Ahhh Finally...

Taking Pleasure in Other People's Pain Ok if You're a Sports Fan

As I sit in Syracuse watching West Virginia methodically dismantle the Washington Huskies, I cannot help, but feel good. As you can tell from my other posts, the majority of the last year has not been a good one for a New England fan living in Connecticut, but finally, at least for a night, things are good.

I watched the number five-seed Butler Bulldogs take down the number one-seed Syracuse Orange and it made me HAPPY. As a grad student in Syracuse who happens to love the Uconn Huskies, this season has been an absolute nightmare: Wes Johnson coming out of nowhere to become one of the best players in the country, the smug and ultra-annoying Andy Rautins seemingly hitting every three he takes and overall the entire team overperforming thanks to great chemistry (and some beneficial officiating).

But tonight, it was good. Butler took them down thanks to some lucky bounces and the abscence of Arinze Onuako. I remember having a conversation with another Syracuse student in the Broadcast Journalism department and I posited to her, "who is more important to Syracuse, Arinze Onuako or Andy Rautins?" The student said Rautins without a second thought, citing his leadership more than anything else. I mentioned that everything runs through AO and without him no one, including Rautins, can get their shots.

So tonight, I had two things that made me happy: the knowledge that I was right, which is always, always a great ego rub, and most importantly, the rest of the Syracuse campus and join me in the misery that is watching the NCAA tournament knowing your team is out and there is nothing to do until next year (or until the NBA and NHL playoffs... unless you are from Connecticut and still miss the Whalers).

Is this feeling better because of other people's misery wrong? Absolutely not. Why be a true fan if not for the highs of winning, the lows of losing, and the happiness that comes from other's misery. Some people throw out sayings not knowing what they actually mean, but you know what they say, "misery loves company." And tonight in Syracuse, I have a great deal of company.