Heartbreak and Wisconsin sports

To be a sports fan means living with heartbreak and disappointment. Those two emotions go hand and hand with the ecstasy and happiness of victory. Or as one famous broadcaster once said, “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

To be a Wisconsin sports fan means being a close companion with heartbreak. Oh sure, I’ve experienced my share of thrilling moments as a Wisconsin sports fan in the last 30 years and change.

I’ve seen the Green Bay Packers win two Superbowls in the last 25 years. I’ve seen my Wisconsin Badgers make back to back Final Fours and play in the NCAA D-1 national championship for the first time since World War II.

I’ve seen the Wisconsin Badgers football team make Rose Bowls, Big Ten Championships and play in prestigious settings and scenarios. Sometimes the magic happens, like Russel Wilson on fourth and long to lead the Badgers to the Big Ten Championship in 2011.

I’ve seen the Badgers basketball team defeat a 38-0 Kentucky team that seemed destined to have a perfect season. I’ve had the chance to watch a Badgers men and womens hockey teams win the 2006 national championships.

Wisconsin has had recent MVPs in basketball with Giannis Antetkoumpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, the MLB with the Brewers Christian Yelich, and Aaron Rodgers looks likely to see another MVP go his way for his scintillating play with the Green Bay Packers in 2020.

But for all that there has been the pain, the agony of defeat, the heart-rending loss. The Badgers beat Kentucky, only to fall to Duke in the men’s national title game in 2015.

The Badgers football team has now lost four straight Rose Bowls, and multiple Big Ten Championships. I’ve seen the Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team drop national title matches in recent years. Most recently I sat through another disappointing Green Bay Packers loss in the NFC Championship game, this time at Lambeau Field.

At the outset of these painful losses I’m often filled with many confl icting emotions. There’s rage, there’s despair, there’s sorrow. But to be a sports fan is to be ever the optimist. To be a sports fan is to be ever hopeful that next year will be the year.

Sports, for all its problems and all its downfalls, is in essence the story of life. It reminds us that not only is it fun to dream, it’s important and vital to being human to dream.

The heartache of watching Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers lose once more in a big game hurts. And as Rodgers said afterwards, his future is uncertain. I don’t think that means he’s leaving Green Bay any time soon. It just means, that like mine, Kevin’s and yours, all futures are uncertain, But the dream is alive, and so is my hope for more in 2021. Sports can break the heart, but when a team wins, it sure is a thing of beauty. It’s hope rewarded.

M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS

ROSS PATTERMANN REPORTER