Alright, so it's not really a liveblog, but I kept a journal of Thursday, the first day of meaningful football since the Super Bowl, when my roommates must have conspired to talk about Beyonce through the whole game and switch channels during the commercials. I think Bill Simmons does something like this sometimes, but I don't read him because he's a small-market hating prick. I had the idea for a Fanshot, and here we go.
I've moved and have different roommates now.
9:13 - I started a new job last Monday. Day 9 on the job and I learn that "this office really doesn't know alot of football. Except for [director]." The Director is on vacation until after Labor Day. Great start.
1017 - I check UBfan. The Two Minute Hate thread started by Hokie200proof - one of UBFan's hidden gems who is thankfully back from a year+ sabbatical - is quickly becoming one of my favorite threads since I've been on the board. Somehow we've attracted more fans from Ohio State than from any other school, and except for one, they are not pleasant people. Good (with some), idiotic (others), and downright offensive (still others) ensues and the general consensus is the original post is far less out of line than the intruders, who are either more scared of UB the NYB (Go big or go home - just take the plunge already) than they ever should be or just don't really have anything better to do with their time.
1147 - On a trip to the bathroom I get a chance to check BullRun, where I read Conrad's excellent post about his trip to Columbus.
Around this time, on UBFan, Hokie has unleashed the summary post in the hate thread:
This thread has been so intensely derailed that each page is its own thread.
I am thoroughly enjoying how my post has driven down to the marrow, forcing us all to ask such important questions like...
1) What is satire?
2) Which city sucks worse, Buffalo or Columbus?
3) Does quoting Bill Engvall automatically make you a hick (it does, this one we settled at least)
4) What is the true cost of freedom of speech? (the answer is, we must suffer fools from time to time)
5) Where does your University Rank in the ___________* Annual College Rankings?
6) Is it insecure to keep saying your not insecure... over and over and over again until everyone wonders who you're still talking to?
7) How many presidents were born in your state? And does that have anything at all to do with you? Considering all you did was pop out of your mother's cvnt in generally the same area as someone far greater and far wiser than you?
It's been fun. DeCon clearly took his ADHD meds today.
* Do a google search until you find a ranking that puts your University above everyone else's
If you're a BullRun reader who doesn't visit UBFan, all these things really happened. It's worth a visit.
12:59 - I receive a text from my non-football fan brother who attends the SUNY Environmental school next door to SUx about the BC/Cuse game the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Trust me, when he's talking to me about football, the world is ready for some fatherin' football.
1:03 - My direct supervisor leaves to run some errands. I make some stupid joke and he laughs. Building rapport with your new colleagues is key.
1:15 - BC Interruption is doing a series where each contributor makes 5 predictions about the upcoming year. They're generally optimistic, because they're BostonFans (tm) who were young in 2001 and whose understand of sports has been distorted by the first decade of this century. Still, it's nice to read things like "Both Men's and Women's Hockey will win National Championships this year" and "BC will win three ACC Championships" despite no Eastern team ever winning a NCAA Women's Hockey Championship, and BC only winning one conference championship since joining the ACC. Of course, we all know if the ACC sponsored Hockey, Sailing, and Fencing, this would be a different story.
News comes across the wire about the NFL concussion settlement. I think my general disinterest accompanied by a shrug and a halfhearted thought of "good for those guys" says it all. Malcolm Gladwell has it right.
1:26 - Two Minute Hate continues to blossom.
2:10 - My supervisor returns. I say "gesundheit" when he sneezes and make some small talk about his sandwich. All about the rapport.
2:36 - I last 70 minutes without checking UBfan.
2:46 - UB's Huge Announcement of the Month (tm), #NYBI drops on the world. UBfan is distracted from the trolls and expresses varying levels of excitement. Amazingly, the OSU folks stay out of these threads.
4:46 - UBfan's ambassador from Penn State and the Big Ten, BuffaloLion, lays out another long post about the NYB and the Big Ten that is detailed enough to suggest he really does have inside info, but it could be like telling an elaborate lie. If you spend enough time on it, it becomes real to you and you develop more details until you've created an alternate world and you don't know what reality is anymore. I, for what it's worth, think the MAC is better quality than people think, and would enjoy consistent success, but the allure of a raised profile is enticing, too.
5:42 - Out of work, I check BC Interruption at the bus stop, mostly because I've been checking UBfan and BullRun all day so there's more likely to be something new there.
6:00 - Walking to a dinner engagement, Kent State and Liberty kickoff right as church bells are ringing on Howard University. I Shaq you not, this happened. #MACtion. It's finally here. UNC - South Carolina is starting as well.
7:30 - Checking things in the middle of the potluck, I see that Dri Archer is out. Bummer, because I love watching his highlights, but I'm not really that upset. If Jordan Lynch goes down against Iowa, then I'll really start worrying.
JSF of the original and only Ohio University and known to MAC fans across the conference joins the OSU fest on UBfan and injects some much needed interstate smack talk.
9:00 - Is Howard possiblly hosting EMU this weekend? Nope, it's in Ypsilanti. Bummer. I have to make sure I get a chance to see the Howard band at some point this season.
10:45 - sUeConn lost to Towson? I check this three times before posting on UBFan. Screw you, UConn. You deserve it.
About this time I also draft Reggie Bush in a fantasy draft probably too early. I'm still not sure why I decided he had sleeper status, but I know it only takes one other person eyeing him to keep me from being able to get him in the next round 11 picks later. My team ends up with quite a few solid WRs, and a Rodgers-Wilson QB combo. Why we have two QB spots is a mystery to me.
Some late night vitriol flies on UBFan, and we're one evening closer to Gameday. Friday was less eventful: tickets to the Nationals game distracted me quite a bit, and you can find my thoughts throughout the game elsewhere. But here we'll always be able to remember that glorious day when football returned. And there was no talk of Beyonce, either.
