While I appreciate honoring Bill Bruce and Jerry Mahoney and the concept of a friendly cross town rivalry, I just can't get into this whole Bruce-Mahoney thing...and I really don't know why. I don't feel any kind of warm or strong connection to either one of these schools but I wholeheartedly support Rich and Priscille with their enthusiasm and attendance at the games and school events. (And they get that I have no interest in participating.)
Funny thing, though. I am a sports enthusiast. I was a high jumper in high school and played intramural sports in college - basketball and softball. I even scaled the 50-foot fence of the swimming pool one night with a girlfriend from my dorm! (oops...that's another story!) I love football, basketball, baseball, swimming, tennis, etc and want to go to a Sharks game and a Raiders game...and would love to see Ewan play rugby one day. Invictus! I played on a coed softball team with Rich once and was recruited to play on an all girls "Dykes On Bikes" softball team too! (and I would have seriously considered it if I wasn't in graduate school at the time.) Love watching playoff games! Go Niners! (and also love the Saints, the Cowboys and the uniform colors of the Jets! Ha ha!) Totally enjoy watching the Olympics. That Jamaican bobsled team is always my favorite! Ha ha! And Quidditch is the best!
But I just can't get into this Bruce-Mahoney thing. I wonder why.
What is your relationship with "The Bruce-Mahoney"?
Without ties to the tradition, it's foreign to me (us). Though I doubt I would have been involved had I grown up here, anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt goes back to a defense I have; a worry about any external control determining my actions/feelings, etc.
These kind of things become a rallying point of the "collective" and encourage that sense of group over individual. It feeds into Nationalist sentiments.
You become bound by your group, by your allegiances and are strengthened by your actions.
Is it a negative thing - nope. Common bonds are good. It's just another slippery slope you have to be cautious of. Don't deceive yourself, don't forget the other side. Nationalism is scary.
The omnipresence of a mob mentality hovers ... ready to infiltrate the brain waves of the nationalists at the slightest provocation!
ReplyDeleteBingo!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm no sports fan, but I've really enjoyed the games. There is a lot of positive energy and both schools are respectful. Not what I would have expected. I it is good that p and r have something of their own to enjoy and you aren't forced to attend an event you won't enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHowever. . .it is freaking scary if people take a high school rivalry too seriously.
ReplyDelete