USA Today Sports

I’ll start this by saying this, I don’t think there is a D.C. sports curse – but I can definitely understand why people think so. Being a D.C. sports fan has gone through a lot in different eras. We were spoiled by the Redskins winning the Super Bowl three times in 10 years, but other than that, there have been no other championships from any of the other major sports teams in recent memory (Bullets 1978).

We went through an era of obscurity, with teams that had no chance to win anytime they stepped on their respective sport platforms. This was a time in which it was hard to be a fan because we knew that there was nothing at the end of the tunnel. No championships, no playoff runs, no real success, but what were we going to do as fans? We had to stick with them. I know I’ve never been one to jump ship on a team and I don’t plan on starting now.

We have since been out of the era of teams that could be the joke of their respective league and have had success, but with all the success have come great failures and tremendous heartbreaks.

It’s not the losing—it’s really not. It’s the fashion in which we lose. Our teams have invented new ways to lose, and in heartbreaking fashion. Two President’s Trophies in back-to-back years from the Capitals and in back-to-back years were bounced out in the second round by our archenemies. Two back-to-back National League East championships and two first round exits; the most recent one in a way that was unbelievable.

I hate to say it, but we all love to say “this is our year”. But in the back of our minds, we are just waiting for that one bad bounce or odd play to screw us again. The players can feel it two, just go back to the Capitals’ comments last year after Game 7 against Pittsburgh, the atmosphere was “here we go again”, the second pucks weren’t going in. Maybe, we as fans have earned the right to think that way, as we have seen this too many times before. I would love to stop feeling that way, but hell, it sure is tough.

Yes, it is tough being a D.C. sports fan but we should never not be appreciative of what we get to watch day in and day out with the teams we have.

We have arguably one of the best hockey players who has ever played the game. We have one of the most electrifying and touted prospects and a player that’s stepped up on the diamond. A great backcourt that consists of two of the brightest players we have had in many years on the hardwood. And a top tight end in the game.

Each one of our home teams has a chance to win and is competitive every time they go out there and play, and that is nothing to take lightly. You can call me a blind homer, but the fact is we have success. It’s not the full on success but it is success nonetheless.

I’ve written it before, it’s hard being a fan, it is emotionally draining. So many high of highs, and so many low of lows. But this is what being a fan is: following your team into the abyss with the hopes of making it to the top of the mountain.

I tell ya what, I’d rather have something to cheer for than nothing to cheer for at all, because having a stupid love affair with D.C. sports teams is a solid use of my time—in my honest opinion. I curse my parents for both being from here and raising me as a D.C. sports fan sometimes, but I’m glad they did.

Am I being for real or am I joking? You can’t tell? Now you know what being a D.C. sports fan feels like….

By Chris Mcintosh
@Crhismac on Twitter
Photos: Washington Post

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris McIntosh (@crhismac)