Within seconds, NIU football fans snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Residence halls were either silent or filled with screams of disbelief and obscenity once Akron quarterback Luke Getsy completed a 36-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Domenik Hixon and ended our Huskies’ goal of winning the MAC title. Even after the most dominating performance I’ve seen from an NIU running back since Michael Turner, (Turner’s got nothing on Garrett Wolfe) we still couldn’t win the big game.

With games like these, it’s hard to be a dedicated fan to any team you root for in sports. It’s even harder to be a sports fan in general.

The roller-coaster effect of sports is not for the weak of heart. Just look at the Chicago Bulls. They went from being a dynasty, winning six NBA titles in eight years, to being one of the worst teams in the league. Last year the Bulls went to the playoffs for the first time since 1998, the last time they won an NBA title.

The Chicago Bears’ only Super Bowl appearance was in 1986, when they mauled the New England Patriots. According to www.superbowl.com, the last time the Bears won a playoff game was almost 12 years ago, against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears last playoff appearance was in 2001 against former Mt. Carmel quarterback Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles (pre-Terrell Owens). And of course, let’s not forget our Chicago White Sox recently winning their first World Series this fall since 1917 (their last appearance was in 1959). Don’t worry Cubs fans, next year our team will be in the hunt again.

All of these teams have one thing in common. They all have broken their fans’ hearts by getting so close, yet so far. The numerous seasons of reconstructing the team due to salary cap issues or bad coaching or just bad play on the field or bad decisions off the court can be disheartening. I talked to a diehard San Francisco 49ers fan at NIU to get a different perspective of this issue.

“The 49ers are the greatest franchise in the history of the NFL,” said Marquis Pittman, a junior finance major. The 49ers were proclaimed the team of the 1980s as they won four Super Bowls during that decade. They also won the Lombardi Trophy a fifth time in 1994, when Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young threw for 325 yards and six touchdowns in the Super Bowl. Even though the 49ers are not as great now as they were in their glory years, Pittman still feels like the 49ers are a “good football team right now.”

“[Quarterback] Alex Smith is just not a good player,” he said.

Even though our Huskies fell apart in the closing two minutes of the MAC Championship game, we still had a great season with a good team. Sometimes sports can mirror life.

As finals week begins today, maybe some of us teetering between a “good” grade and a “bad” one, should have the heart of some of our favorite teams. Even though the Bears franchise has had its bad spots since 1985-86, our team is on an eight-game winning streak. The Cubs have been competitive every year for years now, the Bulls have a good, young team making waves in the NBA, and the White Sox have re-signed Paul Konerko.

Despite the past, the franchises have refused to give up and have their sights set high. Readers, some of you may have had a rocky semester and are bordering on either great or poor grades.

Don’t give up. Study hard, put in the best effort. Who knows? Maybe you’ll pull out it in the clutch like Michael Jordan did in Game Six of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. If not, hey, there’s always next year (or semester).

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.