I loved the game, once.

The Timberwolves, as shown in my additions to my entries, haven’t played well for a while. It’s actually gotten some fans wondering if it’s worthwhile to even watch the game anymore.

I initially thought that made no sense. I love the game of baseball. I’ve watched some horrible Twins teams through the years (particularly the early and mid 1980s). I still loved the team and the game. On the other hand, I was listening to games on the radio. When listening to the games, you make up the game in your mind. I could still love the players for their inability to get outs on the field, or produce runs at the plate. I didn’t see if they were playing well and getting beaten, so in my mind, they were.

Watching the game is different. I’ve only had season tickets to the Twins for a few years now. I’ve watched some pretty decent baseball–although there have been streaks (early 2006 for example) where it’s been a pit of despair. During those times, we’d walk into the ballpark wondering how the team was going to defeat themselves this time. I still loved going to the games, because I still loved the players. I loved the game, and the players, even when they sucked, were trying. I had hope of improvement because I’m an optimist.

But year after year of watching poor games wears on a person. If I didn’t love the team, watching them play poorly would actually be a reason not to attend games: because I love the game. If I love the game, I want to see it played right. To see it played poorly would be an insult to the game that I love, and I’m not sure I could watch it.

I can watch bad basketball. I like the game well enough, but since I’m not attached to the team, I can enjoy watching the other team play well (I hope). Since I don’t love the game (I like it, but don’t love it), I can be amused by the poor play. I wouldn’t know good football from bad football. (It’s not winning and losing. Even if your team is losing, it doesn’t necessarily follow that they’re playing poorly. The other team might be playing a little bit better.) Ditto for lacrosse. Now that I think about it, it’s probably true for basketball, too. I don’t know the game well enough to know how what’s poor play and what’s good play.

I love baseball and hockey. I know when the team is playing well, even if they’re losing, or when they’re playing poorly, even if they’re winning. It is frustrating when the team is playing poorly. I want to go down to the locker room and ask them, “So, what were you thinking out there?” I want to see the game played well.

That, to me, explains bandwagon jumpers. Teams will always have their fair share of them when a team is winning. It’s a fact of life that people like to win, so they join themselves to winners solely based on the wins. But some of those fans that show up when a team starts winning really love the game. Their love of the game kept them away from the ballpark when the team was losing. They couldn’t stand to see a game they loved disrespected with poor play.

Timberwolves update: The Timberwolves are 2-8 (20.0 win %); the Clippers are 2-9 (18.2% win % and Washington is 1-11 (11.1 win %)! The new Oklahoma formerly-Sonic are 1-11. This is all because I promised to attend a Timberwolves game if they’re under 20% in the win % category in January. The lengths they’ll go through to spare me from a professional basketball game is gratifying.

Marian Gaborik Injury Status: True.