Tempe Still Affects Temper
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/58/1/Tempe-Still-Affects-Temper.html
Trace Hacquard
By Trace Hacquard
Published on 01/21/2006
Enough already! Atomicsportsmedia columnist and Notre Dame fan Trace Hacquard is getting annoyed by annoying people. However, he thinks he has realized what winning is all about.
Here's the thing--I spent over a grand to go to the Fiesta Bowl. Well, obviously, Notre Dame lost, and I went home. However, people are still busting my—um-- giving me a hard time. And the thing that bugs me the most about it is that it’s people that I normally have very little communication with that are doing this. This leads me to believe the following: Winning is less about enjoying the thrill of victory and more about enjoying the pleasure of your opponent’s misery, or in my case, assumed misery.
I'm basically unfazed that Notre Dame lost…basically. I would have loved to have beaten Ohio State and walked away from Tempe with a winning ticket stub for my scrapbook. However, it didn’t happen. The Irish have struggled in big games for over a decade now and haven’t won a bowl game since 1994. This is disturbing to me and everyone else in the Kingdom of Charlie. And although we are still scratching our heads, we know it’s time to go back to work.
I’m not upset about football. I am extremely upset that people who I rarely speak to will tell me how bad Notre Dame sucks and how great Ohio State is for the sole purpose of upsetting me. Perhaps I ask for this by making it obvious that I am a Notre Dame fan. However, I say next to nothing to anyone about Ohio State losses because I don't gain happiness when they lose. Actually, I rarely discuss NCAA football because too many people are incapable of having an unbiased conversation. But back to my original point: If I do make a comment about an OSU loss (or any other team’s loss), it's because I want that person to be more upset than they already are, not because I want to insult their favorite university. But I only exchange these insulting jabs with people I know, people with whom I always hassle. It’s by no means unexpected. It’s the unexpected (hassles) that are causing me to write this column.
I'm just a jackass in a Notre Dame hat. I have no attachment to the institution, and therefore, have no emotional tie to it. They are just my favorite college football team. I love watching them play, and like any game, losing sucks. But if people attack ND as an institution or Catholicism as a faith in attempt to get me to put up my dukes like the fightin’ ND leprechaun (which they do), then they are wasting their time because a) I didn’t graduate from (or apply to) ND, and b) I’m not Catholic. So I’m not annoyed by those people in a football sense, I’m annoyed by them in a “you are an annoying person, please walk away from me” sort of way. I don’t dislike them for their “politics,” I dislike them for them.
In comparison, if someone said that "OSU played like a bunch of (wimps)" to my agent Master P (an OSU graduate) after the PSU game, he is not only going to defend his favorite team, but also his chosen university. And Master P obviously believes that OSU is amazing and will defend it to his death. The same thing applies for ND graduates. If you attended the university, then you have a legitimate reason to be emotional about the game. When Ohio U qualified for the tourney last year, that was one of the most exciting moments in my sports-fan life because MY school went to the dance. This year I went to the Kentucky game and wanted to beat them SO bad, not only because it was MY school, but because I HATE Kentucky and their annoying fans. Like I said earlier, it was less about winning to make me happy and more about seeing them in misery. It's possible that this makes me a bigger jerk than the people who are hassling me about the Fiesta Bowl. Oh well.
ANYWAY, the point is that I had a great time in Tempe and watched an amazing football game. I just regret the fact that I was surrounded by many jackasses that know very little about the sport of football. But they are emotional. And football is a passionate sport. I guess I just keep my cool most of the time. The sport of football never upsets me, but people definitely piss me off.
OSU fans will probably enjoy many, many more big wins in the Tressel era. However, before we get too full of ourselves, let’s not forget the Cooper era, a decade that was filled with many, many years of Buckeye fans getting (hassled with), and their hopes, busted. I guess my only reply to all of those who have chosen to (hassle me) is that I hope we meet again next year in the same game and I hope ND figures out a way to stop your offense. If not, people who I barely know will keep (hassling me) and THAT will upset me more than the loss.
