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Hi, my name is Collin Hansen, and I'm a Kansas City Royals fan. I just can't help it, and I'm not even from Kansas or Missouri. But my local radio station growing up carried their games. In my greatest act of youthful rebellion, I backed the Royals against their rivals and my family's favorites, the Minnesota Twins. I collected as many George Brett baseball cards as I could find. Royal blue became my favorite color.

The franchise has fallen on much harder times than during Brett's heyday. Actually, for as long as I can remember, the Royals haven't won anything (I wasn't old enough to follow their 1985 World Series championship, and they have not returned to the playoffs since). And yet, I listen to most of their games and follow their minor-league prospects. I flew to Kansas City last year just to catch a weekend series. My wife once called Royals broadcasts the "soundtrack of our marriage." That was 2003, when the Royals actually won more than half their games (for the first time in 10 years). My wife and I don't have that problem anymore, probably because I can no longer stand the losing by late July.

Despite all the foreboding history, I can't help but look forward to opening day on April 3. I should know better. The Royals have no hope. This offseason they added some aging, declining veterans and will pair them on the field with unproven, inconsistent youth. Even their best young pitcher recently left the team after a fight with the manager. They compete in a division with last year's World Series champion Chicago White Sox and the up-and-coming Cleveland Indians. Best-case scenario, the Royals will still lose 90 games, against only 72 wins.

But dedicated fans know they cannot in good conscience ditch their team during the valleys and fully celebrate the peaks that may come. Fans of the last two World Series champions—the Sox Red and White—celebrated with such gusto precisely because their teams hadn't won it all in nearly a century. My mind tells me I can stop caring and wait for the bandwagon some day, but my heart won't let me. The life of a dedicated fan requires loyalty, perseverance, and fortitude.

If this is true, being a fan somewhat resembles a relationship with God. Indeed, there is no character without perseverance (Rom. 5:3-4). In my own little sports world, I feel like the baseball Job. Like Job did with God, I yell at the Royals players, and I wish I had never grown up a Royals fan. My wife tells me to give up and turn off the game. My friends blame me, because I could have picked the Twins—the Royals are my own fault. I cry out, "A Royals fan I came from my mother's womb, and a Royals fan I will depart; the Lord giveth and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." I can only hope the Lord will giveth some day, as he eventually did with Job.

Collin Hansen is an associate editor of Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Other Play Ball columns include:

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Punches, Smashes, and Bombs | Boxing gives us a window into the violence inherent in all sports. By Mark Galli (Nov. 11, 2006)

Should We Ban Boxing? | The usual arguments against the "sweet science" cut many ways. By Mark Galli (Oct. 28, 2005)

Something Noble and Good | Professional sports is often boring, but real sports is not. By Mark Galli (May 13, 2005)

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