In high school, I did not really care about my school's sports teams. I did not go to many football or basketball games. I did watch ACC basketball and mostly NFL football on TV.
When I was accepted at Wake Forest for college, someone said, "Oh, they're gonna make a Demon Deacon out of you." Hmm. Well, based on my school spirit in high school, that seemed unlikely.
But the suite of guys I lived with changed all of that. They were into all the major sports big time. And I joined in the excitement with enthusiasm. In fact we all went to the very last Big Four Tournament in 1980. It was one of the most thrilling sports events I have ever experienced. It certainly helped that our Demon Deacons came away the champions!
I don't think I missed one conference basketball game my whole time in college. I don't think I missed any football games. I was a big fan.
But I did notice during college that my weekend could be ruined by a bad football game. We should have won. It was that close. That was a bad call. If only we hadn't fumbled. It was a moral victory.
Even then, I saw that it is beyond silly to let a game put me in a bad mood. And I have been pondering my emotional connection with sports ever since. I'm still learning how to handle my emotions in connection with sport.
