Heartwarming sporting defeats are rare these days.
If his first, Original Pirate Material, cast this "45th generation Roman" as a bit of a geezer – while also being hailed as the best album of the 00s in a poll in this newspaper – its successor, A Grand Don't Come for Free, turned him into public property, with a No 1 single in "Dry Your Eyes" that was quickly used to soundtrack serial English sporting defeats.
Ironically for Sporting, this defeat came at a time when the early season personnel strain of suspensions, injuries and international duty had largely lifted from their defence, so there were few excuses for how they fell apart.
Hull manager Steve Bruce was sporting in defeat: "Southampton were going to be everybody's whipping boys this season apparently, but they've bought well and the manager needs a pat on the back.
McIlroy, 25, may not be used to coming second, but he was sporting in defeat, exchanging good wishes with the F1 driver and hinting he would attend a grand prix to see him early next year.
There's no science attached to it: this is sport, defeat happens and Saracens deserved their win on the day.
Perhaps, in the context of a sports defeat, the more appropriate word might be morale, because performing well or nobly in defeat can boost the spirits of participants and their fans.
Alex Edmans, of London Business School, says the emotion around a nation's sports defeat can hit its stock market.
Do you tend to reach for a caloric pick-me-up after a sports defeat?
In other matches, the New England Revolution downed the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1, Sporting Kansas City defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-2, the Chicago Fire drew 2-2 with DC United and the Montreal Impact and Philadelphia Union played out a 1-1 draw.
