Detaching from the Spurs: Or How Buddhism Helped Me Ignore My Favorite Sports Team

One of the central tenets of Buddhism is it's belief that our suffering in life is caused by attachments. For example, you're attached to the idea of your car starting in the morning and when it doesn't - you suffer. The first step to removing suffering is to recognize suffering can be removed...(for those wondering these are the second and third "Noble Truths" of Buddhism).

Obligatory picture of the Buddha chilling

I came into this NBA season with high hopes. The Spurs looked to me (on paper at least) to be one of the 2-4 teams that could win the title. Boy, was I wrong....(maybe). Their big off season move (obtaining Jefferson for spare change) was a dud. Their improvements in offense was off set by poor defense. Of course there were a few injuries as well. Finally, they would follow up huge wins with inexplicable losses to terrible teams. Needless to say, they were probably pretty frustrating to watch this year.

I honestly wouldn't know though because I stopped watching after the second game.

I think I caught the 4th quarter of 2-3 additional games. That's it. That's all I watched. This is coming from the guy who actually bought the 12 disc "Spurs Dynasty" DVD set (yes, it's cool, and yes, it should have been put together better).

It's not like I purposely set out to detach...I just grew away from it all. We don't have cable, so most of the time it was easy to forget about the NBA almost entirely. I would catch highlights and read the paper but that was about it. Just going with the flow....

As the year has winded down, the Spurs improved, letting in small rays of hope around the Spurs Nation. Surprisingly, Hollinger (over at ESPN) has the spurs ranked #2 due to their point differential. Maybe somewhere in the dark corners of my heart I felt it too, but it wasn't the same....I had detached.

My fandom has given me years of pleasure, but more often than not, it has given me pain. I can never forget the adolescent heartbreak of 91', the crushing conference final slap down in 95' or the beat downs administered by the Lakers in 01' & 02'. Need I mention the worst of the worst? No, real fans know what I speak of.

The Buddha had it right....it's easier just to let go.

So, I sit typing on the eve of the NBA playoffs....feeling calm, serene and pleased to know that sports, while a fun distraction, are not important in the big scheme of things.

Of course, if they beat the Mavs - I'll have to rethink that whole attachment thing again.