Post Football Depression

There's something about football that affects most men (and women) like no other sport around. Sure, all sports have there legions of fans who will swear that the activity they come to see is better than anything else around. They will argue about it's passion, dedication, sacrifice, or technicallity that sets it apart from anything else around. And each sport has it's own unigue sense of accomplishment, but nothing really gets to the collective spirit of the sports fan like football.
Evderyone has a "team" they claim to be theie own. Everyone knows someone on a team that even the most passive of fans will follow throughout the season. And nothing is more exhilerating than a rival football team coming to town for the annual game that will give bragging rights to the victors for the next year. Entire towns and states rally around the "gridders" as they take the field to show their supremacy over the opponent. Sure, other sports have the same rivalries built into them, but nothing brings the excitement to a contest quite like football.
Every year there are people like me who swear not to get caught up in all the hype, only to get even more upset when your favorite team's season is over while the hated rival gets to play on for the championship. The worst part of it all is facing the fans of the other team who like to get in your face and remind you of your teams lack of poise, talent, determination, or whatever they can find to humiliate for the rest of the year.
You find yourself scrambling for excuses like,"Our quarterback was hurt","Our coaches stink","It was windy and the ball just flew into the other guy's arms". Anything to ease the pain. But you know deep down that you get to put up with your buddies attacks for the next year, and you pray your team beats his team badly so you can shut him (or her) up!!
It may not be the most important thing in the world. It may not be a matter of life or death. It won't even amount to hill of beans when everything is said and done. But it is what it is--Football. And everyone seems to have a stake in it in some way-shape-or form. I write this lament because my team-The Denver Broncos-found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They came from ahead to choke. They gave the rest of their season away to a sub-mediocre football team in the Niners to lose a spot in the playoffs. Rival Kansas City Chefs (yes-I said "Chefs") fans were quick to thank me for my team's demise because that loss put them in the playoffs. I quickly retorted, "Our coaches stunk","Our quarterback is young and inexperienced","At least it wasn't the Raiders who got in the playoffs". That probably would have sent me flying into a phone poll at extreme speeds. If there is anything lower than the Raiders (maybe Satan--maybe), I don't know what it could be.
I Love Football!!!!