The Jazz won last night, which was great, a fitting marker for a night in which running son moved back in for a two month stint. He also showed me the ropes of iMovie, expertise in which is a result of what appears to be his favorite high school class of all time, Film Making (it's possible that Fundamentals of Basketball might be the true best class of all time, but besides that). Thus, a tiny film-making exercise I gave myself in Final Cut Pro, he turned into an actual finished film in iMovie in about ten minutes. Of course, it's about 40MB too big for YouTube, so we'll have to figure out some other way to publishing it to the world.
But back to the Jazz: at the beginning of the season I was exultant and couldn't get enough--enough writing about basketball, enough actual games, enough talk about it, etc. But I find myself shying away from it these days. If they lose, I don't go near the sports pages. That's not all: I find myself reluctant to actually watch games. I find myself more listening to the historian and/or running son watch the games. Preferably from an adjacent room. As I mentioned to a friend this morning, I might go in to watch a few minutes of the end of a game it appears the Jazz have completely sewed up.
Will I jinx the Jazz with my amateur love, a love that has too many highs and lows? Can I just not bear even the thought of the crushing disappointment if they lose?
All I know is, with me not watching, they still have the fourth best record in the league.
I've come to the fine scientific conclusion that Jinxing is just not possible. At one time I stopped watching the Jazz altogether and then--wap--they nearly one 2 championships. I regret not having watched the Jazz regularly in those formative years, and my feelings that I was somehow jinxing them are too blame. Phooey, I say. Say a novena, or do nothing the outcome all depends upon the players.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to bring a Robert Frost allusion in here and say we are drawn to the Jazz by "silken ties of love and thought." From "The Silken Tent" by the way, one of my favorite Frost poems.
ReplyDeleteThe Jazz are best appreciated from the periphery. Theory folks would no doubt like to talk about the liminal space the Jazz occupy. In any case, the whole enterprise seems unstable. I'm always prepared for a collapse, a losing streak, news that Boozer is injured or that Deron Williams will cut his career short to pursue scientology studies.
But hightouchmegstore, understand this: it's all because I care. I really care!
I've given up on basketball. When I lived in Salt Lake the Jazz never quite managed to win. Lost to Portland. Then I moved to Sacramento. And then the Kings never quite managed to live. Lost to the Sonics, etc. Now I live in Seattle. You get the drift. I have simply given up on basketball. . . .
ReplyDeleteBut wait, maybe the jazz NEED you ...haven't you wondered whether they may move to an even better high WITH you watching?
ReplyDeletethose silken ties must be strung out and reinforced over and over...
I hate to even say it, but yesterday was the historian's birthday, and we had dinner over at my daughter's, watched almost the entire game, and the outcome was not good.
ReplyDeleteI like Middlebrow's analogy of instability: I can see the Jazz as a reckless 20-something experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and all manner of self-destructive things. Perhaps someday my analogical team will be forced into rehab.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope the rehab center has a great b-ball practice facility.
ReplyDelete