy convinced to start watching MLS about 8 years ago and we are in close proximity to Salt Lake City. I went to a lot of games and it was a good fit especially because they have been one of the better teams since I started following MLS.
The Vandals because I went to school and graduated from the University of Idaho.

Now that you know why I root for the teams I do, I am left wondering why because in the grand scheme of things I am going to be ultimately disappointed.
The goal in each sport is to win the championship, and if you don't, then you are kind of left feeling a little morose when your team comes up short or just never even gets close.

In my lifetime, here's the math:

• STL Cardinals = World Series Champions x 3 
• Arizona Cardinals = Super Bowl Champions x 0
• St. Lous Blues = Stanley Cup Champions x 0
• North Carolina Tar Heels = NCAA Champions x 4
• Real Salt Lake = MLS Champions x 1 
• Chicago Bulls = NBA Champions x 6
• Idaho Vandals = Bowl Wins x 2 

Yes when your team wins, it's amazing, awesome and the highest of highs, but as you can see from my choice of favorite teams, I am more often going to experience the lowest of lows.

Again, the question is why do I do it? 

I was really pondering it this weekend because on Saturday the Tar Heels beat Duke at Duke, which is always great, but then on Sunday, Real Salt Lake conceded two goals in the matter of minutes in stoppage time to end up tying a game that they should have won. 

Will I be happier if I emotionally invest my time in something else? 

I don't know. 

And I remembered this blog post I wrote about 5 years ago, http://www.mrshife.com/2010/04/countdown-to-40-day-15.html, where I said:

I know I would be much happier if I wasn't so into my teams but deep down I know this is just the way it is going to be for me. Part of it is my personality, and part of it is keeping a connection with family, friends, and memories. For example, I love the St. Louis Cardinals, and when I look back I don't think about the games they lost but I remember fondly at the games I went to with my Grandad as a little boy or talking to my Mom on the phone after the Cardinals won the World Series in 2006 while I was dressed up in my Captain of the Fallopian Swim Team Halloween costume or taking my lovely wife to her first Cardinals game where she broke out in hives due to the heat and humidity or having my heart fill with joy as I sat with my little man watching our first game together. So yes I know I need to take my obsession down a notch but in the end it is worth it because it takes me back to times I will never forget and always cherish.

And that's why I do it.

Thanks for stopping by. Talk to you tomorrow.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.