Embarrassed

A quick, painful word before I bury my sports-fan head in the dirt: For the second year in a row my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes have been absolutely embarrassed in the NCAA Football Championship game, yet again by a blasted SEC team. Deja vu all over again, as they say. Last season the Bucks ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown, setting the stage for a fitting end to a magical season...only to be outscored 41-7 over the final 14:45 of the game. This year, while coming in heavy underdogs, OSU jumped out early with a 10-0 lead...and proceeded to have a field goal blocked, turn the ball over 3 times, and take a collective kick in the pills by the faster, bigger LSU team.

The truth is, at the beginning of the season I would have been happy with a 10-3 year. Ohio State lost tons of starters, including Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and came in with a young and inexperienced team. Coach Tressel was building for 2008 and everyone knew it. To finish with a title game appearance and a 11-2 record is amazing, all things considered. But to be dominated in the exact same fashion as the previous year is embarrassing. In addition, this only adds to the "close but no cigar" history of the past decade that my cursed teams have had. Have a look:

Since Duke basketball won the title in 2001, I have experienced: A SF Giants World Series choke in 02; an Oakland Raiders blowout in the Super Bowl in 03; a Duke Final Four loss in 04, not to mention two HIGHLY ranked teams that bombed out in the Sweet Sixteen in 02, 05, and 06; Ohio State Championship Game losses in 07 and 08; an Ohio State basketball Championship Game loss in 07; a Mavericks Finals collapse in 06; and the Mavericks historic postseason failure after a 67 game season. The only team of mine that has pulled off the apparently impossible deed of winning a title was the Ohio State team of 2003, which (with much regret) I must admit I didn't even watch because I was completely convinced Miami was going to run away with the game. That's 13 legit chances at a title for my teams with only 1 win. If ever you are posed the question of whether it is worse to be that good but always fall short or to never be that good, trust me when I say I've gone through more stress, frustration, and anger with my 1 for 13 streak than I ever did when my teams were terrible (even during the Mavs 11 and 13 win seasons).

Now I must crawl into my sports hole and wait for March, (which almost certainly will bring more frustration since Duke looks to be too young to win a title but good enough to get my hopes up), and April (though the Mavs look poised for another playoff blunder). Just another day in the life of a guy who spends far too much time watching sports.