IU, I bid you adieu

It was earlier in the fall when I realized I love writing about sports. \nMid-tailgate on a random Saturday afternoon, my friend Jake and I were up to no good. After making fools of ourselves in front of some of our neighbors with a day of beer and inappropriate behavior, one of their parents asked us what we were going to do when we graduate.\nI froze.\nJake has a job at a major accounting firm and explained what he was doing and where he was going to be. Luckily for me, he explained what I was going to do for the rest of my life.\n“Ben is going to write about sports,” he said. “He’s living the dream.”\nFrom that moment on, I knew what I have to do. \nI have to live the dream.\nFor many, sports are a break from the strain of everyday life. My father gets back from a brutal nine–to–five and watches “SportsCenter” and “Pardon The Interruption” every night. People back home at Sahm’s Restaurant serve drinks with a worn copy of The Indianapolis Star on the bar and whatever game is on TV. A casual conversation is struck between two strangers wearing IU and Purdue gear about the Old Oaken Bucket game.\nSports fill up an often dreary reality with feelings of excitement and joy. When the World Champion Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, I know I had nothing to do with it – but I was still left with a feeling of happiness I had never reached and thought I would never reach again. (On a side note, the feeling was nearly duplicated this year when the Patriots fell to the Giants in the Super Bowl – I freaking hate the Patriots.) \nWhen I sit down with my buddies to watch a Hoosier game, the night turns into quality bonding time with my bros. We cheer, we laugh, we curse, we argue. People leave abruptly because DeAndre Thomas just forfeited another offensive rebound. Some kick holes in our townhouse walls; others throw Miller High Life cans at the big screen television. It’s a beautiful thing. \nWhen my mind gets asphyxiated on a game, I stop paying attention to the rest of the world around me. Regrettably, nothing else matters at the time for me. I sort of wish I cared more about politics. I wish I cared more about the distancing relationships with my old friends. But when those issues pop into my brain, I think to myself, “I don’t need you. Hoosier basketball is always there for me.” Even if nothing works out for me (knock on wood) and I end up homeless living in a cardboard shack behind Nick’s, I can still find joy in reading the box scores of last night’s baseball games before I fall asleep with them over my frigid body.\nFor those reasons I’m going to continue to live the dream. Sure, I could have ended up doing something more practical, like becoming a scientist or a lumberjack, but a man can only stomach so many pancakes. I love to chow down on sports, and I never lose my appetite.\nIt’s been a privilege during this past year to hopefully brighten your day with my weekly 600 words on sports. It has certainly been my pleasure to work for such a fine publication as the IDS.\nBut don’t you worry about me. If someone asks you what I’m doing with my life, tell them the truth.\nI’m living the dream.