Skip to main content

A True Fan: A Bed, a Baby, and a Bracket


A baby-sized caption: The Razorbacks' lucky charm, Chase Gross.


First, I have an admission to make. After eating supper, watching some Smallville (yes, I know I am the only person over thirteen that still watches this show), and saying goodbye to my wife (who left to dissect a cat or something), I had one thing on my mind: watching the Arkansas-LSU basketball game. However, after a stressful day at work, which consisted of sitting in an empty computer lab for over three hours, I was exhausted. Blah, blah, blah: I feel asleep in the recliner. I woke up around ten and checked my phone, which showed the usual pre-midnight text: “Wanna play some COD (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for PS3 for my non-gaming readers)?” I needed to do homework, intended to watch the game, and wanted to play COD; nevertheless, I crawled into bed and slept. And Wednesday ended.

I am a terrible fan, I know. But it’s the first thing I thought about Thursday morning. I opened Firefox with anxiety. For a moment, I considered not checking the score. Why? The Hogs have been on such a hot streak and I didn’t want it to end. Of course, reason prevailed: the outcome was set whether I checked the score or not. Luckily, I was flabbergasted by their success and not a letdown. A 35-point win, even against a Tigers’ team that is winless in conference play (9-15, 0-10 SEC), is impressive. Granted this isn’t the same LSU that went 13-3 and won the SEC last year, but they still have enough talented players, like Tasmin Mitchell, to pose a threat to Arkansas.

Heck, I’ll sleep through every Arkansas game if it will help them win by 35 points. Wait? Would I? Which leads me to the inspiration for this blog: What is the true nature of being a fan? Would a true fan rather sleep through every game and have his team win by double-digits OR does a true fan watch every game intently and live with the ups and downs of winning and defeat? It’s an interesting question. Is the team’s success or the fan’s enjoyment more important?

If it wasn’t my sleep that propelled the Hogs to victory then it was my co-worker’s newborn. The basketball Razorbacks haven’t dropped a game since Chase Gross was born. In fact, he was born at halftime of the Mississippi State in which the Hogs trailed by 13 points. After Chase’s birth, Fortson scored 33 points in the second half to carry Arkansas to victory and the team hasn’t let up since. Chase is already a Hog legend in my book.

Back in Northeast Arkansas at my alma mater, Arkansas State is matching if not surpassing the success of the Hogs. Currently, the Red Wolves are 9-3 in league play and sit alone atop the Sun Belt Conference. John Brady was a great hire for ASU, and the program will only continue to get better under his guidance. I’m just not sure ASU will have the money required to pay Brady when it comes time. However, even Joe Lunardi, resident bracketologist at ESPN, has taken notice of the Red Wolves’ winning ways. In his latest projections, he has ASU as the 15th seed in South Region with a first-round date against Duke (you can check out the projections here, dear reader: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology).

Since I can’t sleep during the day, I guess I’ll just have to rely on Boss Hog Chase to carry the Razorbacks to victory on Saturday. Or, maybe I’ll start a new superstition and take my wife out to dinner for Valentine’s Day instead of watching the game. I mean, I know I don’t have to ask what’s more important, being a spouse or being a fan. Right?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Guess Who's Back?

Not to get sentimental, but I was recently reminded of the joys of writing a blog. So, I logged into Dribbling Ink to see my past failed attempt at a blog. A number of things immediately struck me. My last post was dated Monday, December 1, 2008 , which was just a short video of the immediate celebration after the Miracle on Markham II. Seriously? I went an entire year without writing a single blog entry. Naturally, I asked myself what happened. The answer is simple. Life happened. I started blogging because I didn’t have anything better to do. I had just gotten married and moved to Arkadelphia, where I failed to find a job for a few months. Tell me a better way to waste your time than to write blogs that nobody reads? After Christmas I started graduate school at Henderson State University . During the fall, I began working as a graduate assistant in the HSU Writing Center . (I also spent a few torturous months as a substitute teacher.) Essentially, I didn’t have a reason to w...

Conversations: An Optimistic Razorback Fan

Caption: Your optimistic dad cheering for the Razorbacks. No offense to baby Chase, but the magic is gone. Yep, it’s time for another classic Arkansas drought. As an avid sports fan, I understand that there will always be ups and downs no matter how good the team is you are rooting for. As much as my wife would hate to admit it, even the Kansas Jayhawks have lost a game this season—the funny thing about that loss is it’s the only Kansas game we made a point to watch all year. Luckily, Arkansas ’ losing streak is exactly what An Optimistic Razorback Fan wanted to talk about in this week’s installment of the Dribbling Ink Conversation Series. An Optimistic Razorback Fan: OK, since losing is a part of sports, I should be able to cope with the Razorbacks’ newest losing streak. Right? You win some, you lose some? Plus, we still have a chance of finishing .500 and going to the NIT. Jacob Cooper: Wrong. Let’s look at Kansas ’ loss to Tennessee earlier in the year. Since the Jayha...

Home, 257 Miles Away

Go ahead, ask: Where are these pictures from and why are they important? Easy. My parents' new house and...because they are of my parents' new house. OK, easy enough for me, but you're still wondering why they are important to you or, at least, why you should bother wasting your time looking at them. The only answer I have is because we are all products of environment, whether it's our house or our hometown. There are three things that have undoubtedly shaped me: family, Arkansas, and "home." The first is easy enough to understand. When I say Arkansas, I am specifically referring to Paragould, Arkansas, and more generally to the South. However, in this blog I'd like to talk about "home," in which case I am referring both to a physical dwelling and the environment I grew up in. The pictures featured below are taken from my parents' sixth new house, the first since I moved out a few years ago (of course, I only lived in the fifth house a few mo...