Sports are painful. Defeat is agonizing. Yet players and fans alike keep coming back for more.

Is there really a point to it all?

If you’re a fan, you’re either criticized for being too passionate for the team you root for or you are called out for being too much of a casual fan.

Is one really better than the other? Being a die-hard fan might seem honorable, but in the end it just means more sorrow when defeat eventually occurs. And trust me, it will.

Only one team is crowned champion in the end. Everyone else is left to wonder what went wrong.

Coaches and players actually have been replaced after helping their teams make it into postseason play. It’s that drive to be the very best that is at the heart of it all.

The players keep donning uniforms and the fans keep cheering and cursing the season away year after year.

It all comes down to hope.

No matter what the odds are or what history might suggest, there is always that last drop of hope that springs forth and allows competition to occur.

Maybe we’ll show signs of life and future success. Maybe I’ll do well enough to get noticed so I can keep playing.

Life is fed from this hope and not having it would signal the end truly is near.

At its best, that dangerous piece of hope can lead to optimism.

That is what each athletic season is based on.

Some people thrive under the pressure of beating the odds, while others fail miserably.

Once in a while someone appreciates the effort, suggesting the journey is in fact more admirable than the outcome.

It’s tough being a person of passion. I root for the underdog and feel the highs and lows of winning and losing to a great extent.

I cannot give it up, though. I keep coming back to my teams and sports in general.

Sports eat people up and spit them out. Yet they are as popular as ever.

Athletics provide opportunities for everyone involved, the best of which is the chance to inspire.

Inspiration itself builds hope.

Just like in other aspects of life, we must not give up. We must find inspiration to build hope.

Each fan and player that shows up has already found it, and maybe even we writers are trying to create it.

Thanks for reading.