Be happy it happened
Over the last few months, Kansas City sports fans have been in an unusual position: watching their sports teams lose in the playoffs in routine ways. In October, the Royals lost to the Yankees in the ALDS, the team’s first ALDS loss since 1981. And on Sunday, the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl to the Eagles in a game that was flatly noncompetitive.
Naturally, Kansas City sports fans were unhappy with both results, in no small part because we aren’t used to those results. The reasons for not being used to those results couldn’t be farther from each other, amusingly—Royals fans simply weren’t used to being in the playoffs at all due to a 30-year playoff drought and then saw back-to-back World Series appearances. Meanwhile, the Chiefs have simply dominated every year of Patrick Mahomes’ career, winning three Super Bowls and appearing in at least the AFC Title game for seven consecutive seasons.
It’s a weird feeling to lose the last game of the season in a winner-take-all contest. But you know what? It’s a feeling that is normal. There can only be one team that wins the championship, regardless what sport you’re talking about. Every other team goes home feeling like the season could have, should have, continued.
This is why I think the “championship or bust” mentality is a toxic one, for sports fans and for players alike. Again: every team but one comes up short in the championship department, and this happens every single year. Plenty of athletes, coaches, and front office staff never see a championship ring. Does that invalidate their work? No. It does not.
Likewise, for fandoms to demand a championship or decry their club to be a failure is, in my opinion, a waste of resources and energy. To be clear: watching your favorite team win a championship is a fantastic experience, and I’ve been blessed to see the Royals and Chiefs do so. But weeks later, guess what? The parade is over. You still have to go to school, or work, or go through whatever tough thing in life you may be dealing with. The season resets, and every other team is striving to do what your team just did.
As I’ve said before many times, sports are entertainment. Watching a good team is more entertaining than watching a bad team, so obviously you want your team to win in that regard. But the real joy of sports doesn’t come from watching your team win. It comes from forging bonds with family and friends. It comes from seeing the impossible happen. It comes from seeing bursts of athletic brilliance, from stepping onto the concourse and smelling the hot dogs, from the sound of the bat or of the marching band or the buzzer.
You can’t expect any team, even good ones, to win the championship every year. It’s a losing battle. But you can derive enjoyment from the journey.