[Hank 91]

I'm not a religious person, but in recent years I've come to terms with the fact that sports -- specifically Stanford football and the New York Yankees -- have been my religion. I think that being a fan means allowing sports to be important and being okay with your level of investment in events beyond your control. I was at the game during my freshman year when Todd Lichti and company beat #1 Arizona at Maples, but that isn't my strongest memory of Stanford basketball. That was after the Siena game a year later. I remember I had biked to the post office to check my P.O. box, and I ran into a friend. She blathered on about this or that, and I wasn't listening to a word she was saying. Finally, she asked me what was wrong, and I told her that Stanford had lost a basketball game. I'll never forget her response: "Oh, bummer." I was stunned that this event, which honestly felt like a death to me, had somehow escaped her awareness and then meant absolutely nothing to her once it was explained.

This, I think, is what it means to be a fan. I don't think it's about blind faith. The Yankees are struggling through a mediocre season, and tonight they coughed up three runs in the top of the ninth, putting them behind, 7-4. I watched the bottom of the ninth, but not because I thought they would win. I watched because I knew they might. Being a fan is about embracing the possibility. Sometimes it's the possibility of winning a national championship, other times it's the possibility of finally getting a first down.

When I look towards this Stanford football season, I realize that there are probably two or three losses on the schedule, but when I look closely, I see that there isn't a single game that can't be won, and I don't think any impartial observer could argue that. And so I embrace the possibility of an undefeated season.

[Hank 91]

I'm not a religious person, but in recent years I've come to terms with the fact that sports -- specifically Stanford football and the New York Yankees -- have been my religion. I think that being a fan means allowing sports to be important and being okay with your level of investment in events beyond your control. I was at the game during my freshman year when Todd Lichti and company beat #1 Arizona at Maples, but that isn't my strongest memory of Stanford basketball. That was after the Siena game a year later. I remember I had biked to the post office to check my P.O. box, and I ran into a friend. She blathered on about this or that, and I wasn't listening to a word she was saying. Finally, she asked me what was wrong, and I told her that Stanford had lost a basketball game. I'll never forget her response: "Oh, bummer." I was stunned that this event, which honestly felt like a death to me, had somehow escaped her awareness and then meant absolutely nothing to her once it was explained.

This, I think, is what it means to be a fan. I don't think it's about blind faith. The Yankees are struggling through a mediocre season, and tonight they coughed up three runs in the top of the ninth, putting them behind, 7-4. I watched the bottom of the ninth, but not because I thought they would win. I watched because I knew they might. Being a fan is about embracing the possibility. Sometimes it's the possibility of winning a national championship, other times it's the possibility of finally getting a first down.

When I look towards this Stanford football season, I realize that there are probably two or three losses on the schedule, but when I look closely, I see that there isn't a single game that can't be won, and I don't think any impartial observer could argue that. And so I embrace the possibility of an undefeated season.