Oblivious
by Pete Cunningham
*As printed in the New College Window, 3/25/2003

Context:  Written during the opening weeks of NCAA March Madness which happened to be at the same time as the US’s invasion of Iraq.

Ahhhh, fresh air.  I’m breathing it in for the first time in a while as I sit next to the cracked window near my computer.  You see this weekend was the opening rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and I have done nothing but watch games for the past four days.  Basically having been a shut in from Thursday through Monday, I figured people would be talking about current events that I would have no idea about.  Lucky for me they must have all been watching the games too because every time I had a conversation with someone they would bring up the tournament. I didn’t expect this in Canada.  I guess I should have given the country the benefit of the doubt when my Friday morning class got canceled due to the atrocities going on in the world.  My English teacher said that she couldn’t try and teach while her mind was preoccupied with more important events. 

Right on professor!  And I thought I was the only one who thought all classes during the games should be canceled.  This was just the start to a bunch of thrilling basketball based conversations I had during the past few days.  Here’s a few more.

A girl in the cafeteria asked me how I felt about the recent USA bombings.  Well, I told her quite frankly that I was as disgusted as she was.  I thought Conference USA was going to be a force to be reckoned with this tournament.  I mean you can never really count on Cincinnati for much, but the current champion Louisville Cardinals under the tutelage of Rick Pitino!   Who would have thought they’d be out by the second round?  I told her I was just as up in arms about it as her.  She shook her head in disbelief at what I had said.  Hey I feel your pain, I had Louisville picked for my Final Four.

No more than five minutes after that I got into a conversation with a guy who told me he was quite frankly sick of all the protests.  My friend, you are preaching to the choir.  I hate it when players and coaches blame the game on the refs.  Listen, it wasn’t the refs who missed all those three’s and couldn’t grab a rebound to save their life.  I did however allude to the fact that sometimes it is necessary to protest.  For instance, in the Missouri vs. Southern Illinois game.  A coach can’t let a game be decided on a shaky call like that and not voice his opinion.  Silence befell over the elderly gentlemen.  Hey man, our generation isn’t as stupid as you think.  Some of us stay informed on things.

Later on that day, one of my fellow classmates was discussing with me the biased opinion of the media coverage during the whole crisis.  To this I had to agree (although I would hardly call an upset in the tournament a “crisis”).  I mean it almost seems like the announcers are cheering for the underdog.  Yeah guys, its cool to see an upset, but you are supposed to be neutral.  Remember?  For the most part the coverage has been good, but if I hear Clark Kellogg tell me one more time how high and mighty the Big Ten is, I just might snap.  Listen Clark, everybody knows you went to Ohio State. Try to be a little more biased why don’t you.  

Of course not everyone I talked to felt the same way I did.  Later on, I overheard a conversation some guys were having about the lack of UN involvement in the current situation.  I of course corrected them on their mispronunciation of the team name.  It’s UNLV guys, not just the University of Nevada.  Come on, get it right.  This should have tipped me off that these guys were not the gurus they were pretending to be.  If UNLV wanted in the tournament so bad, they should have backed it up with a tougher non-conference schedule, and on top of that perhaps had a better showing in their conference tournament.  Plus, if they had gotten in, it might have deprived well deserving Cinderella teams such as Butler or Auburn from getting a bid.  You can’t honestly tell me you think UNLV would have made it to the Sweet 16.  Go back to the NIT where you belong.  After hearing this, the two misguided individuals stormed off with confused looks on their faces.  Hey guys, sometimes the truth hurts.

Later I was having a much more solemn conversation with a girl about the end being in sight.  I told her I felt the same remorse she did.  Unfortunately yes, the finals are a short two weeks away and our weekends will once again be reduced to the depressing lack luster NBA games.  I told her to cheer up, those two weeks would be jam packed with excitement and entertainment.  She ran off crying.  Some people I guess always see the glass as half empty.

After having these intelligent tournament fever based conversations with people, I didn’t feel nearly as bad about not staying up with current events for the whole weekend.  At least I wasn’t the only one.  So late Monday night I flipped on the ole tube and turns out there’s a war going on.  Gosh, it’s a little surprising that no one I talked to even brought it up.  I mean seriously people, maybe you should pay a little more attention to the world around you!  First the basketball tournament, and now this.  Am I the only one staying up to date on the news anymore?