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Why be a sports fan? What is it about athletic competition at the highest level that enchants people into being emotionally attached to people that they don't know at all?

At the risk of sounding like a TNT commercial, I think it's the drama. Humans are storytelling creatures, and sometimes we like getting lost in someone else's story, with the highs, the lows, the triumphs, the mistakes, the bloopers, and the folks you worked with. Being a sports fan is like being a soap opera fan. There are heroes, villains, double-crosses, unexpected turning points, and rising to the occasion. Oh, and Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives is basically a soap opera, no?). Following a team over the course of a season, living through the wins and losses and injuries and emergences, it's almost like you make their story your own... even though you really have nothing to do with those athletes on a personal level.

Some people watch Korean soap operas. Others watch sports. It's pretty close to the same idea.

This is bad news: "Eva Longoria told Fox Sports Net's 'Best Damn Sports Show Period' that she's made a wager with host John Salley over the Spurs-Pistons series. 'I have a bet,' said Longoria, reputed to be the girlfriend of Spurs point guard Tony Parker. 'If the Spurs lost, I would come on ('Best Damn Sports Show Period') in a bikini. If the Spurs won, he's coming on ('Desperate Housewives') in a Speedo.'"

Now all of America is going to be rooting for the Pistons...

Oh, and also, there's no superstition that's 100%... heheh... although, I did actually see about 30 seconds of yesterday's game on accident while the DVR was being reprogrammed. Also, I ended up watching the replay with Eric and Karen. Maybe I'm not supposed to watch these games live and without anyone else... or maybe I'm just being stupid. The Pistons just played better and with more energy... they totally deserved to win and win big.

To answer my own poll question from the last post, I kinda wonder whether I would actually make use of a hypothetical 2 month break. Speaking as a guy whose largest chunk of paid time off used in the last two years was 3 days last fall to study for the GRE, I wonder if I'd make the effort to plan trips and the like. Maybe I just need to go on a vacation to remember what it's like to actually relax - I've heard it said from older and wise working folks that for a real vacation, it takes 5 consecutive days just to exonerate all thought about work from the mind before you begin to rest.

Today's hypothetical question, taken from the Sports Guy's mailbag: in essence, would you rather have a career as a superstar at the highest level of your profession, with fame and fortune up the wazoo, or would you rather be the key role playing guy who helps the actual person/team to the championship/absolute highest level, with a decent amount of fortune and some fame? Here's the way it was worded, in sports terms: Would you rather have a sports career like Karl Malone/Charles Barkley/Patrick Ewing or Bob Horry? Hall of Famer with obscene amounts of cash or a clutch performer with five rings who's rich?