Infertility is exactly the same as being a Michigan State fan

Okay, a bit of an odd post follows, and I expect the majority of the readers of this blog to be less than interested. I am a Michigan State University alumni, and have been a fan of MSU athletics for as long as I can remember. The life of an MSU sports fan is a difficult one. Here's a few zingers for any of you who might be familiar:

• 9/28/2005: MSU football blows 27-10 lead over the University of Michigan with 8:34 left in the 4th quarter. This is the most painful loss I have ever seen. The only positive thing about this loss is that for the rest of my life, I will never be as disappointed by a loss as I was by this one. It is still painful just to think about.


• 9/23/2006: Almost a year later, MSU football blows 17 halftime lead to Notre Dame, in a torrential downpour which should have immobilized Brady Quinn and ND's passing game. Having lived through the debacle against Michigan one year earlier, this one wasn't so bad.


• 3/15/2008: MSU basketball blows 9 point lead with 6 minutes remaining against Wisconsin in Big Ten Tournament. Painful, because Wisconsin has owned MSU since Bo Ryan took over as coach.

I could elaborate on dozens of other small, but disappointing letdowns, but I'm not feeling particularly masochistic today. While there have been disappointments, there have been some extreme highs as well, including a national basketball championship in 2000 (while I was attending MSU), a Citrus Bowl victory in 2000 (over U. of Florida, who I HATE), a Final Four in 2004 and what seems to be an emerging football program under promising new football coach (Mark Dantonio) If you distill it down, being an MSU fan consists of the following:

• High expectations


• Crushing disappointments


• Ever-present hope that better days are coming


• Occasional high points


• Constant jeering by pricks from the University of Michigan (where I got my masters, FYI) that MSU is a sub-par school

Now, if you compare this to infertility, you find a lot of parallels. Each month/cycle (season) is greeted with a fresh sense of optimism. When you get to the end of the month (game) you sometimes find a period that comes a day or two late (like a 17 point halftime lead) elevating your hopes only to have them crushed by spotting a few days later (2 interceptions leading to touchdowns in the 4th quarter) and ultimately flow a day after that (the clock runs out and MSU has blown the game) Then, you deal with the crushing effects of your high hopes being destroyed by the resulting loss. While this happens, you hear about all of your friends and family who have recently conceived, or delivered a baby (University of Michigan fans)

Consider coaching: If you've read this blog you know that my wife and I originally worked with Dr. S (equivalent to MSU's former coach John L. Smith, an overpaid crackpot of a man who was completely ineffective at doing his job) Dr. S recommended pursuing directly to IVF (Spread Offense) bypassing the more traditional routes of diagnosing and treating infertility (establishing the run) Having no success with such drastic measures, my wife and I "fired" Dr. S (MSU fires John L. Smith), and "hired" Dr. M, who proposes a much more thorough, traditional and disciplined approach to treating infertility (much like MSU's Mark Dantonio has taken MSU football back to basics)

Needless to say, our hopes are ever-present, and we have faith in our new Doctor (coach).

This post was prompted by the fact that MSU basketball takes on Memphis in the sweet 16 tonight at 10:00 p.m. I will be up late, and hopefully my perseverance as an MSU fan will be rewarded with a victory.

FYI - my wife will ovulate any day now, so we're doing a lot of sex these days ... have a good weekend.