Lots of time for thoughts right now

Pmc here (yes I'm still alive despite very little written evidence in the form of blog posts recently...)  I -obviously- don't write very often, which means that when I do I tend to wax philosophic and try my best to make this count for about 3 months worth of posts! (Sneaky, right?)
Just like every other week of my life, this week has been unlike any other...  It started off with some bad news: (See Atec's post about LAME car criminal mischief)  Then there were a couple of good chapters... on Tuesday I made a couple pots of my personal recipe chili for a competition sponsored by a local radio station.  I won this round and advanced to the finals in a couple of weeks. I'm excited to know that my chili recipe is good enough to win a competition, and I'm super hopeful that I'll win the grand prize - a $500 gift card and a trip to a Utah football game!
Also, Thanksgiving day was perfect.  I had fun playing in a local 'Turkey Bowl', then coming home to be with my family and making the rolls for a splendid dinner with some of my extended family.  Dinner was even better than usual, and the night ended with some games and a good night's sleep.  (Which marks the last night in which I slept well...) Which brings me to the next piece of bad news: The Utes' football loss to the lowly Colorado Buffaloes. It was a disaster. Cold. Windy.  Ugly.  It's literally been the first football game which I've lost sleep over; each night since I've awoken with the game on my mind and it's taken me at least 30 minutes to fall back asleep.  What's wrong with me!!??!!
All of this led me to do some pondering over the last 36 hours as we spent time up at my family's cabin in the mountains East of SLC and came back home last night.  I've known for a long time that sports, especially University of Utah sports, mean more to me than they probably should.  What I'm trying to figure out now is, why do they mean so much, and how can I change it?  I don't think it's unhealthy, I just want it to be more... uh, more manageable!?!?
This time spent in thought lately has been good for me.  I've realized that most of the time I know I'm a wonderful guy in a lot of ways.  (Humble, I know.)  But there are moments almost every day that I honestly struggle to feel good about myself, and I think the best way for me to feel better about myself as a whole is to adjust some of the little things - like caring a little too much about sports- which are holding me back.  There's nothing big and glaring, but the accumulation of small deficiencies can be as bad as one big obvious flaw.  Life isn't about perfection, but improvement.  I'm enthused and slightly terrified at the opportunities I have right now to improve and I'm actually grateful that my eyes have been profoundly opened to some specific changes I can make. Carpe Diem!