In my view: What troubles you?

The other day a colleague quietly asked me if everything was ‘okay’? You look troubled, she said.

Everything was okay, but it also wasn’t.

There are very real challenges in life at the moment, like the water, our roads, the economy, crime and just the stresses of trying to make it happen every day.

So, how could I tell her that, at that exact moment, I was still feeling more than just a bit disappointed about Liverpool almost winning both the Premier League and Champions League trophies in the same season, but limping away with neither.

This had been exacerbated by Djokovic losing to Nadal at Roland Garros. Why do I care? I don’t know.

It’s just a bunch of massively overpaid show ponies strutting around, I try to tell myself, but it doesn’t help.

The problem is that I have been supporting Liverpool from around 1982, through thin and thin.

ALSO READ: I won’t be that parent, or so I thought

Admittedly, there has been a little thick as well, but it just seems like it should be more trophies and not around my girth.

It’s not just football where this obsession exists. It’s cricket, rugby, golf, tennis, formula one, the list goes on.

I find myself choosing a player or team and backing him/her/them.

Sometimes my choices don’t make sense. For example, I’m pro Djokovic in tennis’s race to see who will win most slams.

Why, I don’t know. Perhaps it’s the underdog status he had at the beginning.

Truth be told, at times I envy those who have no idea what the score is, have no interest in sport and who aren’t burdened with colossal disappointment when it doesn’t go their way.

Like my wife, for example.

She feels nothing changing to a cooking channel mid-way through a penalty shootout, or on match point.

Is this done yet, she’ll ask, and change the channel anyway.

On a slightly different note, the hardest thing in the world is trying to concentrate when she brings up a serious discussion, like the children’s exams for example, and you’re watching Miller batting needing plenty runs off few balls.

I suspect my discernment may be spot on in that she is not fooled by my lack of focus.

Anyway, the obvious answer to this sporting support is pretty much that we live vicariously through our favourite teams and sportsmen or women.

They win, we’re on a high; they lose, we sink into the doldrums. Lose to an arch rival, it’s even worse. It’s ridiculous really.

However, there is so much more to it than just the sport though. It’s about the common interests, the friendships and the camaraderie.

How do you explain how strangers can become friends quickly, merely because you support the same team?

Yet it happens, and it transcends many barriers. That’s one of the beauties of it all.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram