Off Day Essay: My September Resolution Is To Simmer Down

First, you end up yelling in apoplectic rage at Ullger.

Then the next time, you find yourself calling Ullger an “even-tempered, model-railroading, freckly faced f*ck!”

And the time Ullger screws up after that, you scream and howl and throw your baseball cap on the ground… only to find that you were wearing… a WHITE SOX CAP!!!

Look where this path will lead you! Horror beyond imagining!

Because unlike most people, I’m unable to let sports stay out of my life. I know that it’s just a game and that win/lose, it doesn’t change anything. I just can’t get sports out of my blood during the day. All I think about is the Twins and Vikings. I love these teams and the outcome of their games affect my mood for days/weeks to come. I wish I could calm down about it all, but until the big game is won and the season’s are over, I’m bleeding Minnesota sports.

Idk, I’m sure I could be put away for being TOO crazy about my teams, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Please advise the rest of us how you got there. I, for one, will need some guidance.

I was actually kind of emotional reading this article (and the comments), because it captured and articulated my feelings as a fan, whether or not I acknowledge them at times. Not to sound sappy here, but I think we get so caught up in our team(s) that it’s easy to forget a lot of things, particularly that this IS a game, no matter how important it may be to us.

I also find myself perhaps too wrapped up in the Twins, although I consider my life better for it in many ways. It was exceedingly unhealthy in my first couple of years as a fan, when I was 11/12 years old and lived and died with literally every game. I’ve leveled that off since to a much, much healthier approach, knowing the general ups and downs of a season now like the back of my hand. The do-or-die games and the playoffs, I rationalize, are when you can really get worked up.

But that doesn’t erase the fact that I still get very, very invested in our guys. A lot. This season in particular has been a huge example of that, especially with the high expectations and improvements I’ve hoped for for years. The games of greater significance, such as the Yankees and Rays matchups, have had me on razor’s edge. When they lost, it absolutely killed me…I felt like we had missed an irretrievable opportunity. When we won, my whole WEEK was made. So the way you felt in just a fleeting moment in that recent Mariners game isn’t too ridiculous. Rather, it seems to be common for us diehards.

It was like this during last year’s pennant chase, and Jon really brought that feeling back here. The final week got to be too much. I remember walking up the stairs after school during the four-game stretch in Detroit, thinking…KNOWING…that I was going to pull up the internet window to see a picture of the Tigers celebrating a division title. But we won, and I felt like my soul was cleansed of some kind of demon.

And that’s just a quick dab of stress compared to the four-hour near-death experience of Game 163. I’ll never forget the length of that day. The ups and downs were endless. A billion thoughts both hopeful and depressing surged through my head at all times. Sometimes you’ll go through games that are intense, and have quite a few turns. Think game five of the 2002 ALDS, the previous standard for white-knuckle ball in the Gardenhire era. This one blew that all the way. We know the moments well so I won’t list them, but you know what I mean: They felt either like sweet victory was in sight, or the end of the world. And that just grew with each crazy, impossible turn. So when Alexi slapped that hit and sent Go-Go sliding across home, well, Jon, you said it best: It was release. And as happy as I was (I still consider it one of the greatest days of my life), I was physically and emotionally drained. After posting about it relentlessly on Facebook (complete with a finger-wagging assurance from a Yankees fan that we stood no chance of beating them in the playoffs), I went lights out immediately after crawling into bed. Hell, I was still so amazed, I didn’t care that we lost the next day in game one, and figured we wouldn’t win anyway. Then came game two on Friday, which was really interesting because Nick Blackburn pitched a great game, and then Joe Nathan, you see, kind of has a problem with the Yankees, and Phil Cuzzi, whose umpiring career….

Oh, right, let it go. Anyway, to bring it home…

Jon, I’m with you on cooling off for this September, a need multiplied when the last two years are considered. And those two playoff chases were slugged out day by day just for the division, with the inevitability of having to face a mighty opponent and very likely another first round exit. This year could be different in all those ways, starting with how this month unfurls. If our guys can stay cool and steadily walk away with the division, we can enjoy this month for once and hopefully gear up for a greater October. Here’s hoping!

And to get it off my chest…can we just win the World Series this year? Aside from the thousands of great things that would come with it, I think it would erase any “do I get too worked up over this?” talk and legitimize our diehard abandon. Old Twins Cap touches on that above. It’s epic for me: I see it in grandiose terms, that my life isn’t complete without that third WS trophy. I’ve gotta see them win it at least once.

WOOOOOO!!!!
GO TWINS!!!!!! GAME 163!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

fyi

The difference for me between baseball and football is huge. My year begins with the four sweetest words in the English language….. “Pitchers and catchers report”. Baseball is all consuming, every day for six months. I wake up here on the west coast, three hours after the east coast (and two hours later than my Minnesota homeland), to see what has already transpired before my first cup of coffee. I read the transaction section every day to see who did what, and how that may affect my beloved Twins. My year winds down with the last game of the season for the hometown 9. To be honest, the playoffs and World series are an afterthought.(Unless the Twins are there) 1987 and 1991 were magic, and I only hope to see that magic at least once more before heading into that good night. I feel no such compulsion with football, as it only affects me once a week. It doesn’t carry the weight of baseball’s 162 game, day in and day out marathon. My wife doesn’t understand, she only humors me. She smiles when I scream profanities at Scott Ulger, or go on and on about the Umpire’s mysterious strike zone. She didn’t grow up in a sports loving home, and she thinks that I take it too personally. In light of recent heart surgery, she really worries about me.

All I can say for sure is that I will probably simmer down shortly after I cease breathing… and I like it that way. I live my life with great passion, and I am best motivated by things that are somewhat traditional, and that exemplify staying the course, and showing up each and every day. Just one month removed from surgery, I am back at work full time (60 hours a week at a company that I own), and could not imagine doing i any other way. I am a bit of an old curmudgeon, practicing the next great phrase “You kids get off my lawn!”

All that being said…… GO TWINS!!!!! (I’m not getting any younger here)

Really well-written. I like that we can write stuff like this here…it’s like the community is your therapist!

For the boys to win it all this year.

All pontificating aside, this is the ONLY cure. I’m old enough to have witnessed the beauty of the 1987 and 1991 Series’ wins. The first win removed all pain/angst/obsession tendencies. The second win solidified my serenity.

My serenity is only now starting to crack up a bit. I thought last year was time for another big win. I could use another deep run into the playoffs to patch up my serenity a bit. A Series win would be lovely! You all deserve to get to relax a bit.

On the other hand, just think of the alternative: all this angst means we are alive — as are the Twinkies. Imagine being a Pirates fan these past 15 years! Lovely people there, but…the sad days don’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

Enjoyed the comments…keep it up…