Sports will break your heart.

I’m writing this prior to the Jan. 16-17 playoff games but wanted to talk about both the Texas-Alabama NCAA championship game and the extraordinary battle between the Packers and the Cardinals in their NFL wildcard matchup.


Both are perfect examples of why we love sports, and why sports will break your heart.


As for the Texas game, the strategy was obvious. Stop the Tide, and get the ball to Colt McCoy. It worked for two minutes until McCoy was sacked on only his fifth play of the game, which he left with a limp throwing arm. He never returned. Fifty-eight minutes left on the clock. So much for that idea. In comes Garrett Gilbert, true freshman and thoroughly unprepared.


But the Longhorns battled back to get within three points. There was hope, right up until the ‘Bama “D” got to Gilbert, who was sacked and fumbled the ball. Then, the Tide “rolled” into the end zone and that was that. But Gilbert, the most highly recruited high school QB in the country, showed grit. There’s much to feel good about in Austin.


Then, watching the offensive free-for-all between Green Bay and Arizona, it looked like the Pack was out of it early. Proof again that you should never leave a game before it’s over.


The Pack battled back, and after a missed chip shot field goal by Arizona’s placekicker, the game tied up at 45-45 and went into overtime. The Packers got the ball and began their drive. Put another brat on the grill!


Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is good, very good, especially making plays when everything around him is falling apart. Early in overtime, he made a simple three-step drop but held on to the ball too long, perhaps expecting to make magic one more time. He ran out of rabbits up his jersey.


Just like the Texas QB, Rodgers got hit, lost the ball and Arizona ran it in for the game-winning touchdown.


The emotions for both games ran the full gamut, and if fans have fingernails left from either game, I’d be surprised.


But in sports, one team has to win and the other has to lose. Texas and Green Bay fans had their hearts broken.


But the nice thing about sports is that both those teams will be back next year, likely to break a few more hearts, and both are hoping it’s the hearts of their opponents.


For you non-sports lovers, this is why those of us are so passionate about sports, because it’s so full of passion.


And heartbreak.


-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.