Team as Nation, Team as Destiny

"Your team is a nation and on game day your nation is at war. That's what my father understood when he tried to dissuade me from following the Cubs. He believed that a Cubs fan will come to accept defeat as the inevitable end of all earthly endeavors. A Cubs fan is fatalistic: he rends his garments and cries, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! The ultimate implication of my father's words was left unstated: a Cubs fan has a greater likelihood of leading an unfulfilled life. Pick your team carefully, because your team is your destiny" (Rich Cohen, Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, 11-12).