It’s That Time of Year

It’s that time of year. October. The air feels crisp, trees display their beautiful autumnal colors, pumpkin spice and apple cider are fitting flavors for the shortening days and cozy nights. If you have read my blog here and there, you might have recognized the fact that I am a sports fan. October, some say, is one of the top 2 sports months of the year here in the grand ole' U S of A. (Also March, in case you wondered.)

October, first off, is the beginning of Major League Baseball’s playoff series, the postseason. If you’re not in-the-know, a quick explanation is that the 12 best teams in the professional baseball league began a frenzied play of games, night after night, to whittle down to the last two teams standing, who will play in the World Series for the Championship. Our beloved Atlanta Braves, who sat atop the league with the best record in baseball, had a VERY disappointing postseason. VEEEEEERRRRYYY disappointing, indeed. We had our fingers crossed that they will make it ALL the way, which on paper, they had a very good chance of doing. But, as the saying goes,

"That’s Why They Play the Game (To See Who’ll Win)" _{- Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp, 1965.}

Unfortunately, the Braves were knocked out early. And that's all I have to say about that right now.

October, also, is the middle of the American college football season (different than the international football sport which we call soccer).  October football games are exciting, challenging, and taxing—it’s the meat of the schedule. That’s when you find out what your team is really made of. Football is big bucks in America. Football is the biggest revenue generating sport in colleges. According to USA Today, in 2022, sports brought in $214.4 million for University of Alabama, and $251.6 million for Ohio State University, to name a few. Football produced the largest chunk of those monies. Of course, not every school has figures to match that. But, the point is that football is a significant staple in sports, and a guaranteed money stream, with a fan base that lives to engage during the fall.

And, speaking of fans, that’s actually what I’m here to talk about today.  I remembered a fan-related event that happened in my past and it made me reflect on a greater meaning. Life lessons, so to speak.

I am a fan of the University of South Carolina (known as Carolina, or USC). That’s the college closest to my hometown and the school where I completed my Masters in Science graduate degree. Rob and I have followed the South Carolina Gamecocks for decades. Here’s Cocky, who is acknowledged as one of best college mascot around (as verified by his numerous awards on the All-America Mascot Team and as winner of the first National Mascot of the Year Award.)

USC has a solid athletics program, winning many accolades, producing professional athletes and Olympians, and winning national championships in sports like Men's Baseball, Women’s Basketball, Women's Track & Field, and Women’s Equestrian. But, when it comes to football, our team has its ups and downs. We are the perennial 'Wait til Next Year' team. We are the team that has occasional peaks of brilliance, the team you better watch out for, because we will knock off a higher ranked opponent when it’s least expected. But, we are also the team that struggles when everyone assumed it would be easy. The team that makes you shake your head and ask, “What in the world is going on?” Through it all, we remain fans, rooting for our team, wearing the Garnet and Black, and singing the fight songs. Suffer though we may.

Hold on a minute, I CAN'T NOT tell you about the Chicken Curse. Back in the 1880s, a high ranking South Carolina politician was frustrated and angry that his education proposal was not being taken seriously. He reportedly thrust a pitchfork into the ground on the campus of USC and declared that the university would be cursed. As explained by sports journalist Doug Nye in the 1970s, "the Chicken Curse, it makes fans think they are on the brink of greatness, and then it slams them in the gut." Over the decades, the Chicken Curse of USC has affected the university's football program and other sports, as well as local and national politicians at various levels (each had some ties to USC), and even Elvis. In 1977, Elvis, aged 42, died just a few months after playing a concert right by the campus of USC. In 1992, a group of alumni sponsored a curse cleansing ceremony and brought in a witch doctor from New Orleans to concoct a brew of secret ingredients to lift the Chicken Curse from the football stadium. First off, how do you even find a witch doctor? The witch doctor stirred the cauldron, scattered the spices, inhaled the smoke, said the words, danced the moves, chanted the chants, and carried on as only witch doctors can. Did his spells work? Well, hmmmm, I'm not sure. But, you don't hear USC's name tossed around in the discussion about powerhouse football teams.

There are always rivalries in college sports. The teams that you love to hate. If you beat a rival, it leaves a much sweeter taste in your mouth. Our team’s biggest rival is the other large school in South Carolina, 120 miles up the highway, Clemson University. The Clemson Tigers. While Clemson holds the upper hand in its football program, other sports are a little more equally matched. But, to tell the truth, I hold no unpleasant feelings towards our chief rival school. I have many family members and friends who attended Clemson. I don’t usually pull against the Clemson Tigers. At times, I have been known to cheer for them. Unlike some USC fans, I don’t hate Clemson. That sentiment is one that I held for a different school and a different tiger all together.