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Enough already! Atomicsportsmedia columnist and Notre Dame fan Trace Hacquard is getting annoyed by annoying people. However, he thinks he has realized what winning is all about.
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Here's the thing--I spent over a grand to go to the Fiesta Bowl. Well, obviously, Notre Dame lost, and I went home. However, people are still busting my—um-- giving me a hard time. And the thing that bugs me the most about it is that it’s people that I normally have very little communication with that are doing this. This leads me to believe the following: Winning is less about enjoying the thrill of victory and more about enjoying the pleasure of your opponent’s misery, or in my case, assumed misery.
I'm basically unfazed that Notre Dame lost…basically. I would have loved to have beaten Ohio State and walked away from Tempe with a winning ticket stub for my scrapbook. However, it didn’t happen. The Irish have struggled in big games for over a decade now and haven’t won a bowl game since 1994. This is disturbing to me and everyone else in the Kingdom of Charlie. And although we are still scratching our heads, we know it’s time to go back to work.
I’m not upset about football. I am extremely upset that people who I rarely speak to will tell me how bad Notre Dame sucks and how great Ohio State is for the sole purpose of upsetting me. Perhaps I ask for this by making it obvious that I am a Notre Dame fan. However, I say next to nothing to anyone about Ohio State losses because I don't gain happiness when they lose. Actually, I rarely discuss NCAA football because too many people are incapable of having an unbiased conversation. But back to my original point: If I do make a comment about an OSU loss (or any other team’s loss), it's because I want that person to be more upset than they already are, not because I want to insult their favorite university. But I only exchange these insulting jabs with people I know, people with whom I always hassle. It’s by no means unexpected. It’s the unexpected (hassles) that are causing me to write this column.
I'm just a jackass in a Notre Dame hat. I have no attachment to the institution, and therefore, have no emotional tie to it. They are just my favorite college football team. I love watching them play, and like any game, losing sucks. But if people attack ND as an institution or Catholicism as a faith in attempt to get me to put up my dukes like the fightin’ ND leprechaun (which they do), then they are wasting their time because a) I didn’t graduate from (or apply to) ND, and b) I’m not Catholic. So I’m not annoyed by those people in a football sense, I’m annoyed by them in a “you are an annoying person, please walk away from me” sort of way. I don’t dislike them for their “politics,” I dislike them for them.
In comparison, if someone said that "OSU played like a bunch of (wimps)" to my agent Master P (an OSU graduate) after the PSU game, he is not only going to defend his favorite team, but also his chosen university. And Master P obviously believes that OSU is amazing and will defend it to his death. The same thing applies for ND graduates. If you attended the university, then you have a legitimate reason to be emotional about the game. When Ohio U qualified for the tourney last year, that was one of the most exciting moments in my sports-fan life because MY school went to the dance. This year I went to the Kentucky game and wanted to beat them SO bad, not only because it was MY school, but because I HATE Kentucky and their annoying fans. Like I said earlier, it was less about winning to make me happy and more about seeing them in misery. It's possible that this makes me a bigger jerk than the people who are hassling me about the Fiesta Bowl. Oh well.
ANYWAY, the point is that I had a great time in Tempe and watched an amazing football game. I just regret the fact that I was surrounded by many jackasses that know very little about the sport of football. But they are emotional. And football is a passionate sport. I guess I just keep my cool most of the time. The sport of football never upsets me, but people definitely piss me off.
OSU fans will probably enjoy many, many more big wins in the Tressel era. However, before we get too full of ourselves, let’s not forget the Cooper era, a decade that was filled with many, many years of Buckeye fans getting (hassled with), and their hopes, busted. I guess my only reply to all of those who have chosen to (hassle me) is that I hope we meet again next year in the same game and I hope ND figures out a way to stop your offense. If not, people who I barely know will keep (hassling me) and THAT will upset me more than the loss.