SSD: It's a Serious Problem, People!

Well my dear Sports Fans, I must apologize for my hiatus. I have been suffering from what I like to call SSD or, severe sports disappointment. It’s a rare form of depression that affects only those who have what may be considered an unhealthy passion for sports. Now don’t get this confused with SSW or Seasonal Sports Withdrawal. I go through that at the end of every NCAA football season and after March Madness. This folks, is a horse of a different color. I like to compare it to a bad break-up. You curl up in bed, eat a lot of ice cream and do all that is possible to stay away from anything that would remind you of your ex. In this analogy, I must stay away from all 300 ESPN channels, my fantasy baseball league, sports bars and especially Sports Center. It just hurts too much.

First I had to deal with the devastating loss of my Spartans in the Final Four. I am not one to make excuses for my teams when they lose, but come on, we got HOMERED! Even Hayward admitted he ‘may have’ gotten away with the foul against Green in the final seconds of the game. (Although my boy Green said he should have gone up harder. That folks, is why I love him.) It wasn’t even just the exceedingly one-sided foul calls in the second half, it was even the possession calls. I mean it’s pretty rare that a team with almost a 12% better field goal percentage loses. Ok, we made our mistakes i.e. 16 turnovers leading to 20 points and our unusually poor free throw shooting. I still think we deserved and should have won that game. I’m not dwelling, can you tell? Next year boys, next year.

Then there was that tiny ray of hope when my boy Phil Mickelson won The Masters and that adulterous bastard (I used to love you, Tiger!) looked like an amateur. However I was still too downtrodden from Michigan State’s defeat to enjoy the win as much as I would have liked. I am at least healed enough to say this: Phil, I think you are a class act for sticking by your wife, family and mother through one of the hardest battles anyone on earth ever has to fight. Oh and also, I love your shiny pants.

But alas my ray of hope was shattered…

Then came the first blow. The overrated, self righteous Tim Tebow was drafted not only first round but to my State’s team, the Denver Broncos. Ok, McDaniels, what was your logic? You have Brady Quinn AND Kyle Orton already. Is another mediocre QB really the best idea? I’m sorry, I like Brady Quinn and Kyle Orton and I think given the chance they will do something in the NFL; but Tebow doesn’t have the fortitude. He can’t be successful in the NFL when he’s not yet been weaned from Mama Bear, Urban Meyer. After losing Brandon Marshall and having a pretty sad looking, injury laden O-Line our pick could have been much better used.

Then I was given a false sense of security with my Nuggets pulling through with a big win against my arch enemies the LA Lakers [minus you, Shannon Brown] on April 8th. But all in all the loss of George Karl (and maybe even Mello’s ego a little bit…) proved to be a hurdle the size of the Great Wall that we just could not overcome. At least my boy Chauncey had a damn good season.

If I even bring up the Pistons season I might re-enter my state of SSD, so let’s not go there.

Now, where do I even start with the Red Wings. To be honest I could barely watch any of their games because they looked pretty ugly at times. Despite Franzen‘s game 4 effort against the Sharks, which can only be described as a thing of beauty, my boys just couldn’t pull it together. I obviously hate Chicago and I used to be a Sharks fan in the days of Jeff Friesen, so I guess I have to say, GO SHARKS! Although by saying this… I may have burdened them with whatever kind of cosmic curse has been placed on any team I root for.

Lastly my boy Grandy gets injured! Seriously? That was it. The final straw. He was the backbone to my fantasy team and just my boy in general. He may only be on the 15 day DL but come on universe, give my teams and players a break would ya?!

It’s all ok though. I made a breakthrough in SSD therapy and turned on ‘Jim Rome’ and ‘Around the Horn’ today. My sports therapist also recommend that I talk out my frustration. So there you have it. I have to make a full recovery before MSU football starts; a State fan needs all the strength they can gather to make it through the season without a breakdown.