To hell with logic or excuses

Sometimes it is hard to remember if I'm a sports fan or a sportswriter.

For much of my adult life, I've been both. On Saturday, I was just a sports fan after the Wyoming Cowboys let one slip away, losing to New Mexico 34-31 in Albuquerque.

Evidently, I still think I'm both.

Like most sports fans whose team loses, I was ticked off. Still am. Yet, immediately I was trying to justify the outcome as a sportswriter to those around me. Evidently, nothing really has changed.

And several hours after the disheartening loss to the Lobos, the game was still eating me up. Why now?

A lot of it has to do with the fact that I didn't cover the game as a sportswriter and I had no outlet in explaining the actions on the field and the reactions after the game.

You see, that's what sportswriters and sportscasters do. They observe, ask questions, write or comment and then move on. But Saturday night, there was no justification through words written or spoken as to why the game turned out like it did.

All I could do is ask myself what happened and try to rationalize it to my co-workers or in my head. The latter, I'm finding, isn't working.

As a sports fan on the outside, games like this leave you with an empty feeling, kind of like a kick to the stomach.

So what happened? It's pretty simple. The Cowboys turned the ball over four times, three times deep in New Mexico territory and once deep in their own territory.

The 34-31 loss should have been a 52-27 win. Of course, that's the sportswriter logic in me.

As the sports fan, I don't really care about logic or excuses, even though I agree with the sportswriter. All the sports fan in me really cares about is if my team won the game. The Cowboys lost the game on Saturday. Just keep logic or excuses to yourself.

As a sportswriter, I can state the facts, I can lash out, I can justify through words. When that is done, it all starts over again for next week's game.

The sports fan in me can't get over it as easy. I can complain to whoever will listen. I can be an armchair quarterback at the coffee shop, the bar or on the message boards. Regardless, I'm still pissed off.

I've got a sneaky suspicion that I'll probably pissed off for a while.

Blond beauty in the stands

OK, nothing special of this photo I took Saturday of the Wyoming-San Diego State game. But notice the guy in the stands with the halter top and skirt with the blond wig (click on photo). When told that it was a cool Halloween outfit, he responded, "What Halloween outfit?"