winning deoderant

My job forces me to become engrossed in sports. I've always loved sports so this isn't necessarily a problem. However, I have a few teams that I support more than others and my job sometimes prevents me from following them as much as I would like. The US Women's National soccer team and the Tennessee women's basketball teams are probably my favorite. At different points in my life I could probably recite both rosters with number, hometown, height, etc. My old roommate Stacy used to call me and quiz me on player birthdays. Not stalking... just dedicated! You could almost name a league and I'd have a team. I'm more committed to some than others, but I love watching games live.

For the past three years I've watched more Methodist athletic events than any other team. People come and go... many who are looking for a place to vent. I even acquired a couch for the office last year so I feel even more therapeutic! After one of our teams who had been really successful for the last few years had a losing season last year, my athletic director and I were talking about some of the inner team problems they were having. He mentioned that he always said "winning is a deoderant." When teams start losing, things start to stink. Most teams have some kind of drama... stereotypically women are famous for it, but I think he's right. Drama on winning teams seems to get swept under the rug. Players and coaches are able to let it go or write it off as long as the team is doing well. On the other hand a team facing losses on the field/court/track/etc. is attacking any and every problem in an attempt to fix the culprit leading to their struggles. 

I'm not sure this is anything worth fixing. Do you dig up the dirt when a team is winning at the risk of messing up the success or do you let the drama go when you're losing in an effort to just ride it out? I have such an interest in sport sociology and why and how teams and/or groups of people react to sport within the context of our culture.

Either way, winning helps me in my profession. I'd much rather write about wins than losses. Not to mention, everyone is happier in my office!