…think he’s got a future in it?

I’d like to apologize for the poor quality photoshop job above…I did it in 30 seconds.

A few friends of mine were recently discussing the climate of multiple areas in our fair city. I live in Cincinnati. That means a variety of things to those of us who live here, and it means a variety of other things to those who don’t. One of the things it means to all of us, insiders or outsiders, is this; our sports teams suck.

Now before you jump on me for agreeing with this statement (you know…those few fans that actually exist), I’d like to say that I do not agree with this statement. Are our sports teams the greatest? Nope. But, I am a fan of those teams. Because they’re my teams. They represent my city…sort of. I say “sort of” because how many of the Cincinnati Reds were born and raised in Cincinnati? How many Bengals were born and raised in Cincinnati? They represent us…sort of.

It would be an entirely different situation, and quite a bit more understandable, if our professional sports team were a true representation of the talent that comes from our stock. How awesome would that be? Think about it. Every Reds player a native Cincinnatian. Every San Francisco Giant player a native San Francisconite. I actually have no idea what you San Fran people call yourselves. But you can imagine what I’m saying.

What I am not saying, is that I believe our professional franchises should only be filled with native city players. That’s not going to happen and I don’t know that I’d want it to. The point I am trying to get at is that we place a massive amount of weight on the way that people who get paid large sums of money to play games represent cities that they are not usually native to. It’s interesting. And here’s the part that I hate…

I hate that my city lacks the ability to hold it’s head up high because our sports teams aren’t winning championships.

There is a proverb that says, “They will grumble when the market prices are high, and they will grumble when the market prices are low.” It’s absolutely true. It doesn’t make sense at first, but it’s the reality we live in.

“Gas prices are too high!”

{gas prices drop to record lows for the past few years}

“Yeah…but I’m sure they’ll shoot back up soon!”

Even when we catch a break, or experience a blessing of some kind – we’re quick to dismiss it and focus on the negative. It happens in all sorts of areas, but the one that really sticks out to me is with professional sports.

“The Reds have a 3-game winning streak.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll probably blow it tonight!”

This wouldn’t be a big deal if it didn’t bleed over into other areas, but it does bleed over. I believe this mindset has moved in like a dark cloud over my great city. It wasn’t recent either…I believe it’s been here for many years. As a city, we have a defeated, negative, pessimistic, loser mentality. It’s a sad fact, but I believe it exists. IT. MUST. CHANGE.

Did you know that cities of winning sports teams have been proven to have better economies? Residents of “winning” cities make more money annually and lower rates of unemployment. We’re talking about sports teams people…whether they win or lose…determining the outlook and even real numbers in a city. You’d think we were discussing a salvational issue.

I could go on and on about it, but I think I’ll leave it at this;

If you allow your mentality as a human being to be determined by how well your team plays…

…knock it off.

Can you do this? Me either.

Would you do this? I’d like to say yes…but probably not.

Having kids…I need this so bad.

How much skill and how much fluke?

Glad I could waste some of your time today.