Who we root for

LeBron James is an awesome player and appears to be a solid, good human being. I have no idea why I can’t seem to root for him.  Same thing with Tiger Woods.  An incredible talent and apparently okay guy (maybe a little arrogant?  who knows.)  It’s not simply an underdog thing (though I do root against Kobe Bryant with some passion – just don’t like him.)  I wanted Michael Jordan to win everything, including the first Survivor series though I’m fairly sure he wasn’t even on the island.

Maybe it’s because LeBron knocked the Celtics out of first place, but I have no idea why I root for the Celtics.  KG and crew are also great players and seem like good human beings, but that’s clearly not enough.

Fanhood seems utterly irrational, and I guess that’s okay (at least in sports and entertainment – not so sure about it when choosing our real-world leaders).  More of a left-brain thing, which many of us probably keep on too short a leash (yours truly as a prime culprit.)

Neologisms

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.  (Thanks to RB for pointing this out.)  The winners are:

1. Coffee (N.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (V.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (V.), to attempt an explanation while drunk..
5. Willy-nilly (Adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (Adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (V.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (N.), olive-flavoured mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (N.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (N.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (N.) , a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (N.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (N), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (N.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Circumvent (N.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Then It Hit Me (NYC Handbill art circa 2003)