Sorry NBC, but I won’t be watching your new sports network for at least a couple of months. After the Cowboys were eliminated on the eve of the network’s debut, my Netflix heavy, sports-hibernation-hiatus officially began. See you in March.

At halftime of last night’s game, my wife asked me if the pending Cowboys loss would cripple me in the same way the Rangers collapse haunted my November. I quickly and confidently said, “no”. I can also safely say that a parade featuring Tony Romo and the Lombardi Trophy wouldn’t satisfy me in the same way that a Rangers championship would fulfill me.

The NFL is by all accounts the most popular sports league in America. Millions of Americans watch out of town games on Sunday and Monday nights, play fantasy football, and talk about rushing yardage at water coolers. The breakneck growth in the popularity of the sport in recent years has led many people consider football to be the “New National Pastime”.

I disagree. Maybe it’s a combination of jealousy and bitterness – after all, baseball is my favorite sport. I just think that my contrasting reactions to the recent failures of my favorite teams, the Rangers and Cowboys, aren’t unique to me. I think the varying intensities of my feelings are common among true fans of both sports.

Make no mistake, I love football. I played varsity in high school and faithfully watch every Sunday. The Giants have overtaken the Eagles as my least favorite team and I hate to see them win anything. I just can’t envision my NFL fandom ever matching the emotional peaks and troughs I experience during the course of a baseball season. I guess it makes sense. Sixteen is less than 162, and I’ve probably spent more hours watching the Rangers in the last two years than I have ever spent watching the Cowboys. And I watch all of their games. I’ve simply invested a substantially greater amount of time and emotion in baseball over the years.

What is a Fan?

Walk down the street and ask ten people to name their favorite sport. Most will probably say football. Does that make it more popular than baseball? Maybe. But if you ask the same group to name the sport they’ve spent the most time watching, and sum the totals, you might get a totally different answer. For instance, my mother-in-law would tell you that her favorite sport is football, and yet I think she would have been pleased if the lockout had cancelled the season.

Measuring the comparative popularity of sports is as difficult as naming the respective best player. There are a number of stats to consider, some better than others, but debates are never-ending as there is no perfect tool to find the answer. In the end, you often have to go with your gut instinct. Mine tells me that baseball is still the National Pastime.

The good news is that I was able to get out of bed at a reasonable hour this morning, and that I’m only mildly depressed by the outcome of last night’s game. The bad news is that a Cowboys victory wouldn’t have left me as ecstatic as I was following game five of the World Series or any of the Rangers recent playoff victories. And that will probably never change.