The Heartbreak of Being a Boston Fan

[MikeF9]

When it was over, I shut the TV off. I simply could not watch the Chicago Blackhawks celebrate and receive the Stanley Cup in the Bruins home.

Once again there was no joy in Beantown.
Being a Boston fan is hard. losing is a normal thing.
When things are going good, you hate to get your hopes up for fear the other shoe will drop and you're left with your head in your hands and the opposing team celebrating.
So when you team finally does win, you sit there dumbfounded that it actually happened instead of celebrating. That's the way I was when BOTH times the Red Sox won the World Series.
Even when the Celtic beat the Lakers a few years ago, I was surprised because things had not been great on the parquet floor for a long time.

The sad part is, I have never seen the Bruins win the Stanley Cup. Let me explain.
I started following the Bruins in 1973, the year after winning the Cup. They lost to the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. In '74, we had a TV from a neighbor that got Channel 22, which back then, used to carry Bruins games from TV38. That year they lost to the Flyers. I never had access to CBC in the late 70's when the Bruins lost to the Canadians.
I didn't have access to the games in the early 90's when the Bruins would lose to Wayne Gretzky and Edmonton Oilers.
Two years ago, all the Cup games were on weeknights, and I was working. My sister, Margie, watched the final game and texted me "Congratulations!" when it was over.
I was able to watch all the games this year, and they lost.

Losing can physically hurt. 1978 Red Sox and Bucky Friggin' Dent. Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. When the Celtic lost to the Lakers two years after winning, that hurt. The Celtics were leading late and then they couldn't make a basket. I refused to watch Mike & Mike in the Morning the next day, because all they were going to talk about was Kobe Bryant's legacy.
Even locally, a loss can hurt. There was the one year a few years back, I helped Gary Stewart outside for the fall season. The girls soccer team was doing great and were home for the semi-finals against Peoples Academy. Worked all day getting the field ready, worked late parking cars, and before we were done parking cars, Peoples had a 2-0 lead, and the girls lost. I didn't even want to read the sports section of the Burlington Free Press the next morning because I didn't want to see the write-up of the game.

Not normally a Patriots fan, but wanted to see them beat the Giants earlier this year in the Super Bowl.
They lost.

The one time I nearly lost my mind celebrating a Red Sox win was the big comeback against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. Down 3-1in the ALCS, Boston was losing 7-0. For some weird reason, a little voice in my head said, "Maybe they can come back." Seriously. This would not have happened, no way would I have thought that, if the Sox hadn't won the Series the year before. And comeback they did. Single, RBI, home run, and then the bottom of the ninth. The Sox came back and won 8-7. Margie had gone to bed, otherwise I would have screaming at the top of my lungs. They won game 6 but lost game 7.

But in the true Boston spirit, there's always next year.