GO HAWKS!!

What are we watching?  We are riveted, watching a few dozen well-paid athletes who make a living working out and challenging their bodies to their limits while building up false rivalries, and now put on a flashy display of fighting contrived battles against well-paid athletes from other cities, wearing different colors.

We study each of these green and blue athletes - their history, their skill, their personality… until we feel like we know them, are connected to them in some way and we cheer them on as if they are fighting our very own battles.  We cheer them on with passion, as if the outcome of this game will change tomorrow.  Our momentary happiness depends on the performance of these strangers tonight.

But tomorrow, or next year, our favorite personality whom we felt represented everything that is great about our state, our big city, what we stand for, might choose to play for a different team that offers a better deal, to represent the team in a rival city that has nothing to do with us.  Then that beloved athlete will no longer be wearing green and blue, and they will be wearing a color combination we have learned to despise for a reason we can’t explain with ease or logic, and he likely will no longer be loved by us.

Tomorrow, or next year, OUR team might be made up of different athletes from different regions, but the green and blue will tell us that they represent us and we will cheer them on and our momentary happiness will again be dependent upon the outcome of their contrived battle on the field.

I am sitting here in my own flickering blue glow, happy that the green and blue score is more than double what the other color has accrued.  My happiness is secure for this moment.  And then I will do the dishes, kiss the children goodnight and take the dog outside for her bedtime potty.  And tomorrow will be tomorrow, whatever the outcome of the game.  Go Hawks!