Sports emotion

Detroit 27, Arizona 27. The Lions have earned (if that's the right word) their first tie since 1984. I was young then.

Michigan 24, Army 21. I actually had a bit of dual allegiance in that one. With my son being a veteran, it's hard not to root for Army despite my long held Michigan fandom.

But what do they both have in common? For me, the fact that I did not obsess over either game. I simply didn't watch them.

I have made no secret that the older I get the less sports mean to me, although I still pay attention (especially to baseball, and as a Tigers fan that's a challenge). Yet for all my complaints about the games themselves, criticisms which I still and emphatically stand by (time outs should only be called by officials for reasons based on rules and not because coaches want to talk, I don't care what anyone says) what's really gotten me away from athletics is the realization that they're not worth the emotional investment.

My day yesterday was spent better with my mother, getting lunch, shopping, and taking a leisurely Sunday drive. When I got home I did spend about a half hour switching between the Tigers and the Lions. Then I turned on something innocuous, Disney XD or the Weather Channel or something, and picked up my current book (Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates BTW), reading until I fell asleep. Then after I woke up this morning I eventually heard about the Lions tie and my emotional investment consisted of a shake of the head and a Same Old Lions. And that's it. Neither my Sunday nor my Monday was diminished by it. I've simply went on about my business since.

I freely admit that this attitude has little to do with the games themselves. But it's made me I think a better man, consciously not letting sports mean any more than they should. I know I'm happier having not made the emotional investment in what, after all, should only be diversions, should only be barely above trivial.