fanatic

For some reason, I had a really hard time explaining myself yesterday to my best friend. Usually, I'm not at a loss for words, but I was tired and stressed and, really, not that hacked off. All that combined for me coming off like a complete crank.

So, here is attempt number two.

I live in Oklahoma, so football is apparently life. It's everywhere. All.The.Time. There are days that I feel like I went to a university attached to a football team instead of the other way around. I don't like that football becomes so all consuming. I don't like that football trumps the academic successes of the students. And I don't like negative fandom. For that matter, I'm not crazy about anything being defined by what they are not. For the record, I am perfectly fine with rivalry. And with bedlam. And with trash talk when those teams are playing each other.

But when they're not...SHUT UP.

What is accomplished by the whole my friend is my enemy's enemy? What superficial tripe.

When I see fans from the University of Oklahoma degrading Texas any other time than during the OU/Texas game, I think it makes them look stupid. I saw this super cute girl in a shirt walking through the park on an amazing Spring day that said something like, "Beat the Rush, hate Texas early." It wasn't even football season. I just rolled my eyes AGAIN.

It just seems to me that much more is accomplished by rooting for your conference to do well which gives that much more credibility to the football teams in that conference. Even after typing all of this, it sounds so superficial. I honestly don't care about the football part of this discussion. I think that there is too much negativity in sports in general, and I think die hard fanatics perpetuate that negativity exponentially.

I know that somewhere in here is my real issue. I also know that it has nothing to do with football.