Don't Go Breakin' My Heart...

I'M going to put it all on the line here. Lay my heart out for those that aren't aware, perhaps didn't pick up on various mentions around the place.
It's tough. I've been hurt before. So many times I've thought "this is it", only to be thwarted at the very end by men whose sole purpose in life is to go around hurting men like me. So many chances, so little success... and yet there have been times when life just couldn't seem to get any better: those moments where time stands still, where everyone is slapping your back in congratulations, where it just doesn't get any better.
So here goes:

I SUPPORT THE NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS, AND I REALLY HOPE THEY WIN THE NRL GRAND FINAL!

Yes, the former laughing stock of rugby league are a mere 80 minutes of very good football away from erasing the pain of the past year. Pain so bad, that I'm not sure what I'll do if the Cowboys get done (especially if it's with 30 seconds to go. That's about the time that I pull out the .22 and shoot the tv).
Let's go over this year of pain for a fairly typical Queenslander:

1. Queensland Bulls host both domestic cricket finals. And lose them.
This was even worse than last season, when in the Pura Cup final they had to content with a Victorian team playing at home and still grieving the loss of coach David Hookes earlier that year.
This year the Bulls played Tasmania in the ING Cup final at the Gabba. The Bulls were expected to win, but despite a Jimmy Maher century Tassie's batsmen were too good on the day.
In the Pura Cup final Queensland played arch-rivals NSW. Twice they looked like getting flogged: firstly when NSW bowled them out for 102 in their first innings, and secondly when NSW reached 4/158 chasing 183. The Bulls clawed back, only for Wade Seccombe to drop a chance off Nathan Bracken with NSW just short of their target. The Blues won.

2. Queensland hosts two Origin matches. And loses the second one to lose the series.
This hurt. At 19-0 up in the first match everything was going to plan, only for bloody NSW to lead 20-19 with fuck-all to go. Jonathan Thurston kicked a field goal to take it into golden point, and Matt Bowen took an intercept to give Queensland the lead.
NSW won a fairly tight second match in Sydney, then came out in the third and flogged us. Really brought out the whip. They whipped us so bad it wasn't just the jerseys that were maroon: our backs (and backsides) were a similar colour from excessive flogging. To make it worse, the match was at Lang Park. Ouch.

3. Australia wins the First Ashes Test. And loses the series.
Fair dinkum, this had to be the banker didn't it? Australia hadn't lost an Ashes series since 1986/87, and had just come off a rather successful domestic season and tour of New Zealand.
After eventually winning the First Test at Lord's comfortably, it all went downhill. Glenn McGrath trod on a ball and was ruled out just before the start of the Second Test, Ricky Ponting sent England into bat on a road, Jason Gillespie bowled tripe, Brett Lee was good in patches but still doesn't use his head when bowling all that often, and none of the batsmen really got going.
All through this Shane Warne was like the single sane man in the asylum, trying his damndest to stave off the inevitable. Now we have to listen to gloating Poms for the next few years (remember, they lost 1-0 to Northern Ireland and 3-1 to us. It tends to shut them up).

So folks, you can see why I'm a little bit hesitant about putting too much hope in NQ this Sunday. I hope against hope that my heart won't be broken again; alas, all I can see is another round of phonecalls from gloating friends.