In 1987, our USC football team was selected to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. Let's get you up to speed quickly—

_-----At the end of each football season, various college Bowl Games would be held around the country. Teams would be invited to play in a Bowl Game based on their win/loss records. Teams were also chosen because of their rabid fan base, and to ensure a good competitive game. Bowl Games generated big revenue, gave fans a chance to watch an opponent that they didn't usually face, and rewarded highly sought-after bragging rights.  Starting in 1998, different arrangements were made, so that some of the Bowl Games carried real significance to the outcome of the football season and the rankings of the college teams. But, even so, some traditional Bowl Games still carry on today for the teams who are not on the top tier, much as they did in 1987.-----

Back to 1987. We traveled to Florida to cheer for our Gamecocks in the Gator Bowl matchup against the Tigers of Louisiana State University (LSU).  

We had heard that LSU fans were particularly intense about their beloved school, and that opposing fans who traveled to their home Tiger Stadium in Louisiana were not greeted warmly. But, this Bowl Game was on neutral ground in a stadium in Florida. When we got to our hotel, we encountered a few LSU fans who seemed very dismissive of us. When we arrived at the Bowl Game and started tailgating in the parking lot, we tried to strike up some friendly banter with the LSU fans who were parked beside us. They, too, were very dismissive. They had a superior air about them, down-talking our team. Not in a friendly, we’re-gonna-beat-you way, but in a we-are-wasting-our-time-because-you-are-nobody way. They smugly said, “We should be playing a better team. You’re getting ready to find out what it’s like to play against an SEC school.” Sidenote: USC joined the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1990, but at the time of this game, we were not a part of the powerful athletic conference yet. While tailgating, we got a very bad taste in our mouths for LSU and their fans. We thought, "We have just as much a right to be here as they do. Who do they think they are?" Well, they thought they were a far superior team.

Turns out, unfortunately, they were right. LSU practically killed us on the field. Our Gamecocks could do nothing right. LSU Tigers steamrolled our team. We lost the game 30-13, but it played out even worse than the score showed. That those fans had dissed us, and then their predictions came true—that was a tough pill to swallow. So, I declared my distaste for LSU and everything associated with it. I vowed that I would hold it against LSU and their fan base forever. Extreme? Yep, sure is. I held onto that conviction for many many years. I was anti-LSU. I pulled against them all the time. I didn't like anything about that school. I smiled with satisfaction when things went badly for their teams. Karma, and all.

But, then, years later, I started working with someone who was a solid LSU fan. And, get this, despite my strong misgivings about her choice of schools, I liked her. The fact that she supported LSU did not affect our working relationship or our friendship at all. Through getting to know her, I was able to get over my long held grudge. I realized that being associated with LSU did not make her a jerk. As I told her, she made me a better person, because I was able to let go of my preconceived prejudice against ‘her kind.’  Fast forward to 2023, I even pulled for LSU in the Women’s NCAA College Basketball Championship, because I really didn’t want their opponent (who beat MY team) to win. And I was happy for LSU when they did, in fact, win the Women’s National Championship.

Does it matter which teams I support? Which teams I dislike? Not in the grand scheme of things. But....how often do we use similar logic to make decisions and swear off of other things that offend us or make us mad? We make up our minds to hate (fill in the blank) because of what happened during (fill in the blank), and we never consider revisiting that conviction. Or, we refuse to consider (fill in the blank) because we don't like the way it looks, or the way sounds, or the uncomfortable way it makes us feel.

So, Life Lessons. Are we guilty of deciding that we don’t like something because of an experience or because of preconceived notions? And we apply that dislike to everything associated with the object? We have no tolerance for it. We refuse to partake. We refuse to listen. We refuse to acknowledge. We just don't like it, period. We get our panties in a wad over something that occurred in the past.  We hold onto those negative feelings, not letting any new information creep in. Not reevaluating. Not giving it another shot. We stand around with our hands covering our ears shouting “I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”, rather than considering another viewpoint. Even though we have never tasted them, we refuse to try the Green Eggs and Ham, insisting....

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There may be real dark and evil lurking around corners of the Earth, but can we distinguish the difference between that and our own biases? Do we sometimes assign a more sinister label than something deserves? Do we act like that with athletic teams? With politics? With religions? With activists? With social groups? With ideologies? With people who aren't like us? With family members? Might our prejudices keep us from enjoying a full, rich, bountiful, colorful, exciting, happy, and meaningful life? A life where we not only enjoy ourselves, but also work to improve the lives of others? Are we limiting ourselves when we hold a grudge and insist that we will have NOTHING to do with THAT THING, whatever it might be?

Because I turned things around and stopped hating LSU, I learned that was able to put away prejudices and ease up in other situations where, heretofore, I would have declared “No Thanks! Hard Pass.” I now realize I can be open to things that I view skeptically because I know that I don’t have all the answers. That it would do me good to explore things outside my comfort zone, give people a second chance, even if I've been burned before. And you never know, after I give things a try, it might be my turn to say,

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How 'bout you?