Losers

You know what it’s like to lose. Everyone does. Even if you’ve never played competitive sports, you’ve experienced a similar feeling. It may have come from being passed over for a job promotion or watching the girl you like start dating someone else, but you’ve felt it and you know that as the stakes get higher, the feeling gets worse.


On Saturday, Texas Tech upset #1 ranked Oklahoma which will likely cause them to miss the BCS Championship game. The Oklahoma players were distraught, some in tears, many in disbelief, but none of them smiling. If you managed to stay up for conclusion of the 62-7 beat down New Orleans put on Indianapolis Sunday night, you would’ve witnessed a different scene. Within seconds of the final buzzer, Colts players were seen laughing and joking with Saints players on the field in what looked like a fraternity reunion. At midfield, Jeff Saturday and Drew Brees hugged, laughed and joked around right in front of the camera. I know that these guys worked together closely on the CBA as NFLPA reps, but this looked ridiculous. Here you are, a team that is used to winning ten games a season, sitting at 0-7 after a truly embarrassing loss on primetime television and you look like you couldn’t care whether you won or lost. As a side note, Peyton Manning was shown walking off the field with a scowl immediately following the game – talking to no one on the way out (funny that a guy not playing seemed to take the loss the hardest).

Look, I realize that these guys are all friends and some played college together, but there is a time and place for the niceties. Believe me the Colts aren’t the only ones who engage in ‘post-loss laughs’ (although having a ‘bro-out’ after getting professionally embarrassed is perhaps a bit worse). All season I’ve seen this type of post-game behaviour. As a fan, this would infuriate me. How could a loss seem to bother me more than the players I cheer for? I don’t condone the confrontation between Jim Schwartz and Jim Harbaugh last week, but at least we saw some raw emotion. Maybe that’s why their teams are a collective 10-3.

Jeff Saturday may be able to compartmentalize losing and move on immediately. He could be childhood friends with Drew Brees and may only get the opportunity to see him once a year. Even still, wait until the cameras are off and maybe tone down the giggles – for everyone’s sake. Supporters of NCAA football tend to argue that it’s more entertaining than the NFL because college players care more about winning and aren’t playing for money. I’m starting to agree…