The agony of defeat

My beloved Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the playoffs last night, and I am feeling rather blue.

Your man may go through a similar rough patch whenever his team gets knocked out, and though you may be tempted to tell him to get over it, that it's just a game, try to go easy on him.

You see, having your team eliminated evokes the same feelings as being dumped.

First, you're in shock: This can't be happening, you think. You go to bed miserable, wishing it would all go away. A tear or two may be shed.

The next day you wake up feeling awful, but it takes you a minute to remember why.

Over the next few days or weeks, depending on the severity of the heartache, you go over every little thing in painstaking detail. You listen to reports, read blogs, watch interviews with key players and analysts. You ask yourself some tough questions: Why did this happen? Were there signs? Should I have seen this coming? You cry to your friends: I thought this was meant to be!

Eventually the pain dulls, though some heartbreaks never truly go away. But luckily in sports, as in life, there are always more fish in the sea. As we all know, the fastest way to get over an ex is to find a hot new love. So while my relationship with the Canucks may be stone cold, things are just heating up with my baseball team. And this year, I know I can look forward to a summer fling with an exotic stranger: the World Cup of soccer is set to begin in June.