Anticipation

Much of the joy in life comes from the potential of what's coming. I used to dwell on Vikings or Twins losses much too long thinking that's just what fans do. Now, the Twins season is all but over with all the starters ailing and average relief pitching failing to provide the extra relief that's now needed. They even fell BELOW .500 again for the first time since they were 11-12 early in the season.

My current attitude is now, "so what?"  I probably won't watch many more games this season, and just wait for the playoffs instead. It's actually kind of a relief NOT being a fan like I used to be.

And this way I can get ready for the Vikings. Speaking of which: preseason games are ALWAYS difficult to watch, and last night was no exception. Bridgewater was good in his one series BUT missed an easy pass that would have kept a drive alive. Even in preseason it's hard to watch a lapse in concentration like that.

The Vikings won I hear, but sitting through a whole game of players I'll never see during the regular season doesn't interest me that much. I didn't last much past the first quarter. Preseason games are just  extended practices. As such, they don't merit much attention.

I THINK one of the main reasons that sports don't rank as high on my list of things to watch anymore is there are so many good television programs to watch instead, more than my wife and I could ever hope to watch. Where geeks everywhere are anticipating the return of new Star Wars movies to the pop culture universe, I'm actually more excited that FOX has decided to bring back X-Files with all new TV shows.

I'm looking forward to both, of course, but 8-10 hours of good television will always be better than a 2 hour movie once a year.

If they are GOOD, of course.

If they aren't, I can always look forward to next year's Twins. The anticipation is almost always better than the actual product. But the potential keeps us all hopeful.