Sports Moments That Made You Cry Week: Why do sports make us cry?

Another week, another SB Nation theme. Welcome to... “Sports Moments That Made You Cry” Week!

Let me start this off by saying it takes a lot to make me cry. I don’t cry at movies (unless a dog so much as gets a paper cut). I don’t cry at books. I don’t cry when someone else is crying, even if I do sympathize with them. Honestly, the only time I really cry is if someone raises their voice at me in the slightest. Then, the tears are instantaneous.

However, even I have cried at many a sports moment.

Sports are weird in that they have zero tangible effect on your day-to-day life. That’s not to say that your mood won’t be altered based on the success, or lack thereof, of your team. Of course you’ll be bummed if they lose and happy if they win. However, your team winning the game does not equate to success at your job (unless you work for said team), your marriage, your finances (unless you put money on the game) or your wellbeing. The result of the game will not alter your livelihood in any way.

And despite all of that, it’s almost impossible not to take it personally when something bad happens to your team. Every single sports fan on this green earth has endured and survived even the most heartbreaking of losses time and time again, and yet, they still feel like life can’t possibly go on when it happens again.

There will be a day, likely in the distant future, when Ohio State finally loses to Michigan, and when that happens, Buckeye fans all over the world will find it hard to get out of bed the next morning.

“What’s the point?” They’ll ask.

“Will we ever win a game again?” Some will wonder.

I’ll never forget the collective “THERE GOES OUR PLAYOFF HOPES” tweets when Justin Fields went down with a knee injury in the Michigan game last season. He wasn’t on the ground for more than one minute before Buckeye Twitter pronounced him and our championship hopes dead.

Hey, I’m not judging. I am the CEO, founder, president and treasurer of Overreacting to Ohio State Football Games. We could be winning a game 4,200 to 27 and I’d still be like “but is it enough to convince the committee?!?!” My husband hates watching games with me for some reason.

The point I’m trying to make is, we are well aware that Ohio State losing a game does not technically have any power over our lives— even a loss to Michigan. The “oh well, we’ll get ‘em next time” reaction is right there, ours for the taking. And still, we can’t help but feel personally victimized, heartbroken, exhausted, and just downright beaten up when our Buckeyes lose. It almost feels like we could have done something to prevent that loss.

Ohio State is our team, our community, our family. We’ve watched our players grow and progress, get hurt and come back, score game-winning touchdowns, have life-changing moments. As kids, we looked up to those players, wrote to them, wore their jerseys, pretended like we were one of them when we played backyard football. Our houses are decked out in scarlet and gray, our dogs are named Brutus and Buckeye and Sloopy. We teach our kids how to do O-H-I-O before we teach them how to eat solid foods. We sing Carmen Ohio at our weddings and bring Buckeyes to every potluck.

That’s why we overreact when our quarterback gets hurt. Or our hearts skip a beat when the opposing team runs up the score. Or we leave the room because we just can’t bare to watch. Or we spray champagne and run around aimlessly because our team just won the national championship against all odds with their third-string quarterback.

That’s why sports mean so much to you.

What’s the last sports moment that made you cry?