On Potential Imposter Syndrome

Another year goes into the annals of history, and with it so do sports. Numerous games, numerous leagues, numerous competitions. The Penske thousand-year reign over the Cup Series was seemingly cut short by Denny Hamlin, until Kyle Larson ended up being the series champion (Thanks, Chris Gabehart). The Chiefs' dynasty seems to be in a free fall, allowing the AFC to become a battleground. Teams such as Detroit and Anaheim are enjoying success in the NHL that they haven't seen in years. The Los Angeles Dodgers won another World Series (derogatory). If it was not obvious by now, I, your webmaster, enjoy watching sports. In fact, both of the writings posted on the site so far have been related to sports. However, I often times find myself not paying attention to the teams, games, and sports that I say that I enjoy watching. Some examples are messing around on my phone, going out somewhere, or just forgetting about a game. Which is normal, I suppose. We all have things to focus on besides our hobbies.

However, this lack of attention seems to affect me personally whenever I see sports being discussed in public. Whenever I see people managing to keep memories of players from long ago or discuss defensive strategies, it makes me feel like I'm not watching hard enough. I constantly want to research the nitty-gritty of strategy, positions, etc., but I forget to. Hell, I just learned what a shorthanded goal was when listening to a Minnesota Wild game this previous month. These constant discoveries make me feel something of a fraud for not providing quality analysis back to fellow fans.

Now, what is my point? The new year is coming around, giving people an opportunity to change. Including beliefs about themselves. When writing the thoughts above, I was reminded of a quote from Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here." The main character, Doremus Jessup, exclaims at one point: "'If only I knew more! ... Yes, and if I could only remember statistics!'" I know the book is a political satire, but that one quote has always stuck with me, and my constant search to feel smart enough in sports. To keep in line with the seemingly never-ending tradition of New Year's resolutions, I am going to try to change my belief that I need to know everything. I am just going to give my undivided attention to the games that I am able to watch, and hopefully learn more about sports from there. Because this whole issue is about people exerting all of their will for some person's entertainment. It's not worth worrying too much about. Besides, the talking heads in sports media know nothing about sports as well. That being said, I hope you, the reader, find a way out of your worries too this upcoming year.