Boomer & Gio: Does championship or bust take away from joy of sports fandom?
As the Rangers season ends, Boomer and Gio contemplated the nature of sports fandom, and how the entire view of a season rides on being the one team win it all.
Gio has realized that such a mindset has taken away from the overall enjoyment of rooting for a team, and believes it may be time to adjust how seasons are viewed.
"I've been so focused on that end result, that I think it's what made me a miserable sports fan," Gio said. "I really should be enjoying some of those seasons when they were good."
Boomer has taken on that mindset himself, and it allowed him to enjoy the Rangers ride a whole lot more, and not to suddenly view a fun season as a disappointing one after the Blueshirts were bounced in the conference final.
"I enjoyed every single minute of every single game," Boomer said. "As excruciating as the loss was in game six in Florida, I woke up the next morning thinking, 'Man, I had so much fun watching them every game.'"
Of course, the goal is to win it all. But, as the Yankees roll and take on the high expectations along the way, Gio wants to know if the obsession of World Series or bust means that some fans will lose the enjoyment of the summer months of getting to watch Juan Soto and Aaron Judge together in the same lineup.
"I understand that with Juan Soto here, potentially just for one year, that you have to capitalize on it as much as you can," Gio said. "But think about how well they're playing right now...are we thinking, 'Wow, this is fun, but if they don't win the whole thing, this is all gonna be evaporated'?"
