It's the return of This (Non) Sporting Life, a blog post about sports written by a guy who knows little about sports.
Two days ago was the 2nd meeting of the North Carolina Tarheels and the Duke Blue Devils. I am of course referring to the men's collegiate basketball.
We should care about women's collegiate basketball but we do not.
Other sports played between Carolina and Duke include Football, Soccer, Baseball, Lacrosse and we really do not care.
It's the rivalry of the men's collegiate basketball teams that illicit excitement here in the Fortress of Ineptitude.
Or at least part of it.
The Fortress is ostensibly a house divided. My wife Andrea is a North Carolina fan. It's a fandom she was born into, running it's course through generations of her family. Her parents were Carolina fans as were her grandparents, her brother, her various aunt, uncles and cousins. It is a fandom that took root in her life in her childhood. It is a fandom that runs long and deep in the fabric of her family history. Andrea is a North Carolina fan as a matter of a lifetime commitment and matter of generational family pride.
I am a fan of Duke because I prefer the color dark blue.
Yep, that's pretty much it.
I'm just not big on light blue. Never been my thing. I've had some light blue dress shirts that paired well with black or dark blue suits but really, I'm more of a navy blue kinda guy than a pale blue.
So my passions do not run so deep.
Which is probably a good thing because Duke has not fared well against Carolina this year, losing both of their match ups.
Andrea responded to Carolina's latest victory over Duke with relief. Seriously, she was so stressed out over the game like for days leading up to it. Wait, does she have money riding on this? Am I going to be threatened if Andrea can't pay up money to an angry bookie if she loses?
Well, no worries, Carolina won and she greeted their victory with joy, happiness and the pride that can only come from a lifetime of fan commitment.
My reaction to Duke's loss was nonchalance.
Duke lost and that kinda sucks. Too bad.
I'm nonchalant.
Maybe I should put more emotion into my response to my team's loss?
Hold! Is that a dagger I see before me?
Should I take it's sharp and silver blade
and cut out my own heart?
And plunge my dying soul
into the desperate darkness of my nonchalance!
Is that better?
After nearly 40 years later I'm still a Duke fan because I like dark blue better than light blue. I'm the fan of a team based on a whim! What more do you want from me?
If you think that's a stupid reason to be part of a sports fandom, well, you know my response to that.
Nonchalance.
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