It always rolls.

The Packers won the Super Bowl for the second time in my life on Sunday.  That's the highest accomplishment for my favorite team in the NFL and it makes me happy, but I don't know if it makes me happy enough.  It's definitely better than the alternative, but I feel like I should be happier.

Honestly, though I root for the Packers and always will, I might have been happier if the Browns had won it, for Cleveland's sake.  Some things are bigger than football, and though sports aren't everything, a break-through for a team from Cleveland would mean a lot more to me no matter what team it was than even the Packers winning.

That probably means I'm taking my first steps toward "fan conversion" but I don't believe that.  I can't imagine not being a Packers fan...but I honestly feel a little bit guilty for it, as I probably identify with the Cavaliers as my favorite team in all of sports more than any other right now.

The day after the Packers won the Super Bowl, the Cavs set the record for most losses in a row outright...they had set the record for most losses in a row within a single season on Saturday.

Though they have nothing to do with each other, I've definitely allowed the Cavs horrible year to poison the Packers' accomplishment.  Honestly, I was more excited when the Packers beat the Eagles in the first week of the playoffs than I was at any other point.  I honestly felt entitled to that Super Bowl victory because I didn't believe any team in the league was actually better than the Packers...being a Cavaliers fan, that kind of made me a Miami Heat fan translated onto an NFL skin.  That's ridiculous...but it's sub-conscious.

I honestly believe losing hurts worse than winning feels good, which makes sports a sucker bet, as only one team can be champions at the end of the year in any given sport....the feeling of not-losing and not-winning, which can only come from not-caring is the "safest" way.

It's probably too late to stop caring now, and I'm moving to Cleveland next year so not caring about sports isn't really an option.  I'll deal with it...

I think a bit of it might have to do with community too though...I'm not a part of the larger Packer-fan community...I'm not from wisconsin and I don't know many other Packers' fans around anywhere I spend time, much less am I friends with any of them.    There's something special that happens when Ohio State wins and a big part of that is the fact that almost everyone I know loves the Buckeyes and I can enjoy it with them.

Indeed, I think that means I'm wrong...the glory of winning probably does outweigh the hurt of losing.  Last June I watched the U.S.'s last second win in a world cup game in a room full of people who cared.  I don't really care about soccer, but I couldn't help get caught up in the moment and cheer on our guys...heck, I don't even like the U.S. as a country very much a lot of the time....but it didn't matter then.

It always rolls back around...community, others, people, friends, love...those are why we live...they make sports better, they make life better...they make living equal more than some vapid dollar sign in the end.

I am happy the Packers won.  I am hopeful that the Cavs might someday win again.  Indeed, I am hopeful that Ohio State could win the Basketball championship this year.  I'm in the midst of what could be the best year of my life...I'm getting married for one...and the Packers won the Super Bowl.

If anything, I just need to stop and realize that.

-Zack

"So I'm counting on your fingers, cause you've reattached the twitch"
-Bon Iver