Losses still stink

[L]OSS IS NEVER fun.

I almost wrote this post about death, but it’s the weekend so I changed my mind.

I’ve heard losses are sometimes stay in coaches and athletes’ minds longer than wins.

I can attest it’s sometimes the same way for fans.

Most people in the South are serious about football.

A lot of people in Alabama might as well be born into a fan base, and I am no exception.

The first college football season of the new millennium featured eight losses for Alabama, including a 40-38 defeat against the University of Central Florida.

Yes, UCF.

It was painful.

The Crimson Tide won the national championship nine years later.

I was excited, giddy even, because I’d not yet become a sportswriter.

Sportswriters watch games differently than others, because it’s their job and there’s a cardinal rule not to cheer in the press box, but when Alabama won the 2009 title I still took games too seriously.

I was euphoric.

Part of the euphoria stemmed from the fact I was 6 when the Tide won the 1992 championship against Miami, and part of it was because I remembered some hard losses so well.

The narrow one against UCF.

The 9-0 Iron Bowl in 2000, when I won an Auburn trash can at a party.

Every time I got sick from then until a few years ago, I threw up in the Auburn trash can.

I was in the stands in 2007, when Alabama lost to Louisiana Monroe.

I was in the stands in 2005, when LSU’s Dwayne Bowe caught a pass to beat Alabama in overtime.

I forgave Bowe for the catch a few years ago, the same year I had to throw away the Auburn trash can.

I’m a little more even-keeled about wins and losses these days, which is one of the lasting benefits of a few years in the press box.

There was a time when a loss just about ruined a whole week.

I’m proud to say my week is no longer so affected by the outcome of a weekend game, but losses still stink.

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This post is a response to Sue’s “loss” prompt.