Everybody has that thing in life that they like, but they have no reason to like and actually kind of root against it.
This could be something like a TV show that when it comes on you immediately think to yourself, “Man, I hate this crap.” But you look up and it’s an hour later and you are still watching that Hills marathon Sunday afternoon (Mine is not The Hills, this is just an example). This could be a person like when people say things like, “Man, Tom Cruise is a wack-job. How does he keep getting movie parts?” and then they are the first in line to see the new Mission Impossible.
For me, Duke Basketball is that thing. Every time they are on TV, I have to watch them. I have no intention of watching them, but when they come on, I am passively glued to the game (passively glued – makes no sense, I know). I just can’t get away from it. I don’t want to watch, but I always do.
It’s not even that I dislike the team, I have no problem with them. I like their coach and their philosophy, but I just can’t root for them. I have this strange aversion to them winning anything. I can’t stand it. The team is just so hard not to like, but that’s what makes them so easy to like.
Like I said, I love the way they are built – a bunch of scrappy white guys who are all hustle. Pure basketball poetry. They don’t get in trouble off the court and there is no question about who the boss of the team is, and he is the man. And yet, I still can’t pull for them, but I also can’t pull for them to lose. They are kind of like a car with tons of awesome features, but you would never drive because something just won’t let you.
Why? I don’t really have a good answer. Maybe it’s because I like an underdog and they are usually not an underdog. Maybe it’s because they are not what I think they should be. After all, they do more closely resemble the Science Olympiad than one of the best basketball teams in the country.
The Dukies recently beat Texas in the NCAA Tournament (March Madness for those who don’t know) by five points to eliminate the Longhorns. Was I rooting for a Duke loss? No, my bracket has them going a little further in the tourney, but I also just can’t do it. Something just won’t let me.
I guess what I’m searching for is: I like the individual pieces and they way they go about their business, but I just can’t root for them (money and brackets not withstanding).
Well, there it is. What do you hate to love? TV show? Politician? A person? A magazine? A movie? Whatever it is, I am interested to hear.
RCW
I didn’t want to read the entire blog but just couldn’t help myself. Still not quite sure what your point was.
pah
a) The reason why you don’t want to root for them has less to do with the fact that they’re not underdogs in the basketball world and more to do with the knowledge that there’s something bigger for them on the horizon (like a career or, more likely, a trust fund) and no one likes kids with trust funds.
b) Paul Krugman. Ugh.
Natural Light
The answer is simple, they aren’t your team. You have no knowledge of any of the players and don’t follow their history – aside from knowing that they’ve been successful in the past – so you can’t feel the attachment that makes you want to pull for them.
That being said, they have never personally wronged you, and you like their style, so you can’t go against them either.
As a Duke fan, I would like to commend you ability to correctly classify your position as a non-Duke supporter for what it really is – relative indifference to their accomplishments – rather than join the masses and hate them for the simple fact that you don’t love them. Kudos to you, good sir.
For the record, the thing that I hate to neither love nor hate is the Yankees. I remain nuetral, yet endlessly entertained by them.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it is that I hate to love and I have finally decided that it’s time to come clean:
I hate, hate, hate to love country music.
Everything in me says that I should cringe at the first sound of Randy Travis or George Strait, but I don’t.
There’s just something incredible about a windows-down car ride singing your guts out with Garth, Reba, or whomever else my little country heart desires.
And I hate that I love this.
I hate Mike for liking the Yankees……and Natural Light.
Okay, so I just found your blog (via facebook) and am thoroughly enjoying it. Just thought you should know.
Also, my “hate to love it” thing is Twilight. I read the first book over Christmas out of boredom (and I’ll admit, a little curiosity). I found myself in the bookstore a few days later with the other three books tucked under my arm, trying to make sure nobody saw what I was carrying. I now own all 4 books and the movie on DVD. So I’m admitting right now that I have the same taste in books and movies as a 13 year old girl. But if you asked me about it in person, I’d probably lie and tell you I have no idea what you’re talking about.
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