lolol. Fair enough. And (1) is probably the best coping mechanism around for dealing with their recent form tbh. I personally find it impossible to engage in any sort of sports fandom outside of my specific areas of interest. For example, with football, I find it impossible to engage with anything that doesn't directly involve either Real Madrid or the Spanish national team. I know a lot of people who can separate fandom in a sort of fic writing/reading sense from the actual sport, which is a skill I greatly admire because I cannot do it.

My current Griffin Reinhart feelings can be best summed up as follows: don't leave us, Captain! ;_________; But seriously, he is an amazing defenceman and a great leader for our team. I'm pretty sure he is/was super well liked in our room, and when I've had the chance to interact with him (not something I enjoy doing tbh but my sister does, and the Oil Kings habitually do autograph signings for their fans), he was unfailingly polite. And really great with the kids. Also, he is really fucking tall, which may partially just be perception on my part because I am not very tall, but yeah. I have a very vivid recollection of seeing him in his walking boot last spring in a terrible, plaid suit and thinking, holy shit, that kid is tall. (Also, could I sound any more like a creeper? I promise, I am not.)

Ah, that's super interesting to me tbh because my sister basically interacts with fandom in the same way I do, so I spend a lot of time shouting across our apartment about stuff. And she puts up with watching sporting events with me, which can be a trying task.