Last night the Chicago Bears clinched the NFC North division and secured themselves a return to the playoffs for the first timce since their Super Bowl run in 2006.
The players donned their NFC North title baseball caps. They smiled on the sidelines. Lovie Smith wore his smug smile during the post game conference.
I clapped. High-fived my brother and drove home in a snow storm, and didn’t really think twice about it.
In 2005 when the White Sox clinched their division, it felt like a thousand pound boulder was lifted from my back and I could finally breathe. The same was true when they won game 163 against the Minnesota Twins in 2008.
And I’m a much bigger football fan than baseball.
So what’s going on here?
Is it the monstrous MLB season of 162 games, where you watch the team almost every day, and just develop a more emotional response to them.
Was it the fact that playoff baseball in this town doesn’t come around too often? I’m fairly certain fans in Atlanta became accustomed to watching their baseball team make the playoffs, and quickly bow out. But the players react almost the same. There’s at least a sense of celebration. Even the Yankees celebrate making the playoffs even though we all know that’s not their end game.
Is it the fact that only four teams make the playoffs from each league in baseball, while you have six teams from each division make it in Football? That can’t be it since it’s only a matter of two teams.
To me, it’s the length of season and the amount of time you spend and get to know the players. There are only 16 football games, and they play once a week. There are almost double that amount of games per month in a baseball season. That’s a lot of time spent with your team and the players. There are ten times as many games in baseball. It really is a marathon of a season.
What do you guys think?
Do you get as excited about your favorite football team making the playoffs as your baseball team?
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