Sportsball!
We're Philadelphia sports fans in our house. When my first son was born, I sat by his isolette and apologized for him having to be born into a family of Philadelphia sports fans. I explained that he didn't really have a choice in the matter, and I was very, very sorry for that, but that he was in good company with his dad, his mom, his grandfather, and his uncle. He sadly passed away and never came home from the hospital, so he never had to really experience the pain of being a Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, or Sixers fan. Small mercies, I guess.
When my second son was born about 7 years later, I have a very specific memory of holding him in my arms, and walking around our room in the maternity ward, again apologizing for one of my sons having to grow up a Philadelphia sports fan. I apologized that I couldn't really promise he'd ever feel true joy as a sports fan. That he might not ever see his team win anything of note. That he might grow up, like I did, having his heart broken by a piece of laundry year after year after year.
And then the 2017-18 Eagles happened. My son was barely 4 years old and he got to watch his football team win a Super Bowl (even if he didn't really understand why everyone he loved was yelling and screaming with joy around him). The Phillies went to the World Series in 2022. The Eagles went back to the Super Bowl that year, too. Phillies get back to the NLCS in 2023, win the division in 2024 (we won't discuss what happened against the Mets in the NLDS, thank-you-very-much), and now in 2024-25, the Eagles are back in the Super Bowl.
He's 11. He's seen his football team in 3 league championship games, and his baseball team in the postseason every year for the last 3. I am 45. That means, in 45 years, I've technically seen the Eagles in (counting this upcoming game) 5 Super Bowls (I was something like 1.5 years old for Super Bowl XV) and the Phillies in 5 World Series. (I was a just about 1 year old for the '80 WS win and would've been 4 for the '83 WS loss to the Orioles.)
Again, he's 11 and he's seen his baseball team in the WS once (and almost back the next year) and his football team in the SB 3 times. IN 11 YEARS.
This kid doesn't know how good he has it. He thinks it's supposed to be this way. His teams are supposed to be good. He has no idea.
But hey, maybe some day he's talking to his infant child and he's telling them how great it is to be a Philadelphia sports fan. Wouldn't that be something?