Padres Editorial: San Diego Sports Fans are NOT Miserable!
ESPN just used a mathematical formula to determine San Diego, my hometown, is the most miserable sports city in the country. That’s all well and good but I guess my first reaction was: “who cares?”
I’m not sure about my fellow San Diegans, but I do not define myself by my level of misery. The Padres (to a lesser degree Chargers & Aztecs) do not define me as a person. I live in San Diego for obvious reasons and, in all honesty, sports teams are not anywhere near the top of the list.
I mean, let’s be honest here, do sports results really make anyone miserable? Maybe I should be more specific. After eating amazing Mexican food, going to the beach, golfing during the dead of winter, not needing a dehumidifier, sledding in the Lagunas and going to Phil’s BBQ: who has any energy left to be miserable?
I’ve traveled to other parts of the country. I understand why other people are miserable. We are not them.
I mean, I was upset for maybe a day or two when Matt Holliday failed to touch home plate to score the winning run in 2007. Nate Kaeding wore on my patience and I would have really liked to have beaten the University of Miami in 1990. But still, do we really want to be lumped in with those east coasters who just complain and gripe throughout their snow-covered existence?
After the Chargers lose on Sunday, I’m usually at a park with my son on Monday, helping him develop into the unstoppable striker he imagines himself to be. When the Padres lose? I stand up from my seat and walk to my car. I don’t burn things, stop my feet or grind my teeth.
Why do some sports fans want to be miserable? It’s not like this happens in other forms of entertainment. If you’re a fan of classical music, you’re not looking for the symphony to screw up so you can call in to a radio talk show and complain about how the conductor should be fired? I don’t see gardeners throwing bags of potting soil because their petunias aren’t growing correctly. You like going to restaurants? I doubt you’ve ever started a “fire the chef” hashtag.
I’d really like San Diego to maintain its laid back style and not fall into the trap of being miserable sports fans. Misery doesn’t make you cool. Complaining doesn’t really solve anything. Here’s my advice: do you like going to sporting events and watching them on TV? Great, do it. You don’t? Great, find something else to do with your time. See? Everyone’s happy.
Happiness is a choice, and so is misery. Personally, San Diego makes me choose happiness nearly every time and I take pride in the fact that the Padres/Chargers/Aztecs are literally incapable of depriving me of that attitude.
Baseball is the greatest athletic endeavor we have. It is a sport of poetry, beauty and nearly imeasurable levels of skill. The Padres are my team, my only true team. They are the expression of my love for this grand game.
