How to Cope when Your Favorite Sports Team Loses

Watching your favorite team win can make you excited and fulfilled. What about when they lose??? This obviously can be a tough situation to handle. Losing is part of sports, no one can escape from this! Learning how to handle the losses is an important part of being a fan.

^{Sad football fan}

Here are several ways to handle losses as a fan:

• Acknowledge your feelings

If you are angry or upset about your team losing, don’t pretend otherwise. Give yourself a chance to vent a little, or at least be disappointed. Keep control, because it’s only a game. Avoid stirring up fights or let your anger lead you to a destructible behaviour.

• Talk to other fans

Sports are a great way to associate with others. Even if you are watching alone at home, there are other people out there enjoying the game too. Call or chat up your friends who are also fans to let off steam and cope with the disappointment of a losing team. If you are going to suffer, it is better to do so with other fans.

• Have something to eat

Food can be a great comfort when faced with disappointment, including watching your team lose. Just make sure to eat healthy if you can. People tend to reach for sweets and other unhealthy foods when dealing with a loss. This is not advisable. Eat healthy foods so that you aren’t tempted to gain more weight because of a defeat.

• Turn off the TV

If you are watching the game, and your team loses, you don’t have to wallow in your disappointment. Turn off the television and do something else. Find another activity to take your mind off of the result. Do something that has nothing to do with the team or game you just watched. Read a book, or cook something, etc

• Get a little exercise

Exercise can be a good way to get rid of the frustration of watching your team loses. A few push-ups, or a quick jog, can help work off your stress and disappointment. It can also give you an energy boost and take off further anxiety over your team’s performance.

• Stay loyal to your team

One loss shouldn’t be enough to drive you from supporting your team. Staying loyal after a loss, can give you a great psychological boost. Also, sticking it out through the bad times will make you feel better when your team does win the big one.

• Remember the good times

No team loses all the time. To get over a big defeat, think about your team’s good times. Remember great comebacks, championships, etc. If you’ve watched your team before this game, there will be some moments you can look back on fondly.

• Be prepared to deal with banters from other fans

Taunting, insults, and banter are parts of the sports fan experience, and you’ll certainly be a target after losing. Rather than being surprised when it happens, be prepared to handle it appropriately. Banters from opposing fans can be ignored, laugh it off, or just walk away. Don’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to you.

• Be optimistic

The great thing about sports is that there will always be another game. Another game means another chance to win. Instead of dwelling on the game your team lost today, think about the game they could win next time! A loss can even be helpful to your team’s future performance.