Day: September 1, 2024

Now that I’m done uselessly defending Coach Prime’s honor for the week, I can move on to more interesting banter. The idea of what is interesting shifts from person to person. I have two grown sons who live with us and are totally into Basketball and Apex. I enjoy playing Apex, but I’m not watching the ALGS and cheering along. I’m also not following basketball in the off season (or largely the regular season either). I’m a football guy. It is football season. I’m the dad who is helping his kid log stats for college scouts and scouting with him so he has the edge on the competition for the next week. All of this brings me joy, but all of this largely disconnects me from a family that does not care. We appear to exist in these silos and the loudest is the one that gets the most attention and creates the vibe.

I think most households are like that. I think where we excel is finding that shared space where everyone may enjoy an activity. We do that through playing games. In truth, games and the culture surrounding those games (be it board, word, sports, video, etc) is the dominant culture of the household. We may fail to recognize it at times as we swing towards the loud nature of football (friday through sunday!) but a game is a game is a game, and leisure is surely what powers this home reality. Of course, said that way, it is in fact leisure that is the core culture of the house. Unfortunately, for someone who needs to be ‘locked in’ at times, that culture can be destructive.

As with everything in human reality, the key is balance. Still finding mine here.

I have no idea why people look at NDSU’s close loss to Colorado and say Colo got embarrassed. It probably has something to do with them being an FCS team and people who are not students of the game (or parents of FCS players) understanding that FCS teams are actually good and the really good ones are better than the majority of FBS teams. Montana State–a team that didn’t make the FCS tourney last season, beat FBS New Mexico last week. Sacramento State beat Stanford last year–one of 4 FCS over FBS wins in that season. There were 8 such wins in 22. In fact, Jacksonville State beat perennial powerhouse FSU in 21–The same year Montana knocked off a 20th ranked Washington. The list goes on. That these wins happen is not surprising, that Prime wins and is still crapped on, is not surprising. I suppose the only surprise is that I’m here playing defense.

I suppose next week means more. A rising Nebraska team is a better optics moment.