Nov 25, 2019
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Local Football Rivalries are… “local”. That’s OK.
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If “all politics is local” then certainly Football Rivalries are Local. How much more “local” can it be than the 26 miles separating bell towers.
Yes, in the grand scheme of Big Time College Football what will take place in Carter-Finley Stadium this coming Saturday night is in a tie for “huh” with 98% of “rivalries”.
In my first ever meeting with Holden Thorp at Sutton’s Drug Store over chili dogs, he asked me… Why do so many people care what goes on here at UNCCH?
My legendary reply… In the greater grand scheme, most people DON’T care what goes on at UNCCH.
The rookie Chancellor was referring to the media’s magnifying glass which he perceived as ever-focused on every twitch and shrug that takes place at The Flagship. Meaning, of course, the Local / Regional media. I was referring to the larger universe which – in concentric circles of every 75 miles – dissipates rather quickly at about the 2nd circle.
Subsequent events that followed required me to amend my reply…. Unless, of course, something OUTRAGEOUS is uncovered such as Marvin hits SEND… and then… and then… and…
The annual football game between the two Goliaths of the UNC System is not A Big Deal to anyone other the two fan bases. Even that is conditional… depending upon what is at stake.
If there was a National Rivalry Rating Service for College Football. … the State v Carolina Football Rivalry would fall in the “others receiving votes include…”. That should not diminish the significance of the game to the parties directly involved.
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An apt comparison might be “grandchildren”. Blondie and I get very excited about pretty much everything that
ReRe and YaYa do.
We are considering purchasing two more refrigerator doors for display space for the hundreds of darling pictures.
The concentric circle theory for “obsessing about ReRe and YaYa” is give/take 11-12 people with half of those being borderline… but that doesn’t diminish their importance to us one iota.
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This year at stake is UNCCH’s “bowl eligibility” which most projectors are projecting to be the punch line Christmas in Shreveport. Of the umpteen plus thirty bowl games, there are a handful that qualify as “THIS is suppose to be a REWARD?… REALLY?”.
The infamous Quick Lane Bowl in beautiful downtown Detroit is a LuLu. As are assorted others so insignificant to not even merit mention here.
One of my personal favorites – The Beef O’Brady Bowl is now something else. Christmas In Shreveport used to be The Poulan Weedeater Bowl… those were the days.
Yeah, yeah I get the yadda yadda about (1) extra weeks of practice… (2) the impact on semi-literate 17 y/os recruits … AND, of course… (3) the all-important football staff bonuses. … yawn, snort, burp.
But, alas, in the Upside Down The Rabbit Hole World of Foam-fingered Howler Monkeys…
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WE are “going to a bowl” and YOU are not; therefore I am a much better human being that YOU are and EVERYONE knows that!
There ARE chronologically “adult” humans that truly believe that. You know who you are. You are pathetic.
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Some will say the job security of Dave Doeren or at least Dave Huxtable is “at stake”. I have no evidence that is the case. I suppose a traumatic butt-whuppin’ applied by the visiting team could precipitate that, but that might depends upon one’s definition of “traumatic”.
I still can only name one player of the two teams combined – UNC’s QB Sam Howell – so I am in no way qualified to predict the outcome. UNC certainly fared better against the Fighting Dabos than did the Wolfpack – OUCH! – but such comparisons are only relevant if one wants them to be.
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There is a 96.3% likelihood that fans and/or players will do “something stoopid” Saturday night.
There is a 110% certainty that “THEY” will cause the “something stoopid” to occur because THEY are all a buncha……..!
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I will not be in attendance Saturday night nor even able to view the game as I do not have access to The Swoffy Channel.
ESPN’s Gameday has chosen – once again – to be elsewhere. “Elsewhere” this Rivalry Weekend being Minneapolis where Golden Gophers and Bucky Badger will play for Paul Bunyan’s Axe… and a spot in the Big Ten Plus Four Championship Game.
In the Big Ten Plus Four, pretty much every game is “for something” that goes back 95 years to Fielding Yost or Red Grange or Bump Elliott or …
UNC and NCSU fans… 99% of College Football America will be focused elsewhere this Saturday evening. But you don’t care about those 99% any more than they care about you.
Your perceived self-worth in your cul-de-sac … your church pew… your civic club… your office water cooler IS On-The-Line! Mumbling “wait’ll next year” as you dejectedly exit the stadium won’t help much. It never does.
All Rivalries Are LOCAL!
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Speaking of Breakfast Tea… about two months ago I switched over from coffee to tea in the AM. I was going with an EnglishBlack Tea but just recently switched to an Irish Black Tea. Who Knew? A splash of creamer and a dab of honey… and I’m ready to face each New Day.
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For an avid book-lover – reader or listener – there are fewer pleasures more Oh Boy … Oh Boy!! than discovering a New Author with a multi-book series. I did that this week. The new (to me) author is Scott Mariani and his series character is Ben Hope... a retired SAS Spec Ops guy who is an expert at hostage rescues… and saving The World from sinister evil-doers. There are 20 Ben Hope adventures waiting for me. I am hurrying to finish a Clive Cussler Issac Bell Adventure to begin the Ben Hope series.
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With Autumn giving way to Winter, I was looking for back-up places to walk on those “it’s too cold…” excuse days. We live a mile from one of America’s few remaining successful shopping malls.
“He became a mall-walker in his later years” will NOT appear in my obit but it is not a bad back-up. Twice around both levels is almost three miles.
Wherever I walk, I project a “leave me alone other than a smile and a nod” persona. So the homeless guys one encounters at 6 AM in a mall don’t bother me… likewise the “you wanna join our group?” people. No thank you. I don’t do “group”.
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FINAL REMINDER: Whoever wins Saturday night… totally avoiding “those people” until redemption next year is easier to do than you might imagine.
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