Victory in Defeat

I have a good friend in Minnesota who is a big sports fan and loves the Minnesota Vikings, but as a Vikings fan it hasn’t always been easy. A few years ago, the Vikings had the best record in the NFC and were highly favored over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. The winner would have to go on to face the Denver Broncos the previous year’s Super Bowl champs. My friend told me that he secretly wanted the Falcons to beat the Vikings, because he figured the Vikings were going to break his heart again if they made the Super Bowl, and he didn’t want them to become the first team in the NFL to lose 5 Super Bowls. Now, that my friends is true pessimism and cynicism. When he told me this, I laughed. How could any true fan secretly hope that their team loses the big game? Well…now I might understand.

My beloved Buckeyes have played in the past two National Title games and has lost them both. The media has been brutal on the Buckeyes. I’ve heard them referred to as the Buffalo Bills of college football, despite the fact that they won the National Title game back in 2002. Over the past 2 years they only lost 3 games, they just happen to be really big games. Anyway, Saturday, the Buckeyes lost a close game to Penn State, assuring that they have no chance of playing in this year’s title game. I cheered for them throughout the whole game, but at the end, I had to breathe a sigh of relief and say, ‘at least we won’t lose three straight national titles.’ So, Tom, if you’re out there, I feel your pain, buddy.