Common Ground

Last night I did something I never thought I’d do. I felt bad for Duke. I felt bad for J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Heck, I even felt a little bad for Coach K. Now let me set you (the reader) straight. I am most certainly not developing a soft spot for Duke. I still hate (such a strong word) them, and maybe one day I’ll have the strength and courage to explain all the reasons why, but today is not that day. It’s too emotionally driven and tied to family history and extends way beyond the basketball court to a place in my mind and my heart that I don’t allow myself to go to but once or twice a year. All that aside, the pain was still there.

When I first met Jessica, I thought “what an awesome person.” And then I thought, “oh heavens there has to be something wrong with her because no one is this cool without a flaw and we all have flaws no matter how cool we are.” Then, I found out…she is a Duke fan. “Oh this will never work,” I thought. I cannot be friends, scratch that, good friends with a Duke fan. It’ll never work…we’ll drive each other insane with my talk about Roy Williams and her talk about Coach K. We’ll be pulling each other’s hair out before mid-season. Oddly enough though, it works. I think we’ve both been equally successful in tuning the other one out when we go on our UNC or Duke rants. She called to console me after the first Duke/UNC game of the season, and I provided the chocolate after the second meeting. I think it surprised us both that we were able to develop such a strong friendship in spite of our mutual admiration (read: obsession) of rivaling schools, but it surprised me even more that I was able to console her last night without cracking a smile or jumping up and down (things I’ve been known to do in the past after a Duke loss). In fact, the only thing I laughed at last night was the air horn they brought out to the scorers table because the Georgia Dome buzzer system had malfunctioned. Now THAT was funny.

But in the end, it was all about my friend and how unhappy and sad she was last night. There was nothing I really could do since I couldn’t jump through the TV and make LSU lose. I wanted to make her smile and laugh, and I did a couple of times. And after all was said and done, I realized I wasn’t necessarily feeling bad for Duke and their coaches and players as much as I was feeling bad for my friend who saw a dream fall apart that she had wholeheartedly believed in with her team. I know that feeling. OH how I know that feeling. It’s a sadness so deep that it hurts. So, it’s just basketball (or sports in general) most will say, but to us it’s different. We’ve seen the desire in their eyes just by watching every game they’ve played. We’ve seen the smiles and the tears. We’ve felt the agony of defeat and the joy of victory. We’ve read every article, every biography, every statistic. Simply because we’re obsessive fans, and we love our teams. And even when you’re fans of two schools who avidly hate each other, which dictates that the two of us should hate each other, somewhere amidst the rubble of the hopes and dreams of both schools, you find a common ground that builds a friendship. I (heart) you, J.Mo! Hang in there!