Agony of Defeat

2/7/2017

Agony of Defeat

I Was Thinking…

Why am I so depressed over a football game? I remember the theme for ABC’s ‘Wide World of Sports’ years ago… “The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat”. I’m in agony! I wanted the Atlanta Falcons to win the Super Bowl. Why was it so important that the Atlanta Falcons win? Let me propose a few reflections.

It was our turn to win! The Patriots have had their turn on several occasions. They are champion hogs! It was our turn!
The City of Atlanta (my birthplace) deserves another champion. After all, we’ve only had one professional sports champion …The Atlanta Braves in 1995. Boston has had more than their fair share. They now have had 37 Championships and we’ve had one! We deserve a champion.
We were more humble. There is a fine line between ‘confident’ and ‘cocky’. The New England Patriots border on ‘cocky’ (based on my unbiased eyes). God loves a humble spirit (it says so in the Bible). We were more humble!
Our team has a nicer coach. Their coach wears a hoodie for goodness sake. Our coach wears a nice polo. Our coach smiles more than their coach. Our coach is happier and their coach, well, is grumpy. Our team has a nicer coach!
And finally, the perception of the rest of the world is that Atlanta just isn’t a championship city. That’s hooey! You won’t find nicer people anywhere than in Atlanta and surrounding cities and in the entire state. So there! We are the champs of niceness. And while it has been said that “Nice guys/gals always finish last”, that is just not the case. It was time for the nice guys/gals to finish first. We are a Championship City (just you wait and see!)

I’m in agony and depressed…over a football game! In the scheme of things that is pretty ridiculous of me. Life is much more than a game where ticket prices were in the thousands of dollars per seat…where television advertisements cost millions of dollars (and they weren’t that great either)…where gamblers are the real winners…and the common person is left either in unsustainable euphoric high (Patriot fan) or in an non-consolable depressed low (Falcons’ fan).

So it is time for me to think of all this from a faith perspective. There are many more issues in life that are more important than me being a bit ‘deflated’ (pardon the pun) over a football game. People are hurting and lost and broken and needful of God’s grace…now that’s important stuff of which is worthy of my concern and focus.

Therefore, I will lick my wounds and cease my whining and say to myself “There’s always next year…Go Braves!” But deep down I still think it was ours to win! On with life I go…there are more important things to do. Life is much more than a game.

Always Thinking…

Terry