A few weeks ago we celebrated Black Friday. Most employers recognize the importance of Black Friday and give us a few days off beforehand in order to adequately prepare for the early-morning festivities. We start the celebration by eating a large meal the day before, and napping throughout Black Friday Eve so that we are well rested for the day to come. I now offer the rural town take on the blessed event.
To understand my point of view, we must first back up to Thanksgiving (This is what old people call the day before Black Friday--pay them no mind--). Most young people travel home for Thanksgiving. Most young married people, at the very least, alternate holidays with family and in-laws, thus making it home for 50% of the Thanksgiving holidays. And most people get up early for the deals of the day.
There are a few small towns in Wyoming that have been blessed (or cursed) with a Wal-Mart. As the only shopping venue in town, shoppers do not struggle with the question of which vendor will earn their business on this the Blackest of Fridays. Wal Mart alone stands as the vehicle by which the small town masses will stimulate the economy.
And thus the perfect storm has been created for awkward small-town-class-reunions. A storm that I avoid at all costs: Think about it: SHOPPING (hate) with HORDES OF PEOPLE (hate) AT 5AM (hate). People pass it off as getting a good deal on the things that they need. However, most people don’t even know what is on sale until they get the flyer on Wednesday or Thursday. I can no longer convince myself that I am saving money...no matter how good the deal. But this is only a portion of the perfect storm. The second squall is social by nature.
To be honest, I stopped doing it. Not only was I spending money that I shouldn't spend, But I found myself running into too many old friends and acquaintances, people that I hadn't seen in years while wearing pajamas, toting morning breath, with my hair ablaze. Now I will readily admit that at 5am I am not overly concerned with my outward appearance. It is also apparent that nobody else is either. However it still makes for an awkward rendezvous and even more awkward conversation. The worst part is that the conversation inevitably turns into a chat about what you are buying–WE GREW UP TOGETHER, and we are talking about BLU-RAY PLAYERS. Deep and meaningful.
The awkward conversation takes a turn for the worse when the person who has (a) changed his/her hair length and color--or grown facial hair for the guys--(b) gained or lost few pounds, and most of all (c) hasn’t seen or spoke to me in over ten years plays the, “do you remember me?” game which I inevitably loose.
I sometimes get a glimpse of daytime TV where old high school classmates are reunited and the girl who struggled with weight issues confronts the boy who teased her mercilessly as a child. The girl inevitably has lost weight, blossomed, and now confronts the tormentor of her past. I am glad that I escaped high school without being mean to anyone. Because if anyone attacked me for something I said as a 16-year-old, I would probably only enrage them further by admitting I had no idea who they were.
In short I would MUCH prefer to meet for lunch than to bump into people at a moment when they are buying stuff they don't need, or trying to beat me up. That is something to be thankful for.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
A bit of Sports Rage....
I apologize in advance to my non-sports fan readers. Posts like these will be few and far between.
Curse you Sugar Bowl. Curse you for taking guaranteed money over a speculative risk.
Curse you BCS rulemaker guy. Curse you for giving the Orange Bowl the first pick this year instead of the Fiesta Bowl.
Curse you Fiesta Bowl. Curse you for being “cutting-edge,” going against the grain, and making history by selecting two teams from non-BCS Conferences to play in Arizona next month.
Between these curses, I should be able to hit my target. My target being whoever is responsible for ruining the end of a great Season for non-BCS Conferences.
While this may not make a difference in the myriad of confusion that results when one attempts to decipher the BCS-Bowl selection process, one thing is certain, The Sugar Bowl is not required to take an SEC team if the current SEC Champion is playing for the National Championship. And while Florida was the easy moneymaker, two schools from BCS Conferences do not provide near as much drama (and thus commercial appeal) as the Undefeated David of the mid-major conferences versus the Goliaths of the Automatic qualifiers.
Now, instead of getting TWO games featuring big vs. little, BCS vs. Non-BCS, the chance to match Florida vs. TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, or Boise State vs. Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, we get to see two small conference powers play each other. No chance to establish anything. No chance to shake things up.
BCS haters--who, by the measure of articles, emails, postings, and blogs far outnumber the BCS lovers--wanted this to go differently. We wanted to answer the questions everyone wants to know: Is TCU for real outside the MWC? Can Boise win the battle of the Blue and the Orange against Florida?
