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Sunday, November 19, 2006

The end zone

Watching the game was supposed to be stress-relief for both Jude and I. Isn't sports supposed to be relaxing and fun? Shouldn't it allow you to take a break from the frantic cardiac palpitations that already plague the other 15 waking hours of a grad student's life? Apparently not- those three hours were instead nail-bitingly, nerve-wreckingly anxiety-ridden. Everytime we thought Michigan had control of the game, Ohio came back with an even better play, and in the end, it seemed clear that the Buckeyes were the better team (or so I was told of course- I just cheered whenever everyone else was squealing, and dutifully boo-ed on command...). With 19 seconds left to the game, we resigned ourselves to second place with a infinitesimally narrow score of 39- 42. And this was despite a momentarily euphoric touchdown in the last 2 minutes... :(

I can see how supporting a professional sport- even at the college level can consume you. It was intoxicating enough even without quite understanding what was going on. Kinda like when my family used to watch soccer when Singapore was still in the Malaysia Cup (the intoxicating part I mean, not the lack of understanding...). So Mr. Petersen, I think I might just take up your suggestion and read Don DeLillo's End Zone over the vacation. I could be convinced about this whole American football thing... :)

2 comments:

Noor said...

I wore my "Michigan Information" shirt to support the Wolverines but it wasn't enough. The game was so sad; we were so close!

I don't even like football.

I find college sports to be far more exciting and consuming than professional sports. I think a huge part of it is that Michigan really is MY team. Since I went to UM, I identify far more with that team than the St. Louis professional teams (even though I grew up in STL and love those teams, too).

serene said...

i know what you mean Noor- I was sad too, and I don't even understand football... :(