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06/19/2008: "Run What Ya Brung"
I’m taking a break from talking about vacation tonight because we had our normal Thursday Night Bible Study. However, there are some nuggets that I want to share with you.
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Do you ever have dreams where you have possessions that you know are yours in the dream, but they look nothing like what you have in real life? You do not question this premise in the dream. What about locations? Are you ever in locations where it is evident in the dream where you are, but the real-life location is completely different?
I have dreams where I am either at Purdue University or the Zeta Psi house, and neither place looks remotely like the real thing. I just know that I am there, and the premise is not questioned. Purdue in my dreams is normally a lot more urban, like the university is located in a larger city, and the campus is less obvious compared to the surroundings. Zeta Psi in my dreams has almost an Escher-like quality to its interior architecture and layout.
Randy coined this concept very well: “built-in context of the dream”
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The truth is not always popular, especially when you do not actually possess it.
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I don’t know why this is a pet peeve of mine, but I become annoyed when people from one university cheer for the athletic teams for another university. My general feeling is “run what ya brung” and “dance with the one you took to the prom.” As a Boilermaker, I will always put Purdue on top of my cheer list, even for the obscure sports. I may take an interest in the success of Big Ten teams, or any other random team for whatever reason at any given moment (whatever is on TV at the time), but Purdue is always my Number One. I don’t actively root for or proudly display paraphernalia from other schools. I don’t cheer for Notre Dame in the fall, and Indiana in the Winter, if you get my drift.
However, I came across this quote from a blog interview in Boiled Sports – A Purdue-Centric Perspective on the World and World of Sports; the blog author is interviewing a fellow blogger who follows the University of Michigan.
BS: Do you have a college program other than your true love that you kind of have a guilty pleasure for? For example, despite all the haters, do you have a soft spot for Florida football or North Carolina basketball or something like that?
B, MGB: No, I think that sort of thing is reserved for fans of non alpha-dog teams. I've already got the team that can win big and has to win big for me to be happy.
If your team is not in a Bowl Conference Championship conference, your team probably does not get a whole lot of airtime, even on late night ESPN broadcasts. NCAA Division II and III teams, and NAIA teams don’t stand much of a chance at all. I guess I can then understand why you would want to cheer for Michigan if you attended Wayne State University.
However, if you are in a big conference, you are stuck, pal. If you are a Northwestern grad, you are stuck as a Wildcat for life. Sure, if North Carolina and Duke are playing in basketball, and you come over to my house to watch the game, we can cheer for whom we want, but you had better show up in Wildcat Purple, because I am not showing up in the blue of either the Tar Heels or the Blue Devils.