My brain can't even handle the conflicted emotions of somewhat epic proportions I must face today.
I grew up in Memphis, a city known for its music, barbecue and racial issues. But there was one constant theme throughout my formative years -- Tiger basketball. Back then it was called Memphis State University, and my family bled blue. I mean BLED. Like red-faced-screaming-obscenities-at-the-TV-so-loud-you-wake-up-the-baby kind of impassioned displays. And that was just my grandmother.
There were two teams Memphis fans hated more than Hitler and the Devil combined -- the University of Louisville Cardinals and the University of Tennessee Volunteers. In fifth grade, I proudly wore a shirt that said, in giant white letters on a bright blue background, "My two favorite teams are Memphis State and whoever plays Louisville." A Memphis defeat of the UT football team nearly sent the city into riots one year.
You can imagine the head-exploding reaction I got from family members when I announced I would be attending UT for college. My grandmother actually had someone print the words "My granddaughter changed my life" across an orange knit pants suit, a getup that she wore when visiting me on campus. No, really.
Like any good student, I was a fan of the Vols, attending as many basketball games as possible. It got to the point where I was actually happy wearing that hideous shade of orange. I'm all Vol, as they say in Knoxvegas.
Both teams have had a remarkable season, with UT ranked No. 2 and Memphis ranked No. 1. When I was visiting my parents last weekend, Memphis basketball was all anybody could talk about everywhere we went. I couldn't get my parents to wear anything but gaudy, blue Memphis apparel the entire weekend. The dude working the Graceland shuttle line got into a rather indepth conversation with my father about the history of Memphis basketball and how Keith Lee was a Tiger the last time the team was this good. My mother considered wearing her tiger-striped slippers to dinner one night.
This all leads me to today, when the team of my upbringing and my alma mater face off in what is sure to be a death match for the top ranking in the country. The good news is, I'll be happy with whoever wins, but that doesn't make up for the agony of watching my two favorite teams play each other.
Go team!
3 comments:
Go Vols, and such. Even now, I can't muster up quite the same level of enthusiasm for basketball that I have for football.
A loss to Florida or Georgia or Alabama during football season ruins my whole week.
A loss to Memphis tonight might prompt me to flip the channel over to Ancient Discoveries on the History Channel.
But the BasketVols (get it?) are a hell of a lot of fun to watch. The three-pointers they hit are sick.
Are you for real about your grandmother wearing that? If so, that's now my No. 1 funny story about your family.
As a sports nazi I would say you have to pick one team and commit. But I also never had that conflict of team I grew up with v. team I paid to support in college.
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