Really hard not to like Matt Cassel.

[WilliamTheIrish]

If sports has become that impersonal for you, that soulless and pointless, nothing more than finding cogs for a machine whose gears you care nothing for, is a sign that this isn't a healthy approach to the sport.

I'm not sure why this would surprise you. Fans don't get the opportunity to know the players in the way they did in previous generations. Players are pretty isolated in every sport now.
And they change teams so often and so quickly that it doesn't pay to get attached. I cheer for the Chiefs uniform. Rarely do I cheer for the player in the jersey anymore. The last jersey I purchased was a Tony G when he was a rookie. If I were to purchase one today it would be an Otis Taylor or a Willie Lanier.

I wasn't always this way, but the entire culture of the game/player has changed significantly over the years. Kinda weird I know, but true. For me at least.