Some of my most enduring memories about certain sports has nothing to do with winning a game or a championship.
I'll never forget where I was or what I was doing when Reggie Lewis died. It truly felt like I had lost a close friend. And the bitterness to think it might have been averted.
I'll never forget that All-Star game at Fenway in 1999 where they brought Ted Williams out and all the players went out there to meet Ted and talk baseball with him. From current superstars all the way to guys who have been members of the Hall of Fame, they stood there, talked to Williams, swapped pleasantries and stories and it was amazing to see the absolute best of several generations all standing there having "hero worship" for a true American hero.
I will never forget the absolute joy I had in coaching my sons during a year of sports at organized competition.
I remember when I was young and the year that my mother got me this Patriots Blue and Red Puff Ball topped Patriots winter cotton woven hat. Except the Patriots sucked and wearing Patriot's anything at school automatically made you a loser. Well, when it got cold I wore that hat and took my share of ribbing. By Christmas, everyone wanted the hat I had been wearing all along because the 1976 Patriots came out of nothing to within a play of beating the Super Bowl champ of that year, The Oakland Raiders.
I loved that hat. I think only my 2004 Red Sox hat I wore during the 2004 season had more times worn in my lifetime. Over a span of months I went from loser to fashion setter and Patriots fan; because I was 11 and poor and hated cold ears, so I wore the hat my mom bought me by mistake(I will not discuss who's hat I was asking for.)
So, to me, no championships aren't all that matter. Being a team fan or a sport fan means so much more. Like family and life and joy and hardship and youth and heroes and friends and so so much more.