Chris GunnThis week I think I need to take a break from the outdoors and head inside to discuss what I consider to be one of the most disappointing things I have ever seen in the world of sports. I mean sure I have seen my share of missed calls by the NFL’s “top” referees and botched plays by players considered to be the best at their position, but I don’t think I have ever seen a team take a turn for the worst like the Indianapolis Colts.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Colts fan by any stretch of the imagination. But when you see a team with so much talent win their first 13 games and then lose three of their last four and subsequently, be ousted from the playoffs you cant help but feel extreme disappointment.
When teams or players begin to perform at a level that could put them at a point never surpassed or really seen, they begin to foster the hope of all sports fans. I mean sure you are going to have those people out there who do not want to see the records of those great players or teams broken, but there is a little piece in each of us that holds onto that little hope that they might see it happen in their lifetime.
I remember growing up thinking that no one would ever break the 62 home run mark, yet Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds accomplished the feat only a few years later and I remember all of those performances. To tell my children someday, that I remember where I was when McGuire hit 63…Ya those are the memories that make true sports fans.
Fans that have a passion for the game or at least an understanding of the game at its roots, its difficulty and a respect for those individuals that tempted to be great and eclipsed the edge of infamy in a burst of sparkling lights and media sensationalism.
I admit it I was holding onto the idea of the Colts meeting the 1972 Dolphins in the record books, and yes it was disappointing. I could not believe it when they lost to the Chargers and further I could not believe that they ended their season in a 18-21 loss to the Steelers.
I guess it is OK that they lost; it was really only the streak that I cared about, but for me when the Colts lost that game the NFL season was over. I am a 49er fan born and bread and my season would have been over long ago had the Colts not taken it so far, but I can’t help wondering what it would have been like to see it happen.
For sports fans the unattainable is always the goal, the pilot light to our aspirations, like landing on the moon something thought not attainable, but when grasped would have been glorious for everyone (except the team that yielded that final win).
Who is going to win the Super Bowl? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I will be waiting until next year to see if something magical will happen, and hoping that I will get to see it.
Chris Gunn is a journalism senior and assistant sports editor. You can e-mail him at cgunn@calpoly.edu.