It has occurred to me while reading the real-time reactions of fans on Twitter that the experience of watching your favorite team play a game is no fun at all. Even in games that ultimately turn out for the best, the volume of doom tweets along the way is so high that I wonder why we consider this activity a worthwhile use of our time, money and mental health.
John McCain complained less during his 5½ years as a prisoner of war than the average Kansas City Chiefs fan does during a three-hour playoff loss.
Once in a while, though, this voluntary emotional roller-coaster ride all makes sense. Once in a while, a game is so enthralling and an athlete is so entertaining, just watching is an aerobic activity. If you’re lucky, you watch alongside your parent or child, because there is just something about sharing a magical game with a person with whom you have suffered through — or soon will — a cringing discussion about puberty. If a parent or offspring isn’t handy, the urge is almost overwhelming to call or text and confirm that they saw and felt the same thing as you, the feeling that for once your long-suffering tribe is coming out on top. The last thing you want to do is go to sleep and have that feeling wear off.
As you’ve probably guessed, Monday was that kind of night, when Patrick Mahomes did all the things to the Broncos in the fourth quarter that John Elway used to do to the Chiefs and others. Granted, it was Week 4 of the regular season, and it is completely foreseeable that I will stoically drag a barren Christmas tree to the curb, leaving a trail of pine needles on the frozen ground, after witnessing a 48-45 first-round playoff loss to the Bengals or some such. But, damn it, that is January Joe’s problem. October Joe is riding high.
I am trying to remember recent Mizzou equivalents to that Monday night experience. The out-of-the-blue road win over seventh-ranked Georgia that paved the way to the 2013 SEC East title? Marcus Denmon shooting down Kansas in the Jayhawks’ last basketball visit in 2012? Lorenzo Williams using Todd Reesing’s head as a Garden Weasel in the end zone at Arrowhead in 2007?
