Winning and Losing

It’s happening in Boston.

And New York City.

And as of Tuesday it’s now happening here in the Valley of the Sun.

Wailing, gnashing of teeth, and even some torn garments. All over the state of various professional sports in the given area, whether it is regarding a player or an entire team. Scott Bordow’s column gives a good argument for folks in the Grand Canyon State to be dysphoric.

How quickly we forget the pleasure. How long we hold onto the pain.

It still seems not so long ago that the Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees in game 7 of the 2001 World Series. One of the most dramatic and exciting endings of recent memory. One that gave the Valley its first top-tier world championship.

But the fans here seem to dwell on the woes of this past season regarding the ‘Backs. Me, how about a “Don’t fret, they’ll get better. Their day will come again.” Too optimistic? Perhaps, but it’s still better than the aforementioned emotional pain. I can always recall the World Series victory.

I used to live in Houston and I still root for the Astros. But they have never won a pennant. Never been to the “big one.” As any long-term Houston resident can attest, professional sports suffering just comes with the territory. (At least the Rockets won back to back titles in the 90's, before Air Jordan came out of retirement the first time.)

Winning is nice. Winning feels good. But sometimes it’s just fun to go to the game.

I plan to attend several D-Back’s games in 2006. Regardless of where they are in the standings. While I’m at the ballpark, I can look at the 2001 World Series title sign as long as I want.

No losing record will ever take that away.