This past Sunday, I had to make it through the night with no “Game of Thrones” and no football. I had no idea how I was going to get through it, which was weird. Weird because seven weeks ago, I was living without my Westeros connection just fine, and we’ve been without professional football for 30 Sundays, not that I’m counting.
I’ve been waiting for football since that fateful Super Bowl Sunday of which we don’t speak. Well, if you’re a Falcons fan, we don’t speak of it. Other football fans love to bring it up. It makes me wonder where all the Falcon hate comes from. I completely understand when it comes to the direct rivals: It gave me great pleasure to watch the Carolina Panthers get embarrassed in Super Bowl 51. But fans from all over seem to take a lot of enjoyment in the epic SB51 collapse.
Falcons fans are ready and have been trying to move on, following suit from our beloved team in question. That was last year, and we’re focused on now. But who are we kidding? The sting from that game will stay with us until a Falcons Super Bowl victory is a reality. Even then, it would really need to be a victory over the Patriots. Both scenarios are highly unlikely.
I may sound like a naysayer, a negative Nancy, call me what you will. I’m just realizing our place in the sports lore. Much like my wife, a Cleveland Browns fan, knows her place. It’s the Browns, they never win. They even find a way to lose when they have the top pick in the draft, always somehow coming out of the draft with no good players. The Falcons, however, occasionally seem like they can win. It’s been happening more and more. I’m not sure which is worse: knowing that your team will likely lose every game of the season, or knowing that your team will have a fantastic season only to blow it when it counts.
It’s the Atlanta way. The Hawks have become a perennial playoff team — even making it to the Eastern Conference Finals just a few years back, only to fold when it counts. Even Atlanta’s WNBA team, the Dream, has made it twice to the WNBA Finals. I’ll let you guess what happened when they got there.
At least we have the Atlanta Braves: We’re left to hang on that one World Series win from their five attempts. And here’s the beauty of it: their one win comes from the season that most baseball fans say doesn’t matter because it was shortened by a strike. So, even Atlanta’s one championship is tainted. Who cares, I’ll take it.
Atlanta United, we’ll expect your heartbreaking disappointment in December. Until then, we have another Falcons season and another promising Falcons team. I may sound jaded and negative, but I’m a product of my favorite teams, much like every other sports fan.
“Game of Thrones” may be gone but, we got football back! Brace yourselves, 28-3 memes are coming.
