Conference Championship Picks - Football Anxiety
Playing both sides so I come out on the bottom.
Very little in football gives me as much anxiety as the Conference Championship round.
I’ve been fortunate to see the Packers play in nine conference championship games in my life, and even though they’ve won three of them (sheesh, 3-6 with a chance to go to the Super Bowl? barf), I think I’ve enjoyed exactly zero of those games. I think that’s because the tension that comes with that particular kind of game is unique. Either you’re going to the Super Bowl, or you have to watch the team that beat you play for the ultimate prize.
There’s no sense of accomplishment that comes with almost making the Super Bowl. I think you can safely say that getting to the big game does represent a kind of success; you were there! You had a chance to win it all. There’s nothing like that for the championship round. Oh, good for you, you almost made the Super Bowl. You’re really just like the 30 other teams whose seasons didn’t end in the only game that matters.
The weird thing is, I feel this anxiety even when the Packers aren’t playing in the NFC Championship. By this point in the playoffs, I’ve usually identified what passes for “my team,” the squad that I’ll settle for supporting since the Packers aren’t there. If they don’t make it out of the championship round, I feel a small version of the disappointment that comes with the end of the Packers’ season.
It’s truly a brilliant move by me. No matter how I’m watching football, I almost always end up disappointed. Great work!
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