Fandom: Are the highs higher than the lows are low?

The high of a big win (ex: winning UTL/2, beating Ohio, etc) are of a higher magnitude for me than the low of an awful loss. I find that after a game ends, if it didn't go the way I wanted, I can move on with my life pretty quickly. Too much stuff to do in real life to get bogged down by sporting mishaps.

Yes. That is how sports work. 

It's hard for me to compare the lows to the highs, because in my mind 1997 was the high of all highs. I was only 9 years old then, so it's difficult to say if it would be similar now. In the end, though, I think that's what fandom comes down to: you suffer through the years in anticipation of that one glorious season. And when it comes, it is that much more special.

I definitely lived in the house that is your avatar. Greenwood right?

In a weird way, games like Akron and UConn are a blessing for me and my stress levels. I know now that I won't spend hours a week reading every article I can find on Michigan football and I won't work myself into a state of delerium by Saturday gametime.

My MGoSPORTS. shirt suggests the highs are roughly as high as the lows are low.

Happiness or sadness derives from results as compared to expectations.  If you were expecting your team to go 5-7 and they went to a bowl instead you'll be happy.  If you expected them to win the conference and go to a BCS game, and they win the conference and lose a BCS game, you'll probably be fairly neutral.

For fans of teams that have perennial high expectations (Michigan football, Red Wings hockey, Lakers basketball, Yankees baseball...) often there is the possibility of crushing failure but no offsetting chance for soaring victory.  When's the last time Michigan won a "stunning upset"?  Hard to do when you're favored or at least even money in almost every game you play.  A lot of games are emotional no-win scenarios for us.  Games we're supposed to win.  If we lose, we're crushed.  If we win by a little, we're stressed.  If we win by a lot it's mildly pleasing, but mostly we just did what we were supposed to do.

So, for me at least, I would say the lows do indeed outweigh the highs.  Ask me again if we knock off an undefeated Ohio State at the end of the year and maybe I'll give you a different answer, I guess.

I guess I remember the lows more vividly but I'd have to say I enjoy the highs more than I hated the lows. For example....

I remember the Rose Bowl screw jobs by the refs in the 70's a lot more than the wins in the 80's.

I remember the 1973 & 74 OSU games a lot more than the win in 1976.

I remember Chris Weber's time out a lot more than Rumeal hitting both ends of the one-and-one

The great thing about sports is there's always next season.  Even if this season deteriorates into a nuclear disaster (which having watched enough seasons of Michigan football I'm pretty confident that won't happen), you can at least be comforted in knowing that we should (hopefully) be better next year after all these young players get some valuable game experience.

...that this team plays to the level of the competition. We'll soon find out!

For the Michigan fans that I am exposed to it seems as though a win offers a sigh of relief as to not have to experience days of anguish after a loss. Everyone needs an outlet of some sorts. In our society sports seem to be the most prevalent of the bunch. It also enables people to be able to complain about something, even though the ones who complain the most are the ones who have real life problems they don't feel comfortable expressing, so they can get out their frustration of their real life in a more appropriate arena. It just sounds like a bunch of babies crying to me, though.

The highs definitely last a lot longer. 

When we win a big game, bowl, or title, I'm happy for days at a time.

When we lose, pretty much regardless of the outcome, I'm over it in an hour or two.

Sad that a UConn game forces us into existential crises.

I saw my first game in 1960.  I have started so many years with optimism, only to see "inexplicable" losses as the season progressed.  The losses used to crush me.  Now, it's just something else that I've already experienced many times before.

Now, I expect 9-3 and a 50-50 chance in the bowl game depending on opponent.  Anything more, such as a Big Ten Championship Game berth, is "bonus points."  Anything less means trying not to be affected by all of the "Michigan fans" who want to fire various coaches.

Sports like anything else in life will be processed by the observer/participant as he generally processes events.  An optimistic-upbeat person will enjoy the highs more than the lows and be hopeful for future events.  A pessimist will mull around in the what could have beens and generally worry about what is about to go wrong.  As a pessimist, I tend to most vividly remember the worst (Appy State), bitch about what is currently wrong (O-line, D-line, Gardner turnover machine), and worry about the future (OMG are we going to lose recruits now because we cant blowout shit teams). 

I find that the gestalt of being at a game is enough of a great experience (stadium, other fans, band, etc.) that it outweighs a bad game or loss. By the time I get home, I'm over it.

And a win in the stadium is more fun, for some reason. Maybe it's being with 115,000 other fans, cheering, etc. Even walking out of the stadium with the other fans, talking about the game, being in Ann Arbor, etc., seems to make a difference after a win or a loss.

But watching a bad game or loss on TV lingers for days, and a win seems more like a confirmation of a belief than something to be joyful about.

While it's a lot less hassle to turn on the TV than to go to a game, there's something to be said for how being at the game affects the emotions.

It's worth considering, in any case.

fandom to having to take a dump. When you have a sports "low" its terrible feeling of having to let one loose NOW but knowing you can't. The high, however, is like the feeling I get for minutes after I finally crap; its the pleasure that is euphoric from NOT feeling the pain anymore. 

I share the OP's pain.....the last two weekends have been dreadful.  What bothers me the most is after having dealt with the RichRod years and thinking the pain was behind us, this team, in spite of being 4-0, seems disappointing.  In year three of the Hoke era, I was expecting something more out of Devin.

I appreciate that the youth movement, particularly on the O-line, has its problems, but with the level of talent that we, in theory at least, are recruiting, I would have thought that we are further along.  It is not a sin to lose to a good team, but to barely beat Akron?  Connecticut?

No f...ing way.

I still give the games the power to lift me up but I no longer give them the power to take me low. I watch the games now completely detached emotionally until they do something good. When they are struggling or being outperformed I look for signs that they really want it. If they don't realy want it, I am able to move on immediately. My observation is that this team has a ton of potential. They really want it.

They're a headcase, though. Hopefully, Hoke figures out how to light the fire.

Now I would say yes, but when I was a teenager I probably would have disagreed.  The '93 Final Four (when I was in middle school) cut me like a knife, and then when C-Webb went pro, breaking up the Fab Five that didn't help.  I don't know if I've had a high quite as high as that one was low.  The '97 PSU football game was probably the best I've ever felt about Michigan football, but I don't know if it affected me quite as much.

Now I can get over losses more easily.  I was a little bummed about the Louisville loss, especially after we had that 12-point lead, but it definitely didn't hit me anywhere near as hard as the '93 one did, and the joy of getting that far outweighed it easily.

It's all a matter of perspective.  When I was in high school (mid to late 70s) one of my older brother's friends said something that made me examine how I reacted after games, especially losses.  It was at a New Year's Eve party and he said something to the effect that he couldn't wait to see the Michigan fans crying after another bowl game loss.  Yes, it was a douchey thing to say, and he wasn't talking about me specifically (or anyone I knew), but it did make me think about the importance of a win or a loss in the scheme of things.

Last night, I found myself switching over to the Tigers game without even thinking twice about it. There was a long time when I wouldn't even think of doing anything but isolating myself to a Michigan Football tunnel-vision. After a lifetime as a Michigan fan and four years of being a student, I'm finding myself a bit worn out. It's true, the highs just aren't as high for me anymore, and the Rodriguez era broke me of getting hopelessly despondent after a loss. It's becoming just a game for me. And I think that's OK.