BCS Busters seems a misnomer as the WAC and MWC busting into the BCS together this year will do nothing to actually BREAK the BCS. We will watch because that is what guys do…we watch football. But the reality is, unless it is OUR team…we do not care who wins. UNLESS you add the parity of BCS vs. Non-BCS. But now there will be no drama. Nobody outside of their respective campuses (and to a lesser extent their conferences) will care whether Georgia Tech beats Iowa. Or Oregon over Ohio State. Perhaps some sparks would fly if Cincinnati bested Florida, but apologists would quickly chalk it up to let-down on the part of Florida for not playing in the National Championship. This would not be the case if Florida played Boise or TCU. Then the big boys WOULD have something to prove. They would do what every other BCS Conference team has tried to do when pitted against a BCS Buster. They would try to show that they belonged. And so far, history is on the side of the BCS busters. With the exception of Hawaii in 2007, The BCS Busters have come away successful.
I am just a lowly fan of the Wyoming Cowboys. I am resigned to the fact that the Pokes will seldom have a winning season, much less play in a BCS Bowl. I have accepted my role as rooter for the underdog. Outside the cold confines of War Memorial Stadium, I am also a fan and supporter of the Mountain West Conference. Like Wyoming within the conference, the MWC is the perpetual underdog on the national scene. A win by TCU over Florida would somehow substantiate the shellacking the Cowboys took at the hands of the Horned Frogs earlier this year.
Curse you BCS. Curse you for making me not care about the outcome of any Bowl Game this Holiday season--except for the coveted New Mexico Bowl. Go Pokes!
Curse you Sugar Bowl. Curse you for taking guaranteed money over a speculative risk.
Curse you BCS rulemaker guy. Curse you for giving the Orange Bowl the first pick this year instead of the Fiesta Bowl.
Curse you Fiesta Bowl. Curse you for being “cutting-edge,” going against the grain, and making history by selecting two teams from non-BCS Conferences to play in Arizona next month.
Between these curses, I should be able to hit my target. My target being whoever is responsible for ruining the end of a great Season for non-BCS Conferences.
While this may not make a difference in the myriad of confusion that results when one attempts to decipher the BCS-Bowl selection process, one thing is certain, The Sugar Bowl is not required to take an SEC team if the current SEC Champion is playing for the National Championship. And while Florida was the easy moneymaker, two schools from BCS Conferences do not provide near as much drama (and thus commercial appeal) as the Undefeated David of the mid-major conferences versus the Goliaths of the Automatic qualifiers.
Now, instead of getting TWO games featuring big vs. little, BCS vs. Non-BCS, the chance to match Florida vs. TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, or Boise State vs. Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, we get to see two small conference powers play each other. No chance to establish anything. No chance to shake things up.
BCS haters--who, by the measure of articles, emails, postings, and blogs far outnumber the BCS lovers--wanted this to go differently. We wanted to answer the questions everyone wants to know: Is TCU for real outside the MWC? Can Boise win the battle of the Blue and the Orange against Florida?
BCS Busters seems a misnomer as the WAC and MWC busting into the BCS together this year will do nothing to actually BREAK the BCS. We will watch because that is what guys do…we watch football. But the reality is, unless it is OUR team…we do not care who wins. UNLESS you add the parity of BCS vs. Non-BCS. But now there will be no drama. Nobody outside of their respective campuses (and to a lesser extent their conferences) will care whether Georgia Tech beats Iowa. Or Oregon over Ohio State. Perhaps some sparks would fly if Cincinnati bested Florida, but apologists would quickly chalk it up to let-down on the part of Florida for not playing in the National Championship. This would not be the case if Florida played Boise or TCU. Then the big boys WOULD have something to prove. They would do what every other BCS Conference team has tried to do when pitted against a BCS Buster. They would try to show that they belonged. And so far, history is on the side of the BCS busters. With the exception of Hawaii in 2007, The BCS Busters have come away successful.
I am just a lowly fan of the Wyoming Cowboys. I am resigned to the fact that the Pokes will seldom have a winning season, much less play in a BCS Bowl. I have accepted my role as rooter for the underdog. Outside the cold confines of War Memorial Stadium, I am also a fan and supporter of the Mountain West Conference. Like Wyoming within the conference, the MWC is the perpetual underdog on the national scene. A win by TCU over Florida would somehow substantiate the shellacking the Cowboys took at the hands of the Horned Frogs earlier this year.
Curse you BCS. Curse you for making me not care about the outcome of any Bowl Game this Holiday season--except for the coveted New Mexico Bowl. Go Pokes!
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