Sports
has a thing it calls “sudden death.” Some fans take this too far.
People
get silly crazy over ball and ballplayers and teams and games. I am just sick
enough to love that they do.
Some
of you are juiced about today’s Super Bowl and some of you would not spit on
the Super Bowl if it were on fire. But most everyone is like me in that they
love the harmless kind of crazy person who latches on to a team or player and, with
the performance of that team or player, lives and dies. I mean this literally,
most unfortunately.
Last
weekend I was alerted to an obit that ran in a Northeast newspaper about
Eleanor Gallagher of Nanticoke, Pa. She might still be with us had the
defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau,
not left the team -- or so her obit suggested:
“Eleanor was a
devoted Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and the family firmly believes that the recent
separation of Dick LeBeau and the Steelers’ poor performance this season might
have inadvertently contributed to her demise.”
In
early January in the NFL playoffs, LeBeau’s defense gave up 30 points in
Pittsburgh’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. At home.
LeBeau,
who was likely sad but not THAT sad, quit five days later. Eleanor, 81, quit
five days after that.
If
the Steelers had won and been playing in today’s Super Bowl, who knows how many
good seasons Eleanor might have had left.
I
read that brief story on LarryBrownSports.com. No idea who puts the blog
together or writes the stories. I don’t know what its purpose is, but I think
it is to publicize the off-the-beaten-path stuff in sports, not so much the
scores or schedules or yardage gained and whatnot. You know, it’s more about which
golfer faked a kidnapping this week when he really just drank too much wine and
passed out on a rock. What the Kardashians are up to or down to. Who deflated a
football or found a way to inflate a baseball. The PED of the Week. Or who
passed away because the Steelers couldn’t defend a short passing game.
That
sort of refreshing thing!
Such
a story sends the inquisitive down other trails that lead to The Fan Who Loved
Too Much. (To Eleanor’s family, when you say, “I’m sorry for your loss,” I
wonder if they know whether we’re talking about the loss of Eleanor or the loss
to the Ravens. Or the loss of LeBeau. Or if it even matters anymore.)
A
gentleman from the Midwest named Loren passed away in 2012 from complications
of a longtime disease “and heartbreaking
disappointment caused by the Kansas City Chiefs football team.” I looked it
up: The Chiefs were 1-8 at the time or Loren’s death and had absorbed a 16-13
setback at Pittsburgh two days before his passing.
Probably
it’s for the best that Loren wasn’t around this year; KC started out 7-3, won
five straight – then lost to winless Oakland, and lost four of their final five
games after that. Which means they have a lot in common, at this point, with
Loren.
What
appears to be our kind of gal passed away in midsummer of 2013. Marylou passed
on a Friday the 13th, the “perfect
day” for such a milestone since she was a big fan of Stephen King. “She was also a lifelong NY Mets fan,”
the obit read, “though surprisingly, that
wasn’t what killed her.” Marylou’s family/obit writers sound like a hoot.
A
deceased Minnesotan was remembered as “a
Twins fan, though angry at Joe Mauer.” An editor’s note here: Mauer is the
Twins’ catcher/first baseman, who hasn’t hit well of late but, well, no catcher/first
basemen are perfect, except the catcher/first basemen in heaven.)
Sometimes
just the thought of losing can send a guy to into the ultimate overtime. A
Colorado fan of Denver’s Broncos named Jim died during the late winter in 2012,
not long before Peyton Manning signed with the team. “…he abhorred Manning and evidently wanted out before the deal was
done,” his obit read. Just my opinion, but that’s an awfully hardline
stance. Concession prices might kill me, but not a roster move.
How
do you measure up to these fans? Six feet higher, I hope. And good luck today.
Hope your team wins or dies trying – but I hope you don’t.
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