I have mentioned before that James is way into sports. He wakes up every morning at 6 AM and the first thing we hear coming from the family room is ESPN or the game from the night before that he set to record since he had to go to bed. Sometimes it is an old game he loved, he watches those several times as if he had never seen them before.
It can be an issue when there is a really big game or his very favorite team playing. It affects him in a way that I can understand to a degree. I have felt that disappointment before. I remember like it was yesterday going to my brother's high school basketball games that were so important to me, if it was a bad game I would be sad and really frustrated. I have a clear memory of the Phoenix Suns losing in the 1993 playoffs and the disappointment that followed. Or the time I was living in Oregon and the Arizona Diamondbacks won the world series, I was energized!
Sports are fun that way. I grew up with a dad and brother that loved playing and watching sports and I saw it firsthand. They are exciting, stressful, frustrating, nerve racking and create an energy you don't find other ways. We sit, we stand, we jump, we scream, we dance and celebrate and we yell at the television. The greatest games and plays are fun to reflect on for years to come. I was always amazed how my dad would remember a specific game, players name and number, inning, quarter or half, the year it was played and that specific, awesome play. I think a lot of people can do that, you remember those very best and worst games and plays like you do major life events.
The past college and NFL football seasons are the first time we realized the effect sports have on James. A couple of times he was so frustrated that we had to pull back a bit on the football. We have had talks about it. He knows what is a good way to act and what isn't.
I noticed he has been so pleasant after his losses for a while now. I also realized what he did after a game tonight and then realized he has been doing it for most of the season.
He turns on the XBOX, pulls up the two teams that played the game and he plays it, the right way. Once his game is over and his team won, he has gotten over the real loss and replaced it with his XBOX win! I love his way of dealing with it. Quietly, without a word, turns on the game and lets it all out. His therapy. Doesn't bother anyone, doesn't tease his sisters, doesn't slam his door or talk back to anyone. He very quietly sits down and deals with it. Somehow he always wins the game version of the real game, never a loss.
Tonight it was the Cardinals loss.
