One of the issues I struggled with in the Harry Potter books was how often and how quickly the kids at Hogwarts would turn on Harry. One week, Harry would be the school hero for fighting dark powers, and then a few weeks later everyone would suspect that he was a dark wizard himself. I used to suspect that J.K. Rowling exaggerated the fluctuating opinions of Harry's classmates for dramatic effect.
But last night, watching North Carolina play Duke, I had a better appreciation for her art. If you're a bookish Ravenclaw (as I would be) or a diligent Hufflepuff, you have no reason to get fired up for the Slytherin/Gryffindor quidditch matches. In fact, you're probably just as tired of hearing about Slytherin and Gryffindor as UK fans are of hearing about Duke and UNC. Why should you be excited about having to give up one of your Saturdays to watch two teams you don't like? For you, the Weasleys are like the Plumlees -- no-talent bruisers known more for their family name than their abilities. And Harry himself would seem like another J.J. Redick -- he's talented, sure, but he gets all sort of special treatment, and the press just goes on and on about the guy. I'm sure the Hufflepuffs think that Cedric Diggory is a better quidditch player than Harry, and the Ravenclaws probably think they have 50 kids smarter than Harry, Hermione, and Ron put together. So they're always looking for an excuse to turn on Harry, just like I'm always anxious to show that Duke and UNC aren't really as good as ESPN thinks. And you know what? After sitting through UNC/Duke Week on ESPN, I can't blame them.
I watched the UK, Florida game last night and laughed at how many times they talked about UNC, Duke. I could just imagine you watching the game with TV sound turned off steaming over all the UNC, Duke stuff.
ReplyDeleteDicky V actually made a comment about Davis which I thought was interesting. He was saying that after watching Davis play he's almost convinced that he's the best player in the country because he alone gives you a 15 point advantage just from being a defensive presence on the floor. He couldn't remember the last player he saw that had that kind of defensive impact on the game of college basketball, unless you went back to Ewing.
Of course, I didn't hear any of Dukie V's comments -- although I had to see the countless clips of him in Durham and Chapel Hill -- but at least now you know why I prefer to use the UK radio network to get through these games.
ReplyDeleteI caught only a bit of that UK-Florida game, on the radio home from Nashville that evening, and I couldn't believe I got to hear Tom Leach's "game-in-hand" voice so early in the second half. It actually made me question my ear for it, until I heard a score.
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