This is a tough thing for me to admit, but I am not the Boston Red Sox. Even though I grew up in the greatest sports city in America and avidly followed the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics for most of my life, the truth is I have nothing to do with these teams. The turning point for me was when I realized I was letting the outcome of games determine how good or bad I felt. I had let myself become a victim.
In 2008 I watched the New England Patriots lose in a huge upset to the New York Giants in Superbowl XLII and it ruined the rest of my night. That would have been ok but I was on the third day of a cruise with a girl who was not a Patriots fan (but rooted for them with me). Looking back on that experience I realized I chose to sulk for an entire night on a cruise ship because a sports team that I had nothing to do with lost a game. Something had to change.
Fast forward to January 2011. I was in Catalina Island during the first playoff game of the season versus the Jets. I knew this was an important game, not just because it was a playoff game but also because the Jets are the last team any Patriots fan wants to lose to. At halftime the game wasn’t going well, and I made a decision. I turned to the girl I was with and stated, “whatever the outcome of this game, I will not let it affect me”. It was that moment I declared my freedom.
It turned out the Patriots lost the game and I spent the rest of the day enjoying a beautiful island with a girl I loved. I see so many men making the same mistake I made by letting a sports team dictate their degree of happiness. We do this because we are missing out on real action and excitement in our own life. If this is you, know you have a choice. You don’t have to wait for the Chicago Cubs to win a world series to die happy, you don’t have to be depressed if your team looses a big game, and you don’t have to let the outcome of a sports team dictate how you feel about yourself.
I should start charging you to be your muse… who else was on Catalina, ps?