It’s World Series season, Astros and Dodgers are tied in the Series 2-2, and the score is tight. I’m nervous, I’m excited, but I’m also really, really exhausted. As I take the time during each commercial break to breathe and regroup, I feel compelled to share what it means to be a Houston sports fan.
To begin, let’s just say that be an H-Town sports fan is no easy task. It’s filled with ups and downs, with exciting moments and crushed dreams. Stated most simply and anticlimactically, it’s a journey. Sure, the city has made some incredible memories with incredible teams, like the Oilers in 1975 and the Dynamos in past years. We’ve had our fair share of pride-boosting moments, but between those moments, we’ve had our fair share of painful ones. Failed football seasons, bouts of rough baseball seasons (throwback to the Disastros), and disappointing basketball seasons have made it difficult to believe that any Houston team is ever capable of winning anything ever.
But being a Houston sports fan is about pride in spite of circumstances. Although we may be down, we’re never out, and this year’s Astros team has been the perfect illustration of that. If you were to look back to just a few years ago (or maybe through much of our franchise history), you would find a team that has racked up a great deal of L’s (except that one time we made it to the World Series in 2005…but even then we lost all the games). We’ve never been “amazing”, and we certainly don’t have that national recognition like the Yankees or the Red Sox. But the thing about being a Houston sports fan is that if you’re a fan, you’re a fan. I can say for myself that I didn’t watch the games that brought the Astros to the postseason, and honestly I haven’t watched much of the Astros in several years. You may call me a fake fan or a bandwagon fan, but I don’t see myself as that because I’ve always loved the ‘Stros. I love Houston, I love our team, and I love what the city and the team represent. I believe in the way our team was built, and I’m proud of the way our team continues to strengthen and grow. To me, a good team is not always represented in how many wins it accrues, but instead in how it gets itself to that winner status. The way the team works and strives to #EarnHistory makes a team worth my fandom.
So, Houston, as this World Series season continues to heat up, let’s cheer louder than we’ve ever cheered and be prouder than we’ve ever been proud. While the road getting to this point has been rough and filled with bumps, and while being a fan has certainly had its emotional toll on us all, we’re finally here and we’re making history. There’s truly never been a better time to believe in our team than now. #GoAstros #EarnHistory