The great thing about sports is the way they make you feel. For diehard fans, moods are determined by outcomes of sporting events. A victory lifts you beyond the point of elation to a kind of happiness you only dreamt about. A crushing defeat stays with you for weeks, rendering you a bit more fragile and even more determined the following year. We experience both of these moods, and everything in between, several times a month, the constant flip flopping something we've come to expect and as some would admit - it's what we've become addicted to. It's our nicotine, our caffeine; it keeps us coming back year after year. We suffer through the Game 7 losses and the devastating injuries, secretly enjoying the knowledge that all of the bruises and bandages will only make the victories that much sweeter.

Currently, sports excitement is at a bit of a lull. Baseball is on vacation, the NHL is locked out, basketball is reeling from yet another disappointment, the NFL's product is disintegrating each and every year thanks to parity, and my 10-1 football team is halfway across the country and rarely shown on national tv here in Dallas. If not for the constant stream of DVDs, books, and magazines released in the wake of the Red Sox Championship season, I'd be in serious sports withdrawal. As it is, I'm miserable about the lack of hockey, trying desperately to fall in love with the current incarnation of the Sixers, and praying that the Eagles extend this season as long as possible. Day in and day out, I find myself wondering if it is April yet.

And then, today, I am reminded of what it is I love most about sports. The emotion, the up and down, the roller coaster ride that no other pastime can provide.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I read a post on SoSH from John Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox. This is what ownership should be. This is what every fanbase deserves. Tears of thanks are being shed all over New England today. Red Sox Nation, we are incredibly lucky.

Thirty minutes later, I found a series of articles in the Philadelphia Daily News regarding the current state of sports in the city. While I find it hard to believe myself, I realize that most of you are not haunted daily by this fact, and in fact probably aren't even aware of it, so let me point out that no city with 4 major sports teams has gone longer without a championship than Philadelphia. Stan Hochman of the Daily News takes a look at each of the teams and examines why:

Flyers Eagles Sixers Phillies

A kick to the crotch would surely hurt less than the simple facts laid out by those 4 articles. Yes, Philadelphia is a frustrated city. But as I go back and read John Henry's message to the Red Sox fans who have finally been rewarded after decades of heartbreak, a smile creeps onto my face. Someday, all of this will be worth it.

I can't wait.