I find at even 28 my fire and passion level is way down compared to when I was teen. I still live and die by the Hawks and the NHL but I can't say the same about the other sports. I use to be able to name every MLB team's roster. No way I could do that now, not even close. I'm sure some of that has to do with actually having stuff to do now.

Even with the Hawks, I wonder if I'm going to be that 65 year old guy, raging with all his might because they just lost to the Blues, or if I'll be at the point where I go "oh shit, I'm going to die soon, none of this really matters, I should be doing other things".

So do you think you'll have the fire and passion all the way up until you meet your maker? Screaming "rebuild!" at the top of your lungs in your living room after the Bears miss the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season?

If I were to guess, I'd say 65 year old me would probably still follow the Hawks with just a little less passion as 28 year old me and only watch the other sports as entertainment when I have nothing else better to do. The NFL would no longer be must see TV for me. Hopefully I make it to 65 first.

I imagine after my death I won't care anymore.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

That's the biggest difference. I used to be able to watch every sporting event that I wanted. So, I knew everything about all the teams.

Now, at best, I can watch the few teams that I root for and have much less of an understanding of the rest of the league. The only exception is the NFL where you can get up to speed on the entire league in about 6-9 hours of viewing each week. You can't do that with MLB, NBA, college basketball, etc.

That was one of the things I enjoyed about getting into NASCAR. 3 hours a week and you know pretty much all the current info you need to about the sport.

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You know me like that.

I promise you I have more to do in one hour of a regular day than you have in entire week yet still have more than a strong interest in sports.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Yup. I don't follow the NFL like I use to but it's so easy to catch up. With the MLB I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore.

Bears-Screaming about it until I die

Hawks-same as now, sanely watching the regular season games when I get the chance and live and die in the playoffs

Cubs-Dead, the end of the Hendry era and this 'rebuild' has killed my enthusiasm. I will still care and still watch/listen to games but I cant see myself being like I was during 03-08.

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Make no mistake though, I still have the fire and the passion. I just don't have the time.

Those glorious Saturday afternoons where everybody is out of the house and there is an Illini game and then a solid SEC matchup on CBS with a great Saturday Night game is still glorious. Which is why I used glorious twice, apparently.

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You know me like that.

I'm to busy posting nonsense here to ever really follow anything.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

If you ever hear about a ghost at Yankee Stadium someday, that will probably be me.

I definitely look forward to torturing A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes with ghostly pranks.

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1923-1927-1928-1932-1936-1937-1938-1939
1941-1943-1947-1949-1950-1951-1952-1953
1956-1958-1961-1962-1977-1978-1996-1998
1999-2000-2009
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XXI - XXV - XLII - XLVI

I used to go to Grizzly's on Lincoln at 11 am on many Saturdays and hang out with my friends until the last game of the day was complete. Really great times and I miss those days.

I cannot remember the last college game I have been able to watch, uninterrupted, from start to finish. NYD I go to a party at a bar hosted by a guy where many guys from my youth hang out and just drink, eat, watch football, gamble, etc. Great time for one day

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

AJ Burnett's is passionate about his entrance music, thats why he strolls to the mound with 'Get Dough Or Die' blasting in the background.

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Can I come and hang out with you?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Can I come and hang out with you?[/quote

You will never be rid of him.

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Lately I find my self nodding my head positively at a lot of GD's statements. I just can't recall on what subject.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

I'll let you hang out in the Quarters section.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I pretty much feel the same way.

steroid era killed my love of baseball. Still a Bears meatball. Left the Bulls by the wayside.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

That's a little presumptuous

Maybe Hockey Gay is a mover and a shaker

Yeah I'm still passionate about my 3 and a half teams but the days of knowing the Warriors 12th man or every coordinator in football are long gone

I don't allow myself to get too emotionally invested; otherwise the result is mostly a big disappointment.

Sports is what it is, a terrific diversion that brings family, friends, strangers and the entire city together. When the Bears win I am in a little bit better mood that week, at least for a few days. The Bulls championship years, the Hawks Cups, even the Sox world series -- all great stuff.

But as I learn every time there is a strike or a lockout, I can live without it. There is so much else to do.

Bottom line: For me sports is entertainment, much like opera or Reality TV is for others.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Stop hitting on me

With age comes perspective. I have had the great pleasure of watching the Sting, Bears, Bulls Blackhawks and even the White Sox win Championships. It was great they won them( except for the Sox- though I was happy for some friends who were Sox fans), but it didn't really make a big difference in my life. Had the Bulls not won a Championship it would have been disappointing. But I still would have great memories of magical moments produced by Michael Jordan and been thankful for them. I would love to see the Cubs win a Championship, more than I have ever enjoyed a Championship to date. But I have so many great memories connected to that team and when they do win it, how will my life be different? I'll own a championship hat and shirt, other than that, not much. I just take sports now as a great diversion for me. A means by which I can be entertained.

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Go Cubs!!!!

A lot of my passion has been stripped by shit teams. The Cubs are shit, the Sox are shit, the Bulls are shit, the Bears are shit. Thank gott in himmel for the Blackhawks because otherwise the goddamn Chicago Sports scene would cause more suicides than Jim Jones.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

The Bulls have been very entertaining in recent years.

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You know me like that.

well it's just like anything, the older you get, the more you get hardened...the narrower your views become. And passion is all about innocence. Well, not all...you can be passionate AND be aware of it. But the innocence is what you'll always miss. HG, I have a hard time believing any Hawks fan at your age has been passionate about them in the last 15 years without the last 5 years. If you are, and you've followed them, kudos to you. That's hard to do. Typically you fall in love with your hometown team not just because of the town but because of a moment you had at your most impressionable age. I hope Dollar Bill wasn't charging you at the time that happened.

Then again, I'm apparently a passionate fan of every team in existence so who am I to talk?

As have I, however, I much prefer Diggstown.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I've always been a diehard Hawks fan. I'd go to half the home games in high school because it was $8 a ticket with your student ID and the place was always only half full so you could get in easily. The rest of the home games I didn't go to I'd listen to on the radio. The Hawks are my love and I honestly don't think I'm any more passionate about them now than I was then. I think the difference now is that I know how to handle losses better and I know how to look at the bigger picture of things. I remember back in 98 every Cubs loss would put me in a bad mood for the rest of that day. I think I went thru a week long depression after Brant Brown dropped that ball.

I love the Hawks, Bears and Cubs but at the end of the day, it's just a game that has no real bearing on my life. None of it really matters in the grand scheme of things. With that mindset I just wonder if one day I'll just completely stop giving a shit anymore.

DANGEROUSLY close to Bern-Stining there buddy.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I know. Help me!

Take three hosts with some pork chops and call me in the morning.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014