They lost!

When your team loses you go through a range of emotions.  Whether they lose the championship game (*cough* ), or they lose the game that would have kept them in the playoff race (*cough* ), or they can't win a game to save their lives (*cough* ) the cycle remains the same.

The first phase is pure, uninhibited anger.

If they played a particularly frustrating game, or one of great significance, or a game against a rival, this anger is often accompanied by:

Once the anger has subsided you're ready to move into the next phase.

Reasoning

You begin to make excuses for your team.  You say, "Well, if our star player hadn't gotten that paper cut before the game he would have scored more points."  Or, "If the refs hadn't been so biased, we easily could have won."

After reasoning, you realize it doesn't matter what could have happened because your team still lost.  You then move into the third phase.

Depression

The reality of the loss hits, and the sadness sinks in.  

 

You wallow, you moan, you drive your co-workers crazy, then one day you wake up and realize there's still the next season or the next game, and you're ready to move into phase four.

Acceptance

That moment, just before game time, when you realize you love your team.  Win or lose, you're their fan and you will be there to cheer for them.  Every game.

Movie Time

These are my top ten favorite sports movies of all time.  As these movies are equally good, and are about different sports, they're listed in no particular order.  Hope you enjoy!

1.  Field of Dreams

This one is a no-brainer.  It's an American classic based on an American pastime, but if you've been living under a rock since 1989 when the movie was released, I'll give a brief synopsis.  Kevin Costner plays an Iowa farmer who plows down his corn field to build a baseball field after a mysterious voice starts giving commands.

2.  Coach Carter

Based on a true story, Coach Carter tells the story of a high school basketball coach who finds his players need more coaching off the court than on it.  After failing to adhere to the agreements made in the contracts the players signed, Coach Carter takes drastic measures to ensure his team become winners in life, not just basketball.

3.  Hard Ball

A man with a severe gambling addiction who is also in deep with a bookie is suckered into coaching an inner-city little league team.  As the season progresses he finds he is learning more from his the boys on his team than he could ever teach them.

4.  Remember the Titans

Set in Virginia in 1971, this movie follows the true story of a high school football team and their impressive first season as an integrated unit.  

5.  Cool Runnings

Track-stars-turned-bobsledders from Jamaica stun the world as they try to make it into the 1988 winter Olympics in Calgary.

6.  The Blind Side

A boy from a broken home and living on the streets is taken in by a caring woman and her family in this heartwarming, true account of NFL lineman Michael Oher.

7.  Win Win

A volunteer high school wrestling coach who's on the brink of losing everything finds a ray of hope after a star athlete stumbles into his life, albeit through less-than-upstanding circumstances.

8.  Warrior

When the youngest son of a former boxer returns home and begins to be trained by his father, he competes in a mixed martial arts tournament.  Everything is going well until he discovers his next opponent is his older brother.

9.  Rudy

Daniel E. "Rudy" Ruettiger's life-long dream was to play football for Notre Dame, but his size always held him back.  Luckily his passion outweighs his size in this epic drama based on true events.

10.  Cinderella Man

During the Great Depression, boxing star James Braddock pulled an amazing comeback to become a champion and an inspiration in this moving, true story.

  P.S.  I know there are other movies that could have easily made it onto the list, but I either haven't seen them, or somehow slipped my brain.  For now, this is the list. :)